Assistant Professor (Department of Art, Indigenous Art Studio)

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Job Title: Assistant Professor, Department of Art, Indigenous Art Studio

About the University: It’s your time to shine! Work where the world comes to create, discover and learn. We are one of Canada’s top universities and leading research institutions. With more than 8,900 undergraduate and graduate students, two campuses (Lethbridge and Calgary), seven faculties and schools, and more than 2,500 employees, ULethbridge is Lethbridge’s second largest employer. Faculty and staff come together to contribute, each in their own way, to establishing ULethbridge as Canada’s destination university. In 2022, Lethbridge was recognized as one of Canada’s top small cities.

Rank: Assistant Professor
Tenure Information: Tenure Track
Start Date: July 1, 2025
Salary Range: $79,132 to $94,000

The Department of Art at the University of Lethbridge invites applications for an Assistant Professor with a specialization in Indigenous Art Studio Practices, to begin 1 July 2025. The University of Lethbridge is strongly committed to equity, diversity, inclusion, and reconciliation. This is demonstrated by its ongoing work, relationships, and connections with the Blackfoot Confederacy. The University strives to provide access and opportunity to historically excluded groups identified under the Employment Equity Act. In accordance with Section 10.1 of the Alberta Human Rights Act, selection for the position will be limited to Indigenous/Aboriginal People. Candidates will be asked to self-identify as part of the application process.

Position Description
The successful candidate will:
• Design curriculum for and teach courses in Indigenous studio art practices at the undergraduate level.
• Contribute to graduate programs through teaching, committee supervision or participation, and/or mentorship of graduate students.
• Develop and teach undergraduate courses in other areas of the art studio program or within the Faculty of Fine Arts, as relevant to the successful candidate’s experience, expertise, and interests.
• Contribute to development of new curriculum and revision of existing curriculum at the program and course level.
• Articulate and conduct a program of original and impactful creative practice and/or scholarly research, as appropriate to the Assistant Professor rank and as required for future tenure and promotion in the Faculty of Fine Arts.
• Contribute in a meaningful and collaborative way to departmental, Faculty, and University service and collegial governance, through participation in committees and other activities such as external outreach, recruitment, and service with organizations in their field.
• Lead outreach, recruitment, and/or engagement activities to serve Indigenous students, community members, and/or artists, fostering positive, reciprocal relationships with Indigenous communities and organizations.

Qualifications
The committee recognizes that Indigenous peoples have been historically excluded from and under-represented in graduate education and art institutions, and is open to a variety of forms of evidence demonstrating that a candidate meets the below requirements, including but not limited to educational experiences, volunteer positions, and work in other artistic, community, cultural, or professional contexts.

Essential Attributes
• Applicants will demonstrate sufficient knowledge, training, and expertise to fulfill the position requirements listed above. Knowledge, training, and expertise may be demonstrated might include one or more of: formal education at the graduate level (e.g. MFA or equivalent), professional or community-based experience, in-depth engagement in traditional forms of knowledge transfer and mentorship, and other experiences outlined by the candidate.
• An established and recognized professional, educational, or community-based arts practice.
• Ability to articulate a feasible and significant creative practice/research plan, with outcomes appropriate to the rank of an Assistant Professor.
• Ability to develop and teach studio courses in Indigenous art practices, teaching students from a range of academic areas and artistic backgrounds, including students from outside of fine arts programs.
• Ability to develop and teach courses in one or more areas of either the art studio program (such as drawing, painting, print, photo arts, media arts, sculpture/spatial practice, social practice) or within the Faculty of Fine Arts (such as art history, museum studies, music, new media, theatre/drama, cinema/film studies, interdisciplinary/multidisciplinary areas).
• Ability to contribute to curriculum development at the department level.
• Effectiveness as a teacher or mentor to students or emerging artists. This can be demonstrated through experience in postsecondary education or in other educational, community-based, or professional contexts.
• Ability to teach a diverse student body, to incorporate innovative and equity-informed pedagogical approaches in their teaching, and to contribute to decolonization and Indigenization through teaching activities.
• Ability to develop and lead outreach, recruitment, and engagement activities that build positive relationships with Indigenous students and communities.
• Ability to contribute to a collaborative department and Faculty culture through collegiality, reliability, professional communication, and conflict resolution skills.
• Demonstrated history of positive collaboration/contributions to Indigenous communities.

Preferred Attributes
• Ability to contribute to the museum studies program through teaching, mentoring students, or supervising student internships.
• Established, collaborative relationships with the Blackfoot/Blackfeet community or other Indigenous communities in the region.
• Creative/scholarly interest in digital media, artificial intelligence, and interactive technologies, with potential to contribute to ongoing interdisciplinary and collaborative initiatives within the Faculty as described below (see “About the Academic Unit”)
• Established teaching or research practice that engages with Blackfoot/Blackfeet ontologies and epistemologies and/or with land-based creative approaches and pedagogies.

