Head Curator
- Employer
- Colby College
- Location
- Waterville, Maine, United States
- Salary
- Competitive Salary
- Date posted
- Dec 2, 2024
View more categoriesView less categories
- Position Type
- Administrative, Academic Affairs, Arts Administration, Librarians & Library Administration, Executive, Executive Directors
- Employment Type
- Full Time
Job Details
Department:
Museum of Art
Pay Rate Type:
Salary
Employee Type:
Job Summary:The Colby College Museum of Art seeks an imaginative, strategic, collaborative, and experienced leader to serve as head curator.
The head curator oversees all aspects of the curatorial team’s contribution to the Colby Museum’s artistic, research, and interpretive vision to ensure the museum’s role as a destination for American and contemporary art and a place for meaningful education and engagement with campus, local, national, and global communities. They supervise and mentor the curatorial team and student interns, inspiring innovative and relevant work that is also pragmatic in its approach. They lead the development of a multi-year exhibition schedule, including Colby-organized projects that travel to other venues, in partnership with the museum’s director and the director of exhibitions and publications. The head curator directs the ongoing research and presentation of its renowned collection, partners with collections staff and the deputy director for planning and operations to ensure the comprehensive stewardship of the collection, shapes and enacts the collections development strategy, and oversees acquisitions with guidance from the Collections and Impact Committee of the museum board of governors. They collaboratively develop interpretation strategies with engagement team members. The head curator is responsible for curating a selection of projects within the multi-year cycle of exhibitions and museum publications, and contributes new scholarship; they may also serve as a venue curator. Active in the field of art, the head curator partners with the Lunder Institute for American Art to help identify mission-aligned opportunities related to fellowships and areas of inquiry that can benefit from research, field-wide dialogue, and documentation.
Day to day, the head curator balances creativity and ambition with pragmatism as they lead the team and manage budgets, time, and commitments. They maximize resources and actively contribute to fundraising in order to allow the museum to remain a generative and innovative institution. They maintain active relationships with supporters and partners and frequently represent the museum in a variety of contexts.
As part of the museum’s senior team, the head curator provides ongoing institutional-level advice to the museum’s director. They foster an equitable and inclusive culture that prioritizes collective accomplishment and values a diversity of perspectives and expertise in project development. They seek to increase access to the museum for Colby students, faculty, families, and alumni; artists, peers, and scholars; and local and regional communities, strengthening the Colby Museum’s reputation as one of the nation’s leading academic museums. With the museum’s director, other senior leaders, and the museum’s board, the head Curator plays an essential role envisioning, planning, and enacting institutional initiatives that significantly advance the museum’s mission and goals.
The museum’s trajectory of evolution and increased visibility is entering a new phase. In the coming years the Colby Museum aspires to strategically adapt and expand its facilities to support an innovative model for the care of and access to its collection, with the possibility of a new art conservation program that would be uniquely designed for Colby’s liberal arts context, in order to promote and encourage interdisciplinary research, learning, and pathways at the undergraduate level. These initiatives related to infrastructure and programs would increase the museum’s capacity to manage its collection and engage wider audiences with art, including launching a new art-on-campus program. The head curator will be an essential partner and leader in researching and advancing these initiatives.
About the Colby College Museum of Art
Founded in 1959, the Colby Museum is a leading academic art museum, with strengths in American art and contemporary art, at one of the nation’s preeminent liberal arts colleges. In keeping with Colby’s liberal arts mission, the museum advances a mission of access and acts as a forum for research, experimentation, dialogue, and joyful connection. Its programs seek to inspire and generate possibilities, so that everyone can become more curious, nimble, and able to contribute to a changing world. The museum incubates art scholarship and practice in ways that explore and expand how the idea of America is understood and how art is made, interpreted, and shared. It does so by supporting new research, organizing and presenting ambitious exhibitions and thoughtful displays of its collection, providing mentorship, and convening a diversity of people and perspectives. The museum grows and uses its collection to activate the power of art to expand the imagination and forge new connections, leading to a more open and compassionate society.
