CREATIVE DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR

about this position:

Along a less than 1 mile radius on Gilbert St, stretching past both sides of Iowa City's downtown and along UI's central campus, sit the three historic houses of Public Space One (PS1): the epicenter of eastern Iowa's artist community. These spaces inhabit: Iowa's only community printshop (IC Press Co-op), the PS1 Northside gallery, nine private artist studios (4 at PS1 Northside, 5 at PS1 Close House). The Close House also houses: the main hall (for intimate music and stage performances, recurring community exhibitions, workshops), multiple libraries (including the Center for Afrofuturist Studies reading room, IC Poetry, and LGBTQIA Archive & Library), a second floor dancehall (growing IC's social dance scene for the past 3+ years), and a visiting artist apartment. These locations are home to all PS1 programs and workshops and are a creative nucleus for art action in Iowa City and the extended region.

As a proudly artist-led organization, we are seeking to hire a Creative Development Director with a background and interest in community-driven art to join the PS1 Directors Circle. This position will expand PS1’s fundraising capacity through continued annual fund growth and by sustaining organizational membership in addition to community-based sponsorships and partnerships. We invite motivated and creative individuals to join our small staff and energized board and take advantage of opportunities for individual leadership and professional growth. The Creative Development Director will be primarily responsible for creatively leading fund development at PS1 towards a thriving, sustainable future.

This job has its perks and challenges, including:

PERKS:

  • 30 hours a week, with flexible scheduling and built-in autonomy and work environment supportive of creative practitioners

  • competitive healthcare benefits, including vision & dental

  • dynamic and vibrant artist community (something new/fun/weird is always around the corner)

  • opportunity to build and shape the next era of our beloved institution and the relationships that support it

CHALLENGES:

  • we believe in group work, so social skills, communication, thoughtfulness, and collaboration are crucial 

  • we work with intention so expect staff to be fully engaged and dedicated (i.e., this is not a sit-back-and-wait-for-things-happen kind of job… our work hours are full and we take initiative to make our organization better!)

  • we are scrappy artists, economically frugal, and non-traditional in our approaches; strong candidates will be able to "go with the flow,” thrive in questioning default structures (and experimenting with new ones), and balance many approaches to art organizing with a history of artist-led institutional success

Does this sound like you? View the full position description and instructions to apply here.

Review of applications will begin Wed, Oct 21, 2026.

Questions? Please contact info@publicspaceone.com.

Learn more & apply here