Job Description

About the Art Institute of Chicago

The Art Institute of Chicago shares its singular collections with our city and the world. We collect, care for, and interpret works of art across time, cultures, geographies, and identities. We are a place of gathering and learning, committed to fostering an inclusive understanding of human creativity.

About the Department

The Patrick G. and Shirley W. Ryan Learning Center is a platform for culturally responsive experiences that bring young people and the adults around them into dynamic and inspiring encounters with art. We celebrate curiosity and creativity, with the conviction that meaningful experiences with art and with the museum enrich people’s lives, connect people to one another, and build confidence and the capacity to imagine, create, and make sense of the world.

With an enduring commitment to equitable access, the Ryan Learning Center team engages children, teens, families, students, and educators through a wide array of programs, partnerships, and resources. These include guided gallery experiences, studio workshops, youth leadership opportunities, festivals and events, neighborhood-based engagements, and professional learning experiences. We serve all museum audiences through our free and accessible public learning space, the Ryan Learning Center. Through these experiences, learners can confidently engage with the museum as a resource, be critical thinkers and imaginative creators, and animate the museum as a place of insight, expression, and community.

By focusing on Chicago learners and centering civic partnerships in our work, the Ryan Learning Center activates and amplifies the museum’s civic role and strategic priorities to serve Chicago audiences; expand our presence within neighborhoods; and cultivate a visitorship that reflects our city.

The Ryan Learning Center Woman’s Board Fellow offers an aspiring museum education professional the opportunity to learn about and contribute to the work of a museum’s learning department over the course of one year, with a special focus on facilitating museum tours for students and their teachers.

As part of the K-12 Student Experiences team, the fellow will participate in an initial intensive training that will build their understanding and capacity to lead accessible, inclusive, multi-sensory, and multimodal student learning experiences during the school year. The fellow will be a part of a cohort of educators who collectively support and carry out the museum’s K-12 offerings by leading tours, responding to teacher inquiries, and engaging in research and lesson plan development.

The fellow will contribute to other programmatic areas within the Ryan Learning Center; in particular, they will work with the Creative Spaces team to support family and multigenerational art-making programs in the Art Exchange, which is the public space of the Ryan Learning Center. In the summer, the fellow will provide mentorship and support for the Ryan Learning Center Internship program, which hosts a cohort of 10 college students. The fellow may contribute to efforts around resource production or teacher professional development, as needs and opportunity arise.

The fellow will join a museum-wide cohort of interns and fellows and will have access to a range of programs to support their professional development. Mentorship is provided throughout the experience, and the fellow will join a network that includes alumni and museum professionals that can support their career pathway in future years.

This is a one-year, full-time 35 hour-per-week onsite position beginning on September 2, 2026 and ending on August 31, 2027. From September 2, 2026 through May 28, 2027 this position will hold a Tuesday-Saturday weekly schedule. From June 1 through August 31, 2027 this position will hold a Monday-Friday weekly schedule. Occasional evening work may be required. Must be available to attend all initial training sessions held from September 2 - September 25, 2026 on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. The Fellow should not plan extended time off in March, April, or May.

Responsibilities

• Active Teaching and Training: On a weekly basis, facilitates museum student experiences within inclusive, accessible, multi-sensory, and multimodal frameworks; participates in ongoing training and community-building programs that address the pedagogy and logistical procedures for in-museum student experiences as well as professional development for the teaching corps and broader RLC department.
• Content Development: Contributes content for tour curricula and related resource development through research, writing, and piloting, and evaluation; engages in ongoing research about the museum’s collection and exhibitions; follows scholarship and participates in professional development.
• Program Development and Support: Contributes to preparation and facilitation of art-making programs for families and multigenerational audiences, including Family Days and the Artist’s Studio; actively works within the Art Exchange, the museum’s public artmaking and learning space for multigenerational visitors.
• Mentorship and Assistant Teaching: Provides mentorship and administrative support to summer college interns. Interns are trained in RLC teaching strategies and pedagogy to lead community and family tours during the summer season.
• Communication and Collaboration: Collaborates with colleagues across departments to coordinate student group entrance and visitation to the museum. Provides timely and accurate reporting on attendance and visitor experience. The Art Institute of Chicago Job Description
• Other Programs/Projects: As opportunity arises, contributes to the work of the Ryan Learning Center by supporting teacher professional development programs or contributing to the development of educational resources.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree required; recent graduate (December 2025 or after) preferred.
• Experience working with teachers, students, and/or multigenerational family audiences in formal or informal learning settings is preferred.
• Previous experience teaching with works of art and general knowledge of art history and various making techniques.
• Strong organization and planning skills with the ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously.
• Excellent interpersonal, verbal, and written communication skills, including ability to communicate with audiences of different backgrounds, levels of knowledge, and types of ability.
• Ability to function effectively as part of a team.
• Demonstrates a solutions-oriented disposition and works well collaboratively across teams.
• Demonstrates an awareness of culturally responsive and multimodal curriculum design.
• Demonstrates energy and enthusiasm for the mission of the museum
• Proficiency in MSOffice and Google suite
• Spanish language fluency is an asset in this position.

Physical Requirements

The physical demands described are representative of those that must be met by a teammate to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

• Daily standing or active movement for periods of 2-3 hours.
• Use of office technology required; must be able to look at a screen and use basic office equipment frequently.
• Physical ability to lift, carry or push 30lbs at a time with or without assistance.
• With training and under the supervision of staff, operates cutting equipment such as paper cutting guillotines, Xacto knives, and scissors.

Compensation & Benefits

Please click on the links below to view our competitive, comprehensive benefits package:

• Hiring Range

The expected hiring range is an estimated amount for positions based on the grade. Final offers are based on various factors, including skill set, experience, qualifications and other job-related reasons.

• Benefits
• PTO Overview
• Job Classification: Full time exempt
• Employment Category: Fellow
• Grade Level: 6

If you are accessing this listing from a third party, not all links to salary and benefits information may work. Please visit our career page at saic/artic.edu/employment for complete information

Application Instructions

To apply for this fellowship, the following materials are required:

• Résumé
• In lieu of a traditional cover letter, please respond to the following questions in short essays (no more than 300 words per answer.) We encourage you to provide specific examples to support your answers or to illustrate your ideas:
  • What about this opportunity interests you the most?
  • How do you envision this opportunity helping you towards your professional goals?
  • What do you see as the role of a museum educator in preparing for and facilitating strong museum education experiences for students?
  • What do you see as key priorities for successful, multi-generational, museum education programs and resources?
  • What do you appreciate about working with young people, and what approaches might you bring to working with them in the context of student experiences and multigenerational family visits in an art museum?

To submit your application: Visit artic.edu/careers to find this job posting and apply online. You must upload all of the requested materials as one pdf document (résumé and essay responses) and list your last name and “WBF_FY27” in the title of the file (example: [LAST NAME]_WBF_FY26.pdf.) Please upload your materials where the application asks for a “résumé/cover letter.”

PLEASE NOTE: You will not be considered if any requested application element is missing.

Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis, so early application is suggested. Selected applicants will be asked to interview via video call.

Union

This position is part of a bargaining unit represented by AFSCME Council 31.

Accessibility

If you are a job seeker with a disability and require a reasonable accommodation to apply for one of our jobs, you will find the contact information to request the appropriate accommodation by visiting the following page:

Accessibility Accommodation for Applicants

Equal Opportunity Statement

The Art Institute of Chicago is an Equal Opportunity Employer that recruits, hires and promotes qualified individuals compliant with federal and state laws. If reasonable accommodation is needed to participate in the job application or interview process, please contact the Department of Human Resources at apply_help@artic.edu