Ryan Learning Center Woman's Board Fellow

Ryan Learning Center Woman's Board Fellow

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.

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:

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.

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.
• 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:

• 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…