Museum Educator – University of Missouri Museum of Art & Archaeology

Description

The University of Missouri Museum of Art & Archaeology seeks a museum educator to develop and implement a variety of high-quality, engaging, and innovative educational and public programs that reflect the Museum’s mission, collections, and exhibitions. The programs include hands-on/interactive experiences, family events, educational demonstrations, lectures and films, and museum tours for K-12 schools or the public. The Museum is completing reinstallation of its galleries and collections following its move to a new location in the historic Ellis Library building at the heart of the Mizzou campus. As an AAM-accredited institution, the Museum is an important resource for university students and faculty, but also serves the residents of the city of Columbia and surrounding communities.

Duties

Reporting to the Museum director and working closely with the curator of ancient art and curator of European and American art, the museum educator has broad responsibilities for educational programming at the Museum, including:

  • Developing and tracking annual strategic education plans and related budgets
  • In coordination with the Museum director and curators, conceptualizing, developing, and implementing educational programs or workshops related to the Museum’s mission, collections, and exhibitions, ensuring appropriate opportunities for a wide range of audiences (programs may occur at the Museum or at other locations on the university campus or in the community)
  • Serving as liaison with area K-12 schools, home school groups, and youth-focused nonprofit organizations
  • Working with area teachers and instructors to plan attractive and engaging education opportunities, aligned with school curricula when possible
  • Locating and overseeing any guest or contracted instructors or presenters for education programming
  • Managing the Museum’s docent/volunteer program, including scheduling and coordinating tours for area schools, nonprofit organizations, and the public
  • Leading or assisting in the planning of lectures, artist talks, symposia, or seminars
  • Supervising any undergraduate or graduate student assistants or interns
  • Creating or providing content for public relations and marketing efforts to promote the Museum’s education programs
  • Assessing and evaluating all educational programs for effectiveness and opportunities for improvement
  • Assisting the Museum director and assistant director with public relations and fundraising activities, including contributing to grant applications or serving as PI on grants as appropriate
  • Other duties as assigned

Minimum Qualifications

  • A bachelor’s degree in education, art history, visual studies, or an immediately-related field
  • At least two years of full-time museum or similar experience
  • Exceptional written and oral communications skills
  • Competence using technology for research and teaching purposes
  • Demonstrated experience with developing educational programs for all levels of ability related to art and/or ancient history and cultures
  • An expectation to support the university’s inclusion, diversity, and equity policies
  • Willingness to liaise with stakeholder departments and faculty, in addition to cultivating new relationships within the university and the community

Preferred Qualifications

  • MA or PhD in education, art history, visual studies, or an immediately-related field is strongly preferred
  • A collateral area of expertise or interest in one of the areas in which the Museum has collections
  • Object-based teaching experience

Application Materials

For consideration, please provide a cover letter detailing areas of expertise or knowledge, credentials, museum experience, and your commitment to inclusion, diversity, and equity, a complete CV, contact information for three references, and at least three writing samples, through the University of Missouri employment website at https://hr.missouri.edu/job-openings (staff positions, job no. 43208). Questions about the job description or the application process can be sent to eckd@missouri.edu. The search committee will begin reviewing applications after August 31, 2022. Please submit your materials by September 30, 2022. Salary Range: $16.92 – $20.67/ hour.

Other Job Information

This position requires the willingness to work occasional evening and weekend hours, with some travel required, and the ability to lift and carry objects weighing up to 25 pounds.

Employer Information

Founded in 1839, the University of Missouri is the oldest public university west of the Mississippi River. MU provides all the benefits of two universities in one: It is a major land-grant institution with a statewide mission of service to citizens, as well as Missouri’s largest and only R1 public research university. Considered one of the nation’s top-tier institutions, Mizzou is one of only 35 public universities, and the only public institution in Missouri, to be selected for membership in the prestigious Association of American Universities.

The Museum of Art and Archaeology contains more than 16,000 objects from diverse aesthetic and cultural origins encompassing over 6,000 years of human history on six continents. The collection of Greek, Roman, and Near Eastern art works and artifacts is especially strong, and there are significant holdings from ancient Egypt and Byzantium. In addition, the Museum has important collections in European and American paintings, prints, drawings, decorative arts, and other media, from the fifteenth century to the present, including a Samuel H. Kress Study Collection of European paintings, a growing collection of American Regionalist works, and contemporary works from the 19th to 21st centuries. Asian, African, Pre-Columbian (Mesoamerican and South American), and Oceanic cultures are also well represented. The Museum is accredited by the American Alliance of Museums.

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