Seeking Candidates for the 2016-17 Kress Interpretive Fellowship at the Portland Art Museum

The Portland Art Museum has been awarded a grant from the Samuel H. Kress Foundation for a 10-month paid, full-time fellowship position in museum interpretation beginning fall 2016. We are currently seeking candidates that have a strong interest in museum education, art conservation, and emerging interpretive strategies with a focus on accessibility and inclusive design. Through their work at the Museum, the Kress Interpretive Fellow will meaningfully extend visitor engagement and interpretation for the Museum’s collections and related special exhibition projects, with a focus on the areas of accessibility and conservation education.

Fellow Role & Requirements

Reporting to the Museum’s Interpretive Media Specialist, the Fellow will work closely with the Director of Education and Public Programs, Curator of European Art, and the Museum’s Conservator in addition to other staff across departments to support conservation education initiatives and a range of accessible interpretation strategies.  During the upcoming year, the Fellow will work with the Conservator, Curator of European Art, and Interpretive Media Specialist to develop an in-gallery “materials and techniques” interpretive station focusing on Kress objects in the European collection, connecting to additional online resources. In addition, the Fellow will work with the Conservator to offer a series of workshops, in-gallery programs, and demonstrations engaging the public with key aspects of technical art history and conservation, including materials and techniques related to bronze casting and stone carving.

In the spring of 2017, the Fellow will work with the Curator of European Art, Conservator, and Interpretive Media Specialist to support the Portland Art Museum’s installation of the Ghissi Altarpiece reunification—a unique special exhibition organized by the North Carolina Museum of Art that reunites the surviving panels of Francescuccio Ghissi’s St. John the Evangelist altarpiece.  Extending from the Fellow’s core research and programming work with the European collection and the Ghissi Altarpiece reunification, they will also work to support the development of accessible, multisensory interpretation and community outreach for the Museum’s special exhibition Rodin: The Human Experience — Selections from the Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Collections. Due to its focus on three-dimensional aspects of Rodin’s work and creative process, the Museum has selected this exhibition for further interpretation and outreach to blind and low vision audiences as well as people with dementia and their caregivers. Through the period of the fellowship, the Fellow will also work with Museum staff to gain an understanding of emerging practices in accessibility, inclusive design, and multisensory/multimodal learning.

Applicants must have completed a B.A. degree and must be either pursuing graduate study or have completed an M.A. degree in art history, museum studies, museum education, or a related field. Previous experience with museum education, accessibility, and inclusive design is a plus. 

Compensation & Benefits

The Fellow role is non-exempt/hourly status, full-time (35 hours per week) with a wage of $16.50/hour. The fellow role will be 10 months (beginning fall 2016) as a member of the Education department. Please note the length of the role does not void at-will employment status in Oregon.  The position is eligible for the Museum's benefits package on the first of the month following 30-days of full-time employment. Benefits include medical and dental benefits, paid time off (vacation, sick, holiday, jury duty, bereavement), long-term disability and AD&D, and a variety of perks such as free Museum admission, Gift Shop discounts, and screenings at the NW Film Center. Please see our website for more details.

Application Process

To apply online visit: www.portlandartmuseum.org/careers. Follow the link to create a profile and upload a brief cover letter, resume, and 2 references by July 20, 2016. Please note: we highly recommend you combine all attachments into a single word or PDF document for uploading.

The Portland Art Museum is an Equal Opportunity Employer.