Get Involved with a Museum:
The Isabella Stuart Gardner Museum (Boston) has a paid school-year program called Teens behind the Scenes. http://www.gardnermuseum.org/education/teens_behind_the_scenes
Boston Museum of Science http://www.mos.org/volunteer-opportunities High school students who have volunteered for 50 hours are eligible to apply for internships, some of which are paid.
The Museum of Fine Arts Boston has teen programs, including paid summer jobs. http://www.mfa.org/programs/teen-programs
New York City’s Metropolitan Museum of Art has five free programs for teenagers and paid internships for high school students, both during the summer and during the academic year. http://www.metmuseum.org/events/programs/teen-programs
The Guggenheim Museum (New York City) offers four programs for teenagers to get involved in the museum. The Teen Volunteers Program allows you to volunteer either during the summer or during the academic year. Teen Nights at the Guggenheim are special evening events. They also offer summer classes in creative writing in the galleries and a fall “Inside the Guggenheim” class; these are very moderately priced. http://www.guggenheim.org/new-york/education/families-kids-teens/teens
Sixteen to eighteen year olds can become a Saltz Intern at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. You get trained; then you work with museum visitors during the summer and/or on weekends. You get a MetroCard (free subway transportation) and a stipend. http://www.amnh.org/learn-teach/grades-9-12/saltz-internship-program This museum has other programs for teenagers too, like after-school courses.
New York City’s Cooper-Hewett, Smithsonian Design Museum has several programs for teens that include design camp and paid summer design internships. http://www.cooperhewitt.org/education/teen-programs/
The New-York Historical Society Museum’s Student Historian Internship Program has both summer and academic year opportunities. http://www.nyhistory.org/education/teen-programs/student-historian-program
The Children’s Museum of Manhattan (New York City) has a Junior Staff Internship Program for high school students. You start as a volunteer; you can get paid eventually. http://cmom.org/
The Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. takes high school students as interns. Your best bet is to apply to the General Smithsonian Internship Pool. http://www.smithsonianofi.com/internship-opportunities/general-smithsonian-internship-pool/
The Field Museum of Natural History (Chicago) has paid internships for high school students. http://www.fieldmuseum.org/about/careers/research-scholarships-and-grants
Chicago’s Museum of Science and Industry has volunteer positions and paid positions for teens through its Science Minors, Science Achievers, and Farrell Fellows programs. http://www.msichicago.org/education/community/
The Art Institute of Chicago has teen classes and workshops, internships, and an after-school program. http://www.artic.edu/learn/teens
San Francisco’s California Academy of Sciences is northern California’s natural history museum. Their Careers in Science Intern Program is a multi-year, year around paid internship. Ninth and tenth graders in the San Francisco Unified School District are eligible to apply. They also have two volunteer programs for teens and a free middle school program. http://www.calacademy.org/youth-programs
The Bay Area Discovery Museum in Sausalito, California offers well-paid summer jobs for high school students as a Discovery Guide. http://www.baykidsmuseum.org/about/about-us/employment/
You can also get a paid job as a teen “Explainer” at the Exploratorium in San Francisco. http://explainers.exploratorium.edu/highschool/
San Francisco Unified School District students can get paid work at the de Young Museum as Museum Ambassadors. http://deyoung.famsf.org/education/k-12-students/museum-ambassadors
The Asian Art Museum (San Francisco) has paid teen internships for students in the San Francisco Unified School District. http://www.asianart.org/get_involved/art-speak
Sixteen and seventeen year olds can volunteer at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County http://www.nhm.org/site/join-us/volunteers-docents/youth-volunteering
The Los Angeles County Museum of Art has school-year high school internships. http://www.lacma.org/schools-communities
The J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles has a free Summer Latin Academy for teens. http://www.getty.edu/education/teens/index.html