POSITION TITLE:      Jesse Howard Fellowship

DIVISION:                   Academic Affairs

DEPARTMENT:         Artspace

REPORTS TO:           Artspace Director

PAY TYPE:                 Non-Exempt

WORKER TYPE:        Part-time

UPDATED:                 June 2024

PAY:                           $15.00 per hour

This position reports to the Director and provides important support for all aspects of caring for the collections housed at the Artspace including the Teaching Collection at KCAI and the Cohen Resource Room Collection. This responsibility includes resource management, exhibition preparation, art handling, installation, coordination of logistics, general program support, and audience engagement to serve the mission of the Artspace and the Kansas City Art Institute.

The Jesse Howard Fellowship is an initiative that reflects the Artspace mission to serve the region as a teaching museum by providing important professional development opportunities for promising young artists and art historians. The Howard Fellow is an essential member of the Artspace team and will make critical and meaningful contributions to the Artspace program while gaining valuable skills to support a future career in the arts. 

The Howard Fellow assists the Director and Manager of Operations & Communications with all aspects of caring for the Kansas City Art Institute’s fine art teaching collection and managing related resources and activities. This includes working with staff to maintain the collection management system database, conducting research on artists and works of art in the collection, providing registrational, curatorial, and educational support for the organization and presentation of exhibitions in the Cohen Resource Room, conducting an annual Art on Campus inventory, playing a lead role to organize and coordinate one annual Art on Campus installation rotation, and developing interpretive materials for artworks on view and featured on the Artspace website. 

Additionally, the Howard Fellow will support public program initiatives relative to their interests and skills, participate in strategic planning and evaluation, training and mentoring of work-study students and academic interns, and provide overall public program support when appropriate.

During the second semester, Fellows have the opportunity to propose and realize an exhibition or special project for the Cohen Resource Room.

Since 2004, the Artspace has offered paid internship opportunities for recent alumni or advanced upper-level KCAI students. This fellowship expands the educational profile of the Artspace program by creating an internship focused on museum practice and collection management for students of Art History interested in careers in the museum field. 

The Jesse Howard Fellowship is supported by a special fund established with proceeds from the accession of a major collection of works by Jesse Howard, a self-taught artist from Missouri, by the Kohler Foundation. In addition to the Fellowship, funds are available for special collection-related projects. 

Essential Functional Responsibilities: 

• Provide curatorial, registrational, and educational support for the all aspects of stewardship of the Kansas City Art Institute Fine Art Collection as assigned. 
• Work with Artspace staff and project consultants to oversee the collection database management system.
• Provide ongoing development and maintenance of object records and archives related to the collection. 
• Provide support for exhibition programs that feature works from KCAI’s fine art teaching collection. 
• Play a lead organizational role with the Art on campus program, including an annual inventory of works included in the Art on Campus program, and coordinating one rotation of works on campus dependent upon program budget.
• Under the guidance of Artspace staff, engage and interact with students and the general public   regarding programs and resources. 
• Conduct research and write interpretive materials for select works from the collection (labels, artist bios, website features, etc.)
• Follow approved procedures for accessioning works of art into the collection, creating loan form agreements for artworks on loan, and creating condition reports and art movement requests. 
• Other duties as assigned.

Supervises the following:

• N/A

Knowledge, Skills, and Qualifications:

• Able to perform physical duties of the position including use of ladders, lifts, manual dexterity to handle objects and tools.
• Ability to lift up to 50 lbs. and/or carrying up to 25 lbs. 
• Knowledge of art history and contemporary art. 
• Experience with museum/exhibition practices including exhibition design, installation, preparation, packing, and art shipping. 
• Ability to maintain confidentiality as appropriate. 
• Ability to interact and work successfully with staff, faculty, and students as related to job responsibilities.
• High computer literacy with knowledge of Office Suite, Adobe Creative Suite, and Facebook.
• Must have strong organizational and interpersonal skills. 
• Should have the ability to communicate well, both oral and written, with individuals of various backgrounds. 
• Must have a pleasant, courteous, and professional attitude and presence. 
• Ability to resolve conflicts in a constructive manner. 
• Ability to work successfully under the pressure of deadlines and manage multiple priorities. 
• Ability to work with minimum supervision, and to bring projects to conclusion on a timely basis.   

Required Experience/Education:

• Completion or advance work towards completion of BFA or BA with a strong focus on Art History. 

Preferred Experience/Education:

• N/A

Statement

Kansas City Art Institute is fully committed to Equal Employment Opportunity and to attracting, retaining, developing, and promoting the most qualified employees without regard to their race, gender, gender identity, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, age, physical or mental disability, genetic information, citizenship status, veteran status, or any other characteristic prohibited by federal, state or local law. KCAI provides reasonable accommodation for qualified individuals with disabilities and disabled veterans in the job application process. If you have any difficulty using our online system and you need accommodation due to a disability, you may contact the Human Resources Department about your interest in employment. Any questions or concerns can be directed to Kansas City Art Institute’s Human Resource Administrator.

EOE/AA: Minorities/Females/Disabled/Vets