Ryan Learning Center Facilitator

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.

Position Summary

As part of the Ryan Learning Center team, the Facilitator leads interactions with multigenerational audiences in the RLC Art Exchange, contributes to the development and refinement of interactive experiences in the space, and provides maintenance and administrative support that enables this learning space to be a welcoming, inclusive, and accessible environment to all visitors to the museum. In this part-time role, the Facilitator is responsible for opening and closing procedures, for daily space maintenance, and for delegating tasks and reporting as needed.

The Facilitator collaborates with colleagues across the department and throughout the museum to carry out their responsibilities. A member of Chicago’s education and arts ecosystems, the Facilitator serves as an ambassador and a connector between the museum and communities in Chicago and helps to deepen audience connections to art and creativity.

This is a two‑day‑per‑week part‑time position, with a standard 9:30–5:00 schedule (including a 30‑minute lunch) for a total of 14 hours weekly. The schedule includes Sundays plus one additional weekday.

Responsibilities

• Teaching and Training: On a weekly basis, facilitates in-museum experiences with multigenerational audiences within the Ryan Learning Center’s public, free, drop-in learning space, in alignment with departmental values and pedagogy. Participates in professional development and community-building with staff to sustain current teaching practices, maintain awareness of museum collections and exhibitions, and ensure adherence to logistical procedures. Contributes to the training and coaching of volunteers, as needed.
• Content Development: Contributes to the development of artmaking experiences by testing and providing input to staff who lead program development; implements formal evaluation to gather feedback from visitors; provides timely reporting of issues to RLC staff on visitor experience and barriers, and generates recommendations based on visitor inputs.
• Supply and Space Coordination: Provides daily maintenance of the Ryan Learning Center's Art Exchange and associated spaces; prepares and stocks materials for the Art Exchange as well as for larger scale onsite and offsite events, as needed; contributes to the ongoing maintenance of supply inventory and storage spaces.
• Event Support: At times, the Facilitator may be asked to facilitate or support events that take place in the Ryan Learning Center, in the museum’s galleries, or in offsite locations, which may include leading drop-in studio artmaking experiences, supporting staff with event set-up and break-down, preparing and/transporting artmaking materials, and traveling to community sites.
• Communication and Collaboration: Collaborates with colleagues across departments to coordinate the smooth operation of the Ryan Learning Center; provides timely and accurate reporting on attendance; provides administrative support to the department as needed.

Qualifications

• High school diploma or GED required; Bachelor’s degree preferred
• Minimum 2 years experience working in a learning environment, with students, families, teens, or adults required
• Ability to learn MS Office Suite and Google Suite
• Working understanding of current trends in education and human developmental levels
• Experience working with artmaking materials and practices
• Advanced interpersonal, verbal, and written communication skills, including ability to communicate with audiences of different backgrounds, levels of knowledge, and types of ability
• Enthusiasm for collaboration and ability to function effectively as part of a team
• Demonstrated organization and planning skills with the ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously; flexibility to shift priorities and support multiple aspects of program development and operations
• Commitment to innovation and life-long learning

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
• With training and under the supervision of staff, operates cutting equipment such as paper cutting guillotines, Xacto knives, and scissors
• Occasionally lifts and moves packages of up to 25 pounds
• Operates computers, printers, and other standard office equipment

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: Part-time
• Employment Category: Non-Exempt
• 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

The following items are required as part of the application. Please submit as a combined pdf, saving the file as [your full name]_RLCF_CS:

• A resume

• In lieu of a cover letter, provide short essay responses (200 words maximum each) to the following prompts:
  • Share why you would excel as a member of our teaching community in the role of Ryan Learning Facilitator, Creative Spaces.
  • Describe what you consider the key aspects of a successful, drop-in, art-making program in a museum.
  • What approaches might you bring to working with families and multigenerational audiences in an art museum?

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 [email protected].