Freelance Museum Educator
Whitney Museum of American Art•New York, NY
9d
About The Position
The Whitney Museum seeks Freelance Educators to develop and lead tours of the Whitney’s collection and special exhibitions for our adult audiences. Museum Educators welcome and engage visitors by giving extended introductory tours of current exhibitions and providing insights into the ideas behind the works of art on view. They help visitors make sense of often challenging art by offering interpretive content and providing a larger context for the work. Educators also have the opportunity to design specialized gallery-based or virtual tours that draw on their own fields of interest and highlight the Whitney’s collection’s relevance to contemporary social issues.
Requirements
- B.A./M.A./M.F.A. in art history, contemporary art, American studies, or a related field, and/or museum education. We are seeking diverse perspectives on American art of the 20th and 21st Century, including Latinx and American indigenous perspectives, and including candidates who are able to offer tours in both Spanish and English.
Responsibilities
- Leading tours of the Whitney’s collection and special exhibitions, both in-person and virtual, for general audiences and groups. Adult tour educators use both lecture and dialogue methodologies to actively engage audiences in the interpretive content and social context of the artwork on view.
- Developing tours based on training and materials provided by the museum and on further independent research.
- Preparing and proposing different educational modalities, both in-person and virtual, for diverse audience groups including groups with specific access issues, college and university groups, patron groups, community groups, as well as general visitor groups
- Working collaboratively and communicating effectively with Education Department staff and Visitor and Member Experience staff, and working thoughtfully with other educators, docents, and teaching fellows.
- Attending training sessions and curator-led walkthroughs of exhibitions.
- Managing scheduling and invoicing in a timely manner.
