Director of Curatorial Affairs
- Employer
- Auburn University
- Location
- Alabama, United States
- Salary
- Salary Not Specified
- Date posted
- May 26, 2023
View more
- Position Type
- Faculty Positions, Arts, Art, Art History, Professional Fields, Library & Information Sciences, Administrative, Academic Affairs, Arts Administration, Librarians & Library Administration
- Employment Type
- Full Time
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Position Details
Position Information
Requisition Number
S2758P
Home Org Name
JCSM Operations Budget
Division Name
Jule Collins Smith Museum
Position Title
Director of Curatorial Affairs
Job Class Code
AB20
Appointment Status
Full-time
Part-time FTE
Limited Term
No
Limited Term Length
Job Summary
Reporting to the Director & Chief Curator, the Director of Curatorial Affairs leads the curatorial unit of the university’s art museum, ensuring exceptional and innovative stewardship of its 3,000+ collection, exhibitions, and other collection-focused initiatives in collaboration with colleagues in order to expand art’s impact and enrich the relationship of the museum with its communities, region, and the state. Responsible for assisting in executing the Museum’s vision of a highly creative, outward-facing, visitor-centered institution that welcomes everyone to explore, experience, and engage with the visual arts in service to the university, the region, and the nation.
The Director of Curatorial Affairs collaborates on the execution of administrative and budgetary matters for the curatorial unit, the establishment of curatorial policies and procedures, and long-range planning for exhibitions and engagement. Responsible for the safe-keeping and accessibility of the collection, as well as for new acquisitions and exhibitions that increase social interactivity and creative participation.
Why Should YOU Choose Auburn University?
- Auburn University was named a “Best in Alabama” employer by Forbes! Our employee longevity speaks for itself, with employees staying an average of ten years.
- Competitive state benefits including retirement plan vesting at 10 years of service, generous leave accrual, and parental leave opportunity.
- Auburn University tuition assistance for yourself and your dependents. Employees can take 15 hours of classes for free, and dependents receive a 50% tuition waiver.
Our Commitment: Auburn University is committed to a diverse and inclusive campus environment. Visit auburn.edu/inclusion to learn more about our commitment to expanding equity and inclusion for all.
Essential Functions
- Provides vision and dynamic exhibition programming leadership, including investigating potential opportunities around galleries, visual storage, centers focused on conservation, curatorial studies, and prints, drawings, and photographs, new art study rooms, and a campus art program, all to enhance teaching resources for Auburn University, the southeast, and to position the institution as a premier teaching museum.
- Collaborates with other senior leadership team members to administer the museum’s art collecting activities to establish priorities and plans for collection care, research, documentation, and access; and establishes programmatic impact goals to ensure mission and strategic alignment, creative engagement, learning across all demographics, and advancement of the museum’s visibility and reputation.
- Coordinates the recording of selected programs for distribution via website and social media, and informs the execution of marketing, branding, and promotional activities that broaden the museum’s reach and increase stakeholder engagement.
- Establishes the guiding principles of curatorial offerings of the museum, aligned with its mission and vision to actively engage faculty and students and other new, diverse, and broad audiences across the region and state. In collaboration with colleagues, conceptualizes, plans, develops, and implements a 3 – 5 year creative exhibition calendar including other collection-focused initiatives and activities.
- Emphasizes cross-disciplinary, co-creation, multi-sensory, and to the extent possible hands-on learning opportunities in exhibition designs, to cultivate notions of inclusion, life skills, emotional intelligence, and well-being to expand art’s impact on the public sphere. Incorporates new models of cultural participation, artistic practice and potential impact that also utilizes technology, tools, and an experimental social environment.
- Collaborates to identify and shepherd deaccessions and conservation initiatives; facilitates decisions on exhibition loan requests and long-term loan opportunities. In concert with the Director and staff, assists in the development of a Collections Plan and fully participates in any existing collection committee work.
- Conducts original research and assists faculty, students, scholars, docents, and members of the community in their research of JCSM collections and exhibitions.
- Represents JCSM at professional, academic, and social forums/arts initiatives with local, regional, national, international colleagues, and the broader cultural community through exhibition and research programs and events.
- Lectures on and/or leads tours of JCSM exhibitions and collections. Fosters faculty and student use of the collection across in curricula, extracurricular research, publishing, and inventive interpretive techniques. Helps train docents and student ambassadors in specific content areas and museum best practices, as needed.
- Builds and maintains a network of professional relationships with community members, lenders, donors, professional colleagues, artists, dealers, curators, collectors, and other specialists locally, nationally, and globally.
