About

Employment + Internships 

Photo credit: Carlos Avendaño, 2020.

The Fabric Workshop and Museum (FWM) is a contemporary art museum, with an internationally-acclaimed Artists-in-Residence (AIR) program, located in Center City, Philadelphia. Founded in 1977, FWM encourages artists at all stages of their careers to experiment with new materials and new media in a veritable living laboratory. FWM is easily accessible via public transit and is steps from Reading Terminal Market and blocks from Chinatown and historic City Hall.

The Fabric Workshop and Museum is an Equal Opportunity Employer (EOE). All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability or veteran status. FWM’s culture embraces diversity within the workplace, and outside, and welcomes all candidates to apply, without fear of discrimination.

To apply for a job opportunity at The Fabric Workshop and Museum (FWM), please follow the instructions for your desired open position listed below. For all general inquiries, email opportunities@fabricworkshopandmuseum.org.

In compliance with federal law, all persons hired will be required to verify identity and eligibility to work in the United States and to complete the required employment eligibility verification document form upon hire. Offers of employment are contingent upon the return of a satisfactory background check.

For information regarding applying for an apprenticeship, please visit the pages for High School Apprentice Training and College and Postgraduate Apprentice Training Programs.

Employment Opportunities

Visitor Engagement and Program Coordinator

The Fabric Workshop and Museum (FWM) is a contemporary art museum with an internationally acclaimed Artist-in-Residence program. Located in Center City, Philadelphia, FWM is accessible via public transit and is steps from Reading Terminal Market and blocks from Chinatown and historic City Hall.

FWM seeks a full-time Visitor Engagement and Program Coordinator to broaden the understanding of contemporary art practice through visitor engagement and public programming. This position organizes and coordinates FWM’s team of Visitor Services Assistants. It works closely with and accepts direction from the Public Education Program Manager to assist with tours, workshops, and public events, including weekend hands-on screenprinting and studio tours. The Visitor Engagement and Program Coordinator works with the Exhibitions Manager to oversee the day-to-day aspects of FWM’s Visitor Services program, with an emphasis on creating a positive visitor experience to support FWM’s mission of collaboration and experimentation. This position maintains all logistics, scheduling, training, and communication with the Visitor Services team to ensure the visitor experience is exemplary and safe for visitors, staff, and the artwork, including communication with visitors in-person, over the phone, and over email as needed. This position reports directly to the Exhibitions Manager.

Salary + Benefits:

This is an in-person, full-time position working 40 hours per week (Wednesday to Sunday, 10 am to 6 pm). The salary is $40,000 annually and benefits include medical, vision, and dental, access to retirement savings, vacation time and sick/personal days, paid holidays, access to an employee assistance program, FWM membership, FWM Museum Shop employee discount, American Alliance of Museums membership.

Visitor Engagement Responsibilities:

  • Proactively coordinate the Visitor Services team, including:
    • overseeing day-to-day operations;
    • assisting in hiring Visitor Services staff;
    • organizing short- and long-term Visitor Services staff schedules, including planning for holiday hours;
    • establishing and implementing Visitor Services and exhibition procedures, training, and development; and
    • fielding Visitor Services staff’s PTO requests and reviewing timesheets.
  • Work closely with the Exhibitions Department to maintain and advocate for an accessible and secure environment for all artwork, exhibitions, and public areas.
  • Assist with creating exhibition-related documents such as opening and closing procedures, check lists, talking points, and daily visitor counts.
  • Performs other related duties as assigned.

Program Responsibilities:

  • Work closely with FWM’s Public Education Program Manager to prepare for tour groups, hands-on workshops, and public events.
  • Assist with tours and workshops of FWM’s current exhibitions and professional studios, including Hands-on Screenprinting and Studio Tours on Saturdays.
  • Assist with training sessions for Visitor Services Assistants to lead inquiry-based tours of FWM’s current exhibitions. Transform the visitor experience by sharing FWM’s unique history, permanent collection, and current exhibitions.
  • Organize Visitor Services staffing for tours, workshops, and public events to ensure the safety of FWM’s collection and the success of FWM’s public programs.
  • Performs other related duties as assigned.

