Spend six weeks during the summer gaining full-time hands-on professional experience in the arts. This program offers several project options and is open to undergraduate students at Duke.
Arts+ is a six-week summer experience for undergraduate students grounded in the arts. An initiative of Duke Arts, Arts+ sheds light on the behind-the-scenes work of arts administration, and the creative work required to build an artistic product. Teams work in small groups of undergraduate students, guided by a project lead from the Duke Arts office, Trinity Faculty, or a community arts organization. Other participation benefits may include professional practice education, hands-on skills building workshops and team building activities. Outcomes of Arts+ may include season launches, series curation or preparing creative projects for next stages.
Arts+ is open to all undergraduate students (except graduating seniors). Students must be able to work in-person for the duration of the program and should be able to make a full-time commitment for the six weeks.
For summer of 2026, Arts+ students can participate in one of four programs: Illuminated: Education Through the Re-Creation of Historic Stained Glass, Game Narrative and Acting, Story, and Cinematics for Duke Game Studios, Imagine 2100: Environmental Storytelling for a Warming World, and the Duke Arts Presents Admin Team. Full program descriptions are below.
Arts+ takes place during Summer Session 1 (May 18–June 26). Students will receive a stipend of $3,500 for their participation OR room and board in on-campus housing.
Apply by Friday, Feb 27, 2026 at 11:59pm.
(Team of 3 Students)
Team Lead: Lauren Puckett, Art, Art History, and Visual Studies Studio Tech and Stained Glass Artist
Combining traditional craftsmanship with modern digital design and documentation tools, this project offers students an interdisciplinary experience spanning art, architecture, technology, and community engagement. Participants will gain skills in digital scanning and design, architectural documentation, lead safety, client collaboration, and public communication, culminating in the recreation of a heritage window at Deliverance Temple Holy Church, historically Black-owned Church in Durham, NC.
(Team of 4 Students)
Team Lead: Ernesto Escobar, Executive Director of the Master of Engineering in Game Design, Development, and Innovation
This project seeks to connect Game Design, Development and Innovation master’s students to undergraduate student artists to advance games’ narrative and cinematics. With the goal to elevate the narrative of game projects by writing dialogue and producing clips for cut scenes and other cinematics inside the game, students with creative writing and theater backgrounds will work with one to three Game Studios over the six weeks and will be credited in the published games.
(Team of 3 Students)
Team Lead: Ashton Merck, Program Manager of Climate Research + Engagement, Museum of Life and Science
Despite overwhelming evidence for the growing impacts of climate change, quantitative data has failed to galvanize climate action. Scientists and frontline communities are beginning to re-discover the power of storytelling and narrative for imagining possible futures. This project creates an opportunity for students to explore imagined climate futures and process their own responses and attitudes about climate change through visual art, with a focus on the original medium for mass communication – printmaking. While printmaking today is known primarily as an art form, printmaking has always been associated with the age of mechanical reproduction and has been an effective tool for radical movements and circulation of ideas.
This project seeks to recruit students (especially, but not limited to, students in environmental science and earth science) who may be familiar with using quantitative data or modeling to make their case, but less familiar with the ingredients that make for a compelling image or a powerful narrative. The goal will be to provide students with an open-ended opportunity to cultivate their storytelling skills over six weeks. The general principles of using art to creatively imagine the future builds on a project conducted by the Museum of Life and Science, Imagine Durham 2100, in which community members were asked to make drawings or describe life in Durham County in the year 2100.
(Team of 4 Students)
Team Leads: Frances Howorth, Duke Arts Director of Marketing and Communications and Jules Odendahl-James, Duke Arts Director of Engagement
The Arts Administration team will gain hands-on experience running an outdoor concert series while supporting key aspects of the 2026-27 Duke Arts Presents season, and city/campus social impact strategies around key thematic priorities, including art that explores national identity and art that explores climate and sustainability.
On outdoor concert dates (Wednesday afternoons/evenings from May 27 to June 24), this team will work closely with marketing and production to support the needs of artists and audiences.
Skills that team members might bring to or develop during the program include copywriting, website development, data collection and analysis, graphic design, logistics, audience development, and event and outreach planning with the Durham and Duke communities.
If you currently hold or anticipate holding a leadership position in a student group, this team will allow you to gain valuable insights into the marketing, communications, and social impact arenas of arts/event administration. For students of any major, this team offers you an opportunity to develop tactical resume-building skills for use in a variety of industries.
Students with interest/expertise in building accessibility resources and communications are particularly encouraged to apply.
This year, Arts+ students will recreate a community stained glass window, develop video game storylines for Duke Game Studios, create prints of climate action for the Museum of Life and Science, and integrate into the Duke Arts administrative team.
Cover Photos by Naflah Mohammed and Jocelyn Morgenstein In late June, the Arts+ Resilience Through Puppetry team wrapped up six weeks of immersive, hands-on work at the Duke Marine Lab …
While undoubtedly a field trip filled with beach skies and sun-soaked laughter, this venture was also a profound experience that brought introspection, observation, and questions.
Duke students Naflah Mohammed and Jocelyn Morgenstein have captured their first three weeks in Beaufort, NC, as part of the Resilience through Puppetry Team in the Duke Arts program Arts+.
This summer, we welcome our 2025 Arts+ cohort of Duke students who will gain full-time hands-on professional experience in the arts through three different project teams.
Over six weeks, this team played a key role in launching the 2024-25 season and supporting our summer concert series, Music in the Gardens. From researching artists and building event pages to brainstorming community outreach, they gained transferrable, resume-building professional skills.
Duke Arts is excited to introduce the three teams for the 2025 Arts+ program, a summer experiential learning initiative now in its second year. This multifaceted program offers opportunities for …
Over the summer, Duke Arts launched Arts+, a six-week program for Duke students to explore arts administration and arts research/practice. Arts+ joins other (+) programs across Duke offering funded experiential education …
This summer, we welcome our 2024 Arts+ cohort of undergraduate and graduate students who will gain full-time hands-on professional experience in the arts through three different project teams.
Summer 2024 students making zines
Summer 2024 students making puppets in a puppet workshop
Summer 2024 students participating in a movement workshop
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