In the past decade, the Colby Museum has grown rapidly and now encompasses nearly 40,000 square feet of exhibition space. The collection has nearly doubled since 2012 to include nearly 11,000 objects. The museum now produces approximately twelve exhibitions a year and two publications. The museum has expanded to include two sites in downtown Waterville: the Greene Block + Studios, where the Lunder Institute for American Art is based, and the Paul J. Schupf Art Center, which includes the museum’s Joan Dignam Schmaltz Gallery of Art. Learning and engagement programs have also increased in reach and impact, drawing over 16,000 people in the past year. This includes collaborations with over 180 courses a year in nearly 30 departments across the College and class visits by 3,000 K–12 students and educators each year.
Essential Functions
To succeed in this position, an individual must be able to perform essential duties satisfactorily as well as possess the education/experience and employ the knowledge, skills, and abilities as generally listed here. Colby College actively supports the Americans with Disabilities Act and will consider reasonable accommodations to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions of the position. This listing of essential duties is not all-inclusive, but representative; other duties may be assigned.
Leadership, Curatorial Management, and Integrated Program Development
- Inform strategic and long-range museum initiatives. Convey the
organization’s vision, plans, and annual institutional priorities.
Initiate and facilitate external partnerships that advance the
museum’s mission and curatorial priorities.
- Supervise and mentor the curatorial staff (current direct
reports: four curators and one curatorial fellow), and interns;
establish and manage workflows and delegate projects and tasks.
Provide guidance related to project content and approach.
Communicate regularly with the curatorial team to align priorities
and clarify roles. Ensure the effective completion of projects as
well as accountability to the curatorial work and to each other.
Anticipate and, as needed, address challenges as these arise.
- Facilitate cross-departmental collaboration and, with other
museum senior team leaders, share responsibility for interconnected
program development related to exhibitions, research, collections
development, interpretation, learning and engagement, and
publications.
- Co-develop exhibition and curatorial budgets on an annual and
multi-year basis in collaboration with the director of exhibitions
and publications, as well as senior team leaders. Ensure effective
management of project and area budgets and contract drafting
.
- Foster a supportive and collaborative culture. In keeping with
Colby’s values, model and encourage self-awareness in matters of
equity and access, applying these principles to management
practices and the development of the museum’s curatorial and
engagement program. Participate in and help shape learning
processes as needed and ensure the professional development of
curatorial staff.
- Develop and nurture relationships with artists, collectors,
dealers, and donors. Represent the Colby Museum, serving as a
visible and vocal advocate for its artistic program and mission on
campus, locally, regionally, nationally and, as appropriate,
internationally. Advocate for the arts at Colby and the College’s
vision for academic and community impact. Travel and interact with
a range of peers to ensure the visibility of the museum’s
activities and contributions.
- Strategy, policies, and practices: Establish and enact the
strategy for long-term collections development and related
initiatives. Set practices for assessing the museum’s collection
and refining collecting directions as well as policies with the
deputy director of planning and operations and manager of
collections and registration. Lead acquisition and deaccessioning
decisions in partnership with the collections team members, the
museum director, and the museum board of governors. Oversee and
advance collection-related processes and practices. Serve as
liaison to the Collections and Impact Committee of the Museum Board
of Governors.
- Acquisitions: Lead and manage the regular cycle of identifying
and proposing works of art for acquisition. Cultivate collectors
and artists and pursue gifts of art and artworks for
purchase.
- Loans: Assess loan requests in partnership with collections and
engagement staff.
- Research and display: Set the agenda for research and display
in relation to the museum’s collection.
- Collections Care and Documentation: Oversee curatorial team's
development of content and content sharing, contributing to the
timely documentation of the collection. Inform needs for storage
and conservation. Ensure orderly maintenance of curatorial
archives. Inform plans for spaces, digital access, and workflows
that support the collection and access to it.