Competencies:

  • Problem Solving—Identifies and resolves problems in a timely manner; gathers and analyzes information skillfully; develops alternative solutions; works well in group problem solving situations; uses reason even when dealing with emotional topics
  • Project Development—Ensures progress on project plans; coordinates projects; communicates changes and progress; completes projects on time and budget; oversees project team activities
  • Workplace Communication—Demonstrates group presentation skills; participates in meetings; writes clearly and informatively; edits work for spelling and grammar; varies writing style to meet needs; presents numerical data effectively; ability to read and interpret written information
  • Collaboration—Speaks clearly and persuasively in positive or negative situations; listens and gets clarification; responds well to questions; possesses social and interpersonal skills and a readiness for conflict resolution; upholds a positive report with team-members and other colleagues; upholds fairness in decision making
  • Team Leadership—Includes staff in planning, decision-making, facilitating and processing improvements; keeps team motivated; takes responsibility for subordinates’ activities; makes self available to staff; provides regular performance feedback; develops subordinates’ skills and encourages growth; solicits and applies feedback (internal and external); fosters quality focus in others; improves processes and services; continually works to improve governing skills
  • Motivation—Self-starter; sets and achieves challenging goals; demonstrates persistence and overcomes obstacles; measures self against standard of excellence; takes calculated risks to accomplish goals
  • Planning/Organizing—Prioritizes and plans work activities; uses time efficiently; plans for additional resources; sets goals and objectives; organizes or schedules other people and their tasks; develops realistic action plans

Qualifications: 

  • Bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university in art, art history, museum
administration, curatorial studies, museum studies, a related field preferred.
  • Minimum of 1-2 years’ work history in relevant field required.
  • Knowledge of FWM’s mission, and enthusiasm for sharing this mission with the public.
  • Demonstrated experience coordinating teams, in particular maintaining daily and long-term scheduling while working on multiple projects.
  • Ability to ensure effective and appropriate communication within internal and external teams to foster collaboration.
  • Enjoy interacting and engaging with diverse audiences regarding contemporary art and art making
  • Strong knowledge of Microsoft Office, especially Excel.

To Apply: 

Interested candidates should send a letter of interest, a resume, and three (3) references to opportunities@fabricworkshopandmuseum.org. Include “Application: Visitor Engagement and Program Coordinator” in the subject line of email. EOE. No phone calls please.

FWM’s Commitment 

The Fabric Workshop and Museum is an Equal Opportunity Employer (EOE). All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or veteran status. FWM’s culture embraces diversity within the workplace, and outside, and welcomes all candidates to apply, without fear of discrimination. In compliance with federal law, all persons hired will be required to verify identity and eligibility to work in the United States and to complete the required employment eligibility verification document form upon hire. Offers of employment are contingent upon the return of a satisfactory background check.

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential job duty satisfactorily. Reasonable accommodation may be made to enable qualified individuals with disabilities to perform essential job functions.

Physical Demands and Work Environment

  • Frequently required to stand.
  • Frequently required to walk.
  • Continually required to sit.
  • Continually required to utilize hand and finger dexterity.
  • Occasionally required to climb, balance, bend, stoop, kneel or crawl.
  • Continually required to talk or hear.
  • Continually utilize visual acuity to operate equipment, read technical information, and/or use a keyboard.
  • Occasionally required to lift/push/carry items up to 50 pounds.

The above is intended to describe the general content of and requirements for the performance of this job. It is not to be construed as an exhaustive statement of duties, responsibilities or physical requirements. Nothing in this job description restricts management’s right to assign or reassign duties and responsibilities to this job at any time. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

 

Internships

The Fabric Workshop and Museum (FWM) seeks students with an interest in Philadelphia’s arts and cultural community. Our interns are high school and college students who are interested in first-hand experience in the programming and administration of a contemporary art museum and collaborative workshop. Under the supervision of a staff member, interns assist with regular departmental activities and specific programmatic activities as assigned.

