Museum Education Fellow at the Brooklyn Museum

Job Title: Museum Education Fellow

Location: Brooklyn, NY

Salary: $27 per hour, or $39,690 across ten months (subject to payroll taxes), plus benefits


Museum Overview
The Brooklyn Museum is a world-renowned cultural institution dedicated to preserving and showcasing art, history, and heritage. Our mission is to bring people together through art and experiences that inspire celebration, compassion, courage, and the will to act. Our vision is to serve as an institution where art is a powerful force for personal transformation and social change. Celebrating our differences and learning about our diverse communities through our collections, exhibitions, and programming is the core of who we are and what we do.

We are committed to creating and cultivating a diverse community of talented, passionate people who are inspired to make the Museum an important hub of community activity and a great global destination. Our staff have the opportunity to grow their professional skills and work collaboratively with colleagues they admire and respect.

About The Role
The Museum Education Fellowship Program is a rigorous ten-month program designed to support the professional education of highly motivated individuals who have completed undergraduate or graduate studies. The first six weeks of the Fellowship are an intensive training period which provides foundational skills and knowledge for supporting Guided Gallery Visits under the Museum’s Education Division. After the training period, the Fellow will gain in-depth fieldwork experience by designing, facilitating, and teaching lessons that make connections between the Museum’s encyclopedic collection, school curriculum, and students’ lived experiences. The fellow will work with supervisors and mentors across educational program areas (Family & Community, School Programs, Teen Programs, and Adult Learning) on specific projects. Finally, the Museum Education Fellow is required to complete a Teaching Research Project (TRP), during which they conduct original qualitative research exploring the intersection of theory and practice. The Fellow will leave the program with extensive experience teaching and programming for a variety of audiences, and with a completed professional teaching portfolio.

Successful candidates must be able to demonstrate an interest in art, education, and museums; an investment in working with diverse museum audiences; a commitment to teaching with art objects; support for the Brooklyn Museum’s mission and collections; possess strong interpersonal, communication, and writing skills and experience teaching and/or programming in formal or informal learning environments.

Eligibility: The Fellowship is open to individuals who have completed undergraduate or graduate studies or those who have commensurate experience preferably in fine arts, art history, cultural studies, education and/or the humanities. Candidates from other academic backgrounds are welcome to apply. Proof of ability to work in the United States is required. We do not sponsor visa applications, though past applicants have worked with international student organizations to secure visas for themselves.

Requirements

  • Attend a six-week training program at the beginning of the Fellowship, which will require time spent outside work hours on reading and practicum preparation.
  • Design and teach up to four 75-minute Guided Gallery Visits for school groups per week, honing a personal pedagogical approach while maintaining School Programs’ standards of excellence.
  • During GGV’s, Fellows typically stand for up to 1.5 hours and travel throughout the galleries with materials weighing 5-10 pounds; accommodations can be made to support individuals with barriers to these physical aspects of teaching.
  • Provide support for various Education programs, including Family & Community Programs, School Programs, Teen Programs, and Adult Learning
  • Participate in and contribute to professional development sessions facilitated by our experienced Education and Curatorial staff
  • Conduct qualitative research throughout the year to learn about museum education theory and practice, including reading and writing outside work hours, and present a completed research project by June 2026
  • Complete a teaching portfolio

Qualifications

  • Experience teaching, facilitation, and/or public programming in formal or informal learning environments
  • Interest in teaching a wide range of audiences, including K-12 and adult audiences
  • Some experience looking at and discussing art objects
  • Some familiarity with art-making
  • Investment in working with diverse museum audiences and supporting our mission, and a commitment to equity and social justice
  • Willingness to learn as part of a community, and the ability to work both independently and collaboratively within a team
  • Ability to manage time effectively, including prioritizing tasks, maintaining calendars, blocking out work time, and balancing academic and logistical responsibilities
  • Ability to actively move throughout the museum with or without accommodations for up to 2.5 hours at a time, and spend periods of time interacting with children who are generally seated on the floor
  • Strong writing skills and ability to conduct independent research
  • Experience with and ability to personally reflect on issues of race, class, gender, identity, sexuality, and dis/ability

Additional Qualifications (preferred but not mandatory):

  • Some experience teaching in an art museum, non-profit organization, or similar institution
  • Some experience teaching school-aged children or teens in school or out-of-school contexts
  • Some familiarity with museum education (theory or practice)

How To Apply:

Apply via LinkedIn

Application Deadline: Friday, May 9, 2025, 11:59pm

Salary: $27 per hour, or $39,690 across ten months (subject to payroll taxes), plus benefits

Start and End Dates: The Fellowship is ten months long, running from September 2, 2025, to June 19, 2026

Schedule: During training, the fellow observes a Monday-Friday, 10am-6pm schedule. After training, hours generally shift from 9:30am-5:30pm, with some late nights and weekends required for programs.

If you have any questions, please consult our FAQ and watch our info session (passcode: 8sS?Ls+$). Feel free to contact us at bkm.fellowship@brooklynmuseum.org.