The Baltimore School for the Arts seeks an exceptional visual arts professional to lead its pre-professional training program as the Visual Arts Educational Associate 10 month (Department Head).

The Visual Arts Department Head is the artistic director and educational leader of BSA’s visual arts program and has primary responsibility for envisioning and implementing the visual arts curriculum.

The BSA Search committee, made up of members of the Board of Overseers, faculty, parents and artists, seeks a director who will ensure that BSA will continue to build on its sound foundation and tradition of excellence in Baltimore City, the State of Maryland, and as an institution of national prominence.

BALTIMORE SCHOOL FOR THE ARTS

In addition to visual arts, BSA provides conservatory quality, pre-professional training in dance, music, stage production, and theatre. Students, admitted to the school solely by an arts audition, study one arts discipline in conjunction with a challenging college preparatory academic curriculum. Students spend a minimum of 3 hours per day in their art major. There are 390 students in grades 9-12, approximately 80 in the visual arts program each year.

BSA serves a student body is diverse racially, socio-economically, and experientially. BSA is a Baltimore City Public School with 80% of its students being city residents and 20% coming from other counties in Maryland. The school has an exceptional graduation and college placement record – each year 95% or more of its graduates continue on to higher education.

The high school has been recognized as one of the top five public arts high schools in the U.S. In recent surveys, graduates report college graduation rates nearly double the national average as well. BSA alumni can be found on Broadway and television, in films, in major dance companies, orchestras, and in museums, galleries and design firms all over the world.

As one of Baltimore’s premier cultural institutions, the school attracts artists of the highest caliber as faculty, for residencies and for master classes. BSA also provides arts training to Baltimore’s children in grades 2--8 through its free after-school arts education program, TWIGS. The visual arts TWIGS program serves 100 students in classes that are compatible with our high school program. The Visual Arts Department Head oversees visual arts curriculum in all outreach efforts that involve the department.

OUR VISION, MISSION and VALUES

Our Vision

We respect the young creative mind and exist to nurture its passion and potential. We believe that the pursuit of mastery in an artistic field, paired with a strong individual sense of purpose, leads to a wide range of positive outcomes for both the student and the community.

Our Mission

Baltimore School for the Arts seeks to prepare the next generation of the creative workforce by providing inspiring arts and academic training to high school students as well as opportunities in the arts to younger children and the greater community.

Our Core Values

We believe these values are critical to the personal development of each student and an important underlying philosophy of the institution.

CURIOSITY

CONFIDENCE

EXPERTISE

COLLABORATION

PURPOSE

GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE

THE POSITION:
VISUAL ARTS EDUCATIONAL ASSOCIATE 10 MONTH (DEPARTMENT HEAD)

SUMMARY

The Baltimore School for the Arts seeks a Visual Arts Educational Associate 10 month (Department Head) to begin in August 2016. The Visual Arts Department Head serves as the artistic and educational leader of a distinguished staff of visual artists/teachers. In this role, the Visual Arts Educational Associate guides the curriculum within the Visual Arts Department while managing student educational work. The successful candidate should possess a dynamic vision for the Visual Arts program that will support student success in college and beyond into the creative work of the future.

BSA’s Visual Arts staff is strongly encouraged to continue their professional practice in addition to their responsibilities in the school.

Students participate in local professional partnerships in Baltimore, including with the Baltimore Museum of Art and the Walters Art Museum, and master teachers visit the school regularly. Visual Arts graduates have gone on to significant success, attending the nation’s leading post-secondary programs and working in fine arts, photography, film, fashion, advertising, media, and a variety of other fields. The new department head should be integral in maintaining and forging new relationships with the community’s institutions, professionals and artists.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Demonstrated interpersonal and communication skills and ability to bring diverse constituencies together to support our common mission
  
• Strong training and experience as a visual artist and an understanding of what is necessary to prepare serious young artists for professional careers
  
• Strong evidence of successful teaching in visual arts
  
• Strong evidence of progressive leadership of an art education program
  
• Respect for the value of public education and the understanding of the challenges of working in a public school system
  
• Bachelor’s degree, minimum; advanced degree preferred

• Maryland State Department of Education Standard Professional Certificate or Advanced Professional Certificate (or eligibility for MSDE Conditional Certificate)

RESPONSIBILITIES

High School

• Inspire young people with compelling, empathetic and effective visual arts training, including teaching in the studio or classroom
  
• Oversee approximately 80 students in the visual arts program on a daily basis
  
• Manage the visual arts faculty of practicing, professional artists
  (2 full- and 9 part-time)
  
• Supervise exhibitions and cross-disciplinary collaborative projects
  
• Communicate with prospective students and their families about the program in on-campus events as well as organize auditions for prospective students

BSA TWIGS

• Oversee the faculty teaching approximately 100 5th through 8th grade students that come to BSA for free after-school and Saturday visual arts training programs
  
• Manage the education program for these young students

Visual Arts Curriculum

• In collaboration with the visual arts faculty and school director, develop curriculum that provides powerful educational opportunities for students and connects them to the professional world
  
• Develop visual arts programs that connect BSA students to the larger Baltimore community while providing appropriate training to those students

Faculty

• Communicate regularly about operational and artistic matters
  
• Identify and hire visual arts faculty as necessary

Baltimore City Public Schools

• Serve as an employee of Baltimore City Public Schools

• Provide student attendance and student course grade information as required to BCPS
  
• Serve as a conduit of information from BCPS to faculty and students

OPPORTUNTIES

Compensation and Benefits

The BSA Board of Overseers will work closely with the Baltimore City Schools’ Office of Human Capital to provide a salary that is within City Schools’ guidelines and is commensurate with background and experience. The Baltimore City Schools also provides excellent health benefits that include vision, dental and prescription drug coverage, State of Maryland teachers’ retirement benefits and life insurance.

APPLICATION

Cover letters, resumes and supporting evidence of artistic work should be sent to:

Baltimore School for the Arts

c/o Brigid Zuknick/Visual Arts Search

712 Cathedral Street

Baltimore, MD 21201

Or via e-mail to [email protected]

Please include “Visual Arts Search” in the subject line. Applications will be accepted until the position is filled. The first selection round will occur immediately after January 30, 2016. Baltimore City Public Schools is an Equal Opportunity employer. Minorities, women, veterans and individuals with disabilities are encouraged to apply.