- Manages JCSM’s Curatorial unit and staff while inspiring and nourishing capacity and a culture of innovation, creative learning, risk-taking, transparency, experimentation, open communication and accountability.
- Fosters meaningful and transformative experiences for audiences at an institution that celebrates art, film and cultural discourse, in part through recruiting, training, mentoring, and supervising a team-oriented and strategically-focused staff. Assesses unit functions, priorities, and processes to ensure efficiencies, excellence, and alignment with museum best practices and American Alliance of Museums ( AAM ) accreditation standards.
- Develops/oversees the unit’s annual budget and schedules, particularly tracking expenditures to ensure adherence to set goals, in close collaboration with the Director and museum colleagues as needed.
Minimum Qualifications
Minimum Qualifications
Education:
Master’s degree in Art History, Arts Education, Education, Public Humanities, Cultural Studies, Museum Studies, Visual Studies, or related field.
Experience
5 years of experience in collaboratively conceptualizing, designing, and installing relevant, creative and innovative exhibitions in an arts and/or culture environment for diverse community audiences with progressively increasing levels of responsibility and accountability.
Minimum Skills, License, and Certifications
Minimum Skills and Abilities
- Positive, enthusiastic and calm demeanor that conveys openness, curiosity and decisiveness
- Successful use of transcultural, cross-disciplinary and non-linear approaches
- Excellent verbal and written communication skills for a wide range of stakeholders and colleagues from different cultural and social backgrounds, varying ages, language skills, and physical abilities that utilizes high-level emotional intelligence
- Knowledge of exhibition installation (including ADA compliance) and maintenance materials, tools, and methods
- Knowledge and understanding of museum ethics and principles, especially with regard to issues of provenance
- Demonstrable experience in museum digital engagement, as well as staff and budget oversight
- Comfortable with frequent interactions with individuals including donors/VIPs, faculty, students, press, and other museum professionals
- Excellent customer service record
- Strong writing, presentation and public speaking skills and effective communication, organizational, and time-management skills
- Forward thinking and innovative and willing to experiment • English language fluency; Spanish or Korean fluency is a plus.
- Computers (and Office Suite software) and phone
- Camera/video a plus as is experience with Collector Systems, a collection management software or a similar software platform.
Desired Qualifications
Desired Qualifications
Posting Detail Information
Salary Range
$60,900-$109,600
Job Category
Arts/Museum
Working Hours if Non-Traditional
City position is located in:
Auburn
State position is located:
Alabama
List any hazardous conditions or physical demands required by this position
Posting Date
05/26/2023
Closing Date
EEO Statement
Auburn University is committed to an inclusive and diverse campus environment. Women, underrepresented groups, individuals with disabilities and veterans are encouraged to apply.
AUBURN UNIVERSITY IS AN AFFIRMATIVE ACTION / EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER . It is our policy to provide equal employment opportunities for all individuals without regard to race, sex, religion, color, national origin, age, disability, protected veteran status, genetic information, sexual orientation, gender identity, or any other classification protected by applicable law.
Special Instructions to Applicants
Quick Link for Internal Postings
https://www.auemployment.com/postings/38293
Documents Needed to Apply
Required Documents
- Resume
- Cover Letter
- Letter of Recommendation
- Other
Required fields are indicated with an asterisk (*).
- * Please select how you first became aware of this opportunity.
Your response helps us determine how we can more effectively reach
our candidates.
- AcademicKeys
- The Chronicle of Higher Education
- DiversityJobs
- HigherEdJobs
- HERC (Higher Education Recruitment Consortium)
- Indeed
- RecruitMilitary
- The Tuskegee News
- Professional organization or journal
- Veterans Assistance Services
- Disability Assistance Services
- State Employment Service
- Social Media
- AU Job Bulletin
- Notified by an Auburn employee
- College or university Career Services
- I went to the AU Employment Website directly (www.auemployment.com)
- Other
- * Please select the answer that best describes your current
employment relationship with Auburn University:
- Current full-time Auburn or AUM employee within probationary period
- Current full-time Auburn or AUM employee outside of probationary period
- Current part-time Auburn or AUM employee
- Not an Auburn or AUM employee
- * Do you have a Master's degree in Art History, Arts Education,
Education, Public Humanities, Cultural Studies, Museum Studies,
Visual Studies, or related field?
- Yes
- No
- * Do you have 5 years of experience in collaboratively
conceptualizing, designing, and installing relevant, creative and
innovative exhibitions in an arts/culture environment for diverse
community audiences with progressively increasing levels of
responsibility and accountability?
- Yes
- No
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