Introduction
For more than 150 years, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) has been a leader in educating the world’s most influential artists, designers and scholars. Located in downtown Chicago with a fine arts graduate program consistently ranking among the top four graduate fine arts programs in the nation by U.S. News and World Report, SAIC provides an interdisciplinary approach to art and design as well as world-class resources, including the Art Institute of Chicago museum, on-campus galleries and state-of-the-art facilities. SAIC’s undergraduate, graduate and post-baccalaureate students have the freedom to take risks and create the bold ideas that transform Chicago and the world—as seen through notable alumni and faculty such as Michelle Grabner, David Sedaris, Elizabeth Murray, Richard Hunt, Georgia O’Keeffe, Cynthia Rowley, Nick Cave, and LeRoy Neiman.
Position Summary
As part of a collaborative and dynamic team at SAIC’s Library + Special Collections, the Joan Livingstone Director of the Textile Resource Center (TRC) provides leadership in the development and design of all programs and collections at the TRC. This position provides highly specialized duties to support and fully engage in the School’s educational mission and its students’ success–and in particular, the curriculum and pedagogical practices of the Fiber and Material Studies department. Directly oversees all material acquisition transactions, regular budgetary management, and general facility inventory and upkeep of the TRC. Supports the Fiber and Material Studies department’s curriculum. Serves as a resource to students, faculty, academic departments, and the broader community. We require a commitment to art and design education; and a commitment to and demonstrated knowledge of diversity, equity, and inclusion issues as related to research, instruction, collections, and user-centered services.
Primary Duties and Responsibilities:
Leadership:
- Oversees for TRC daily operations; develops, directs, and assesses the work of the TRC students employees, including the responsibility for the day-to-day oversight of all policies and procedures.
- Works with the Dean of the Library + Special Collections along with the Fiber and Material Studies (FMS) chair and faculty to develop long-term goals and strategic initiatives for TRC.
- Oversees the fiscal development of the TRC, which includes: grant writing and reporting, developing new sources of revenue, and working with the Dean and the Office of
- Advancement on budgets, grants, and reports. Prepares all final reports on the expenditure of government and foundation funds.
- Liaises with the Office of Advancement to develop and implement fundraising strategies for the TRC.
- Manage, supervise, and coordinate schedules of volunteers and student employees.
- Builds and maintains mailing lists of collection advisors, benefactors, faculty and friends of the TRC.
- Develops and maintains internal and external communications and statistical data.
Collection Development + Management:
- Develops and maintains the TRC collection to support SAIC curriculum, and in conjunction with FMS chair and faculty, ensures that the TRC’s mission, collection, and programming align to support curriculum.
- Leads in the acquisition of new materials and seeks to broaden the collection to support the curriculum fully. Works to ensure that the TRC collection is responsive to the academic needs of the SAIC community.
- Responsible for the documentation, preservation, and care of the collections.
- Maintain the TRC collection, which includes: gifts; textiles, publications, print, and visual materials.
- Collaborates with the Flaxman Library’s Collection Management and Digital Services teams to maintain and update all TRC collection information in a variety of systems–this includes cataloging print publications, textiles, and other objects.
- Responsible for the acquisition, cataloging, repair, conservation, and cleaning of all TRC collections
Teaching + Learning:
- Works in collaboration with the FMS chair and faculty to support curriculum, as well as serving as a teaching resource for SAIC at large.
- Designs, produces, and oversees a range of instructional programs and materials, including leading object-based instruction sessions, class visits, workshops, and tutorials to support SAIC curriculum.
- Plays an essential role in advising, coordinating, and collaborating with colleagues throughout the Library + Special Collections, Fiber and Material Studies, and the campus to optimize and promote the use of collections for teaching, learning, and research activities. Also engages the broader arts community to enrich opportunities for our students and faculty.
- Plans, develops, and coordinates programming in conjunction with the Dean of the
Library + Special Collection and the Fiber and Materials Chair and faculty
- Supports research in the collections; provides all forms of research services for students, faculty, and other researchers, including but not limited to in-person and email research assistance.
- Proactively engages the School’s agenda for student success.
Other duties may be assigned by the Dean of the Library + Special Collections at SAIC.
