Director – Art Museum, University of Memphis

The University of Memphis seeks an experienced, entrepreneurial museum leader to serve as Director of the Art Museum of the University of Memphis (AMUM). The incoming Director will sharpen AMUM’s identity as a teaching museum with a distinctive contemporary art program within a changing regional cultural landscape.

About AMUM
Founded in 1981 as the University Gallery and renamed in 1994, AMUM is the principal art museum of the University of Memphis, an urban public R1 research institution. AMUM presents temporary contemporary exhibitions alongside permanent collection displays. Its visiting artist series has brought site-based installations to Memphis since 1994. The collection includes contemporary prints and drawings, with strengths in Andy Warhol, Carroll Cloar, and Beth Van Hoesen, as well as African art. AMUM administers an interdisciplinary Graduate Certificate Program in Museum Studies with the Department of Anthropology. It also works in close partnership with the Institute of Egyptian Art and Archaeology, a Tennessee Center of Excellence housed in the museum’s building.

Position Details

• Salary: $100,000 per year
• Type: Full-time staff position
• Target start: July 1 2027
• Location: Main Campus, Memphis, TN

Responsibilities

• Provide strategic, curatorial, and operational leadership for AMUM, including oversight of the shared exhibit space in close partnership with the IEAA Director
• Develop and manage the annual operating budget
• Coordinate and curate contemporary art exhibitions, programs, and events, including the visiting artist series
• Develop a collections plan and acquisition priorities centered on contemporary art
• Recruit, train, and supervise museum staff, graduate assistants, interns, and student workers
• Cultivate donors and pursue grants in coordination with University Advancement
• Teach up to 3 equivalent credit hours per semester in the Department of Art and Design, including the Museum Studies Certificate Program
• Serve as a non-voting ex officio member of the Museum Advisory Board
• Represent AMUM within the University and the academic museum field

Required Qualifications

• Terminal degree (PhD strongly preferred) in art history, museum studies, contemporary art, or a closely related field; candidates with a master’s degree and a substantial record of professional museum leadership will also be considered
• Minimum 7–10 years of progressively responsible museum experience, including curatorial and exhibition development work in contemporary art
• Demonstrated budget, staff, and collections management experience
• A record of scholarship or public curatorial practice
• Demonstrated experience with, or strong aptitude for, donor cultivation and institutional fundraising

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in a university- or college-affiliated museum
• Experience working with living artists, including site-based or commissioned projects, and acquiring or building a contemporary art collection
• Experience building cross-departmental academic partnerships or faculty-curator collaborations
• Experience with digital collections, digital exhibition strategy, or object documentation technologies
• Experience with organizational or operational redesign within a museum setting

To Apply
Submit a cover letter, curriculum vitae, a statement of curatorial and leadership philosophy, and contact information for three professional references through the job posting:

https://ibqajb.fa.ocs.oraclecloud.com/hcmUI/CandidateExperience/en/sites/CX_1/job/778

Review of applications begins January 4, 2027, and continues until the position is filled.

Applicants must be authorized to work in the U.S. The University is unable to sponsor or take over sponsorship of an employment visa at this time.