Carol Bates Fellowship (37405)

ABOUT THE WALTERS ART MUSEUM 

The Walters Art Museum is among America's most distinctive museums, forging connections between people and art from cultures around the world and spanning seven millennia. Located in Baltimore’s Mount Vernon neighborhood, the Walters is free for all. The museum’s campus includes five historic buildings and 36,000 art objects. 

Today, the Walters serves Baltimore and Maryland by embracing its role as educator and storyteller, using the collection as a vehicle of knowledge and cultural expression to support learning, dialogue, and community engagement. The museum is committed to public education, offering essential programs that help people to connect art to their lives. The Walters Visitor Promise aligns staff and volunteers across the museum to preserve and share the works in our care for future generations, partner with communities, and create welcoming, accessible experiences for visitors. The museum offers challenging and creative work opportunities by promoting collaboration and teamwork. 

OVERVIEW OF ROLE 

The Carol Bates Fellow researches and supports the learning and community engagement programs, audience engagement, and evaluation practices of the Walters Art Museum. This year’s Fellow reports to the Head of Community Engagement and Evaluation and will support the museum’s ongoing efforts to understand how people perceive and engage with the Walters. The Fellow will play an important role in researching how the Walters serves the Baltimore community and broader public, by understanding the experience of museum visitors, including groups that have been historically underrepresented in museums,  Through this position, the Fellow will learn how to conduct rigorous evaluations and audience research using surveys, interviews, observations, and other methods to gather data. The Fellow will use research tools to better understand visitors’ needs and desires, and create a feedback loop between the Walters’ audiences and staff. A successful candidate for this fellowship will be customer-service minded, willing to engage audiences face-to-face, and an analytical thinker.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

• Collect visitor data with Walters’ audiences via paper/pencil, tablet survey, and verbal interview;
• Follow all data collection protocols to randomly approach visitors, recruit them to participate, and conduct research with visitors;
• Take accurate, precise notes based on observations, interviews, or other engagement with visitors;
• Record, clean, and code quantitative and qualitative data into systems such as Word, Excel, or Google spreadsheets;
• Conduct an analysis of the collected data through hand coding and/or descriptive statistics;
• Report on research findings through a powerpoint presentation with charts and visuals documenting key learnings;
• Participate in an orientation to the museum and collaborate on and participate in continuing professional development designed with emerging professionals in mind;
• All other duties as assigned.

JOB QUALIFICATIONS 

• Bachelor’s degree in art/museum education, education, art, psychology, sociology, or another humanities discipline is required.
• Must be comfortable approaching and talking with visitors, and not easily discouraged if/when visitors decline to participate in a research project.
• Is detail oriented and can follow data collection and entry protocols without deviation and can take accurate and precise notes.
• Has a high level of emotional intelligence, with an ability to be responsive to verbal and non-verbal cues in interviews.
•  Enjoys critical thinking and using analytical skills to assess problems and determine solutions.
• Is able to communicate in a clear and positive manner.
• Demonstrated commitment to equity, and upholds anti-racist and inclusive research practices.
• Demonstrated ability to work independently and as part of a team
• Ability to interact with visitors for 3 to 4 hours at a time.

SCHEDULED SHIFT

This 8-month fellowship is a 30-hour per week position, Tuesday through Friday, with one weekend day or Thursday evening each week as needed.  

HOURLY RATE $18.75

The Walters Art Museum provides an excellent comprehensive benefits package that includes medical, dental, prescription, vision, subsidized transportation and parking, museum membership, short term disability, long-term disability, life insurance, FSA (flexible spending account), 457b retirement, and free professional financial management counseling. All employees must be legally authorized to work in the United States. The museum does not sponsor work visas.

Salary : $19