The Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts at Washington University in St. Louis is accepting applications for Chair of the MFA in Visual Art (MFA-VA) program. This ten-month, tenured or tenure-track full-time appointment begins August 2024 with a three-year renewable term as chair. In addition to administrative responsibilities, the role includes teaching the equivalent of one and a half classes each semester. The school seeks a dynamic visual artist and leader with an ambitious creative practice and experience teaching graduate and undergraduate students.
The chair of the MFA-VA program manages academic planning, including course scheduling, faculty teaching schedules, and student academic advising. Working with fellow faculty, administrators, and staff, the chair provides leadership for recruitment, student learning, curriculum and policy development, and budgeting.
About the program
The MFA-VA program is intimately scaled, with about 25 students enrolled at any one time. We offer students a site for rigorous inquiry, humanity, and intellectual generosity, all within the context of a tier-one research university. Housed in the recently built Weil Hall, our LEED Platinum 82,000-square-foot facility includes graduate studio spaces, exhibition and project spaces, and numerous resources for production including a digital fabrication lab and an experimental studio for video and time-based media, among many other facilities. Graduate students mount their thesis exhibitions in the world-class Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum on campus.
About the School
The Sam Fox School is a leader in architecture, art, and design education. We are advancing our fields through innovative research and creative practice, excellence in teaching, a world-class university art museum, and a deep commitment to addressing the social and environmental challenges of our time. Through the work of our students, faculty, and alumni, we are striving to create a more just, sustainable, humane, and beautiful world.
The school encompasses four academic units—the College of Architecture, Graduate School of Architecture & Urban Design, College of Art, and Graduate School of Art—and the Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum, each of which has its own unique history. We offer several unique degree programs for both graduate and undergraduate students, supplemented by a number of creative research centers, including Island Press and the Office for Socially Engaged Practice. We have an enrollment of over 700 students and draw on the expertise of over 70 full-time faculty and over 50 visiting and part-time faculty who expand our connections to contemporary global practice.
The recent launch of both the Sam Fox School’s strategic plan, Shaping the Future, and Washington University’s plan, Here and Next, provides an excellent opportunity to develop research interests within a framework of interdisciplinary collaboration and funding. Candidates who are interested in both benefiting from and contributing to the enrichment of a committed and collegial environment are encouraged to apply.
The Sam Fox School strives to increase diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice in our community. Candidates should demonstrate an ability to nurture an inclusive learning and work environment and to promote a culture and ethos that values diversity, inclusion, and equitable success.
View the full posting and apply by January 8 here.