- Art on campus: Work with the museum director, deputy director
for planning and operations, manager of collections and
registration, and the College to develop over time an art on campus
program, contributing curatorial vision to this initiative.
Eventually supervise an art on campus curator.
- Exhibition schedule: Plan a multi-year exhibition schedule
(approximately twelve exhibitions annually on site and one–two
traveling exhibitions) in partnership with the director of
exhibitions and publications. Identify and secure institutional
partnerships for exhibitions and co-producing arrangements for
projects that travel.
- Curatorial leadership: Guide curatorial staff in generating
exhibitions and programs that make the most of the collection and
museum resources, enact the museum’s mission, garner attention, and
both interrogate and broaden established narratives of art,
especially American art.
- Exhibition and Collection Presentations: Curate loan and
collection exhibitions as well as select traveling exhibitions, and
guide the curation of the permanent collection galleries.
- Learning and Engagement: Inform and support the pedagogical and
strategic vision for engagement and interpretation of the museum’s
artistic content, producing content and at times leading or
co-leading programs, including class visits, public programs, and
other forms of academic and public engagement.
- Scholarship and Interpretation: Generate and, as needed, edit
scholarly publications and other forms of writings (essays,
exhibition texts, labels, and digitally shared content) related to
the exhibition program and the collection.
- Community: Participate in cross-departmental and
community-based committees and initiatives as needed.
- Provide content to inform fundraising and communications
strategies that promote the Colby Museum, its programs and its
scholarship broadly. Draft content for grants; ensure the timely
contribution of content by curatorial staff. Cultivate donors and
actively solicit gifts of art. Partner with the director to steward
relationships with key benefactors as well as artists who are
represented in the museum’s collection. Regularly report on donor
interactions and communications.
- Prepare reports and other communications, ensuring the
effective management of grant-funded curatorial projects
- Actively represent the museum in media stories, digital
contexts and in-person settings
- Participate in and attend local, regional, and art world events
making the museum visible among the communities we serve while
listening and learning from our audiences and partners
- Cultivate and solicit collectors and donors to support artistic
projects, collections development, and museum priorities in
consultation with the director, deputy director for planning and
operations, director of museum development and Advancement
colleagues.
- Inspire a positive and supportive working relationship with the
Museum Board of Governors and attend meetings
Education and Experience:
- Masters degree required, knowledge of art history and proven
track record of direct working relationships with artists.
- Seven to ten years of experience working in the arts, culture
and/or education; minimum five years of progressive leadership
experience in curatorial practice in exhibition, publications,
collections, and artistic program management. Demonstrated
experience managing staff and budgets.
- Distinguished track record of developing and realizing
exhibitions and publications, conducting strategic collections
research and development, and collaborating on interpretation and
public programs
- Effective management and mentorship of staff, students, and
emerging professionals
- Strong organizational skills and ability to establish and
communicate priorities; project and budget management skills,
cross-departmental leadership and collaboration skills, meeting
management; negotiation skills
- Strong written and oral communication skills, including
interpersonal skills and public speaking; ability to compellingly
communicate the museum’s mission, vision, and artistic program to a
diversity of audiences
- Demonstrated passion for the value of a liberal arts education
and commitment to fostering an equitable work environment
supportive of people from different cultures, backgrounds, and life
paths.
- Ability to use a team approach to plan and produce complex,
interdisciplinary programming, and to integrate community
engagement within curatorial processes of exhibition-making and
interpretation. Ability to assess and act on opportunities to
increase the narrative complexity and diversity of the museum’s
collections and programs, advance equity in our daily practices and
work culture, and to promote and implement inclusive practices
across all aspects of curatorial work
- College: Museum Director; President; Provost and other Colby
Senior Staff; Advancement and Colby Communications staff; Director,
Arts Office; Director, Center for Arts and Humanities; Chair, Art
Department and faculty across the College
- Museum: Deputy Director for Planning and Operations; Director,
Lunder Institute for American Art; Director, Museum Development;
curatorial staff; Mirken Director, Learning and Engagement;
Director of Administration and External Affairs; Director of
Exhibitions and Publications; Manager of Museum Collections and
Registration; Manager of Communications.
