Assistant Professor of Art

Whitman College; Walla Walla (WA); On-site; USD 71,000 - 78,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical/Dental/Vision Insurance

Life Insurance & Disability Insurance

403(b) Retirement Plan

Tuition Remission for dependents

Employee tuition waiver

Job summary

Whitman College invites applications for an Assistant Professor of Art with expertise in Printmaking/Book Arts. The successful candidate will teach Printmaking courses (Beginning–Advanced), contribute to Foundations, and may teach senior capstone and the college's first-year seminar.

The standard teaching load is five courses per year. Applicants must have an MFA by appointment, with college-level teaching experience and an active exhibition record.

Qualifications

• MFA by time of appointment required.
• College-level teaching experience expected with active exhibition/presentation record.
• Knowledge of contemporary theory and practice desired.

Responsibilities

• Teach Printmaking (Beginning, Intermediate, Advanced).
• Contribute to Foundations program with beginner-level course design.
• Teach senior capstone courses and first-year seminar in rotation.

Skills

Teaching experience

Exhibition record

Theory and practice

Education

MFA by appointment

Job description

Assistant Professor of Art

Location: Walla Walla, WA

Open Date: Oct 23, 2026

Located in the vibrant community of Walla Walla, WA, Whitman College is home to an intellectually diverse, dynamic, and supportive community of some 500 staff and faculty serving roughly 1,500 students from the local region and across the globe. With exceptional students, accomplished faculty and staff, and engaged alumni, Whitman College continues to build on its national reputation for academic excellence as one of the top undergraduate, liberal arts colleges in the country.

Whitman College Department of Art seeks applicants for a tenure-track position beginning August 2027, with expertise in Printmaking/Book Arts, broadly defined, at the rank of Assistant Professor. Applicants must have an MFA by the time of appointment. A strong candidate will have college-level teaching experience, an active exhibition/presentation record, and knowledge of contemporary theory and practice.

The successful candidate will offer a full roster of courses in Printmaking (Beginning, Intermediate, and Advanced), contribute to our Foundations program (a thematically-driven, beginner-level course of their own design, not necessarily utilizing Printmaking or Book Arts), as well as have the opportunity to teach our senior capstone courses (taught in rotation by all art faculty) and in the college's first year seminar general education program. The standard annual teaching load is five courses.

The Studio Art Program at Whitman College is housed in the Fouts Center for the Visual Arts, a 38,000 square foot facility with studios in Painting, Sculpture, Drawing, Digital Media, Printmaking, Ceramics, Photography, and Book Arts. Within this space, the candidate will have a personal studio and office adjacent to the Printmaking studio. The printmaking area is outfitted with two etching presses, a litho press, a manual proofing letterpress, a platen letterpress, and two vandercook letterpresses, as well as an extensive collection of lead type, silkscreens, and stones. Digital equipment in the studio includes a 17\" wide format inkjet printer, laser printer, scanner, exposure unit, vinyl cutter, laser engraver and a video projection system. The digital lab next to the studio houses a 44\" large format printer, large flatbed scanners, 3D printer and scanner and more!

The department invites applications from artists whose intellectual/creative life lies within the area of Printmaking, but which also exceeds it. As a department that is deeply invested in cultivating diverse creative practices at a small Liberal Arts College, we are looking for an artist who positions their teaching and vision within a large cultural, intellectual and interdisciplinary framework. Whether your interests and research extend into social/ecological justice and activism, performance, design, digital culture, social practice, community‑engaged learning, critical theory or any other discipline, we welcome your application. We especially encourage candidates who wish to engage in cross‑pollination of ideas and intellectual experimentation within the art department, across campus, or in the broader community.

Walla Walla is a regional city of 35,000 with a unique geological landscape at the foot of the Blue Mountains and near the Oregon/Washington state border. A hub of significant indigenous cultural activity for thousands of years, and later a site of Western imperial expansion, conflict and settler colonial occupation, today in Walla Walla you will encounter the vast agricultural industries of wheat and wine, a pedestrian‑centric downtown, a vibrant Latinx community, alongside three institutions of higher education, a state penitentiary, and the nearby Hanford Nuclear site. The Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation or CTUIR maintains its government and cultural headquarters about 45 miles from Walla Walla. Members of Whitman College's Art Department strive to be responsive to the complexities of the present social and political order and to the ongoing struggles for racial and economic justice, sustainability, housing, labor, and immigration rights, among others, with which we are enmeshed. We are deeply committed to finding ways to navigate, suffer, and grapple with these turbulent entanglements, and believe emphatically in art as a powerful way of knowing and exploring toward this and other ends.

The College provides a generous pre‑tenure sabbatical leave program and professional development support for both research and teaching. The successful candidate will demonstrate potential to sustain an active scholarly or creative research agenda and to participate in faculty governance, mentorship, or other forms of service that contribute to the overall functioning of the college.

Whitman College is committed to fostering an inclusive learning community that values diverse identities, experiences, and perspectives. In the cover letter, candidates should describe their interest in teaching undergraduates, majors as well as non‑majors, at all levels of instruction. In doing so, candidates should address how their classroom and scholarly practices will advance equity and inclusion in the learning environment.

Salary Range: $71,000 - $78,000

Whitman College offers a competitive benefits package that is designed to attract qualified candidates and retain talented employees. Full‑time employees enjoy the following benefits:

• Medical/Dental/Vision Insurances
• basic life, accidental death and dismemberment and long term disability insurances with the capability to elect additional voluntary coverage
• 403(b) Defined Contribution Retirement Plan with a matching contribution after eligibility requirements are met
• Tuition Remission - Dependent Children, after eligibility requirements
• employee tuition waiver for two Whitman courses per semester
• an Employee Assistance Program.

New faculty receive a relocation stipend for moving expenses based on the distance of relocation. Benefit offerings and eligibility described reflect current offerings and may be subject to change in accordance with College polices and plan documents.

Equal Employment Opportunity Statement

Whitman College is cultivating a community built on inclusion and belonging. We recognize the value of those who can offer historically underrepresented perspectives and encourage applications from those whose background, knowledge, and insights from lived experience can add to the college's working and learning environment.

Whitman College is an EEO employer. The college shall abide by the requirements of 41 CFR §§ 60-1.4(a), 60-300.5(a) and 60-741.5(a). These regulations prohibit discrimination against qualified individuals based on their status as protected veterans or individuals with disabilities, and prohibit discrimination against all individuals based on their race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.

Review of applications will begin January 4, 2027