Executive Director [Ellen Noel Art Museum of the Permian Basin]

The Ellen Noël Art Museum of the Permian Basin manages and conserves a growing permanent collection of American Art, with a particular focus placed on the acquisition of art from the Southwest and Texas. Known for its very active exhibition schedule and outstanding educational programming for all ages, the Ellen Noël Art Museum exists as the result of years of local and regional grass roots fundraising efforts. Opened in 1985 as the Art Institute for the Permian Basin, the Museum was renamed in its tenth year to honor the leadership and philanthropy of Mrs. Ellen W. Noël. Following its expansion in 1998, the Museum currently features 22,120 square feet of gallery space, offices, two classrooms, the Nancy Chambers Library, and collections, handling, and storage space. The Museum’s three impressive galleries of varying sizes and configurations allow for exhibitions of diverse works, featured in a unique setting.

The Museum is in a position of fiscal health featuring strong programming, and is located within one of the fastest-growing economic communities in the country. Due to the Museum’s accomplishments, the Board of Directors has launched a self-described “next phase,” aiming to leverage their success by bringing increased visibility to the Museum, and broadening their impact within their region.

An American Alliance of Museums accredited institution, the Museum was also designated an Affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution in 2010, one of only two art museums in the state of Texas to be granted this status. The Museum maintains an institutional membership with the Texas Association of Museums, the Mountain Plains Museum Association, the Texas Pecos Trail Region, and the West Texas Triangle of Accredited Museums. Admission to the galleries is free.

The Museum is a private, nonprofit 501(c)3 corporation, governed by an engaged and committed 24 member Board of Directors, with an annual operating budget of $1 million, and an endowment of $8.7 million. Funding is received from memberships, donations, grants, fundraising events and distributions from the endowment funds. The Museum is supported by a talented and loyal staff of eight full-time and two part-time professional employees, a contracted grant writer, and approximately 40 volunteers who serve the Museum in many capacities, ensuring that the programming remains dynamic, vital and responsive to community needs.

COMMUNITY

Located along the southwestern edge of the Llano Estacado in West Texas, Odessa is a vibrant energetic city in the county of Ector County, Texas. Odessa’s population was calculated as nearly 100,000 by the 2010 census. It is the principal city of the Odessa Texas Metropolitan Statistical Area and is also a component of the larger Midland–Odessa combined area. In 2014, Forbes magazine ranked Odessa as the third fastest-growing small city in the United States. It is situated above the Permian Basin, a large sedimentary deposit that contains significant reserves of oil and natural gas. It is within an easy drive to three National Parks: the Big Bend, one of the nation’s most pristine wilderness areas, the Guadalupe Mountains, featuring the most majestic and tallest Mountains in Texas, and Carlsbad Caverns, the world-renowned formations known for their unparalleled beauty.

Performing arts organizations in the area include the Midland-Odessa Symphony and Chorale, the region’s largest orchestral organization; and the Globe of the Great Southwest, which hosts plays as well as an annual Shakespeare festival. Close by in neighboring Midland County, is the Wagner Noël Performing Arts Center, affiliated with The University of Texas of the Permian Basin, which opened in 2011. Other cultural attractions include Odessa’s Presidential Museum and Leadership Library; the White-Pool House Museum, the oldest surviving structure in Odessa built in 1887; and the Museum of the Southwest in Midland County.

The two local sports teams are the West Texas Roughnecks, an Indoor Football League team, and the Odessa Jackalopes ice hockey team. High school football is also popular in Odessa. Ratliff Stadium, which was featured in the movie Friday Night Lights, is home to the Odessa Bronchos and the Permian Panthers. It is the seventh largest high school stadium in the Texas. Outdoor life in Odessa is supported by a number of public parks, baseball fields, basketball and volleyball courts, tennis courts, soccer fields, a skate park, 2 aquatic centers, an outdoor pool and water-spray, golf courses, and hike and bike trails with a unique concentration of wild flowers of foliage.

Odessa is home to The University of Texas of the Permian Basin; Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center (which opened as a School of Medicine in 1979); and Odessa College, a public, two-year college serving Ector County and the Permian Basin. Odessa has two 5-A high schools and New Tech Odessa, a third high school which specializes in project-based learning; six junior high schools; and twenty-five elementary schools, including nine magnet campuses and three charter schools. There are several major hospitals and medical facilities raging from family care to specialized heart care centers. The two main hospitals are the Odessa Regional Medical Center and the Medical Center Hospital.

According to the U.S. Census, the median household income in Odessa (2008-2012) is $51,251 and the median home price is $97,900. The cost of living in Odessa is 4.6% below the national average.

Sources: www.census.gov, www.ector-county.k12.tx.us, www.forbes.com, www.odessa-tx.gov

POSITION SUMMARY

The Executive Director provides administrative leadership and oversight to the Ellen Noël Art Museum. This includes leading and empowering a talented team of ten professional staff and numerous volunteers to execute operations, enhancing the quality of the Museum’s programs and collections, cultivating donors, and growing financial resources. Reporting to the President of the Board of Directors and working in partnership with staff, the Executive Director is responsible for the intellectual and programmatic direction of the Museum and will invest significant time collaborating with staff, community leaders, donors, artists, collectors, industry contacts and others to implement a vision that is aligned with the Museum’s mission and priorities. The scope of responsibility will include oversight of external and community relations, audience development and participation, fund development, long-range planning, and overall internal operational, financial and administrative responsibilities. The Executive Director will maintain a positive, team-spirited, respectful institutional culture, which balances the diversity and vibrancy of the West Texas community and the museum’s exhibitions and programs with the efficacy of best practices, fiscal accountability, and institutional impact.

