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Community Engagement Educator

Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art

Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art

Bentonville, AR, USA
Posted on Oct 16, 2025

The mission of Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art is to welcome all to celebrate the American spirit in a setting that unites the power of art with the beauty of nature. Founded by philanthropist and arts patron Alice Walton, Crystal Bridges is a public non-profit charitable organization.

Job Description:

Position Title: Community Engagement Educator

Position Type: Full-Time

FLSA Classification: Exempt

Department: Community Engagement

Reports to: Director of Community Partnerships

Date Reviewed: 10/09/25

About Crystal Bridges & The Momentary:

Crystal Bridges is a museum of American art located in Bentonville, Arkansas. We explore the unfolding story of America by actively collecting, exhibiting, interpreting, and preserving outstanding works that illuminate the American heritage and artistic possibilities. Founded by Alice Walton in 2005, the museum opened in 2011 and is a public, non-profit charitable organization with free admission.

The Momentary is a contemporary art space that opened to the public on February 22, 2020, in downtown Bentonville, Arkansas. The Momentary is a venue for the music, art, and food of our time, and a catalyst for creativity and economic vitality. An extension to Crystal Bridges, the Momentary is a ‘living room’ where community gathers to be inspired, connected, and joyful. You belong here: make the most of this moment.

Position Summary:

The Community Engagement Educator supports Crystal Bridges and the Momentary’s outreach efforts by advancing accessibility, audience engagement, and community connection. As part of the Community Engagement team, this role implements strategies that remove barriers to museum participationand ensure a welcoming museum experience for all.

The Educator builds relationships with local and regional communities—especially underrepresented groups—by developing programs that reflect community voices and foster ongoing participation. They also support the Mobile Art Lab, ensuring its programs are accessible, inclusive, and effectively connect schools, libraries, and community spaces through meaningful, art-based activations that foster belonging, creativity, and cultural understanding.

This position requires flexibility to work evenings and weekends in support of programs and events that serve diverse audiences. The role also involves regional travel—approximately 25% of the time—to festivals, community events, schools, and partner sites across Arkansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma, with some travel requiring overnight hotel stays.

Principal Responsibilities:

  • Build and nurture strategic relationships with nonprofits, cultural organizations, social service agencies, and regional stakeholders to advance equity and access.
  • Develop accessible, community-centered programs for seniors, people with disabilities, multilingual audiences, and individuals from underrepresented, underserved, and rural communities across Arkansas, Eastern Oklahoma, and Southwest Missouri.
  • Plan and facilitate community listening sessions that foster dialogue, trust, and collaboration.
  • Support the development and facilitation of creative aging and arts-and-wellness initiatives that promote inclusion, belonging, and well-being.
  • Coordinate community group visits and special invitations to ensure meaningful access to exhibitions and museum experiences.
  • Design and implement targeted outreach strategies to connect with diverse communities and reduce barriers to museum participation.
  • Cultivate sustainable audience pipelines through partnerships with schools, cultural groups, and social service organizations.
  • Maintain and expand a database to track relationships, engagement outcomes, and impact metrics.
  • Support Mobile Art Lab activations that bring interactive, art-based experiences to schools, libraries, and community spaces.
  • Collaborate with teaching artists, volunteers, and community partners to design inclusive and culturally responsive engagements.
  • Participate in cross-departmental collaborations and support museum-wide initiatives that deepen community connection.
  • Work flexible hours, including evenings and weekends, as required by program and event schedules.

Qualifications and Skills:

  • Bachelor’s degree in education, Museum Studies, Arts Administration, Community Engagement, Social Work, or a related field required
  • Minimum of 2 years of experience in community engagement, arts education, public programs, or a related field with demonstrated success building partnerships and working with diverse communities.
  • Experience working in museums, cultural organizations, or nonprofit environments.
  • Bilingual or multilingual skills strongly preferred

Training, Knowledge, and Traits

  • Training in accessibility practices, ADA compliance, and inclusive program design.
  • Familiarity with best practices in creative aging, community-centered programming, and arts-based wellness initiatives.
  • Deep commitment to diversity, equity, access, and inclusion (DEAI).
  • Strong interpersonal and collaboration skills with the ability to build trust and cultivate reciprocal relationships across a wide range of communities and stakeholders.

Physical Demands and Work Environment:

The physical demands and work environment characteristics described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this position. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Physical Demands:

  • In the work environment described, this role requires a high level of physical activity and sustained use of a computer and telephone for prolonged periods of time. The position requires effective verbal and written communication with others, good eye/hand coordination, and the ability to lift and transport up to 75 pounds. Vision abilities required include close vision, distance vision, color vision, peripheral vision, depth perception, and the ability to adjust focus. This role regularly involves standing, walking, using hands and fingers to handle or operate tools, controls, and equipment, reaching with hands and arms, climbing or balancing, stooping, kneeling, crouching, crawling, and communicating clearly with others. The ability to respond promptly and physically to urgent situations, including during off-hours as part of the on-call rotation, is essential. Regularly, while performing the duties of this job, the employee is required to travel independently regionally and in communities served

Work Environment:

  • Work will be performed in an office environment (8 am -5 pm), museum galleries, art studios, schools, libraries and in communities served. Evening and weekend hours are required. While performing the duties of this job, the employee is exposed to weather conditions prevalent at the time. The noise level in the Museum work environment is usually low to moderate. Reasonable accommodation may be reviewed and evaluated in the case of exhibitions exceeding noise levels. Some overnight travel may be necessary.

All offers of employment are contingent on your successful completion (where permitted by state law) of a confidentiality agreement and background check. In addition, you will need to provide proper identification verifying your eligibility to work in the United States.

Crystal Bridges is an equal opportunity employer committed to building and maintaining a workplace that is free of discrimination and harassment of any kind. We encourage all qualified applicants to apply. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, religion, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, veteran status, or any other status protected by the laws or regulations in the locations where we operate.