[Full-time (12 months), Academic Professional]
[Include “evidence of scholarly writing” along with application, CV and references]
Salary negotiable depending on experience and qualifications.
The Curator of American Art is responsible for the care and development of a significant collection of American art that ranges from the Colonial era to the Contemporary. Additionally, the curator researches and organizes exhibitions on the subject of American art, using incoming loans as well as the GMOA’s collection, and works closely with relevant staff. The curator manages the museum’s C.L. Morehead Jr. Center for the Study of American Art and is also responsible for the departmental budget, maintaining and developing donor relations, assessing the collection’s needs, and making recommendations for acquisitions and deaccessions. The curator trains and oversees student interns, gives tours, helps train docents, and works with classes across campus. The curator remains active in professional and scholarly organizations, giving public lectures, teaching, participating in symposia, and publishing. The curator may teach courses occasionally. The curator assists the director and development staff to ensure funding is in place for exhibitions and programming.
Qualifications: A doctorate in the history of art or a closely related field is required. The candidate must also have substantial, proven knowledge of nineteenth, twentieth, and twenty first-century American art, evidence of a curatorial background (preferably five years in a museum setting), scholarly writing, connoisseurship, and knowledge of issues regarding conservation.
Primary duties: The curator’s duties entail day-to-day and long-range planning for departmental budgets, organizing exhibitions, and writing for publications and labels. He/she is responsible for identifying and securing significant exhibitions on loan from other institutions and serving as these exhibitions’ in-house curator. He/she assists the curator of education with program development, with docent training, and with the faculty, staff, and students of the university in viewing and/or working with the collection. The curator of American art also trains and oversees student interns and performs other duties as assigned.
The curator develops the collection by recommending and soliciting acquisitions, conducting research, writing publications, and maintaining donor relations. Donor relations are an important aspect of the curator’s job, and he/she aids the director in identifying and cultivating prospects for future gifts of works of art to the museum’s permanent collection, as well as working with the museum’s Board of Advisors. In conjunction with the director and the development officer, the curator will assist with the solicitation of funds for the purchase of art.
A wide range of professional activities is expected, including lecturing, teaching, participation in scholarly symposia, and contributing to scholarly publications. Serving on museum committees is also required, as is active participation in professional organizations and committees.
The collection: The collection of American art at the Georgia Museum of Art consists of paintings; works on paper, especially prints; and a growing group of works by African American artists and American self-taught artists. Alfred Heber Holbrook, the museum’s founder, gifted the museum’s initial collection that includes a wide-range of American art from about 1830 to 1947.
The C.L. Morehead Jr. Center for the Study of American Art: The center initiates and promotes the exhibition and study of American art, especially for the objects in the museum’s permanent collection. The center exists to continue the legacy established by the museum’s founder, Alfred Heber Holbrook, and by Lamar Dodd, artist and educator, who was also instrumental in the establishment of the museum. The center seeks to educate students and the public through courses at the museum, the University of Georgia’s Lamar Dodd School of Art, and other allied departments. The papers of Dodd and Holbrook are available to students and scholars, and the center acquires archival holdings related to works of art in the collection. The center continues to increase the number of publications related to American art in the museum’s library as a major resource for use by scholars, students, and the general public.
The museum: Opened in 1948, the Georgia Museum of Art is accredited by AAM and is a member of AAMD. As both a university museum and the official state museum of art, the museum offers programming for patrons of all ages as well as free admission to the public for all exhibitions. The museum carries out an ambitious exhibition and acquisition program, organizes its own exhibitions in-house, creates traveling exhibitions for other museums and galleries, and hosts both domestic and international traveling exhibitions. Approximately 80,000 people visit the museum each year. To fulfill the legacy of its founder, Alfred Heber Holbrook, the Georgia Museum of Art strives to provide art for everyone, removing barriers to accessibility and seeking to foster an open, educational and inspiring environment for students, scholars and all visitors. As a repository and educational instrument of the visual arts, the Georgia Museum of Art exists to collect, preserve, exhibit and interpret significant works of art and the museum shares the mission of The University of Georgia to support and to promote teaching, research, and service.
Visit www.georgiamuseum.org for more details.
The university: The University of Georgia (UGA), a land-grant and sea-grant university with statewide commitments and responsibilities is the state’s oldest, most comprehensive, and most diversified institution of higher education (http://www.uga.edu/). UGA is currently ranked among the top 20 public universities in U.S. News & World Report. The University’s main campus is located in Athens, approximately 65 miles northeast of Atlanta, with extended campuses in Atlanta, Griffin, Gwinnett, and Tifton. UGA was founded in 1785 by the Georgia General Assembly as the first state-chartered University in the country. UGA employs approximately 1,800 full-time instructional faculty and more than 7,600 full-time staff. The University’s enrollment exceeds 36,000 students including over 27,500 undergraduates and over 8,500 graduate and professional students. Academic programs reside in 17 schools and colleges, as well as a medical partnership with Augusta University housed on the UGA Health Sciences Campus in Athens.
The town: Athens, Georgia is located approximately 65 miles northeast of Atlanta, in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, approximately 300 miles from the coast. With a population of more than 100,000, Athens serves the region as an educational, medical, business, industrial, and retail center. The city benefits from strong historic preservationist activity and nurtures artists, writers, musicians, and poets. Cultural, sporting, and outdoor opportunities abound, for both adults and children. The public school system is recognized statewide for excellence, and there are several outstanding independent and parochial schools in the area. Both the city and the university have a public transit system. Urban, suburban, and rural housing is available either for purchase or rent. For more information about Athens, please visit the Athens Convention & Visitors Bureau website at http://www.visitathensga.com.
Provide letter of application, CV with names and contact address/phone numbers of three references, evidence of scholarly writing, and any relevant materials by submitting application at http://www.ugajobsearch.com/postings/58782. Open until filled. Anticipated start date is July 1, 2019 or as negotiated. Search is open until filled.
Representatives of the Georgia Museum of Art will be at the College Art Association (CAA) Conference in New York City, February 13-16, 2019 to conduct some preliminary interviews and answer questions.
The University of Georgia is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, ethnicity, age, genetic information, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation or protected veteran status. Persons needing accommodations or assistance with the accessibility of materials related to this search are encouraged to contact Central HR (hrweb@uga.edu). Please do not contact the department or search committee with such requests.
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