The FAO Schwarz Fellowship at
The Philadelphia Art Museum
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
The Philadelphia Art Museumโin partnership with the city, the region, and art museums around the globeโseeks to preserve, enhance, interpret, and extend the reach of its great collections in particular, and the visual arts in general, to an increasing and increasingly diverse audience as a source of delight, illumination and lifelong learning.โฏโฏ
About the Fellowship Position
Description
The FAO Schwarz Fellow will lead and facilitate educational and creative initiatives with youth audiences for their direct service work, and will co-lead and develop the planning of strategic initiatives such as the Teen Advisory Council, a youth internship program, career days, teen-led events, and new or expanded off-site programming concepts for their project work.
Direct Service
The FAO Schwarz Fellow will be immersed in teen programming at the museum, leading and facilitating direct engagements with youth audiences through existing educational and creative initiatives. The Fellow’s work will emphasize gallery teaching, social-emotional learning for adolescents, and ongoing relationship-building with teen audiences.ย The Fellow will:
- Lead teaching and engagement activities in galleries and classrooms for teen audiences. Working alongside teaching artists, the Fellow will facilitate a range of art-making activities, including filmmaking, sketching, and printmaking, offering teens diverse opportunities for creative exploration.
- Participate in professional development as it relates to teen audiences, such as social emotional learning, trauma-informed training, culturally competent approaches, and teaching practices, especially in teen programs.
- Engage in community-facing educational programs as part of off-site programming.
Strategic Project
The FAO Schwarz Fellow will co-lead and develop strategic teen initiatives such as a new Teen Advisory Council (TAC), a youth internship program, career days, teen-led events, and the exploration of new or expanded off-site programming concepts. These projects aim to enhance community outreach and build new pathways of engagement for Philadelphia teens.
A key component of this work is the Teen Advisory Council, which will serve as a live learning laboratory for research and development, providing a dynamic space for teens to engage, innovate, and contribute meaningfully to the museumโs mission.
The Fellow will:
- Develop a plan for implementing new and recommended teen initiatives.
- Assist in building a plan for all aspects of teen programs and co-create a framework for implementation.
- Lead recruitment for the inaugural cohort of 25-28 teens aged 15-18 who will serve year-long terms on the Council, as well as the second and third cohorts, which will also serve a year's term.
- Supervise the TAC and co-develop opportunities for engagement with various departments of the museum to ensure the Council understands the Museum's culture.
- Visit area high schools, reach out to high school teachers, advertise in the educator newsletter, and use the School District of Philadelphiaโs contact list, to promote the program.
- Assess feasibility and lead planning for a potential community engagement model in which the museum brings art and creative experiences off-site to community centers and neighborhoods across the city, or at partner locations.
- Research and propose teen internship and workforce readiness initiatives that reflect teen needs and community priorities.
- Develop a plan for implementing new and recommended teen initiatives.
LOCATION: Philadelphia, PA
WEBSITE: philamuseum.org
FOUNDED:1876
STAFF: 370
Applications for these positions open November 1, 2025.
HOW TO APPLY
Applicants must be college seniors at accredited four-year colleges or universities at the time of application and be eligible to work in the United States for the duration of the two-year Fellowship.
You may apply for more than one Fellowship. Consider the details of each Fellowship described below when you begin your application.ย
For more about what we are seeking, visit the application overview at this link.
The deadline to apply is February 1, 2026, at 9:00 pm ET. Host organizations will select applicants for interviews and make their decisions by the end of April 2026. Fellowships begin in the summer of 2026.
Learn more about The Philadelphia Art Museum by visiting their website.:
A Closer Look
About The Museum
ABOUT US
The PMA is a public resource of international scope that connects people with the arts in rich and varied ways. Since our founding at the 1876 United States Centennial Exhibition, the museum has assembled one of the worldโs leading collections. The museum stewards 250,000 works spanning 4,000 years and encompassing American art, East Asian art, South Asian art, European art, global contemporary art, costume and textiles, and prints, drawings, and photographs.ย
Overlooking Philadelphia’s Benjamin Franklin Parkway, the museum’s iconic main building opened in 1928 and houses more than 200 galleries and public spaces. The museum also operates the Ruth and Raymond G. Perelman Building, the Anne dโHarnoncourt Sculpture Garden, the Rodin Museum, and two historic houses in Fairmount Park.ย
The PMA connects the public to the arts in rich and varied ways, presenting sixteen to twenty special exhibitions in a typical year, utilizing our collection and collaborating with arts institutions across the globe. Education is at the heart of the museumโs mission to bring quality programs and arts-education expertise to all learners. The museum serves students, teachers, families, and learners of all ages and abilities through student, teacher, family, access, community, and public programs, along with school tours, guides, and resources. Lifelong learning opportunities include tours, gallery conversations, workshops, lectures, family festivals, performances, community-based programs, and more. As the largest art museum in the region, the PMA is deeply invested in supporting students and teachers and has a long-term partnership with the School District of Philadelphia and Title I schools in the tri-state region.
Impact
Our Impact
The Museum seeks to be a cornerstone of the Philadelphia community, throwing our doors open wide to the cityโs diverse neighborhoods through a range of engaging programs that serve all ages and abilities.
Over the last two years weโve increased in-person student and teacher visits through strategies such as free bussing resulting in a 294% increase (24,080 additional visits).
We launched a Heritage Month program series, which celebrates Philadelphiaโs many cultures, along with local community collaborations and Pay What You Wish Admission days.
We are transforming the museumโs North Entrance into a vibrant Learning and Engagement Center that will be infused with inspiration and inclusiveness to ensure our communities have a safe and engaging place for discovery, learning, and community building. The FAO Schwarz Fellow will be key to this effort.
To evaluate program impact, we gather quantitative and qualitative data, tracking attendance, conducting surveys, and seeking participant feedback. Comments from attendees illuminate experiences that resonate and reveal opportunities for growth.
We also monitor press and social media responses to inform program design and future planning, ensuring that our offerings remain responsive to the needs, interests, and lived experiences of our audiences. These initiatives help ensure the continued relevance and quality of the museumโs public programming and impact on audiences.ย
Policies
The Museum offers paid sick days to eligible employees for periods of temporary absence due to illnesses or injuries.
NONDISCRIMINATION POLICY
The museum provides and promotes equal opportunity for all prospective and current employees. To this end, the museum commits itself to complying fully with all applicable local, state, and federal laws and regulations implementing the objective of equal employment opportunity.
The museum will neither engage in nor tolerate unlawful discrimination (including any form of unlawful harassment or retaliation) on account of a personโs gender, pregnancy, age, race, color, religion, creed, national origin, ancestry, citizenship, disability, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity, or any other prohibited characteristic. The museum’s employment policies and practices are intended to ensure that employees are treated fairly, without unlawful discrimination.ย
Compensation & Benefits
Fellows who start their Fellowship at the Philadelphia Museum of Art during the summer of 2026 will receive total compensation of approximately $96,300 plus benefits over the two-year Fellowship.
The PMA FAO Schwarz Fellow will receive:
- $47,441 in year one.ย
- $48,864 in year two.ย
- Professional development and leadership training.
Benefits include: health, dental, and vision insurance; paid time off and sick leave; retirement planning options (beginning in year two of the Fellowship); pre-tax commuter benefits; and professional development.
For general questions about compensation, please see the Fellowship FAQ.ย
Typical Work Schedule
The Fellow will work on-site Monday-Friday, 9am-5pm, with flexibility for evening, weekend programs. The Fellow should be prepared to work days that align with seasonal programs.ย