Summer Design Internship

SLA’s paid summer design internship offers mentorship, hands-on experience, and meaningful design work with two rural Iowa communities. Our internship will take place April/May – August/September.

Applications are due by Monday, 16 March 2026.

Virtual interviews will take in mid-late March, and one intern will be selected in early April.

Questions are welcome.

How to Apply
Email your portfolio, references, and preferred studio location to Alex Priest, Senior Associate: alex@seelman.land

Preferred Skills

–Strong Work Ethic
–Desire to Learn
–Adaptable
–Adobe Creative Suite
–SketchUp, Lumion
–Strong Visual & Written Communication
–Comfortable with Public Speaking
–Photography
–AI

We’re Looking for Students in:

–Landscape Architecture
–Architecture
–Urban Design
–Other Relevant Disciplines

Internship Details

–Work directly with Landscape Architects
–Work with Rural Iowa Communities
–Community Visioning Workshops
–Graphics & Visual Storytelling
–SketchUp & 3D Studies
–Public Presentations
–Site Research & Analysis
–Site Visits & Site Photography
–Work on other SLA projects
–Social Media
–Writing
–Precedent Research in Chicago

–$20/hour, 20–30 hrs/week
–Internship: April/May–Aug/Sept
–Paid Site Visits to Iowa (monthly)
–Personal Laptop Required

–SLA is Located in Cedar Rapids & Chicago
–Chicago-based Applicants Preferred
–Hybrid Work Options Available (not fully remote)

–No Housing Provided
–Chicago Subletting Support Available
–No Visa Support Provided

Prairie & Place

Our work with native prairies, rural communities, and cultural institutions offers a unique opportunity to build your portfolio with:

–Site-specific research on the layered histories of rural Iowa, from the Ice Age to current conditions

–Community-focused designs

–Sketches, diagrams, design iterations, renderings, and 3D modeling at the streetscape and county scale

–Collaboration with landscape architects, architects, community leaders, cultural institutions, and ecological experts