About the Academic Unit
The Department of Art offers degree programs in Art Studio, Indigenous Art Studio, and Art History/Museum Studies. Our conceptually-oriented programs are designed to integrate diverse areas of study within a liberal arts education. The Art Studio program emphasizes hands-on technical and creative innovation, interdisciplinarity, critical thought and community engagement, all intrinsic to contemporary art production. Supported by spacious and well-equipped facilities, core areas of study include drawing, painting, print, photo arts, media arts, Indigenous art, sculpture/spatial practice, and social practice, while an exciting series of rotating courses offers advanced exploration of up-to-date issues in art. Senior students are allocated individual studio spaces where they have the freedom to experiment and develop their own artistic direction in an environment of expert technical support, creative guidance, and critical dialogue.

The Art Department is part of the Faculty of Fine Arts, which also includes Drama, Music, and New Media departments, as well as a Multidisciplinary BFA program. The Faculty is committed to collaborative, community-oriented scholarship and research-creation. The Faculty of Fine Arts includes two Canada Research Chairs: one in Indigenous Music, Culture, and Politics (Music) and one in Digital Extremism (New Media). The Faculty also hosts the CFI-funded Centre for Indigenous Arts Research & Technology, a lab dedicated to imagining and materializing creative Indigenous technological expression, and is home to the Niitsitapi pod of the Abundant Intelligences project, an international project asking what Indigenous relationships with AI look like and how Indigenous communities relate to knowledge, technology, and information creation and sharing. The Art Gallery and faculty in Art and New Media are partners in the Mootookakio’ssin (Distant Awareness) project and support Apani, the Blackfoot Digital Library on campus. Both of these are led by Blackfoot Elders and create connections between people living on Blackfoot territory and cultural material and knowledge housed in international collections and archives.

In 2024, the Faculty of Fine Arts was gifted the Blackfoot name Piiksinaasin, which means Manifesting Beauty, by Dr. Leroy Little Bear. The name represents the Faculty of Fine Arts as a place where students create, explore and research, transforming the world around them through creative practice and critical thinking. The name reflects the Faculty’s long-standing support of Indigenous arts and creative initiatives and exemplifies the work done to advance reconciliation and decolonization. For more information about the Faculty of Fine Arts and the Art program, please visit our website: https://www.ulethbridge.ca/fine-arts/study/art

About the University
The University of Lethbridge (uLethbridge) is a comprehensive and research-intensive university founded on the principles of liberal education where inspired scholars integrate research and creative activity with teaching. Our University’s Blackfoot name is Iniskim, meaning Sacred Buffalo Stone. Founded in 1967 on traditional Blackfoot land, it is a place where student engagement in learning, creative activities, and research takes place every day. With campuses in Lethbridge and Calgary, uLethbridge offers more than 150 undergraduate and 60 graduate programs in the Faculties of Arts & Science, Education, Fine Arts, Health Sciences, the Schools of Liberal Education and Graduate Studies, and the Dhillon School of Business, to more than 8,900 students.

Many world-class researchers, visual, sound, and performing artists have made their home here, contributing to a thriving arts community supported by numerous galleries, including the SAAG (Southern Alberta Art Galley Maansiksikaitsitapiitsinikssin), CASA Community Arts Centre, the Trianon Gallery, the University of Lethbridge Art Gallery, as well as theatre and music venues. The University is a vital part of Lethbridge, a community of over 100,000 people, located near the Oldman River, close to the Rocky Mountains, and within easy driving distance to Calgary’s International Airport. The many recreational and cultural amenities of the Lethbridge area offer a wonderful quality of life, reflected in its 2022 recognition as one of Canada’s best small cities.

Our Values
The University of Lethbridge recognizes that diversity enriches our campus and community and is fundamental to teaching, learning, and research excellence. The University as a whole embraces equity as a core value to be truly inclusive of the communities of which we are a part, and this requires ongoing intentional and systemic action. Through recruitment and support of individuals who further enhance our commitment to inclusion and diversity, the University strives to create a diverse community where students, faculty and staff feel welcome, are treated equitably, and can thrive.

Application Process
Interested individuals should submit an application via the ULethbridge Careers page (https://uleth.peopleadmin.ca/postings/8049) that includes:
• A letter of interest that describes artistic background/experience, outlines relationships to community, and explains interest in the position;
• Examples of creative work, provided through a link to professional website, links to websites for exhibitions and cultural projects, images with image list, links to video/audio sites;
• A current curriculum vitae;
• Names and contact information for three qualified referees. We request one reference who can speak to the candidate’s connections with and relationship to Indigenous community/communities, as well as two references who can address the candidate’s teaching and research/creative practice qualifications. Referees will be contacted for shortlisted candidates.

Candidates may be asked to provide additional materials for the search committee’s consideration.

Applications must be received by February 14, 2025.

Please address application documents to:
Dr. Heather Davis-Fisch, Dean
Faculty of Fine Arts, University of Lethbridge
4401 University Drive
Lethbridge, AB T1K 3M4
Tel: (403) 329-2126
Email: finearts.dean@uleth.ca

Please contact Dr. Josie Mills, chair of the search committee (josephine.mills@uleth.ca) with any questions related to this opportunity.

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