Great place to engage with the art world at large, with a few caveats - Anonymous employee Moma Employee Review

4.0
Sep 8, 2016
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

-Incredible access to best art and design in the world, not just the collections at MoMA, but also the free access to other New York museums. -Good work-life balance. -Wonderful people to work with -Great intern programing--each Tuesday we had lectures and tours planned for us across all departments, from curation to preservation to publishing. -has a stipend (not much, but more than a lot of internships)

Cons

-The work itself was often not particularly inspiring, and in some cases were completely below the interns' skill levels. It depends on what department you're working in. -It is highly prestigious, and there's a lot of institutional support for the internship program, but you don't always gain the skills you are promised through the actual work that you do. -Museum staff not totally happy with MoMA; the year I was there, they were on strike because their health insurance was being cut/reduced, despite the past year being the most profitable one in MoMA's history. Extremely intelligent, talented, qualified people are undervalued and underpaid because MoMA is a "nonprofit" that actually generates a lot of profit. -for the most part, people who work at MoMA believe in the mission of the museum, and it is because of their efforts that MoMA is the wonderful place it is. But I am more doubtful of the intentions of the people in the highest positions.

Explore other reviews about Moma

5.0
Jan 16, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

An exceptional work environment with amazing colleagues and a genuinely warm, supportive culture where everyone helps one another.

Cons

While the work itself is highly rewarding, the compensation is relatively modest.

1.0
Aug 13, 2025
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Overall, there was good camaraderie among the employees due to the mistreatment by higher ups and other museum departments as a whole.

Cons

Incredibly unprofessional management. The term “past practices violation” would be used frequently because management would make up new rules based upon what they see fit, and the union would need to get involved several times because they would try to do things outside of what was legal within the contract. Most importantly however, I witnessed many employees try to move to other departments, and they would be barred from doing so by management. Because of this there is virtually no growth with this position beyond ticket sales. The department would hire over a dozen temporary staff at a time, and hold the possibility of a full time job over their heads- only for them to offer it to one or two people which would lead to unhealthy competition among staff. This is not to mention the times I’ve seen management raising their voice at older employees, and attempts to force them out of the job. There is a very negative stigma toward guest services that comes from the other departments at MoMA. GS are looked down upon and mistreated by other departments, and this leads to an incredibly depressing environment that I do not feel is good for long term employment. As a witness to all of these things I cannot in good conscience say that this is a comfortable or good place to work.

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