Museum Educator, Academic Initiatives at the Smart Museum of Art, University of Chicago

• Collaborates in the development, coordination, and implementation of innovative, inclusive, meaningful, and sustainable academic research, teaching, and learning initiatives.
• Schedules and facilitates College and University class visits from across disciplines to the Smart Museum’s study room(s) and galleries. Regularly teaches and co-teaches, alongside academic educators, to support such visits.
• Researches artwork in the Smart Museum’s collection and exhibitions to support teaching and learning, and actively works to support and create reparative and inclusive collections research materials, narratives, language and descriptions, metadata, ethical cataloging practices and institutional archives.
• Proactively seeks new and creative ways to increase, collaborate in, and refine curricular engagement— embracing a diversity of learning styles—with the Smart Museum’s collections and exhibitions. Pursues opportunities to present about the Smart’s research, teaching, and learning initiatives to faculty, instructors, students, and other academic stakeholders, and to expand visibility of the Smart Museum and the Feitler Center’s pedagogical services.
• Supervises limited-term and grant-funded positions, which also have dotted reporting lines to the Director of the Feitler Center and Head of Education.
• Assists in the equitable practices and processes of hiring, training, supervising, and mentoring undergraduate and graduate students, fellows, residents, and other professionals at the Smart.
• In collaboration with the Director of the Feitler Center, convenes, coordinates, and continues to help improve work with the Feitler Center Faculty Advisory Committee.
• Maintains current knowledge of best practices, new tools and methodologies, and standards in museum education, higher education, and integrating the arts into research, teaching, and learning across disciplines.
• In collaboration with Registration and Preparation, together with the Study Room Assistant, participates as needed in the movement of collection materials, including their display in the study room(s), rehousing, tracking and other record-keeping, and digitization projects.
• In tandem with the Museum Educator, K-12 Initiatives and with Smart curators, creates exhibition and collections guides, curriculum and pedagogical workshops, and other learning materials and experiences that serve to connect educators to exhibitions, collections, and resources at the Smart Museum.
• Working closely with the Manager of Campus and Community Engagement, identifies and aids in the facilitation of curricular and co-curricular academic programs. In addition to academic programs, supports in conceiving and implementing other engagement strategies for the Feitler Center, including but not limited to: digital and print communications and promotions, publications, roundtables and convenings, research cohorts, and community access programs.
• Builds, sustains, and strengthens bi-directional academic partnerships through the support and coordination of pedagogical exhibitions. In collaboration with the Director of the Feitler Center and the Smart curatorial team, provides process support for exhibitions with faculty and students, guiding them through the practice of exhibition planning, management, realization, and activation.
• Participates in the administration of pedagogical exhibition projects, including working jointly on the concept and approach, generating checklists and securing loans (when applicable), assisting in interpretive materials as well installation design and plans. Provides support to accompanying printed or digital publications, when relevant.
• Representing the Smart Museum, participates in peer committees on campus, academic and pedagogical presentations, special events, and other opportunities for community building at the university and in Chicago.
• Collaborates in the creation, maintenance, and refinement of a team-wide project management database and long-term planning projects.
• Assists in maintaining instruments for feedback, assessments, and reports on academic engagement.
• Supports in preparing and tracking relevant budgets, paperwork, and project documentation and communications.
• Participates in the research and writing of grants, cases for support, and other fundraising materials to fund learning and engagement programs.
• Guides the execution of plans to ensure the care, management, and operations of University museums. Uses breadth and depth of experience of museum operations and conservation to preserve, document, showcase, and enrich permanent collections.
• Negotiates with individual and institutional supporters to secure funding. Promotes the museum’s ability to serve as an academic resource for students, faculty, and the public.
• Performs other related work as needed.

When applying, the document(s) MUST be uploaded via the My Experience page, in the section titled Application Documents of the application.

Full description and application available HERE

This job was sourced via MuseWeekly Newsletter.