Work at NIAD

NIAD is seeking an experienced Grants Consultant to manage and strengthen our institutional grants program over a twelve-month term. The consultant will manage NIAD's grants pipeline from prospect research and proposal development through award tracking, reporting, and renewal strategy, working closely with the Development Director and Executive Director.

We are looking for a writer who can understand NIAD as a contemporary arts organization, spend meaningful time with our programs and artists, and write about the work with specificity and fluency, carrying artists' own voices, choices, and ambitions rather than describing them from the outside.

At a glance: Independent contractor; fixed-term, grant-funded engagement of approximately 12 months. Approximately 15 hours per week on average, heavier around major deadlines. $55–65 per hour depending on experience, against a not-to-exceed contract total of approximately $45,000. Primarily remote, with regular working sessions at NIAD's Richmond studio or by video. Posted 10/16/26; priority review date 10/30/26.

Click here to view the full scope of work and application information (PDF)

The Studio Manager is the senior facilitation role in NIAD's 23rd Street Studio. Working alongside up to 80 artists with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) and a team of facilitators, this position models person-centered facilitation across media, mentors and supervises the facilitation team, and helps the Studio Director keep the daily rhythm of the studio safe, well-staffed, and creatively alive.

The Studio Manager is also the studio's primary point of connection to NIAD's Exhibitions & Partnerships team, helping artists move work toward exhibitions, commissions, and sales when that is what they want. This is a good fit for a practicing artist with real breadth across materials, a mentor's patience with colleagues as well as artists, and the steadiness to keep a busy, social studio running well.

Like all NIAD staff, the Studio Manager shares responsibility for running programs safely and in accordance with the requirements of the Regional Center of the East Bay (RCEB) and California Community Care Licensing (CCL), and for upholding NIAD's commitments to confidentiality, accessibility, and person-centered practice.

At a glance: Regular, non-exempt. Four days (28 hours) per week, Monday–Friday, typically 8:30 AM–4:00 PM. $35.00–$38.00 per hour depending on experience. On-site in Richmond, CA. Posted 10/16/26; priority review date 10/30/26.

Click here to view the full job description and application information (PDF)

The Studio Coordinator builds and maintains the organizational systems that help NIAD artists' creative and professional practices move forward. At the center of the role is an ongoing portfolio review process: bringing artists together with Studio Facilitators and the Exhibitions & Partnerships team to discuss recent work, materials, condition concerns, ideas, and goals, then documenting those conversations and making sure next steps are carried out.

The Coordinator also develops clear, accessible systems for storing, labeling, reviewing, and moving artwork through the studio, and coordinates artist biographies, statements, CVs, and other professional materials in artists' own language. The role serves as a bridge among artists, Studio staff, and the Exhibitions & Partnerships team.

Like all NIAD staff, the Studio Coordinator shares responsibility for running programs safely and in accordance with the requirements of the Regional Center of the East Bay (RCEB) and California Community Care Licensing (CCL), and for upholding NIAD's commitments to confidentiality, accessibility, and person-centered practice.

At a glance: Regular, non-exempt. 26 hours per week, four days a week, 9:00 AM–4:00 PM. $26.50–$29.00 per hour depending on experience. On-site in Richmond, CA, with occasional field trips and off-site visits. Posted 10/16/26; priority review date 10/30/26.

Click here to view the full job description and application information (PDF)

The Personal Care Support Specialist helps make NIAD's 23rd Street Studio a place where artists with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) can take part fully in their creative practice. Working as part of NIAD's Studio and Care teams, this position provides individualized, person-centered support with mobility, eating, toileting, communication, daily routines, and whatever else comes up over the course of the program day.

The work is grounded in respect for each artist's autonomy, preferences, dignity, and individual ways of communicating. NIAD's studio is a collaborative and highly social creative environment, and this position works closely with Studio Facilitators, the Care Team, and Community Programs staff — and with artists' families and caregivers — so that artists can engage safely and meaningfully in their practices. We are looking for someone who is attentive, patient, and communicative, who is comfortable providing hands-on personal support, and who wants to contribute to a culture that treats access and care as integral to artists' creative and professional lives.

Like all NIAD staff, the Personal Care Support Specialist shares responsibility for running programs safely and in accordance with the requirements of the Regional Center of the East Bay (RCEB) and California Community Care Licensing (CCL), and for upholding NIAD's commitments to confidentiality, accessibility, and person-centered practice.

At a glance: Regular, non-exempt. 28.5 hours per week, five days a week, 8:45 AM–3:00 PM. $24.00–$25.00 per hour depending on experience. On-site in Richmond, CA, with occasional field trips and community events off-site. 

