Position title

Curator of Education & Public Engagement

Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit

Organization The mission of the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit is to present art at the forefront of contemporary culture. As a non-collecting institution, MOCAD is responsive to the cultural content of our time, fueling crucial dialogue, collaboration and public engagement.

Supervisor

Executive Director

Classification

Full-time

Exempt

Direct Report Personnel

Education Assistant

Qualifications

  • A BA or BFA in education, art education, museum studies, art history or a related field is required, as is a strong interest in contemporary art and culture.
  • 3-5 years of experience in museum or arts education
  • Ability to work productively with diverse constituencies, including schools, community agencies, institutions and the public
  • Strong interest and experience in engaging with the urban population and landscape
  • Skilled at producing large and small-scale events and projects
  • Supervisory experience is desirable
  • Excellent interpersonal and oral communication skills, and ability to work on a team

Overall Responsibilities

The Curator of Education & Public Engagement creates and manages a multidisciplinary education program that nourishes the community’s sense of curiosity, adventure and imagination. S/he will curate a program in which the museum, the public school system and the city’s surrounding environs function as sites for investigation and experimentation.

The Education & Engagement program is meant to diversify the museum’s audience and engage youth and adults in energizing the city. The appropriate candidate will have passion and compassion for the community. S/he will recognize the pretense and preconceptions that often saddle the contemporary art world and will demonstrate an eagerness to develop new modes and languages for working that are respondent to our specific place and time. S/he will be able to meet the audience as collaborators on their own grounds and terms, valuing the sophisticated cultural traditions that exist while introducing diverse audiences to new modes of thinking, playing and working creatively.

Job Duties

Education and Programming:

  • Develop and implement a strategic plan for an Education and Public Engagement Program that reflects the contemporary art world’s viewpoints, skill sets and bases of knowledge
  • Curate the DEPE space program (arrange logistics, liaise between MOCAD, exhibitions, etc. and artist and arrange interview videos)
  • Plan, produce, and document Family Days and other Educational events for the museum and mobile homestead
  • Create exhibition narratives/tour outlines each season for both adults & children
  • Supervise and liaison mobile homestead activities including basement

Volunteer and Intern Program:

  • In collaboration with the Executive Director, develop a common language and a strategy for discourse related to exhibitions to be shared with the volunteers, interns, gallery attendants and staff
  • Adopt a formalized policy and process for booking group tours which is consistent and presented to students and the public
  • Promote the Intern and Volunteer program in local universities and other community outlets
  • Supervise & train gallery attendants to engage with the exhibitions in a way that is reflective of the Education and Engagement Program’s vision.

Development and Marketing:

  • Collaborate with the marketing team on producing a robust marketing plan to communicate the vision of the institution’s Education and Engagement Programs
  • Assist the development department in targeting grants, private funding and non-traditional programming support

Additional Responsibilities:

  • Form strategic alliances with teachers and administration at area K-12 schools
  • Identify opportunities to partner with other non-formal educational organizations
  • Publish writing that advances the field of education within the contemporary art context
  • Strengthen relationships with faculty at local universities through curriculum sharing or other joint projects
  • Program an educational symposium of international caliber
  • Program internal events that enrich intern, volunteer, and staff understanding of contemporary art and culture, encouraging open dialogue about curatorial programming
  • Identify opportunities for partnership with non-traditional educational organizations
  • Work on seasonal program guide
  • Create and maintain financial records for DEPE Space, Educational Programs and Mobile Homestead

Please send resume and a letter of interest to hr@mocadetroit.org. No phone calls please.