Assistant Professor - Painting - (FAC002700)

The School of Art in the Kathrine G. McGovern College of the Arts at the University of Houston invites applications for a full-time, tenure-track faculty appointment at the rank of assistant professor in painting to commence Fall 2023. We seek outstanding candidates with a demonstrated commitment to painting and an active engagement with contemporary issues and discourses. Candidate must be capable of inspired criticism, dedicated teaching, and service at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. Additionally, teaching experience and professional expertise in drawing and/or printmaking is an asset. The ideal candidate will be a clear communicator, and able to collaborate with faculty on the shared goal of setting a positive and energetic tone for the Painting Program.

Applicants for the position are expected to exhibit the following core values and competencies:

• Passion, energy and tenacity
• Integrity and collegiality, especially with regard to diversity
• An ability to attract resources, including grants or other external sources of support, that advance the school’s mission
• An aptitude for building dynamic degree programs and recruiting top tier students
• An ability to find creative solutions to difficult problems

School of Art faculty are also committed to:

• Excellence in the arts, arts education, and arts scholarship
• Fostering student growth and success
• Collaboration with others, both within and across disciplines

This position is part of an Interdisciplinary Cluster Hire program in the studio practice disciplines in the McGovern College of the Arts. The program is one of many initiatives that advances the McGovern College’s priority of achieving an inclusive and innovative climate.

The McGovern College of the Arts understands the value of a diverse faculty, of a diversity of approaches to the arts, and of approaching the arts as an interdisciplinary area of study. The College believes that such values are fundamental to the future of arts production. To express its commitment to these values, the Interdisciplinary Cluster Hire program seeks to identify and build a diverse network of practitioners, researchers, and scholars that will inform and support the work of the College in these areas. The program will bring a minimum of six new faculty members to the College’s studio practice disciplines.

The McGovern College is the culturally rich and innovative home of the visual and performing arts at the University of Houston, one of the most diverse R1 institutions in the nation and situated in the thriving, diverse, and dynamic arts metropolis that is the twenty‐first century city of Houston. Therefore, the successful candidate for this position will excel at teaching and mentoring students who are broadly diverse with regard to race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, gender, nationality, sexual orientation, and religion.

Applicants must also submit a 750‐word statement addressing their experience with, interest in, or contributions to diversity and inclusion efforts that impact students, faculty, staff, or the applicant’s field of study; and addressing how they envision demonstrating a similar commitment at the University of Houston. Applicants may address their experience, interest, or contributions in one or more of the following areas:

1. Teaching and mentoring a range of artistic expressions that reflect the diversification of the arts disciplines and the need to ensure access to an arts education to as wide a student body as possible.
2. A commitment to pursuing a sustainable agenda of research and artistic practice dedicated to interdisciplinary cultural studies or to an overall research agenda that supports diversity in the arts disciplines. Areas of secondary interdisciplinary interest that might be reflected in one’s practice include, for example, Comparative Cultural Studies, Cultural Anthropology, Diaspora Studies, Gender and Sexuality Studies, Racial Inequality, Social Justice, Sociology, or others.
3. Collaborating across the arts disciplines with artists whose specializations or practices differ from your own.
4. Developing interdisciplinary curriculum that reflects diversification of the arts disciplines beyond the “Western canon” as codified in the last century.

Search committees will give preference to candidates whose statements best represent these criteria when choosing candidates to advance to the next stage of the search process.

All positions in the Cluster Hire Program come with annual financial support provided by the Office of the Dean for the first three years during the faculty member's pre-tenure period, for research activities that enhance the faculty member’s research agenda and the mission of the McGovern College.

Summary of Duties and Expectations

• Teach a standard 3/2 course load in a variety of undergraduate and graduate Painting Program courses
• Maintain an active research profile, sufficient to warrant promotion and tenure in due course
• Advise and mentor undergraduate and graduate students
• Participate in the school, college, and university service and committee activities

Required Application Documents

• Cover Letter/Letter of Application
• CV
• Digital portfolio with 20 images of recent work
• Supporting documentation of exhibition and publication record may be provided at the candidate's discretion.
• 750-word Cluster Hire Program statement (see Cluster Hire Program Description)
• Contact information for three professional references

Preferential deadline is January 6, 2023, but applications will be accepted until the position is filled. The University of Houston is responsive to the needs of dual career couples.

The University of Houston is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action institution. Minorities, women, veterans and persons with disabilities are encouraged to apply. Additionally, the University prohibits discrimination in employment on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression.

Qualifications :

MFA and at least two years of college-level teaching experience beyond graduate school.

Notes to Applicant: Official transcripts are required for a faculty appointment and will be requested upon selection of final candidate. All positions at the University of Houston are security sensitive and will require a criminal history check.