Click here to view the full job description and application information (PDF)

The Personal Care Support – Lift, Mobility, and Transfer Specialist supports the physical well-being, access, and participation of artists at NIAD's 23rd Street Studio. Working as part of NIAD's Care Team, this position provides individualized, person-centered support with mobility, transfers and repositioning, eating, toileting, communication, daily routines, and other needs.

What distinguishes this role from the rest of the Care Team is that it serves as NIAD's trained resource for safe lifts and transfers. The Specialist is expected to be fluent with mechanical and assistive equipment — Hoyer and mobile lifts, slings, gait belts, transfer boards — to assess what level of assistance and equipment is required for a safe transfer. This role is the lead resource for complex transfer decisions, equipment, competency, and peer training, while still participating in general care.

All of it is grounded in respect for each artist's autonomy, dignity, communication style, and consent. A transfer is something done with an artist, explained beforehand and paced to them, not something performed on them. We are looking for someone careful and unhurried, comfortable with hands-on physical support, and interested in a culture that treats access and care as integral to artists' creative and professional lives.

Like all NIAD staff, the Specialist shares responsibility for running programs safely and in accordance with the requirements of the Regional Center of the East Bay (RCEB) and California Community Care Licensing (CCL), and for upholding NIAD's commitments to confidentiality, accessibility, and person-centered practice.

At a glance: Regular, non-exempt. 28.5 hours per week, five days a week, 8:45 AM–3:00 PM. $26.00–$28.50 per hour depending on experience. On-site in Richmond, CA, with occasional field trips and community events off-site. 

Click here to view the full job description and application information (PDF)

The Individual Studio Support Specialist provides individualized studio support to artists who benefit from additional assistance to participate in NIAD's studio program. Some artists need more consistent, individual attention than a shared studio can otherwise offer — a familiar person nearby, a quieter option when the room gets loud, someone who knows their preferences and can read how the day is going. This position is part of a coordinated studio support team and uses a person-centered lens to learn how the artist communicates comfort, interest, preferences, distress, and requests for support.

This is a relationship role before it is anything else. Over time you come to know one artist well: what they like to work on, how they communicate, what a good day looks like, what tends to make a day harder, and what helps them settle when it does. You use what you learn to offer support, choices, and environmental adjustments that help the artist direct and participate in their day.

The point of the work is participation, not supervision. Alongside Studio Facilitators, you help the artist engage with materials and their own creative practice, and you help the wider studio stay a comfortable, welcoming environment for everyone in it.

Like all NIAD staff, the Individual Studio Support Specialist shares responsibility for running programs safely and in accordance with the requirements of the Regional Center of the East Bay (RCEB) and California Community Care Licensing (CCL), and for upholding NIAD's commitments to confidentiality, accessibility, and person-centered practice.

At a glance: Regular, non-exempt. 28.75 hours per week, Monday–Friday, 8:45 AM–3:00 PM. $24.50–$26.00 per hour depending on experience. On-site in Richmond, CA, with occasional field trips and community events off-site.

Click here to view the full job description and application information (PDF)

The Substitute Facilitator supports art practice with a group of NIAD studio artists with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (I/DD) in the absence of their regular facilitator. Substitute Facilitators work with NIAD studio artists in both the Virtual Studio and the in-person 23rd Street Studios.

The Studios’ safety and joy rely on collaboration and communication. Substitute Facilitators should be ready to communicate daily logistics, triumphs, concerns and queries. Knowledge of Spanish language is a plus. In our Virtual Studio, access to a personal computer, Zoom, and reliable internet is expected.

At a glance: Substitute, as-needed. Monday–Friday, 8:30 AM–3:30 PM (may be flexible depending on need); some days scheduled in advance, others on short notice. $25.25 per hour. Virtual Studio and the 23rd Street Studio in Richmond, CA. Applications accepted on a rolling basis.

Click here to view the full job description and application information (PDF)

NIAD is seeking artists to share their practice, unique skills or preferred methods and materials in the form of a workshop during our studio hours, Monday through Friday, 10:00am-2:00pm.

Workshops typically exist as a 3-6 day engagement. 

We offer a stipend of $150/day

Please provide a proposal outlining your workshop idea.

For consideration, proposals must include:

1. Why you are interested in engaging with NIAD’s community. 
2. Material needs, including budget.
3. Project timeline.
4. Proposed dates.

Proposals may include: 

• Link to personal website or images of relevant work and related projects.
• Access needs, accommodations.
• Workshops that are bilingual or include ASL or nonverbal communication.
• Resume and/or references.

ACCOMMODATION REQUESTS

If you require any accommodations in order to most effectively participate in the application process, please contact NIAD’s Studio Director,  Shantanice Swain, shantanice.swain@niadart.org.

TO APPLY

Send proposals to NIAD's Studio Director, Shantanice Swain, shantanice.swain@niadart.org.

Applications are accepted on a rolling basis.