Director of Education and Academic Affairs

Provide strategic leadership for the Education and Academic Affairs Department, serving university audiences, schools, and the public. Lead, mentor, and evaluate staff; oversee departmental programs and budgets. Foster a culture of excellence, innovation, and collaboration that distinguishes the Blanton as a leader in museum education. Design and implement educational programs that serve as models for peer university art museums. Partner other senior leadership members and internal teams to align initiatives with the museums mission and represent the museum in professional organizations and field-wide initiatives.Develop and sustain collaborative partnerships with a wide range of academic departments and university programs to foster the use of the Blanton collection and special exhibitions as an integral resource. Teach curriculum-based classes in the galleries for a broad range of academic disciplines from medical and nursing programs to the humanities with a special emphasis on integrating the use of Blanton resources with major university initiatives. Partner with other museum departments to develop and implement strategies that facilitate this effort. Collaborate closely with curators and other museum staff to develop and implement interpretive strategies for exhibitions and objects from the collection. Participate as needed in exhibition content reviews and selection processes. Review and edit all written interpretive materials for clarity. Oversee K-12 programming developed in close collaboration with area school educators, appropriate university faculty and staff, and partner organizations supporting K-12 visual arts education. Provide leadership for the museums long-standing docent program with a corps of more than 60 volunteers. Oversee family programs, evaluating quality , impact, and potential for growth. Develop and implement an evaluation plan to assess the qualitative and quantitative impact of Education and Academic Affairs Department programs. Collaborate with museum staff to develop fundraising strategies and actively participate in fundraising and donor solicitation efforts in support of departmental initiatives. Provide direction for engaging the broader university student body in self-initiated, out-of-class museum visits that foster a lifelong love of the arts among students. Oversee departmental interns and fellows. Other related functions as assigned.