Assistant Professor of Studio Art

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Closing Date:

Type of Position:

Faculty - Tenure/Tenure TrackNo

Job Type:

RegularYes

Institution Name:

University of Arkansas, Fayetteville

Founded in 1871, the University of Arkansas is a land grant institution, classified by the Carnegie Foundation among the nation’s top 2 percent of universities with the highest level of research activity. The University of Arkansas works to advance the state and build a better world through education, research, and outreach by providing transformational opportunities and skills, fostering a welcoming climate, and nurturing creativity, discovery, and the spread of new ideas and innovations.

The University of Arkansas campus is located in Fayetteville, a welcoming community ranked as one of the best places to live in the U.S. The growing region surrounding Fayetteville is home to numerous Fortune 500 companies and one of the nation’s strongest economies. Northwest Arkansas is also quickly gaining a national reputation for its focus on the arts and overall quality of life.

As an employer, the University of Arkansas offers a vibrant work environment and a workplace culture that promotes a healthy work-life balance. The benefits package includes university contributions to health, dental, life and disability insurance, tuition waivers for employees and their families, 12 official holidays, immediate leave accrual, and a choice of retirement programs with university contributions ranging from 5 to 10% of employee salary.

Below you will find the details for the position including any supplementary documentation and questions, you should review before applying for the opening.

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Department:

School of Art Studio Arthttps://art.uark.edu

Summary of Job Duties:

The School of Art in the Fulbright College of Arts & Sciences at the University of Arkansas invites applications for a tenure-track Assistant Professor of Studio Art whose practice engages with Photography, lens-based image making, or the evolving possibilities of the photographic image. This is a standard, nine-month tenure-track faculty appointment scheduled to begin in August 2027.

The School of Art seeks a practicing artist and educator whose scholarship engages photography and/or lens-based media and holds an expansive approach to the medium. We welcome practices that may engage various aspects of lens-based, analog, digital, synthetic image-making, as well as moving image, installation, performance, appropriation, archival and material-based practices, and seek an artist who can contribute to the curriculum in Photography with both technical and conceptual proficiency. Ideal applicants will demonstrate a critical engagement with the histories and evolving technologies of photography and an understanding of the medium as a means of curiosity, research, experimentation, and art making. The candidate's research may engage contemporary social, cultural, technological, and photographic issues while demonstrating evidence of contribution to innovation in photographic knowledge.

We seek a colleague whose work aims to broaden understanding within the field of Photography and its histories, demonstrates a commitment to mentoring students from a wide range of backgrounds, creates the conditions for classroom experiences that are marked by empathy and mutual respect, and fosters collaboration, community, and open dialogue. The successful candidate will demonstrate an ability to contribute to an engaging learning and working environment and cultivate a positive and productive studio culture in and out of the classroom, fostering a climate for innovation in teaching, mentoring, research, and service. We seek faculty committed to working and creating learning experiences that expand the School of Art's current efforts to engage the campus and community in dialogue.

The program celebrates an interest in fostering interdisciplinary, cross-campus relationships and engagement with a vibrant local and regional art community. The advancement of photographic understanding through community engagement and new means of photographic dissemination is highly valued.

Beyond the primary role in Photography, the position may occasionally contribute to teaching more broadly within the School of Art programs.

We hope to draw applicants at any career level post-MFA—emerging, mid-career, or established artists and educators—who are active in the field and ready to contribute their unique insights to our learning environment.

This is an in-person position. Most university classes are offered face-to-face, and extensive in-person engagement in such activities as office hours, student advising, and departmental, college, and university committee meetings is essential to advancing student success and departmental effectiveness.

Regular, reliable, and non-disruptive attendance is an essential job duty, as is the ability to create and maintain collegial, harmonious working relationships with others.

About the School of Art

The School of Art has a rich history beginning in 1874 when instruction in drawing and painting was first offered at the University of Arkansas for non-degree credit. The first art major program leading to a Bachelor of Arts degree was introduced in 1929. A Bachelor of Fine Arts degree was instituted in 1982 and the Master of Fine Arts graduate degree, one of the first such programs in the country, was initiated in 1952.
In recent years, the School of Art has experienced substantial growth and transformation. The most significant change occurred in 2017 when the Department of Art became the School of Art, made possible through a landmark $120 million gift from the Walton Family Charitable Support Foundation. This historic gift created the first and only school of art in the state of Arkansas, propelling art education, design, research, and creative activity forward while providing unparalleled access and opportunity for students.

The gift was allocated with three primary goals: providing unprecedented levels of financial support for students through scholarships, travel grants, and internships; engaging the region through outreach and public service in partnership with Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art and a wide range of community arts organizations; and expanding programs and degree offerings within the School. These commitments continue to drive the School of Art’s mission today, ensuring access, excellence, and national leadership in art and design education.

About the Photography Area

Photography at the University of Arkansas School of Art combines traditional and contemporary photographic processes with conceptual development, experimentation, and critical inquiry. The program offers a robust and supportive community where students define and deepen their artistic practices while developing visual literacy and innovative approaches to image-making.

