Museum and Community Teaching Artist

Department: Hourly PTE

Reports to Museum Program Manager

.50% PTE hourly on-call/temporary Starting wage $18.53 an hour.

Core Values: with a racial equity and social justice lens, MOCHA uses the arts as a vehicle to advocate for self-expression, culture and community-building, and the centering of youth voices. We achieve this through hands-on experiential arts education for Bay Area children, youth, and their families, arts-integrated Professional Development, and curriculum for educators.

General Summary

The Museum of Children’s Art (MOCHA) operates a children and youth museum space and provides educational outreach programs in the schools, libraries and the community. With a racial equity and social justice lens, our mission is to use the arts as a vehicle to advocate for self-expression, culture and community-building, and the centering of youth voices. Through MOCHA’s programs and events, the arts become a fundamental part of the everyday lives of Bay Area children and youth, their families and the community, creating a culture of racial equity and social justice.

MOCHA seeks enthusiastic and motivated Museum/Community Teaching Artists to lead museum programs, exhibitions, Art Parties, workshops, field trips, open studios, special projects/events, and seasonal camps. Museum/Community Teaching Artists varied responsibilities include but are not limited to: on-site/off-site teaching, facilitating programs or curriculum, selling admissions, and facilitating community events.

This person must be exceedingly well-organized, flexible and able to uphold the mission, guiding principles, community agreements, and values of the Museum of Children’s Art in every aspect of the work. The ability to maintain a high level of professionalism and confidentiality while interacting with internal and external stakeholders while remaining adaptable, proactive, resourceful, and efficient is crucial to this role.

Essential Duties & Responsibilities

• ● Art Instruction: deliver 60 to 90-minute lessons that can include inquiry-based discussions, hands-on art lessons, student-assisted clean-up, and closing reflections for children ranging in age from pre-K to 12th grade, and from a variety of backgrounds, including students with special needs and children with English as a second language

• ● Open Studio: develop interactive theme-based art projects. Assist visitors as they interact with the studio environment, and encourage their creativity and exploration of materials. Oversee set-up and continual clean-up of art studio, art material preparation, and clean up at the close.

• ● Customer Service: greet and welcome museum visitors, take admissions payments, disperse informational materials, maintain front desk cleanliness and organization, check in Campers during Camps, and other related tasks.

• ● Camps: Identify teaching strategies and learning activities appropriate to the specific discipline, age, and level of English language proficiency. Plan lessons with clear objectives and relevant, measurable outcomes. Make learning objectives clear to students using multiple types of informational support tools. Use multidisciplinary and engaging ways to begin a new unit of study or lesson while building on students’ prior knowledge and experiences. Employ a variety of teaching techniques such as discussion, problem solving, cooperative learning, and problem-based learning and reflection practices.

• ● Community Programs: through which we bring interactive art making and family programming to non-traditional art settings such as libraries, festivals, recreation & family centers, and other public venues.

• ● Museum: Support, organization and maintenance of art supplies & materials and museum and exhibition spaces.

• ● Provide regular feedback to students on their progress and be comfortable receiving and giving professional feedback 

• ● Create an environment that is conducive to learning, creativity, and student development.

• ● Respect student space and safety while maintaining appropriate standards of behavior, mutual respect, and safety.

• ● Manage classroom routines and procedures using SEL and CRM practices.

• ● Manage art supplies distribution and clean up for each classroom served.

• ● Prioritize culturally responsive and relevant approaches to teaching that encourages every student to engage and learn.

• ● Practice sensitivity and respectful language use as it relates to race, ethnicity, ability (including, but not limited to physical), socioeconomic conditions, and gender identity.

  Non-Essential Duties

  • Special projects.

  • Ability to provide own transportation or utilize public transportation to and from programming.

    Job Specifications

    To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to carry out each essential duty in a satisfactory manner. The job specifications listed below are representative of the education and experience as well as the knowledge, skill, and/or ability (KSAs) required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform essential functions.

  • Experience designing and implementing developmentally appropriate art curriculum

  • Knowledge of youth development and arts education principles and practices

  • Experience working in customer service roles, ideally in a museum or non-profit environment

  • Foundational concepts of visual arts and the elements of art, line, shape, color, texture and space.

  • Foundational concepts of social emotional learning (SEL) and Community Resiliency Model (CRM).

  • Methods, materials, and techniques are unique to the visual arts such as: drawing, painting, sculpture, printmaking, collage,

    crafts, photography and textiles.

  • Foundations of art history and the ability to integrate and center both historically celebrated and historically marginalized

    artists into classroom discussions and examples.

  • Strong analytical and quantitative skills and experience analyzing and presenting complex information

  • Ability to work effectively with ideologically and culturally diverse partners.

  • Curiosity about and ability to rapidly acquire knowledge in areas beyond current expertise, a life long learner.

  • Strong interpersonal skills.

  • Bi-lingual and multilingual candidates are strongly encouraged to apply. •

    Education & Experience

    • A high school diploma, GED, with some training in visual arts education, passion for the arts, and/or previous experience teaching visual arts in learning environments with children and youth.

    • Willingness to accommodate requests for support outside of regular business hours on occasion, with appropriate notice.

    • Background and health screening are required for this position. Successful completion.

      Knowledge, Skills & Abilities

    • Ability to support the mission, vision, guiding principles, community agreements, and values of Museum of Children’s Art and abide by applicable standards of conduct, policies, and procedures.

    • Ability to interact and communicate effectively with people from diverse backgrounds.

    • Ability to communicate effectively, verbally and in writing.

    • Ability to problem-solve issues.

    • Must be honest, dependable, and able to meet deadlines.

• Must be organized and able to handle multiple tasks.

• Self-motivated and able to work independently.

• Attend all required meetings and training sessions.

• Accepts and incorporates constructive feedback.

  Physical Requirements

• Sitting most of the time with some bending and reaching.

• Standing, walking, and bending periodically.

• Engaging in repetitive movements of wrists, hands, and fingers – typing and/or writing.

• Receiving and responding to oral communication.

• Exerting up to 20 - 40 pounds of force occasionally and/or a negligible amount of force frequently or constantly to

  lift, carry, push, pull or otherwise move objects.

  Work Environment

• Work is performed in schools, libraries, museums and in public community spaces.

Work Schedule & Travel Requirements

• Scheduled hours vary based on MOCHA events and programming.

• Rotating scheduled weekends required for Museum programs onsite/offsite, including but not limited to Art

  Parties, community events, or Open Studio.

• Rotating scheduled on-call weekends is required.

• May be required to attend events or meetings outside of scheduled work hours.

  Application Procedure

  Please submit a cover letter and resume, including 3 professional references, to Shannon Meadors (jobs@mocha.org). Refer to www.mocha.org for more information.