Department: Learning and Engagement
Supervisor: Director of Learning and Engagement
The Manager of Gallery Learning serves a critical role in teaching, visitor engagement, and interpretation through oversight of the Museum’s public education initiatives. The Manager is responsible for the conceptualization and management of all group tours at the Museum, which serve thousands of school and adult visitors each year. As part of this role, the Manager recruits, trains, and evaluates the Museum’s Teaching Fellows, students from area colleges and universities who serve as gallery educators for the Museum’s tours. As an advocate for the visitor in the Museum’s galleries, the individual in this role also aids the content development of interpretative material to ensure texts are accessible and engaging for the diverse communities the Museum serves.
Tour Program Responsibilities
- Cultivates deep knowledge of the Museum’s permanent collection and special exhibitions
- Collaborates with the Director of Learning and Engagement, Associate Director of Learning and Engagement, and the Curatorial department to create a curriculum of training sessions around the collection and special exhibitions as part of the Teaching Fellowship program
- Establishes goals and content for school tours, incorporating the curricular needs, interests, and feedback of area teachers and students
- Sets goals and content for adult tours, integrating best practices in audience engagement and museum education as well as visitor feedback
- Oversees the recruitment, training, and support of Teaching Fellows every two years to give public tours of the permanent collection and special exhibitions
- Provides evaluation for Teaching Fellows, including tour shadowing and tour surveys, to create an excellent visitor experience. Ensures skills, information, and best practices in Museum Education are utilized and provides coaching or corrective action if needed
- Bi-weekly communicates with Visitor Experience Specialist on visitor tour queries and tour schedule, tracking Teaching Fellow hours
- Develops evaluation methodologies for tours, incorporating visitor feedback in planning and training
- Collaborates with Manager of School and Community Programs on Teacher Professional Development programs, creating gallery experiences and tours that align with art activities and curriculum standards
- Meets monthly with security department to ensure best practices in visitor and art safety is followed
- In addition to the Teaching Fellows body, this individual will develop a new corps of gallery educators to lead Spanish-language tours on a monthly basis and on visitor request
- Collaborates with Director of Systems and Web and other team members to maintain the Museum’s tour site and educational training site, including writing and editing copy and uploading any readings
- Leads tours and gallery conversations
- Participates as an active member of the Learning and Engagement Department team related to ways in which work through partners, interpretation, and teaching is aligned with the Museum’s commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, and access
Interpretation Responsibilities
- Edits all gallery and exhibition texts, ensuring language is clear, accessible, inclusive, and engaging for a diverse public audience in accordance with the Museum’s Style and Interpretation guides
- In collaboration with curators and the interpretation team in the Department of Learning and Engagement, assesses didactic materials to ensure the meeting of learning objectives
- Coordinates the translations of exhibition and other texts into Spanish
- Assists the Director of Learning and Engagement and Associate Director of Learning and Engagement in developing and implementing evaluation strategies to assess visitor feedback on didactic material
Administrative and cross-departmental responsibilities
- Produces and manages budgets
- Works in alliance with the Advancement department to develop materials, such as project narratives, budgets, and reporting, to secure and manage grants.
- Provides regular reports on tour engagement
- Other duties as assigned
Knowledge, Skills, Abilities
- Excellent ability to speak with a variety of audiences in a clear, concise, and organized manner in order to effectively convey information
- Strong editing skills to evaluate information based on grammar, spelling, punctuation, clarity, and consistency, as well as on content, context, and accessibility for our diverse and multigenerational visitors
- Excellent leadership and supervisory skills
- Deep and current knowledge of museum interpretation and visitor engagement theories, practices, and techniques
- Demonstrated experience in teaching on diverse cultures and perspectives and embeds DEAI practices into all aspects of work
- Ability to work in a fast-paced environment; adhere to deadlines; and effectively respond to Teaching Fellow needs.
- Strong project and time management skills, including meeting benchmarks for both self and individuals under supervision
- Ability to take a novel approach to work tasks or problems, including thinking outside of organizational norms in order to generate unique or original ideas and/or solutions
- Ability to establish and maintain positive working relationships within a team environment of staff, Fellows, and members of the public; exercise tact and diplomacy at all times
- Respects people of all backgrounds. Treats everyone in a fair and consistent manner, including creating an environment that values and includes perspectives from differing backgrounds, cultures, and skill sets.
- Comfortable and familiar with PC computers or willingness to learn
Education and Experience
- Bachelor’s Degree in Art History, Museum Studies, or related field. Master’s degree preferred.
- Three years of experience teaching in a museum or academic environment
- Two years of supervisory experience preferred
- Editorial experience preferred
About the Museum
Founded in 1951, the Birmingham Museum of Art is deeply invested in education and engagement and serves as a resource for communities locally, nationally, and internationally. It houses one of the finest collections in the Southeast of the United States. More than 27,000 objects displayed and housed within the Museum represent a rich panorama of cultures, including those from Asia, Europe, the Americas, and Africa, including work by both Pre-Columbian and Native North American artists. Highlights include the Museum’s collection of the arts of Asia, Vietnamese ceramics, the Kress collection of Renaissance and Baroque paintings, sculpture, and decorative arts from the late 13th century to the 1750s, and the Museum’s world-renowned collection of Wedgwood, the largest outside of England.
Compensation
Salary commensurate with qualifications and experience and includes an excellent benefits package.
To apply
Please apply with a letter of interest; curriculum vitae; names, addresses, and phone numbers of three references; and a writing sample
Review of applications will be ongoing until the position is filled.
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