Visual & Media Arts Teacher (Part-Time)
Davis Chicago · Chicago · $13,000–$18,000 (stated in the posting)
Part-Time Founding Teaching Position · Reports to the Principal · Bachelor’s degree required; Master’s or MFA preferred in Studio Art, Visual Arts, Art Education, Film, Photography, Design, or Media Arts · Active studio, production, or design practice preferred · Illinois Professional Educator License in visual arts preferred and National Board Certification a major plus · 3+ years of secondary (grades 6–12) teaching experience preferred; high school (grades 9–12) teaching experience highly preferred · College-preparatory, independent, Jewish day or faith-based school experience is a plus. Being Jewish is not a requirement for this role. Fewer years but exceptional craft? We hire for mastery, not seat time.
Are you a working artist-teacher at home in the studio and behind the camera alike, whose practice feeds your pedagogy? Do you believe a serious visual arts program builds discipline, vision, and courage in teenagers, whether the medium is charcoal, a camera, or a design file? Are you excited to hang the first student exhibition on a brand-new school’s walls? If so, Davis School Chicago wants to hear from you.
The Dream Team
Davis School Chicago is a proudly Jewish, college-preparatory high school opening in fall 2027 in downtown Chicago, in a state-of-the-art building at the heart of a great city for learning. Every adult at Davis Chicago is an educator and a culture-builder. We hold two expectations at the same time: deep human warmth and uncompromising intellectual excellence. High health and high results, never one at the cost of the other. This is a summary of the characteristics that describe our dream team. Please read the full Profile of the Ideal Davis Chicago Educator and more information about our opportunities before you apply.
To thrive here you are:
Warm and intellectually formidable. Genuinely kind and seriously bright. We hire for intellectual horsepower; only sharp minds grow students to their full potential.
You bring the room to life. Passion people feel, loud or quiet, with the range to teach, support, and lead.
A builder who owns it. Startup grit, a real growth mindset, open about mistakes, gives the gift of feedback, and the drive to create what doesn’t exist yet.
Teach how to think, not what to think. Rigor, evidence, and a love of hard questions, including the controversial ones. Students reach their own conclusions.
Rooted in tradition, built for what’s next. Ancient wisdom and modern tools, AI included, aimed at today's problems.
Unapologetically Jewish. Israel has a right to exist; that is not up for debate. Everything else is fair game, including spirited debate about Israel’s actions. You’re excited to help build a proudly Jewish, pro-Israel school.
What Davis Chicago Needs
Davis Chicago is hiring a part-time Visual & Media Arts Teacher to build visual and media arts at the school. Founding-year sections are drawn from Portfolio Foundation, Digital Design Foundation, Digital Photography Foundation, and Film & Television Production Foundation as founding-class elective choices fill them, with ladders above them that run to AP Drawing and AP 2D Design. If you are interested in a full-time role and have the ability to teach across the arts in addition to visual and media arts, Davis School Chicago is also hiring a founding Arts Department Chair. This role is a teacher-leader who builds our visual and performing arts program and teaches in it every day.
Who Thrives in This Role
Warm, Relational, and High-Performing – Kind, emotionally intelligent, intellectually rigorous, and committed to excellence.
A Working Artist-Teacher – Practice informs pedagogy, in the studio and behind the camera.
A Portfolio Coach – Builds bodies of work colleges notice, on paper and on screen.
An Entrepreneurial Builder – Thrives in ambiguity, solves problems, and creates programs, systems, and traditions from the ground up.
A Curious and Courageous Thinker – Embraces learning, evidence, critical thinking, and meaningful debate.
Rooted and Forward-Looking – Honors tradition while embracing innovation, technology, and AI.
Committed to Jewish Life and Community – Values Jewish identity, the diversity of Jewish thought, and meaningful engagement in Jewish life.
A Collaborative Culture-Builder – Balances accountability, care, and results while elevating everyone around them.
The Role
The Visual & Media Arts Teacher is responsible for delivering engaging, rigorous, and student-centered instruction across the founding visual and media arts courses, from the drawing and painting studio to photography, digital design, and film and television production. This educator will develop students’ technique, visual thinking, production craft, and critique habits, and will build critical media literacy alongside making, so students read images as well as they make them.
The successful candidate will teach technique and critique as disciplines in every medium, will run a working studio with real deadlines and real creative standards, and will coach portfolios that become distinctive evidence for college admissions. As a founding faculty member, the Visual & Media Arts Teacher will help shape curriculum, establish traditions, contribute to school culture, and collaborate closely with colleagues across disciplines to create a vibrant and integrated educational experience.
1. Instruction and Curriculum
Teach sections of Portfolio Foundation, Digital Design Foundation, Digital Photography Foundation, and Film & Television Production Foundation as assigned.
