Job Description
The Williams College Museum of Art (WCMA) seeks an experienced and collaborative Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art at a particularly exciting time in the museum's history as we look toward our centennial and prepare to break ground on WCMA's first purpose-built home, a new museum building conceived in partnership with the design team at the Brooklyn based architecture firm SO - IL. WCMA creates and inspires transformative experiences with art that are integral to a liberal arts education, lifelong learning, and human connection. The new museum will be a space designed with students in mind, fostering a sense of belonging for campus members and the wider community, and an inclusive experience for all visitors. For more info:
Reporting to the Deputy Director for Curatorial Engagement, the Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art is an integral part of an ambitious and deeply collaborative combined curatorial engagement department within a remarkable museum and college environment. As we partner on the design of the new building and make preparations for the inaugural installations, the curatorial engagement team's efforts will be largely focused over the coming four years on preparing, researching, augmenting, and re-interpreting the museum's growing collection of over 15,000 works of art from 3500 BC to the present, across geography and with strengths in the art of the United States through the 21st century and works on paper, for existing and new publics.
The ideal Curator's primary area(s) of focus will complement and expand existing expertise in 18th through 20th century American and Medieval to 19th century European Art already represented in the department. Given the size of WCMA's staff, curatorial responsibilities necessarily span collection areas, time periods, geographies and media. The successful candidate will balance expertise in global Modern and Contemporary with broad intellectual curiosity and interest across collection areas. This position is a key collaborator with every department at WCMA to ensure the best possible realization of curatorial program goals and teaching mission, in particular with engagement team members to ensure excellence in research, pedagogy, and audience centered interpretation.
Williams College is committed to enriching its educational experience and its culture through the diversity of its faculty and staff. The Curator serves as an essential partner in developing a genuinely inclusive and sustainable museum for the college and as a model for the field. Our expectation is that the successful candidate will excel at working in a community that is broadly diverse with regard to race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, gender, nationality, sexual orientation, and religion and strongly encourage candidates from underrepresented groups to apply.
Primary responsibilities: - Collaborate in planning for the future new museum building
- Plan future collection installations, exhibitions, and interpretation for the new museum; research and write associated publications.
- Actively participate in the assessment/research, and refinement, and strategic growth of collections through acquisition proposals and gifts, and plan for strategic deaccessions.
- Contribute to new collection publication for new museum opening.
- Supervise and mentor curatorial interns and fellows as needed
- Participate in museum and campus-wide initiatives and working groups
- Teach graduate and/or undergraduate courses as needed and as museum schedule allows
Qualifications: - Master's degree required (PhD preferred) in art history, material culture, cultural/global studies, visual anthropology or related field.
- Minimum 7 years experience working in museums with collections, working with artists, and developing exhibitions
- Deep knowledge of global modern and contemporary art history and some familiarity with current methodologies in museum interpretation required. An additional area of specialization and/or ability to work across/curiosity about a broad range of art historical periods, geographies and media preferred.
- Demonstrated experience with and commitment to working in a community that is broadly diverse with regard to race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, gender, nationality, sexual orientation, and religion
- Familiarity with collection databases such as TMS and project management software such as Airtable a plus
- A commitment to teaching and learning and to forming partnerships within the particular environment of a small liberal arts college
This position may be restructured to an Associate Curator position if the selected candidate does not meet all of the full curator requirements.
Review of applications will begin immediately and continue until the position is filled. Salary range is from $77,000 to $90,000 per year, commensurate with experience.
Employment at Williams is contingent on the verification of background information submitted by the applicant, including the completion of a criminal record check, and education when applicable. Decisions regarding appointments, promotions, and conditions of employment comply with applicable federal or state law prohibiting discrimination based on race, color, sex, national origin, religion, age, disability, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, ancestry, or military service.
Beyond meeting fully its legal obligations for non-discrimination, Williams College is committed to building a diverse and inclusive community where members from all backgrounds can live, learn and thrive. As part of this commitment, we will ensure that persons with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodations. If reasonable accommodation is needed to participate in the job application or interview process please feel free to contact us via phone at (413) 597-2681 or email at hr@williams.edu.
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