Valade Family Endowed Chair - Studio Art and Craft

Job Description

Job Description

STATUS: Full-Time Faculty

DIVISION: Studio Art, Craft and Interdisciplinary Art and Design

REPORTS TO:                     Division Chair of Studio Art, Craft and Interdisciplinary Design

SUPERVISES: Studio Art and Craft Faculty and Adjunct Instructors

FLSA STATUS:                    Exempt, Full-Time, On-Site

APPOINTMENT: Full-time faculty appointment with a 2:2 Teaching Load and Program Chair Stipend

Position Description

The College for Creative Studies (CCS) invites applications for the Valade Family Endowed Chair in Studio Art & Craft. This endowed program leadership position provides academic and creative leadership for the Studio Art & Craft program and advances the role of making, materials, and hands-on creative practice across CCS. As Program Chair, the position leads Studio Art & Craft and reports to the Division Chair of Studio Art, Craft & Interdisciplinary Art + Design.

Studio Art & Craft carries forward more than a century of making at CCS, with study and practice spanning Ceramics, Drawing, Fibers and Textiles, Glass, Metalsmithing and Jewelry, Painting, Performance, Print Media, Sculpture, Digital Fabrication, and Digital Media. The Chair works closely with faculty to strengthen these disciplines, evolve the curriculum, recruit and support students, and ensure that Studio Art & Craft remains a distinctive and vital part of a CCS education.

Building from this disciplinary strength, the Chair creates opportunities for collaboration across art, design, media, technology, and other creative fields while keeping the needs, resources, and disciplinary depth of Studio Art & Craft majors central. The Valade Family Endowed Chair provides dedicated resources to support creative research, visiting artists and practitioners, exhibitions and programming, interdisciplinary initiatives, and distinctive opportunities for students and faculty.

CCS seeks an exceptional practicing artist and educator with a significant record of creative and professional accomplishment, demonstrated excellence in teaching, and the vision and collaborative spirit to help shape the future of Studio Art & Craft. The successful candidate will bring deep disciplinary expertise, intellectual curiosity, and an expansive understanding of contemporary making.

Position Accountabilities and Essential Functions:

Studio Art & Craft Leadership:

• Provide ambitious academic and creative leadership for Studio Art & Craft, strengthening its disciplines while supporting experimentation and new directions in contemporary art, craft, materials, technologies, and modes of making.
• Serve as the primary content-area expert for the program, working with faculty and the Division Chair to advance curriculum and identify faculty, facility, resource, and program needs.
• Lead the continued evolution of the curriculum with faculty, balancing disciplinary rigor and technical mastery with experimentation, emerging practices, and new opportunities for students.

Recruitment, Students & Alumni:

• Take an active leadership role in recruiting students to Studio Art & Craft, partnering with Enrollment Services, faculty, students, and alumni to communicate the distinctive value and opportunities of the program.
• Support student success through mentoring, strong faculty connections, and opportunities to engage with visiting artists and makers, exhibitions, experiential learning, and professional practice.
• Build relationships with graduates and alumni that strengthen the program and contribute to recruitment, professional connections, and opportunities for current students.

Making & Collaboration Across the College:

• Champion making, materials, craft, and hands-on creative practice within Studio Art & Craft and across the broader CCS educational experience.
• Build collaborations across CCS where Studio Art & Craft expertise in materials, processes, fabrication, and making can enrich cross-college student and faculty work.
• Lead the development of Artisan Trades, building on Studio Art & Craft expertise to connect traditional craft and material knowledge with contemporary making, fabrication, and evolving professional practices.

Endowed Resources & External Engagement:

• Steward Valade Family Endowed resources to strengthen Studio Art & Craft and support creative research, visiting artists and practitioners, exhibitions, programming, and distinctive opportunities for students and faculty.
• Cultivate relationships with artists and makers (including alumni), cultural institutions, creative industries, community organizations, and other partners to expand the reach, visibility, and opportunities for Studio Art & Crafts and its students.

CALENDAR-YEAR LEADERSHIP:

• This is a calendar-year leadership appointment. The Chair maintains appropriate oversight of Studio Art & Crafts operations throughout the year, including summer programming and academic planning, in coordination with the Division Chair.

Qualifications and Experience:

Candidates must hold a terminal degree (MFA or doctorate) or demonstrate professional experience in visual art, craft, design, or a related field equivalent to a terminal degree. Candidates should have a minimum of five years of full-time college teaching experience and demonstrated experience providing academic, curricular, or program leadership.

Candidates should demonstrate:

• A sustained record as a practicing artist and/or maker, evidenced through exhibitions, commissions, publications, collections, residencies, awards, or other forms of professional recognition.
• Excellence in college-level teaching and a demonstrated ability to engage, challenge, and mentor emerging artists and makers, and early-career faculty
• Deep expertise in one or more Studio Art & Craft disciplines and broad engagement with contemporary art, craft, material practices, technologies, and evolving forms of making.
• Experience strengthening curriculum and academic programs, supporting student recruitment, and fostering experimentation, rigor, and high expectations for student work.
• A collaborative and forward-looking leadership approach, with the ability to build multidisciplinary relationships

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS.

• Experience connecting traditional and contemporary modes of making with sustainability, digital fabrication, emerging technologies, community-engaged practice, creative entrepreneurship, preservation, or other emerging areas.
• Experience fostering a practice-led research culture leading to disseminated outputs.
• Experience of community engagement.

WORK ENVIRONMENT: This job operates in a professional office and college campus environment.  The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate. The employee is occasionally exposed to outside weather conditions.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS: The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. While performing the duties of this Job, the employee is regularly required to maintain a stationary position, use a computer and other office equipment, and communicate effectively in person, by phone, and virtually.  Frequent interaction with others, including staff, faculty, students and third parties is required.  The employee may occasionally be required to move files or other objects weighing up to 25 pounds, including from low and high places.  The ability to move around within the office and between buildings on campus, attend off-site meetings and events, and travel between Ford Campus site to Taubman Center site are required. CCS will make reasonable accommodations that will allow individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

About CCS

The College for Creative Studies (CCS) is a nonprofit, private college accredited by the Higher Learning Commission and authorized by the Michigan Education Department to grant Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees. CCS, located in midtown Detroit, strives to provide students with the tools needed for successful careers in the dynamic and growing creative industries. CCS fosters students’ resolve to pursue excellence, act ethically, engage their responsibilities as citizens, and learn throughout their lives. With world-class faculty and unsurpassed facilities, students learn to be visual communicators who actively use art and design toward the betterment of society. The College is a major supplier of talent to numerous industries, such as transportation, film and animation, advertising and communications, consumer electronics, athletic apparel, and many more. Its graduates are exhibiting artists and teachers, design problem solvers and innovators, as well as creative leaders in business. 

To apply:

Applicants are encouraged to apply immediately. The search will close when a suitable candidate is hired. Interested candidates should submit a resume, a letter of application, teaching philosophy, three references, and a link to the portfolio in PDF format to: View email address on ziprecruiter.com.

Applications will close January 10, 2027

CCS website:     

The College for Creative Studies, a leading college of art and design, represents a community composed of individuals with many perspectives, personal experiences, values, identities, and worldviews, and we value what this brings to our organization. CCS is an Equal Opportunity Employer.  We consider applicants for all positions without regard to age, race, color, national origin, religion, sex, sexual orientation, height, weight, gender identity, marital or veteran status, disability or any other legally protected status.

The College for Creative Studies subscribes to the principle of equal opportunity in its employment, admissions, and educational practices and strives to provide an environment and workplace free from unlawful harassment or discrimination.  We encourage applications from all.