Students engage a broad range of photographic methods—from analog and alternative processes to digital, synthetic, and interdisciplinary practices—while developing a critical understanding of photography as both a material and conceptual medium. Research, experimentation, and cross-disciplinary collaboration are encouraged, preparing students to use photography as a means of investigation, artmaking, and meaningful engagement with the world.

Duties will include:
- Maintaining an active program of research and creative and/or scholarly activities.
- Teaching two courses per semester (Fall & Spring) in Studio Art.
- Assisting in planning and implementing new undergraduate and graduate courses.
- Performing graduate and undergraduate student mentoring and advising, including participation in BFA and MFA reviews, MFA thesis committees, and studio visits.
- Collaborative oversight and operation of the Photography Area including but not limited to assistance in maintaining facilities, contributing to a positive and productive studio culture, overseeing a safe working environment, curriculum development, and supervising graduate teaching assistants.
- Participating in program-level advising, committee work, and other program, school, college, and university service.

Qualifications:

Minimum Qualifications:

• Masters of Fine Arts Degree with an emphasis in Studio Art, Photography, or equivalent terminal degree from an accredited institution of higher education conferred by the start of employment
• Evidence of teaching experience in higher education (this may include teaching as a graduate instructor of record)

• A clear and substantial body of work or research agenda that demonstrates active practice or sustained practice in the field through exhibitions, publications, performances, and/or other scholarly creative activities

Preferred Qualifications:

• Evidence of a comprehensive knowledge of photographic practices and a demonstrated ability to teach across a broad spectrum of photographic techniques with particular interest in photography as an expansive practice, technology, new means of photographic dissemination, and/or photography as a critical practice

• Demonstrated ability to work and communicate with a diverse range of students, staff, technicians, and faculty, contributing thoughtfully to a collaborative scholarly environment in teaching, mentoring, research, and/or service

• Evidence of a commitment to graduate-level teaching and advising

• Experience contributing to curriculum management, innovative pedagogical practices, and new course creation

Qualification Equivalencies:

Additional Information:

Salary is commensurate with experience and qualifications.Cover Letter/Letter of Application, Curriculum Vitae, List of three Professional References (name, email, business title), Other (see special instructions for details), Statement of Research Philosophy, Statement of Teaching PhilosophyProof of Veteran StatusJeannie Hulen, professor, [email protected]

All application materials must be uploaded to the University of Arkansas System Career Site https://uasys.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com/UASYS  

Please do not send to listed recruitment contact.

Special Instructions to Applicants:

Completed applications received by November 30, 2026, will be assured full consideration. Late applications will be reviewed as necessary to fill the position.

For additional inquiries, please contact the search committee chair, Jeannie Hulen, Professor of Ceramics, Associate Program Director of Studio Art at [email protected].

Applicants must submit:
• Cover letter
• Curriculum vitae with website URL
• List of three professional references (name, title, email address, and phone number) willing to provide letters of recommendation if requested during the application process. Letters of recommendation will be requested only for candidates selected for interviews.
• Applicant profile
• Two sample syllabi of relevant courses, taught or proposed (submit as a single pdf document)
• Statement of research (one page maximum)
• Statement of teaching philosophy (one page maximum)
• 20 images of personal work as a single PDF document. The work should be identified with title, date, medium, and dimensions
• 20 images of student work as a single PDF document. The work should be identified with date, course title, and student level


Review of applications will begin December 1, 2026, and will continue until the position is filled.

Pre-employment Screening Requirements:

Criminal Background Check, Sex Offender Registry

The University of Arkansas is committed to providing a safe campus community. We conduct background checks for applicants being considered for employment. Background checks include a criminal background check and a sex offender registry check. For certain positions, there may also be a financial (credit) background check, a Motor Vehicle Registry (MVR) check, and/or drug screening. Required checks are identified in the position listing. A criminal conviction or arrest pending adjudication or adverse financial history information alone shall not disqualify an applicant in the absence of a relationship to the requirements of the position. Background check information will be used in a confidential, non-discriminatory manner consistent with state and federal law.

The University of Arkansas seeks to attract, develop and retain high quality faculty, staff and administrators that consistently display practices and behaviors to advance a culture that embeds equal opportunity, educational excellence and unparalleled access for all.

The University of Arkansas is an equal opportunity institution. The University does not discriminate in its education programs or activities (including in admission and employment) on the basis of any category or status protected by law, including age, race, color, national origin, disability, religion, protected veteran status, military service, genetic information, sex, sexual preference, or pregnancy. Questions or concerns about the application of Title IX, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex, may be sent to the University’s Title IX Coordinator and to the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights.

Persons must have proof of legal authority to work in the United States on the first day of employment.

All Application information is subject to public disclosure under the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act.

Constant Physical Activity:

N/A

Frequent Physical Activity:

N/A

Occasional Physical Activity:

N/A

Benefits Eligible:

Yes