Job Description
Job Summary
The Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art at Auburn University is seeking a creative and collaborative leader to serve as Assistant Director of Education, Engagement & Learning!
This individual plays a vital role in shaping meaningful, student-centered experiences at the Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art—Auburn University’s on-campus teaching museum. This position leads the development and delivery of innovative educational initiatives, dynamic faculty engagement, and impactful public programs. Through a combination of research, outreach, and instruction, the Assistant Director collaborates closely with museum staff and campus partners to connect exhibitions and collections to both curricular and co-curricular learning. The role also identifies and develops initiatives that expand the museum’s reach across the university and beyond.
About The Jule: Accredited by the American Association of Museums and a member of the Association of Academic Museums and Galleries, The Jule stewards a renowned art collection of more than 3000 objects on behalf of Auburn University. Advancing research, outreach and instruction through its collections and programs in active and welcoming learning environments, the museum engages through exhibitions and hosting artists and scholars from across the nation to provide positive impacts for students and faculty. Serving beyond the gallery walls, it also serves the state of Alabama through traveling art programming. The Jule will turn 25 in 2028! With that upcoming milestone, the museum is focused on raising funds to endow positions and programs, establish scholarships, acquire and conserve art, and provide adequate teaching space, all to further center its role within the intellectual life of Auburn University.
Essential Functions
- Manages the museum’s Education, Engagement, and Learning staff. Manages related budgets, grant funds, and gifts. Ensures contracts are completed and all obligations are met, the contracted visitors’ experiences, including travel and other hospitality details, are smoothly managed, and all requisite payments paperwork and collaboration within the museum, across campus, and beyond are handled in a collegial, timely and efficient manner.
- Oversees and develops the museum’s education, engagement, and learning offerings aligned with its mission to actively engage new, diverse, and broad audiences both on and off-site. Conceives, co-develops, and facilitates museum engagements for university faculty, staff, students; PreK-12 and family education; public practice/community partnerships. Emphasizes cross-disciplinary, co-creation, and hands-on learning projects to cultivate notions of inclusion, life skills, emotional intelligence, and well-being to expand the understanding of art’s impact on the public sphere. Incorporates new models of cultural participation, artistic practice, potential impact, and the history of museum education that also utilizes technology, tools, and an experimental social environment. Utilizes best practices in the fields of museum education, art-based pedagogies and visitor studies, incorporating multigenerational learning and participatory experiences that foster critical and creative thinking skills, experimentation, and global competence.
- In partnership with other arts, cultural, educational, non-profit, governmental, and civic organizations, conceives, co-develops, manages, and facilitates meaningful community-led museum programs for diverse audiences in places such as libraries, hospitals, medical training facilities, health care and wellness centers, mental health support organizations, judicial and other law enforcement agencies, military and veterans support organizations, and civic and governmental agencies connected to housing, parks, and recreation, and community gardens. Increases visual literacy and cultural competency that addresses shifting demographics, elevating civic dialogue, and encourages deep reciprocal relationships with our museum objects.
- Initiates, facilitates, and participates in research projects and various forms of public engagement that meaningfully integrate works of art with education, civic engagement, community development, equity, and inclusion. Actively contributes to rethinking presentations and understandings of the museum’s collection to incorporate community voices and perspectives. Develops projects with artists whose work is situated in and activated by the public realm. Positions the museum for the public and artists together, especially by using its green space to create an alternative public park—a type of cultural commons with social interaction and creative participation as its guiding philosophies.
- Conceives, co-develops, and facilitates interactive online educational content and interpretive tools for the museum website as well as other digital platforms and formats. In collaboration with web and digital media staff and others, embraces social media, digital, and technology opportunities such as crowd sourcing, augmented reality, and virtual art experiences.
- Monitors effectiveness, gathering and analyzing qualitative and quantitative statistics, and other engagement metrics for use in evaluation, reports, and grants and funding proposals. Integrates data collection, measurement, and assessment into museum processes and programs. Ensures timely and collegial responses to questions and feedback from visitors and others.
- Represents the museum and makes appropriate contributions to professional communities and wider publics, including local, regional, and statewide community organizations; museum and university committees; and national and international scholarly and professional organizations through various public programs and other professional development workshops, seminars, and conferences.
Why Work at Auburn?
- Life-Changing Impact : Our work changes lives through research, instruction, and outreach, making a lasting impact on our students, our communities, and the world.
- Culture of Excellence : We are committed to leveraging our strengths, resources, collaboration, and innovation as a top employer in higher education.
- We’re Here for You : Auburn offers generous benefits, educational opportunities, and a culture of support and work/life balance.
- Sweet Home Alabama : The Auburn/Opelika area offers southern charm, vibrant downtown scenes, top-ranked schools, and easy access to Atlanta, Birmingham, and the Gulf of Mexico beaches.
- A Place for Everyone : Auburn is committed to fostering an environment where all faculty, staff, and students are welcomed, valued, respected, and engaged.
Ready to lead and shape the future of higher education? Apply today! War Eagle!
Job Tags
Local area, Shift work,