Design and implement engaging, standards-based studio instruction that builds technique, visual thinking, and the habits of sustained investigation across traditional and digital media.
Teach in the spirit of the accomplished-practice standards for art teaching (National Board for Professional Teaching Standards): the substantive study of art making, art history, art criticism, aesthetics, functional design, and the images of popular visual culture.
Teach production craft where the medium calls for it: story, camera, sound, editing, photography, and design.
Build a studio culture of technique, critique, and courageous making, and establish the studio spaces, equipment care, materials, and exhibition and publishing systems a durable program needs.
Build critical media literacy alongside making, so students read media as well as they create it.
Promote inquiry-based learning, studio practice, rehearsal and performance, critique, and project-based experiences, including immersive and experiential approaches where they deepen mastery.
Build toward the Advanced Placement frameworks that anchor the visual arts sequence — AP Drawing and AP 2D Design — and teach so that students meet or exceed them. At Davis Chicago, top AP scores are the byproduct of rich, rigorous instruction, never of test-prep culture.
Champion portfolio-worthy student work — original artwork, photographs, films, and design work — and help students build portfolios and reels, opening pathways toward collegiate and professional arts and media opportunities.
Differentiate instruction to support diverse learners and learning styles.
Utilize educational technology and innovative teaching methodologies to enhance student engagement and achievement.
Assess student progress through a variety of formative and summative measures and provide timely, meaningful feedback.
Develop authentic assessments that measure student growth and mastery.
Collaborate in the development of a vertically aligned visual and media arts curriculum, from the Foundation courses through the Honors levels to AP Drawing and AP 2D Design.
2. Student Development
Foster a classroom environment characterized by curiosity, respect, inclusion, and intellectual challenge.
Build strong relationships with students and serve as a trusted mentor and advisor.
Support students’ academic, social, and emotional growth.
Encourage student leadership, confidence, and active participation in school life.
3. Community and Culture Building
Contribute actively to the vibrant culture and mission of Davis School Chicago.
Partner with colleagues to support school-wide programming, celebrations, and community initiatives.
Help create opportunities for students to engage with the visual and media arts beyond the classroom, from Chicago’s museums, galleries, and studios to juried shows and festivals.
Serve as an ambassador for arts education within the school and broader community.
Showcase student achievement through exhibitions, screenings, competitions, and public events.
Curate student exhibitions and screenings, from the first show on a brand-new school’s walls onward.
Participate in faculty meetings, professional development, and community events as scoped for a part-time role.
Help moderate student clubs and activities where scope allows.
4. Family Engagement and Collaboration
Communicate regularly and effectively with families regarding student progress, learning goals, and exhibitions and showcases.
Collaborate with colleagues across academic departments to develop interdisciplinary learning experiences.
Partner with faculty and school leadership to advance school goals, curriculum development, and student success initiatives.
Qualifications
Education: Bachelor’s degree required; Master’s or MFA preferred in Studio Art, Visual Arts, Art Education, Film, Photography, Design, or Media Arts.
Practice: Active studio, production, or design practice preferred; your work should show up in your teaching.
Range: Demonstrated ability to teach across at least two of studio art, photography, digital design, and film or video production.
Licensure: Illinois Professional Educator License in visual arts preferred; National Board Certification a major plus.
Craft: Evidence of student portfolios that grew under your coaching.
Core Competencies
Studio Instruction: technique and critique taught as disciplines, in every medium.
Portfolio: bodies of work colleges notice.
Media Literacy: students who read media as well as they make it.
Community: visual and media arts visible in the life of the school.
Compensation and Benefits
The anticipated compensation for this position is $13,000–$18,000 per section, per year, aligned to the same step-and-lane logic as the school’s established Faculty Salary Schedule. Placement within the range is determined by a combination of relevant experience and educational attainment, including Bachelor's, Master's, Master's + additional graduate credits, Education Specialist (Ed.S.), and Doctoral (Ed.D./Ph.D.) degrees, with the upper band reserved for advanced degrees, exceptional depth, and hard-to-staff assignments. The number of sections is agreed annually with the master schedule. Paid leave and paid sick leave accrue as required by law; this position is not eligible for the school’s benefits package.
How We Hire
Our process is thorough and we believe that hiring is a dual decision-making process; you are vetting us as much as we are vetting you. Our process includes focused conversations with the people you would work with, a battery of assessments we use for your development as much as for selection, and interview rounds both in-person and virtually. We use artificial intelligence tools in our recruitment and hiring process to help review and organize applications and interviews; every hiring decision is made by a person. Davis School Chicago is an equal employment opportunity employer.
Is this you?
This isn’t for everyone. If it’s you, it may be the best work of your life. Read the full Profile of the Ideal Davis Chicago Educator, then apply.
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