To support more equitable opportunities in the museum field, FWM offers only paid internships via designated funding from grants or an intern’s school.

Paid Internship Opportunities

Educational Programming Intern (EPI)

The Fabric Workshop and Museum (FWM) is a contemporary art museum with an internationally acclaimed Artists-in-Residence (AIR) program located in Center City, Philadelphia. Founded in 1977, FWM encourages artists at all stages of their careers to experiment with new materials and new media in a veritable living laboratory. FWM is easily accessible via public transit and is steps from Reading Terminal Market and blocks from Chinatown and historic City Hall.

POSITION SUMMARY

FWM is proud to be partnering with Studio Institute to offer an exciting internship opportunity: The FWM Educational Programming Intern (EPI) will assist in the research, planning, and delivery of FWM’s upcoming summer workshop series entitled Whole Cloth. Inspired by the original name for our institution, Whole Cloth captures the spirit of FWM and the ways that we use cloth as a tool to create metaphors, communicate ideas, explore new possibilities, build community, collaborate with artists, and pass down traditions of making.

The EPI will assist the Education Department in envisioning, planning, and implementing our Whole Cloth summer programming series. This programming includes our weekly family programs Parkway Pals at Sister Cities Park and Morning Making at FWM. We will be offering a Summer Skill Building Series for adults and introducing a new opportunity for teens with our Teen Summer Studio. The summer will close with a week-long Summer Workshop Intensive where we dive deep into sustainable textile practices. Though the EPI will be helping with all aspects of our summer programming, their time will be focused on strengthening our offerings for small children and families.

The family programs at FWM were unfortunately impacted by the pandemic. The EPI will be spending the summer reviving our Morning Making program as well as strengthening our Parkway Pals program. At the close of the summer, the EPI will present research, reflections, and project ideas to enrich FWM’s future engagement with small children and families.

RESPONSIBILITIES

The EPI will be responsible for:

  • Research into current exhibitions and institutional history
  • Experimentation with materials, techniques, and learning strategies.
  • Assisting in all workshops and events
  • Shaping and implementing our weekly Parkway Pals and Morning Making programs.

The EPI will acquire valuable experience in:

  • Community engagement
  • Shaping and implementing workshops and programs
  • Arts administration strategies
  • Researching and documenting new artmaking processes
  • Teaching skills for Pre-K, K-8, teens, adults, and seniors

REQUIREMENTS, SKILLS, AND QUALIFICATIONS

The EPI should:

  • Be curious, open minded, flexible, hardworking, creative, organized, and resourceful
  • Have prior experience working with the public and a sincere dedication to art education
  • Possess good communication skills and a deep interest in contemporary art
  • Be comfortable engaging with the public and working collaboratively
  • Be considerate of others working in our studio
  • Able to use photoshop and illustrator for some aspects of their work
  • Be versed in many art processes
  • Have experience teaching youth

COMPENSATION

The EPI will earn a wage of $20/hr

DURATION

Internship Period: June 11–August 13
Total Weeks: 9 weeks
Work Hours per Week: 28
Total Hours: 252
Workdays: 4 days per week onsite 10:00 am–6:00 pm

On Wednesdays, interns will attend a mandatory offsite program day with their cohort. These hours are separate from the internship hours with FWM.

ELIGIBILITY

To be eligible for Arts Intern 2025, you must be pursuing a bachelor’s degree and:

  • Currently enrolled as a full-time rising junior (a current sophomore), full-time junior, or full-time senior graduating by fall 2025.
  • You must either reside or attend college in Philadelphia.
  • You must have a Student Aid Index up to $6,250. This number is on your FAFSA form. Learn more.

TO APPLY

To apply to a position, please click here and fill out the eligibility application form.

Apply

CONTACT

Questions about this position? Contact Katie Parry, Museum Tour Manager, kparry@fabricworkshopandmuseum.org

 

Please email general inquiries to opportunities@fabricworkshopandmuseum.org.