Founded in 1923 as a private, nonprofit corporation, the Museum of the City of New York serves the people of New York and visitors from around the world through exhibitions, education programs, public programs, publications, and collections onsite at the Museum on Fifth Avenue’s Museum Mile and across its digital channels.

Education is at the core of the Museum’s mission. Students, teachers, families, and community members from across New York City’s five boroughs and around the world take part in the Museum’s Frederick A.O. Schwarz Education Center programming each year. The Museum of the City of New York is a place-based institution that covers a wide range of themes, from social activism to art, fashion to technology, history to science. Working in a supportive environment as a member of a dynamic, creative, and collaborative team, Fellows gain a wide range of skills while contributing greatly to developing and leading social impact programs that further the active educational goal of the Museum: to engage learners in examining the city’s past so that they may understand the present and envision their role in shaping the future.

Between July 2020 and June 2021, the Museum served nearly 111,200 onsite visitors through daily admissions on a reduced Friday-Sunday schedule, select onsite events, and other in-person programming. Virtually, the Museum served nearly 25,000 live attendees and viewers via its live-streamed and produced video programming, offered over Zoom, on Facebook Live, and YouTube, while reaching thousands more through engagement on our social media and the Museum’s website. Through programming designed for students, teachers, and families, the Museum’s Frederick A.O. Schwarz Education Center served over 66,000 participants, with nearly 34,000 logging on or viewing live or prerecorded content, and an additional 32,000 accessing the Museum’s teacher resources, art-making activities, and more.

Following the Museum’s closure in March 2020 and even after reopening in August 2020, virtual programming has remained a primary vehicle for the Museum to connect with our audiences. For the Schwarz Center, field trips have been reimagined as virtual field trips—individual, paid programs on a specific topic related to classroom learning—and virtual student workshops—large-scale, free webinars on a variety of contemporary topics within historical context—to reach the widest possible audience of students and teachers. In many ways, the virtual model has increased access to the Museum’s programs as entire grade levels and individual classrooms that would otherwise be unable to pay for an in-person field trip can log into webinars for free, and directly connect with Museum Educators through the chatbox and other online-only features. 

The Center also lead virtual professional learning programs for teachers to offer support in navigating the virtual and hybrid learning model; posted lesson plans and accompanying resources online for teachers to further classroom learning; and developed a series of instructional videos to provide families with hands-on activities and art-making from home, spearheaded by the Museum’s current FAO Schwarz Fellow.

As the Center looks ahead, both virtual programs and in-person programs will be a priority as the Museum develops a hybrid model for public engagement and learning. The 2022-2024 Fellow will join the team at an exciting moment of growth and transformation as the Museum celebrates its 100th birthday in 2023 and develops new ways to share the stories of New Yorkers’ dedication, community, struggle, and reinvention. The Fellow will develop educational content through the lens of STEAM learning, building on the current Fellow’s programmatic focus and imagining new ways for learners of all ages to explore the past, present, and future of the city.

• In 2020-21, nearly 3,000 students and teachers participated in the “City As Canvas” series of free programs led by former FAO Schwarz Fellow and Curator of Student Programs, Joanna Steinberg alongside current FAO Schwarz Fellow, Charlotte Blackman.
  
  
• 100% of the teachers who submitted evaluations following the “City as Canvas” Virtual Student Workshop agreed that they would register for more arts-based workshops at the Museum, and 72% wrote that arts programs had been cut or reduced at their schools. 
  
  
• Overall, the Schwarz Center has served nearly 10,000 students, teachers, and families via new free Virtual Student Workshops.

COVID SAFETY

In compliance with Emergency Executive Order 225 as set forth by the New York City  Mayor’s Office, effective August 17, 2021, the Museum requires that all employees  receive a COVID-19 vaccine so as to be fully vaccinated as a term and condition of  employment. 

All employees must attest to and provide proof of vaccination. Proof of vaccination constitutes receipt of at least one dose of a COVID-19  vaccine authorized for emergency use or licensed for use by the U.S. Food and Drug  Administration or authorized for emergency use by the World Health Organization.  Proof of vaccination in the form of CDC COVID-19 vaccination record card, or an  official immunization record from the jurisdiction, state, or country where the vaccine  was administered or a digital or physical photo of such record reflecting the individuals  name, vaccine brand and date administered; or New York City COVID Safe Pass, New  York State Excelsior Pass shall be provided to the Human Resources Department. For  the purpose of this policy, employees include all staff, interns, freelancers, contractors,  and volunteers. Employees are to only provide COVID-19 vaccination documentation  either through vaccination card, Excelsior Pass, or NY Covid Safe Pass; further medical  documentation, including genetic information, should not be provided. Employees not  in compliance with the Museum’s policy on September 13, 2021, are subject to  disciplinary action up to termination of employment.

NON-DISCRIMINATION STATEMENT

The Museum of the City of New York is an equal opportunity employer and complies with all Federal,  State and City employment standards. The Museum does not discriminate on the basis of actual or  perceived race, religion, creed, color, sex, age, physical or mental disability, pregnancy, national origin,  citizenship, alienage status, military/veteran status, marital or partnership status, familial status (including caregiver status), sexual orientation or affectional preference, gender, gender identity, gender expression,  genetic information (including genetic predisposition or carrier status), sexual and reproductive health  decisions, prior record of arrest or conviction, status as a victim of domestic violence, stalking or sex  offense, salary history, credit history, unemployment status, or any other characteristic protected by  federal, state and local laws (collectively, “Protected Classification”).