Senior Curator

PRIMARY AREAS OF RESPONSIBILITY:

The Weisman Art Museum at the University of Minnesota is seeking a seasoned curatorial leader with a proven track record of conceiving ambitious curatorial projects. This position provides direction on the development of the museum collection and works closely with the museum’s registration team to realize successful exhibitions, research acquisitions and deaccessions and facilitate collection use for scholarship. This position works collaboratively with the public engagement and learning department to ensure that the exhibitions and projects align with the institution’s priorities.  The successful candidate has extensive experience with working with teams to build respect and trust across all areas of the museum.  The ideal candidate will have strong verbal and written communication skills.

The senior curator will work with the museum’s director to present exhibitions and projects that align with the institution’s priorities, vision and values. With the director, the senior curator will help define the museum’s curatorial vision and philosophy. They will have a clear point of view and the ability to translate their vision into engaging and thoughtful exhibitions.  They will welcome and value diverse perspectives.

The successful candidate will possess excellent leadership qualities that motivate and inspire peers and accepts responsibility and appropriate feedback from others. The senior curator provides clear delineation of workflow and expectations and cultivates a respectful work environment

The curator reports to the director and works closely with other staff members—in committees and one-on-one—to fulfill the responsibilities of this position.

Responsibilities:

Exhibitions 55%

The curator is a significant content creator for the museum, the curator aligns exhibitions and programs with organizational goals, strategies, and mission. The curator works collaboratively with WAM staff and leadership to identify, administer, and organize temporary exhibitions; help define and implement fresh presentations of the permanent collection; and actively participate in programming that informs, engages, and expands audiences to position the WAM as an important contributor to the arts on campus and in the Twin Cities.

●      Conceive, develop, organize and implement permanent and temporary exhibitions that align with the museum’s vision and values.

●      Oversee long and short-term strategy for the museum’s exhibition program and collections

●      Research, write and speak about collections and exhibitions to internal and external audiences, including working closely with the development department on grants and other philanthropic opportunities

●      Drafts and edits labels and wall text to tell a narrative about a particular topic.

●      Work closely with the museum’s PEL team to develop innovative programming around exhibitions and collections

●      Develop and foster relationships with artists, galleries and community groups

●      Assist communications department by participating in interviews, press previews and other media requests.

●      Serve as institutional curator for exhibitions organized by external sources, administering all aspects of exhibition planning, reviewing and modifying interpretative materials as needed, and to ensure alignment with institutional approaches to access, learning and audience engagement.

●      Serve as project lead to facilitate interdepartmental work and negotiations with relevant outside partners.

●      Research exhibition strategies that support the museum’s vision, mission, and core values.

●      Lead the annual planning of the exhibition schedule, including exhibitions initiated by WAM and traveling exhibitions.

●      Initiate and manage relations for assigned projects with institutions, colleagues, collectors, and/or businesses in developing exhibition loan contracts, checklists, and schedules.

●      Encourage and facilitate a culture of collaboration with effective communication across departments.

●      Review exhibition proposals and ideas for artistic merit, mission fit, budget, and scheduling factors.

●      Serve as a positive museum representative through participation with programs, development, publicity marketing and networking activities.

●      Develop, maintain, and strengthen relationships with members of the broader arts community including artists, curators, educators, writers, journalists, collectors, and cultural institutions

●      Ensure proper dissemination of exhibition schedule, visual materials, content and text for exhibition promotion, and related information to WAM departments.

●      Responsible for coordination, development, and monitoring of the curatorial department and exhibitions annual budget.

●      Researches and presents ideas and projects for the museum’s program of exhibitions.

●      With the curatorial and registration team, coordinate and manage WAM exhibitions that travel to other museums

●      Researches and writes museum catalogues and gallery guides for exhibitions.

●      Maintains the museum’s calendar of exhibitions and makes it available to the staff.

●      Collaborates with Public Engagement and Learning to incorporate evaluation insights and audience feedback into exhibition planning and iteration.

Collections 25%

The museum curator is responsible for researching, developing, and refining the museum’s collections and related exhibitions. This includes collection and provenance research for the acquisitions, deaccessions, and interpretation of the collection.

