Title Image

PHILADELPHIA, PA

ART• EDUCATION • EQUITY • COMMUNITY

The 2023–2025 FAO Schwarz Fellowship at the Barnes Foundation

The Barnes Foundation logo

The mission of the Barnes Foundation is to promote the advancement of education and the appreciation of the fine arts.

The Barnes strives to be a leading forum for exploration of the arts, ideas, and histories represented in its collections, manifesting this commitment by teaching visual literacy; supporting advanced scholarship; promulgating interpretive strategies; and offering inclusive cultural and educational experiences onsite, online, and in its communities.

About the Fellowship

The FAO Schwarz Fellow will engage with underserved and under-resourced communities through programming for their direct service work and, in collaboration with Barnes staff, will take a leadership role in developing future museum programming tailored to upcoming special exhibitions for their special project work.

Direct Service

The FAO Schwarz Fellow will focus on engaging young people, children, and their families through the Barnes’s Community Engagement and Family Programs department, with a focus on the Barnes Teens project and pilot Community Connectors Corps for high school/college students, contributing to the success of all museum programming.

The Fellow will:

Special Project

The FAO Schwarz Fellow will develop future programming opportunities for Community Engagement and Family Programs tailored to upcoming exhibitions and curatorial department work.

The Fellow will:

APPLICATIONS ARE NOW CLOSED.

We will review each application carefully and select our Fellow by April 29th. Thanks for your interest.

About the Barnes Foundation

Dr. Albert C. Barnes established the Barnes Foundation in 1922 in Merion, PA, to teach people from all walks of life how to look at art. He believed that art had the power to improve minds and transform lives. Our diverse educational programs are based on his teachings and one-of-a-kind collections.

The Barnes holds one of the world’s finest collections of impressionist, post-impressionist and early modernist paintings, with extensive works by Renoir, Cézanne, Matisse, Picasso, and Rousseau. The collection also includes American decorative arts, antiquities from the Mediterranean region and Asia, and important examples of African sculpture and Native American pottery, jewelry, and textiles. Since moving to Philadelphia in 2012, nearly 2.3 million people from 50 states and 130 countries have visited, and over 100,000 schoolchildren have been engaged through education programs. Our core work includes presenting 2–3 exhibitions per year; collection conservation and scholarly research; lectures and adult education classes; pre-K–12 school programs; and public and community engagement programs.

When the Barnes closed temporarily at the onset of the pandemic in 2020, a pivot to online offerings was required to sustain the educational programming central to our mission. This shift was successful in meeting educational outcomes across the board—class size was no longer limited by building capacity or geographical distance. Enrollment and related tuition for adult education, for example, grew by 300%. Community engagement and public programs were also moved online or to socially-distant formats. 

Over the past year, we have enjoyed the successful expansion of our online education offerings and the launch of hybrid classes and lectures, welcoming guests and speakers back onsite while also broadcasting these programs to virtual attendees. This enthusiastic response to our online programs proved that a vast and diverse audience can be engaged through thoughtfully designed and executed virtual versions of in-gallery learning activities. As the Barnes focuses on providing valuable in-person programming onsite and within our Philadelphia neighborhoods, we also remain invested in offering this interactive virtual engagement.

We will continue to advance major initiatives onsite, online and within communities to evolve our institution and expand upon our current services.



While our educational reach is global, we are deeply invested in being a trusted resource in the Philadelphia community and ensuring that our resources are equitably distributed, honoring Dr. Barnes’s commitment to diversity and inclusivity. School programs and community engagement initiatives foster relationships in neighborhoods across the city in order for our art-based enrichment and education resources to be accessible to constituencies less likely to engage with traditional cultural institutions. Our engagement priorities include:

  • New immigrants and Spanish-speaking families with preschool-age children; 
  • West Philadelphia residents of all ages, with a focus on intergenerational families and children;
  • Lower-income constituencies and marginalized communities across the city, including justice-impacted individuals and senior citizens;
  • Diverse audiences of all socioeconomic levels less engaged with traditional cultural organizations;
  • Pre-K–12 students and teachers in Philadelphia and Camden schools with less access to arts education;
  • Local, national, and international adults who are eligible for need-based scholarships to participate in our education programs in person and online.

COVID POLICY

Successful applicants for employment with the Barnes Foundation must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by the date of hire as a condition of employment, subject to requests for accommodation.

NONDISCRIMINATION POLICY

The Barnes Foundation is an Equal Opportunity Employer and we are committed to diversity and equal opportunity in our recruitment and hiring. Qualified candidates of all backgrounds are welcome and encouraged to apply for this position. Employees have rights under other laws including, but not limited to, the Family and Medical Leave Act and the Employee Polygraph Protection Act. We participate in E-Verify.  

 

The Barnes Foundation logo

LOCATION Philadelphia
WEB barnesfoundation.org
FOUNDED 1922
STAFF 220

“The Barnes is honored to host and work with an FAO Schwarz Fellow, as this rising leader will contribute to our overarching goals of expanding our regional audiences, which in turn enriches our entire region.

"By working in under-resourced communities, especially with youth and their families, the Fellow will be establishing and deepening relationships that will have immediate and long-reaching benefits for both the audiences we serve and the Barnes."
Valerie Gay at the Barnes
Valerie Gay
Deputy Director for Audience Engagement & Chief Experience Officer & Fellow Supervisor

SHARE

Images of Barnes Foundation building, galleries, and events © 2022 The Barnes Foundation. All rights reserved. View of Barnes Foundation Gallery 1, Philadelphia, 2012. Image © Michael Moran/OTTO