Post-Baccalaureate Fellow in PreK-12 Museum Education (11-month Term Appointment)

Cornell University • Ithaca, MI

2d • Onsite

About The Position

The Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art at Cornell has been bringing art and people together since 1973, with free admission for all. The Museum welcomes visitors to experience original works of art across an array of global traditions, time periods, and media for education, inspiration, and delight, and connects to the vibrant intellectual and cultural life of Cornell University and a public audience through exhibitions, programs, teaching, and research. It is a nationally recognized university art museum, with a collection of over 40,000 objects and a pre-K-12 teaching focus based on its Asian, Pre-Columbian, African, and contemporary art collections as well as special exhibitions. The education department of the Johnson Museum serves around 9,000 pre-K-12 students per year within a 50-mile radius of rural Ithaca. The Museum is also a part of Kids Discover the Trail, a citywide sequential program that reaches every child in the Ithaca City School District through a consortium of eight educational organizations, including the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, the Cornell Botanical Gardens, and The Tompkins County Public Library. Join our education department as the Post-Baccalaureate Fellowship in PreK-12 Museum Education at The Johnson Museum of Art! This position is an eleven-month appointment to the Museum’s education department for the academic year 2026-27, with a start date mid-August, 2026. The Fellow reports to the Manager of School and Family Programs and the Director of Education and will join an education team of seven professional staff and approximately 30 student interns. The Fellow will work with all museum departments, including collections management, curatorial, editorial, development, administration, and visitor services, as well as with Cornell faculty and graduate students as needed. As a Post-Baccalaureate Fellow in PreK-12 Museum Education, you will have an opportunity to immerse yourself in experimental new approaches to pre-K-12 teaching collaborations in Ithaca and across the Southern Tier; family and afterschool program engagement; and object-based curriculum development for elementary, middle, and high school students, both in-person and via digital and web-based resources. You will respond sensitively to the curricular needs of educators in rural and urban school districts. You will be a key partner as museum staff collaborate with select faculty and students to update and reimagine our pre-K-12 units dedicated to global arts and cultures in the Museum’s collections. You will design materials that build connections with the New York State Common Core Learning Standards and may incorporate elements of studio practice. You will contribute to the Museum’s PreK-12 education web portal to house virtual materials and engage younger audiences, teachers, and parents in new ways. You will have opportunity to contribute to grant application narratives and acquire qualitative research skills; a single- or co-authored conference paper on an aspect of museum education is a desired output.

Requirements

• A cover letter and resume outlining your interest and how your experience and goals align with the potential for mutual success in the role are required for consideration.
• Completed a Bachelor's degree with up to two years of experience.
• Open to all areas of study, but a deep interest in the humanities and global arts is vital.
• Experience with, or eagerness to acquire experience with, working with school-age children in formal or informal settings, for example as a camp counselor, teacher’s aide, or museum educator, etc.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills, as this position involves regular communication with several internal and external parties to the University.
• Superb organization skills, including the ability to follow protocols, multi-task, and prioritize responsibilities.
• Experience in and/or demonstrated commitment to supporting diversity, equity, access, inclusion, and wellbeing.
• Passionate about working in an organization that values and promotes diversity, equity, inclusion, anti-racism, and wellbeing.

Nice To Haves

• Studio skills
• Facility with, or eagerness to acquire facility with, Word Press and Adobe Creative Suite, including video creation/editing programs and Photoshop.
• Driver’s license.

Responsibilities

• Curriculum development (30%)
• Teacher program development (10%)
• Teaching and family programs (40%)
• Research and reflection (10%)
• Other position-related responsibilities (10%)

Benefits

• comprehensive health care options
• generous retirement contributions
• access to wellness programs
• employee discounts with local and national retail brands
• health and personal leave
• three weeks of vacation
• 13 holidays: Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Memorial Day, Juneteenth, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving and the day after, and an end of the year winter break from December 25-January 1
• two additional floating holidays
• tuition-free Extramural Study and Employee Degree Program
• tuition aid for external education
• Cornell Children's Tuition Assistance Program
• employee wellness
• workshops
• childcare and adoption assistance
• parental leave
• flexible work options

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Entry Level
• Number of Employees: 1-10 employees