A gift to the internship fund supports those seeking the professional experience required for admission into a graduate conservation program.

Ian McClure retired as the Susan Morse Hilles Chief Conservator in February 2022. Since his arrival at the Gallery in 2008, Ian directed the long-term care of the collections, treated numerous masterpieces, and grew the Conservation Department staff considerably, while also adding internship and fellowship opportunities for talented students from the United States and Europe. He worked with Yale colleagues to expand conservation resources and was instrumental in the establishment of the Shared Conservation Lab and the Institute for the Preservation of Cultural Heritage (IPCH) at the West Campus Collection Studies Center.

Ian also cotaught the Technical Examination of Art course in Yale’s Department of the History of Art, inspiring several of his undergraduate students to pursue careers in conservation. He co-organized the Summer Teachers Institute in Technical Art History and in collaboration with the founders of the Alliance of HBCU (Historically Black Colleges and Universities) Museums and Galleries and the director of the Lens Media Lab at IPCH, established the Yale HBCU Students and Mentors Institute in Technical Art History.

The Ian McClure Pre-Program Internship honors Ian’s commitment to diversifying the field of conservation as well as his legacy of teaching and mentoring students and early career conservators.