Reports To:  Vice President for Academic Affairs

Overview:  The Augustana Art Museum was established in 1989 and serves as a “culture and art laboratory” for our students and faculty. The Museum holds a collection of over 4,000 works that are displayed not only in the museum but also across campus.  The Museum collection is regularly used as an instructional resource for several departments/programs.  As the museum’s only full-time staff member, the Director is responsible for planning, overseeing, implementing and evaluating a range of programs and projects to accomplish the mission of the museum and support the goals of the college.

Job Duties:

Program Development/Curation

  1. Create and implement a vision and strategic plan for the future of the museum.  Involve appropriate members of the Augustana community to create alignment with College objectives and widespread support.
  2. Build connections and develop collaborations with individual faculty and with academic departments throughout the college to insure that museum exhibitions and other activities will expand every student’s understanding of the visual arts through intentional programming designed to attract students from every discipline.
  3. Increase visibility and encourage increased use of the museum as a pedagogical resource.
  4. Engage faculty/students, independently and in classes, through hands-on learning about art.
  5. Install exhibits, including exhibitions from studio art faculty and students; collaborate with art history faculty curators when they organize exhibitions; and creatively adapt ever-changing exhibition needs across campus.
  6. Develop online publications on representative collection artwork on the museum website and engage in outreach efforts as appropriate.
  7. Develop and coordinate lectures related to exhibitions.
  8. Represent the museum and the college within the Quad Cities’ vibrant art community.

Administrative

  1. Manage the annual budget, collection accession/deaccession, and museum personnel (student workers and/or interns).  Develop programs and activities to maximize the budget while accomplishing overall museum objectives.
  2. Continue the process of digitizing the collection and ensuring accuracy of searchable database.
  3. Secure grant funding for exhibits, acquisitions, conservation, and collection management, in collaboration with the Office of Advancement.
  4. Establish new relationships and sustain existing relationships with donors, in collaboration with the Office of Advancement.
  5. Participate in the design, space planning, and construction of a possible new or expanded Art Museum facility, in cooperation with other members of the planning team.
  6. Other duties as assigned.

Job Requirements

Education:  Hold an advanced degree in museum studies, museum administration, or art history; Terminal degree preferred

Skills & Experience:                                            

  • 3 or more years of hands-on experience in museum management.
  • Ability to develop and articulate a clear vision for an art museum at a liberal arts college and possess significant planning and implementation skills.
  • Demonstrate excellent communication and collaboration abilities with a diverse campus community.
  • Demonstrated successes in fundraising and grant writing.
  • Experience and/or interest in teaching an art history or studio art course (preferred, not required)

Physical Requirements:  Must be able to lift 25 pounds on a frequent basis.  Also required is the ability to listen, hear, speak, read, write, climb stairs, bend, stoop, and stand for intermittently long periods of time.  Must be able to use a computer to accomplish a variety of job tasks.

Special Requirements:

This position requires some evening and weekend work and limited travel for professional development and donor relations.

Note:  This job description is subject to change and is not designed to be a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities that are required by the employee.

Application Instructions:  This is a full-time position with an anticipated start date of July 1, 2015.  Interested and qualified applicants should send a letter of interest, resume or CV and three letters of recommendation to humanresources@augustana.edu no later than January 12, 2015.  Resume review will begin immediately.

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