Tenenbaum Museum Education Fellow
Interested applicants should send a cover letter and résumé/CV to hr@telfair.org.
Job Description:
| Date Posted: | November 2, 2022 |
| Job Classification: | Full-Time |
SCOPE OF POSITION:
Telfair Museums in Savannah, Georgia, seeks applicants for the Labelle and Meyer Tenenbaum Museum Education Diversity Fellowship to begin Winter 2023. The Tenenbaum Fellow is a paid a competitive full-time stipend and is eligible for regular full-time, non-exempt employee benefits. This is a one-year fellowship. Relocation expenses will not be paid.
The Fellow position supports the museum’s strategic goals for education, to increase diversity in museum professions, and provide job experience for recent graduates in art education, art history, museum studies, or related fields entering the workforce. The fellowship is intended for a recent graduate who is a member of a group currently under-represented in museum professions, including individuals of African-American, Latino/Hispanic, Asian-American, Pacific Islander, and Native American descent. The Tenenbaum Fellow works as a member of Telfair Museums education team providing departmental support and working with Education staff on programs linked to collections and a diverse series of exhibitions. The fellow will assist in the development of interpretive resources and evaluation related to major exhibitions and art education programs. The Fellow will gain experience in planning, interpretive writing, implementation and evaluation of a new education or interpretive project, or public program during the fellowship. Coursework in education, art education, art history, art studio or museum studies is helpful, as is prior experience working with youth and an enthusiasm for the visual arts. Telfair Museums is excited to open this opportunity to creative individuals seeking experience in the education department of an art museum.
ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
- Provide general Education departmental support and assist Education staff with youth, adult and community programs (including the museum’s PULSE Festival and Juneteenth programs)
- Develop interpretive resources and evaluation related to major exhibitions in consultation with the Senior Curator of Education.
- Attend exhibition development meetings and collaborate with the Curatorial team to develop interpretive components of exhibitions.
- Develop / assist development and implementation of exhibition-related interpretation and engagement activities, resources for education programs including family days.
- Engage with the local community and partner organizations as needed to increase community and audience involvement and inclusion, particularly among underserved audiences.
- Work with education staff and other departments to develop resources such as family art kits to engage new and currently underserved audiences
- Assist with school programs as needed
- Participate in mentorship of Tenenbaum high school intern
- Develop a signature project or program during the fellowship
SKILLS AND ATTRIBUTES:
- Excellent written and oral communication skills
- Excellent interpersonal skills
- Studio art or creative skills
- Some flexibility in flexible schedule including a limited number of evenings, weekends.
- Proficiency in Microsoft Office Word/Excel is necessary
QUALIFICATIONS
- Bachelor’s degree or Master’s degree in education, art education, arts administration, art history, studio art/design, museum studies or related area. Degree completed no earlier than May 2020
- Prior educational or youth program experience preferred
- Applicants should reflect the diversity of the Savannah community
PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS:
- Ability to perform various functions such as standing, sitting, walking across uneven surfaces, climbing stairs, lifting, seeing in varying light conditions, and participating in some physical activities.
SALARY AND BENEFITS:
Telfair Museums offers a competitive full-time stipend and excellent benefits.
Please provide the following as part of your application:
Complete resume, references
A cover letter addressing both your interest in Telfair Museums and your qualifications for this position.
APPLICATION:
Indicate “TENENBAUM MUSEUM EDUCATION FELLOW” on the subject line of the email or in the body of the cover letter
Applications in electronic format preferred and accepted at hr@telfair.org.
Mailed applications: Telfair Museums, Attn: HR, PO Box 10081, Savannah, GA 31412.
SUMMARY
Telfair Museums offers compelling expressions of visual culture — embracing three unique buildings and three distinct collections that bridge three centuries of art and architecture. The museum develops awareness, understanding, and appreciation of the arts and serves as a dynamic cultural center connecting people of all ages and backgrounds.
Telfair Museums is the oldest public art museum in the South, founded in 1883 through the bequest of prominent local philanthropist Mary Telfair, who left her home and its furnishings to the Georgia Historical Society to be opened as a museum. Today, Telfair Museums consists of three unique buildings: Telfair Academy and the Owens-Thomas House & Slave Quarters, two National Historic Landmark sites built in the early 19th century, and the contemporary Jepson Center for the Arts.
Designed in the Regency style by English architect William Jay, the Telfair Academy houses 19th- and 20th-century American and European art, including paintings, works on paper, sculpture, and decorative arts. Highlights include fine examples of American Impressionism and Ashcan School Realism, with major paintings by Childe Hassam, Frederick Frieseke, Gari Melchers, Robert Henri, George Bellows, and George Luks. The Telfair Academy is also home to Sylvia Shaw Judson’s iconic Bird Girl statue, made famous in the Jack Leigh photograph on the dust jacket of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.
The Owens-Thomas House & Slave Quarters is considered one of the finest examples of English Regency architecture in the country. In addition to the historic house museum and decorative art ranging from the late 18th to the early 19th century, the site includes rare intact urban slave quarters and a lovely parterre garden. The site underwent an award-winning reinterpretation in 2018, providing audiences with a broader understanding of how slavery impacted urban life in and beyond the home.
The Jepson Center, designed by acclaimed architect Moshe Safdie, is devoted to temporary exhibitions and today’s art and home to the Telfair’s Kirk Varnedoe Collection, a cornerstone of the museum’s contemporary holdings. The collection features works on paper by some of the most pivotal artists of the past 50 years, including Jasper Johns, Chuck Close, Roy Lichtenstein, Jeff Koons, Robert Rauschenberg, Frank Stella, and Richard Avedon. Other contemporary artists include Carrie Mae Weems, Helen Levitt, Sam Gilliam, James Brooks, and many notable Georgia artists.
Telfair Museums’ permanent collection of paintings, works on paper, photography, sculpture, and decorative arts contains over 4,500 objects from America, Europe, and Asia, dating primarily from the 18th to 20th centuries. Telfair provides a range of educational initiatives, including youth and family programming, school tour programs, preplanned field trips for Savannah-Chatham County Public Schools fourth and eighth graders, youth classes, and summer camps. Telfair offers adults a variety of virtual and onground classes and workshops, ranging from drawing and painting classes with established local artists to workshops related to current exhibitions and exhibition opening lectures. Telfair (www.telfair.org) welcomes approximately 225,000 visitors each year.