●       Research collection strategies that support the museum’s vision, mission, and core values.

●      Provide expertise and justifications for proposed acquisitions and deaccessions for presentation to the WAM collections committee.

●       In collaboration with Development staff, help identify potential donors, collectors, and sponsors for the collection and exhibitions. Assist in the stewardship of donors, members, and lenders.

●      Read and research to remain aware and active in the scholarly fields related to the museum’s collection.

●      Research and write for publications on the museum’s collection.

●      Respond to inquiries regarding works of art in the museum’s collection.

●      Research works of art in the museum’s collection and update appropriate curatorial and object records.

●      Research and assign updated values for insurance purposes for collection objects.

●      Promote the active use of the museum’s permanent collection by scholars, teachers, and students. Coordinate collection visits, when appropriate.

●       Collaborate with registrar on the preservation and care of the museum’s collection. Identify works that require special treatment, storage, and/or conservation and work with the director and registrar to effect proper care.

●       Collaborate with the registrar on the safe display, handling, and transport of works of art, with the museum’s registrar.

●       Participates in the process of approval/rejection of loan requests for works from the collection.

●      Participates in the museum’s accession committee, researching and writing justifications for all acquisitions and deaccessions, and presenting these justifications at the collections meetings. Identifies, and recommends accessions and deaccessions to the museum’s committee.

●      Works with registrar to select the special loan of art from the museum’s collection to University deans, provosts, and president.

●      Lectures regularly for the tour guide program, leads general museum and special exhibition tours as requested.

Mentorship/Education: 10%

●       Solicits, educates, trains, and supervises interns in curatorial practice

●      Counsels, guides, and acts as a mentor for students interested in museum work.

●      Manages O’Brien Curatorial Fellow.

●      Manages Ihlenfeld Curator of Collaborative and Community Exhibitions

Other duties as assigned: 10%

●      •Execute assigned grant applications and contribute to general fundraising activities as requested.

●      In collaboration with Development staff, help identify potential donors and sponsors for the collection and exhibitions. Assist in the stewardship of donors, members, and lenders.

●       Researches and writes other published material as needed.

●      Represents the museum on various campus-wide committees as requested by or with approval of the director.

●      Shares duties of short- and long-range planning with other members of the senior staff, bringing the needs and concerns related to the job area.

Supervises: Ihlenfeld Curator and O’Brien Fellow (changes yearly)

Also supervises curatorial assistants, interns, and volunteers as the changing demands of projects warrant.

Required Qualifications:

●      BA/BS degree plus at least 10 years of experience, or master’s degree plus at least 8 years experience, or a terminal degree plus at least six years of experience.

●      Significant experience conceptualizing, researching and creating exhibitions

●      Experience supervising teams

●      Ability to manage multiple projects and meet deadlines

●      Experience working with collaborative teams and working independently

●      High level of attention to detail

●      Experience with object-based learning and working in cultural or museum settings.

●      Strong program management, research, writing, finance, and communication skills.

●      Proven ability to collaborate with diverse constituencies, including students, faculty, and staff.

●      Exceptional organizational skills and ability to manage multiple projects independently.

●      Project management skills, including budgeting.

●      Considerable skills in communication and facilitation; strong intercultural competency.

●      Must be a collaborator inside and outside the Museum.

●      Excellent interpersonal and communication skills with artists, museum colleagues, donors, faculty members and the general public.

●      Experience working with museum database systems

●      Experience working with diverse and underrepresented communities

●      Is exceptional in establishing and fostering strong, credible and long-term relationships with artists, colleagues, donors, board members, staff, volunteers and other stakeholders.

●      Familiarity with grant writing & evaluation tools

Preferred Qualifications:

●      PhD in art history or other relevant field

●      Multilingual skills

About Weisman Art Museum

Since its origin in 1934, Weisman Art Museum has been a campus museum for the University of Minnesota. Today, our mission as a university art museum is to create and advance inclusive arts experiences to broaden understanding of ourselves, our communities, and our world. The Weisman is located at 333 East River Road, Minneapolis, on the University of Minnesota Twin Cities campus. Gallery admission is always free and open to the public. For more information, visit www.wam.umn.edu.