Visiting Assistant Professor in Painting in the Expanded Field

Position: Full-time, 9 month, non-tenure accruing faculty position
Date of Expected Hire: August 16, 2021
Salary: Competitive and commensurate with qualifications and experience.

The School of Art and Art History seeks a Visiting Assistant Professor (2 years) with expertise in Painting. The successful candidate will demonstrate a clear commitment to painting in the 21st century, possessing a broad knowledge of the field (material, technique, form and content), have the ability to engage our students with contemporary, historical and conceptual issues and teach various approaches to painting from figurative to conceptual and to interface between drawing and interdisciplinary practices.

The University of Florida College of the Arts intends to be a transformative community, responding to and generating paradigmatic shifts in the arts and beyond. As artists and scholars, we embrace the complexity of our evolving human experience and seek to empower our students and faculty to shape that experience fearlessly through critical study, creative practice, and provocation. We seek a colleague who identifies as a change-maker. We seek a colleague who will prepare students to access and unsettle centers of power in a radically changing world. We seek a colleague who will position emerging artists and researchers as catalysts for equity on local and global levels.

The University of Florida is an equal opportunity institution dedicated to building a broadly diverse and inclusive faculty, seeking faculty of all races, ethnicities, genders, backgrounds, experiences and perspectives.

Responsibilities:

• Teach a 2/3 course load of undergraduate to graduate level courses including observational painting, figure painting, advanced studio, 2D core classes (Perceptual Studio, Drawing Studio) and other courses appropriate to the candidate’s expertise.
• Supervise graduate committees and independent study students.
• Conduct research appropriate to the discipline.
• Active participation in our learning community, finding innovative ways to connect the arts to critical discourses in other disciplines.
• Participate in shared governance through service to the School, College and University.
• Conversant with contemporary issues, art history and contemporary critical theory and practices in area of specialization.

SCHOOL OF ART + ART HISTORY:
Organized within the College of the Arts, the mission of the School of Art and Art History (SA+AH) is to nurture a culture of critical inquiry in scholarly and creative pursuits. The faculty within the SA+AH seeks to empower each individual student with knowledge, skills, and insight to thoughtfully respond to our changing world. The SA+AH is driven by the knowledge that visual and scholarly research is vital to the work of the larger university and that this research enhances the lives of its regional, national and international communities. Most of our programs have a focus on socially engaged, global research. Studio programs in art and design view production as an expanded practice - one that is interdisciplinary, inclusive, and often collaborative. School of Art + Art History Faculty publish, curate and exhibit widely and internationally. They bring their scholarship and production into their teaching, offering innovative, engaged learning experiences to their students. The school has 430 undergraduate students, and more than 120 graduate students. Degree programs include the B.A., B.F.A., M.A., M.F.A., and Ph.D. Areas of study include art history, art education, museum studies, graphic design, and studio art (art + technology, ceramics, creative photography, drawing, painting, printmaking, and sculpture). Also a part of the School of Art + Art History is the 4Most Gallery and the University Galleries—University Gallery, the Gary R. Libby Gallery, and Grinter Gallery — which provide exhibition space for professional and student artwork. The University of Florida is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges and is an accredited institutional member of the National Association of Schools of Art and Design. The art education program is accredited by NCATE. For more information, visit www.arts.ufl.edu/art.

THE COLLEGE OF THE ARTS: 
The mission of the College of the Arts is to be a transformative community, responding to and generating paradigmatic shifts in the arts and beyond.  We achieve the university’s mission by training professionals and educating students as artists and scholars, while developing their capacities for critical study, creative practice, and provocation.  The College offers baccalaureate, masters, and doctoral degrees. Approximately 1,700 students are pursuing majors in degrees offered by the College of the Arts under the direction of 130 faculty members in its three accredited schools— the School of Art + Art History, the School of Music and the School of Theatre + Dance, and in the Center for Arts in Medicine, the Digital Worlds Institute and the Center for Arts, Migration and Entrepreneurship. In addition, the college comprises the University Galleries, and the University level of the New World School of the Arts in Miami.  

THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA:  
The University of Florida is a comprehensive learning institution built on a land grant foundation, ranked one of the top six best public universities in the nation in U.S. News & World Report. We are The Gator Nation, a diverse community dedicated to excellence in education and research and shaping a better future for Florida, the nation and the world. Our mission is to enable our students to lead and influence the next generation and beyond for economic, cultural and societal benefit. UF is a graduate research institution with more than 50,000 students and membership in the prestigious Association of American Universities. Gainesville, which is consistently ranked as one of the nation’s most livable cities, is located midway between the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean. Together, the University and the community comprise the educational, medical and cultural center of North Central Florida, with outstanding resources such as the University of Florida Performing Arts (Phillips Center for the Performing Arts, the Squitieri Studio Theatre, the Baughman Center, University Auditorium), the Harn Museum of Art, the Florida Museum of Natural History and in the community, the Hippodrome State Theatre and Dance Alive National Ballet. 

Requirements

Minimum Qualifications:
• Terminal graduate degree (MFA or equivalent) in Painting.
• Relevant teaching or instructional experience beyond graduate teaching assistantships.
• Active studio practice.
• Strong organizational, management and communication skills.
• A critical approach to the legacies, histories and theories of art and art practices.
• Evidence of success in promoting an environment that advances diversity, equity, and inclusion.
• Evidence of a commitment to innovative and cross-disciplinary curricula.

Preferred Qualifications: The successful candidate will bring to the position:
• Teaching experience of 1 – 3 years beyond graduate assistantship at the university level.
• Successful educators and committed studio artists with evidence of an active exhibition or publication record.
• Capacity to advance interdisciplinary collaborations in teaching and research.