- External: Broad external relationships with donors, artists,
art dealers, journalists, collectors, as well as Maine-based arts
partners
The physical demands and work environment characteristics described herein are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform essential functions of this position and/or may be encountered while performing essential functions. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
- To successfully perform the essential functions of this
position, an employee must be able to maintain appropriate
confidentiality with regard to employee data, documents, issues,
etc., and respect privacy needs of employees and past employees
with regard to the same.
- The ability to comply with highly inflexible deadlines is
required to successfully perform the essential functions of this
position; there will be multiple occurrences of sudden, urgent task
completion required.
- This position requires extensive interpersonal interaction with
colleagues, members of the public, College leaders, and patrons.
There may be occurrences of employees, past employees, members of
the general public, and others who express opinions, may exhibit
strong emotions, which will require the employee to interact
professionally, diplomatically, and appropriately in such
situations.
- While performing the essential duties of this position, an
employee would frequently be required to move around the office
space as well as within hallways, meeting rooms, and other parts of
the campus facilities.
- There may be multiple/daily instances of prolonged personal
computer use which would include keyboard and/or mouse usage as
well as viewing a computer monitor.
- This position requires that the candidate have an active
driver’s license, the ability to drive, and the ability to
regularly travel domestically and at times internationally
- Specific vision abilities required by this position include
close vision, distance vision, and ability to adjust focus.
- The overall work environment requires the mental ability to
shift focus quickly due to interruptions; an employee must be able
to mentally track multiple projects and tasks concurrently.
- The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate;
however, there may be unexpected instances of somewhat loud
sounds.
Interested candidates should apply electronically by clicking the “Apply Now” button on the Colby College website. Please upload a cover letter and resume to your application. Applications will be accepted until the position is filled.
Company
Founded in 1813, Colby College is the 12th oldest liberal arts college in the United States.
Distinctive in its offerings, Colby provides an intimate, undergraduate-focused learning environment with a breadth of programs presenting students and faculty with unparalleled opportunities. A vibrant and fully integrated academic, residential, and cocurricular experience is sustained by a diverse and supportive community. Located in Waterville, Maine, Colby is a global institution with students representing nearly every U.S. state and approximately 70 countries.
Colby’s model provides the scale and impact of larger universities coupled with intensive learning in a community committed to scholarship and discovery, multidisciplinary approaches to integrated learning, study in the liberal arts, and leading-edge programs addressing the world’s most complex challenges. Its network of partnerships with prestigious cultural, research, medical, and business institutions extends educational and scholarly collaborations, providing students with unmatched experiences leading to postgraduate success.
The College’s wide variety of programs and labs provides students and the community access to unique experiences: the Colby College Museum of Art, the finest college art museum in the country, and the Lunder Institute for American Art have made the College a nationally and internationally recognized center for art scholarship; DavisConnects prepares students for lifelong success by combining a forward-thinking liberal arts education with extensive internship, research, and global opportunities for all students regardless of their personal networks and financial circumstances; and the 350,000-square-foot Harold Alfond Athletics and Recreation Center, is the most advanced and comprehensive NCAA D-III facility in the country. In fall 2021, Colby opened the Davis Institute for Artificial Intelligence, the first such institute at a liberal arts college. Colby’s new Island Campus, consisting of Allen and Benner islands, gives Colby a significant presence on the coast of Maine for a wide range of academic programs and activities and undisturbed environments ideal for conducting interdisciplinary experiences.
- Website
- http://www.colby.edu/
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