Posted September 5, 2014

The Cleveland Museum of Art (CMA) is known nationally and internationally for the quality and scope of its collection, which comprises about 45,000 objects and covers 6,000 years of art history. Founded in 1913,the CMA is today one of the world’s most distinguished comprehensive art museums and one of the top five in the country. The Museum recently completed a $320 million renovation and expansion project, designed by the architect Rafael Vinoly. The project called for the complete restoration of the original 1916 building and the 1971 Marcel Breuer addition, as well as the addition of two symmetrical wings on the east and west sides. Central to the design is a large, light-filled courtyard enclosed by an elegantly soaring roof. The CMA is now considered one of the most beautiful and impressive civic spaces in Northeast Ohio and its galleries are among the finest of any museum. The CMA has over 400 employees and an operating budget of $36 million. Its endowment now stands at $750 million. The expansion was funded by a successful capital campaign of $320 million with construction costs at $30 million below estimate. Begun “for the benefit of all the people forever,” the CMA remains free to all visitors with attendance at close to 600,000 annually.

The Deputy Director for Collections is responsible for overseeing and providing leadership for the Curatorial departments as well as Collections Management, Conservation, Exhibitions, Curatorial and Collection Publications, Performing Arts, and the Ingalls Library. A member of the senior management team, the Deputy Director for Collections develops policies, procedures, and guidelines related to the growth, management, exhibition and interpretation of the collections, and ensures adherence to the highest standards of scholarship while achieving maximum curatorial leadership and educational impact for audiences regionally, nationally and internationally. The Deputy Director for Collections currently has 21 direct reports.

Primary responsibilities include maintaining the multiple lines of communication within the Museum and with the full range of the Museum’s audiences, and setting the agenda and priorities for the activities of assigned areas with regard to the Museum’s mission, goals of the strategic plan, and, where relevant, building and fundraising activities.

The Museum’s strategic plan, completed in 2010, stresses the primary importance of the collection as the foundation for everything the museum does. It also underscores the primacy of the visitor experience and the Museum’s participation in the life of the city and the surrounding community while balancing local responsibility with a national and international presence. One of the first responsibilities and opportunities for the new Deputy Director for Collections will be to work with the Director/CEO to update the plan and flesh out its implementation.

The Deputy Director for Collections will work closely with the Director/CEO and individual curators to evaluate and, as necessary, revise the plan for the development of the collection and, on an ongoing basis, ensure that objects of the highest quality and greatest strategic importance are added to the collection through purchases and gifts. The Deputy Director for Collections will be responsible for quarterly presentations to the Board’s Accessions Advisory Committee and Collections Committee, including the presentation of proposed acquisitions, de-accessions, gifts, loans, and any reports related to the collection.
Job Requirements

The Deputy Director for Collections will also help define the future of the Keithley Institute for Art History, a joint initiative of the CMA and Case Western Reserve University, funded by a $500,000 Andrew W. Mellon Foundation grant and a promised $15 million donation from Nancy and Joseph Keithley. The Keithley Institute will launch a new graduate program, revitalizing a collaborative art history program started by the Museum and the University more than 40 years ago. Utilizing the Museum’s permanent collection and renowned art history library, the Keithley Institute will put Cleveland on the map as a training ground for future museum curators and directors.

The successful candidate must have an advanced degree in art history or a related field and must, above all, have a reputation as an imaginative, innovative, and ambitious leader in the museum field with a distinguished record of acquisitions, exhibitions, and publications as well as a track record as an experienced manager. The successful candidate will be a creative thinker and a dynamic and enthusiastic individual with personal integrity who is comfortable in a complex and collaborative environment and professional in all matters and dealings.

The position is currently open and will be filled at the earliest opportunity.

Applicants should submit a resume and one-page narrative describing their interest in the position and the experience they have had which relates to the responsibilities described. Applications will be reviewed by Management Consultants for the Arts, an executive search firm working with the Museum’s Director/CEO. To view the full job profile please go to: www.mcaonline.us. Send applications to:

Linda Sweet, Partner, Management Consultants for the Arts, Inc.
Care of Christy Wall at MCAWall2@gmail.com
APPLY FOR THIS JOB
Contact Person: Christy Wall Phone: 203-353-0722
Email Address: MCAWall2@gmail.com
Apply URL: http://www.mcaonline.us