Internship Program
Intern with the Puppet Festival!
The Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival Internship Program seeks enthusiastic, forward thinking, detail oriented, and teachable interns eager to join a growing and highly reputable organization. The program provides opportunities for undergraduates, graduate students, and emerging puppeteers to learn the inner workings of the festival and its annual programs. Interns will work with administrative, programming, and production staff on various projects according to their assigned area. No prior puppetry experience is required. See session dates and available positions below.
Internship Details
Upcoming Session Dates (specifics coming soon)
Winter 2025: Early January – End of January
Spring 2025: End of January – Early May
Summer 2025: Mid May – Early August
Fall 2025: End of August – Early December
Hours
Schedule determined by intern and supervisor. Generally hours range from 8 hours/week to 12 hours/week. See specifics below in descriptions.
Compensation
All interns receive either a stipend – or – academic credit through their educational institution.
International students on F1 visas will need to be paid through their educational institution.
Year-Round Intern Positions
Studio Intern
*Summer 2025 is now FULL*
(10 hours/week) Compensation $750 for 140 hours OR pay through your individual university work-study program, every school is different so we cannot predict your exact pay though work-study.
The Studio Intern will gain valuable insight into the work of puppeteer/craftspeople and the skills necessary to engineer and fabricate puppet designs for the stage. They will have the opportunity to interact with festival staff and artists and assist them in creating a welcoming space in Studio 433 that is the hub of the festival’s education and design programs. In addition, they will be able to network within the larger Chicago and international puppetry community.
Marketing Intern
(8 hours/week)
The Marketing Intern will play an integral role in the voice and branding of the company. Support across key areas including social media, newsletters and e-blasts, graphic design, video editing, and audience building will be the primary focus of the internship. Interns receive one-on-one support through regularly scheduled check-ins with the marketing team. They also have the opportunity to engage firsthand with festival supporters and followers through social media marketing.
Engagement Intern
(12 hours/week)
The Engagement Intern focuses on events and fundraising. They also support The Living Room Tour front of house, learn Spektrix (our ticketing system), track individual information/database management and analytics. During the festival, they also act as leads for volunteers, front of house, box office and merchandise sales.
Curatorial Intern
(12 hours/week)
The Curatorial Intern will be supporting the new Curatorial Advisory Committee and the Artistic Director in making assessments of artists and companies active in the field. The Festival’s goal is to create a sustainable institutional programming pipeline, and the intern will provide the backbone of this process by maintaining our internal database of puppet theater works and artists from around the world. Additional tasks may include email correspondence, providing support for processing submitted materials, researching existing companies and artists, and other work supporting the selection process. They will work directly with the Festival’s staff and Artistic Director and gain a vast knowledge of the current puppet theater landscape.
The deadline to apply is one month before the session start date.
Festival Intern Positions - No Longer Accepting Applications
Our Festival Internships are intensive and condensed internships that operate alongside the prep, run, and strike of the Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival.
Festival Production Intern
(up to 30 hours a week)
The Festival Production Intern will gain experience in the inner workings of a festival as well as working hands-on with an international theater company. This internship is intensive in structure as each company gears up for performance with up to 30 hours a week required for interns. After the festival, you may be asked to assist with the strike of the shows as well as the strike of the festival as a whole.
Festival Studio Intern
(up to 30 hours a week) – Compensation $375 for 70 hours of work, or pay through your individual university work-study program, every school is different so we cannot predict your exact pay though work-study.
The Festival Studio Intern will work out of our studio space and work directly with our Studio Coordinator. A Festival Studio Intern will help transform and set-up spaces for the festival including but not limited to our Puppet Hub, cafe, and exhibits. Once the festival begins, these interns will be part of the team that works on anything that comes up for the festival i.e. workshop preparation, puppet repairs, etc. They will also have the opportunity to work backstage at the late night puppet cabaret, and puppeteer an emcee puppet themselves.
