Assistant Curator, Indigenous Art

**Date Posted**:08/23/2024
**Req ID**: 39428
**Faculty/Division**: UofT Scarborough
**Department**: UTSC:Doris McCarthy Gallery
**Campus**: University of Toronto Scarborough (UTSC)
**Position Number**: 00055860

**Description**:
**About us**:
The University of Toronto Scarborough (UTSC) is a place of energy, enthusiasm and passion. Our commitment to inclusive excellence attracts the brightest learners, scholars and employees from around the globe. Our success has been made possible by the opportunity given to us by our Indigenous hosts to operate on their territory, and we cherish our continuing partnerships with these communities. The University of Toronto Scarborough is an exciting campus with unlimited potential. Join us on our journey.

**Your opportunity**:
The Doris McCarthy Gallery (DMG) is a professional public art gallery within the University of Toronto Scarborough that advances artistic innovation, critical thinking, and cultural exchange through engagement with contemporary art. The Gallery initiates and facilitates education, research, and experiential learning.

DMG engages with the University of Toronto community and the wider public of Scarborough and the eastern Greater Toronto Area through its exhibitions and related programming that includes residencies and mentorship opportunities. The Gallery is growing and making accessible its collection for the purposes of research, teaching, and exhibition, while contributing toward a more just and equitable world.

The Department of Sociology at the University of Toronto Scarborough consists of award-winning faculty who combine active and productive research programs with teaching innovation and excellence. Many of the faculty’s expertise extend well beyond Canada to cover all regions of the globe. Sociology programs focus on teaching the core skills of critical thinking, research methods and analysis, and excellence in writing. Both the Gallery and the Department are engaged in land and culture-based learning. In Spring 2025, UTSC will open Indigenous House, an integral part of our academic mission, and located in the heart of our campus.

Working in collaboration with the DMG team and the Department of Sociology, this unique position will create, promote, and facilitate gallery and classroom programming that is informed by Indigenous ways of knowing. DMG exhibitions, permanent collection, and the Department of Sociology’s pedagogical and curriculum innovations will frame the central activities of this position. This includes the ongoing expansion of experiential learning opportunities, as well as the building of relationships within the campus community and beyond.

**Your responsibilities will include**:

- Facilitating educational workshops and seminars
- Advising on best practices and strategies for effective course design
- Creating and editing support documentation
- Liaising with internal and external service providers
- Drafting presentation materials
- Tracking and monitoring outreach activities associated with gallery programming
- Curating exhibitions and gallery installations
- Delivering presentations to promote programs, opportunities and/or initiative

**Essential Qualifications**:

- Bachelor's Degree or acceptable combination of equivalent experience.
- Minimum two (2) years recent and related experience with Indigenous contemporary art and culture. Some instructional/curriculum design and/or developing resources to promote Indigenous knowledge translation or anti-colonial approaches to teaching and learning, with some experience in community building and facilitation.
- Demonstrated knowledge of the art industry (i.e. Canada Council for the Arts, Ontario Arts Council, Toronto Arts Council, Toronto Arts Foundation).
- Experience working within diverse Indigenous communities with knowledge of Indigenous worldviews and values.
- Must be knowledgeable of cultural protocols to appropriately engage and foster respectful, reciprocal, ongoing relationships with Elders, Knowledge Keepers, and Indigenous communities.
- The incumbent must have a passion for supporting instructors of diverse backgrounds across the humanities, social science and science disciplines; sensitivity to the professional development challenges and support needs of educators at all career stages and all levels of experience in working with anti-colonial practices.
- Must demonstrate strong personal initiative; tact and good judgment and the ability to successfully meet deadlines.
- Excellent oral and written communication skills with excellent facilitation and presentation skills are required.
- Strong consultative decision-making skills; strong organizational skills; proven project management skills; and an ability to work independently and as part of a team.
- Must show evidence of a commitment to equity, diversity, inclusion, and the promotion of a respectful and collegial learning and working environment

**Assets (Nonessential)**:

- Technical certifications