We’re hiring an IRWG Graduate Fellow for Exhibits!
The Institute for Research on Women and Gender (IRWG) announces a paid position for a UM graduate student (at any level or program) to assist with our Lane Hall exhibits. We are looking for someone interested in curating and setting up feminist/gender/sexuality-related art and media exhibits in Lane Hall’s first-floor rotating exhibit space. Lane Hall typically hosts one exhibition per semester, with flexibility to extend the exhibits into the summer. Sponsored by the Department of Women’s and Gender Studies (WGS) and IRWG, the exhibits feature two-dimensional art or visual objects and artifacts around a theme related to gender and/or sexuality. The exhibits may represent the work of one artist or a collective. An additional goal of the Lane Hall Exhibit Space is to offer co-curricular learning opportunities. For a list of previous exhibitions, visit https://irwg.umich.edu/lanehall.
About IRWG:
Established in 1995, the Institute for Research on Women & Gender (IRWG) is an interdisciplinary unit of the Office of the Vice President for Research. IRWG's mission is to support and encourage research on women, gender and sexuality at the University of Michigan. We do this by providing direct research funds, extramural grant support, and public programming for the campus community and public.
The IRWG Graduate Fellow for Exhibits will work with all IRWG staff members but most closely with the project manager and staff in WGS who share the exhibit space.
Duties will include:
- Working with faculty and staff in WGS and IRWG to organize the Call for Nominations of exhibits and select artists and works for the exhibit space;
- Interfacing with the artist(s) and nominating faculty to install the exhibits including handling details such as shipping art, planning out the exhibit, hanging, adjusting gallery lighting, wall prep, designing wall texts, ordering prints, and mounting wall decals;
- Overseeing the exhibit budgets and tracking expenses;
- Advertising the exhibits, including designing digital flyers, emails, social media assets and writing press releases and web content copy;
- Reaching out to faculty teaching courses who could benefit from integrating the exhibit into their classes and planning other educational engagements;
- Taking the lead in planning events such as opening receptions, artist talks, and additional related programming;
- Taking down the exhibit materials, returning artwork to the artist(s), restoring and preparing gallery space for the next exhibit, including patching/painting;
- Working in person in the IRWG suite for at least some of the scheduled work hours and taking on additional related projects as needed.
Qualifications:
- Be enrolled in a graduate program at the U-M Ann Arbor campus, and able to work in person in Ann Arbor.
- Previous experience handling art or working in a gallery or museum setting is helpful.
- Familiarity with design software such as Canva, Adobe Illustrator/Photoshop, or equivalent.
Salary & Work Schedule:
- Start date is negotiable, with a preference for someone who can commit some summer hours for planning the fall exhibit (in July/Aug).
- Ideally, the candidate would have some availability in April 2024 for 5-10 hours of paid training and onboarding.
- The IRWG Graduate Fellow for Exhibits will work an average of 10 hours per week during the '24-'25 academic year.
- Additional hours may be necessary during exhibit installation (twice per year).
- Summer hours are negotiable up to 10 hrs/week to prepare for an exhibit opening in early September 2024.
- This is an hourly, part-time temporary position (under the category of “Research Assistant”).
- The pay rate is $25 per hour.
- The Fellow will have an office in the IRWG suite (possibly shared, but available for use outside of work hours for studying and writing).
- We anticipate keeping the same Fellow for the whole academic year and summer, but if you are only available for one term please apply anyway and indicate that.
How to Apply:
Please send the following materials via email to IRWG Project Manager Heidi Bennett at heidiab@umich.edu by Tuesday, March 19th at 11:59pm ET:
- A brief statement of approximately one page describing your interest in the position, your current research and stage of training, any exhibit experience and technical skills, and attesting to your willingness to work in person in the summer of 2024 and during the 2024-2025 academic year;
- A short resume or CV with relevant experience;
- A list of all other employment obligations such as GSI positions, major deadlines such as qualifying exams, and travel plans that shows sufficient time in your schedule to fulfill the duties over the academic year;
- And the name and email address of a faculty member who has supervised your work recently (preferably a paid RA position, but it could be a committee member who has not supervised paid work)
IRWG staff will review applications and make a decision by April.
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