The Executive Director will oversee the assets and budget of the Museum, striving to achieve an appropriate balance among all sources of revenue, earned and philanthropic. The Executive Director will think creatively and strategically to cultivate and develop new sources of revenue while maintaining and increasing the support of existing donors.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Institutional Advancement

Identify stakeholders, develop strategies, and define how key messages will be delivered to various individuals and institutions to maximize the visibility, brand, relevancy, and earned and contributed revenues of the Ellen Noël Art Museum.

• Take a leadership role in the organization’s development programs, including its endowment, planned giving, and annual operating efforts and identify appropriate funding opportunities from individuals, foundations, corporations, and government agencies with the Board of Directors and staff.
• Lead staff and Board in development activities, maintain strong relationships with the funding community, and develop the most effective donor stewardship and cultivations methods with Board and staff.
• Develop marketing and public relations programs with the Board and staff that achieve earned income goals from memberships, special programs, and events while enhancing the Museum’s visibility, value and reputation in the community.
• Ensure the highest levels of customer service, effective audience interaction, and community engagement.

Education, Outreach and Community Relations

Extend opportunities for learning, collaboration, and accessibility that further the mission, vision, programs, and impact of the Museum, and act as a primary spokesperson with the Board President.

• Oversee educational programs and support the Education and Outreach Coordinator to deliver stellar K-12 education and lifelong learning opportunities.
• Cultivate appropriate strategic partnerships throughout the community to embrace the diverse needs of Odessa and the West Texas community and working with the Education and Outreach Coordinator, advance the Museum’s educational programs, outreach, and community activities.
• In tandem with the Board President, communicate the work and mission of the organization to the public through the media and at public speaking engagements, as needed, in a manner that enhances the Museum’s reputation and standing in the community.
• Cultivate good relations with the city leaders throughout the region, other arts organizations, public agencies, and the media.

Collections Stewardship, Exhibition and Program Planning

Ensure the careful, sound and responsible management of the Museum’s collections, including legal, social, and ethical obligations to provide proper care as well as intellectual control. Make sure that materials the Museum owns, borrows, holds in custody and use are available and accessible to the public. In collaboration with the curatorial staff develop a coordinated exhibition and program schedule that maximizes use of the Museum’s collections and resources.

• Support the development, management, and care for the permanent collection, and long-term loans.
• Enhance the quality and care of the collections, exhibitions, and related programs.
• Create opportunities to use the collections to advance the mission of the Museum.
• Develop and implement a rotation of stellar, diverse, and relevant exhibitions that complement and support the West Texas community.
• Look for opportunities to strengthen connections with other arts organizations in support of the collection and exhibitions.

Operational and Strategic Planning

Oversee short-term operational and long-range strategic planning and implementation processes, including the effective mentoring and supervision of the organization’s human resources, mobilization of technological resources, and decision making related to appropriate use of fiscal resources.

• Generate, implement and monitor a long-term institutional plan and vision in coordination with the Board and staff.
• Create a strategic operating plan and assume joint responsibility with the Board for its implementation, reporting progress towards goals regularly.
• Consult and strategize with the staff regarding annual events and fundraiser, exhibitions, educational and outreach plans and appropriate budget, which fulfills the organization’s vision and simultaneously maximizes earned income opportunities.
• Build a strategy to effectively mobilize and utilize volunteers in support of the Museum and its programs.
• Direct administrative personnel relations to ensure that the organization is effectively structured and staffed. Ensure that the Ellen Noël Museum’s employer obligations to its staff, legally and ethically, are fully met.

Governance and Financial Management

Provide support to best utilize the talents and resources of the Board, stimulate involvement, recruit new members, and work closely with them to ensure strong fiscal health and organizational governance.

• Initiate and maintain effective communications with the Board President, Executive Committee, Board of Directors, staff, artists, and volunteers.
• Assist in Board prospect identification, cultivation, and recruitment.
• Orient, educate, and engage Board members to maximize their effectiveness.
• Celebrate the successes of individual Board members and the Board as a whole in recognizing their contribution of time and resources as community ambassadors for the Museum.
• Maintain fiscal responsibility for overall budget, and ensure the most effective use of financial resources.
• Oversee management of cash flow and present appropriate balance sheets, income statements, and other financial oversight tools for Board review.
• Assist Board committees to develop and implement their goals and objectives, and name appropriate staff liaisons to work closely with committees.

TRAITS AND CHARACTERISTICS

The Executive Director will bring an optimistic, pragmatic, and entrepreneurial perspective in building an effective management team and organizational structure that best serves the Ellen Noël Art Museum’s mission, vision, and goals. An intellectually curious and assertive professional and confident manager, the selected individual will have a proven track record and possess exceptional teamwork, conflict management, communication, revenue enhancement, and leadership skills. He/she will have an appreciation of the values, history, and traditions of the Ellen Noël Museum and the West Texas community that it serves. The selected candidate will act as a strong partner to the Board, staff and community stakeholders and should also demonstrate the following competencies:

• Leadership – Not afraid to takes risks and demonstrates integrity through actions. Builds trust by inspiring others with compelling vision and loyalty. Demonstrates optimism and positive expectations of others while delegating appropriate responsibilities and authority. Involves staff in decisions making and addresses issues promptly, fairly and consistently.
• Stakeholder Focus – Consistently places a high value on the Ellen Noël Museum’s extensive network of internal and external stakeholders with a keen focus on listening to, understanding, and appreciating feedback.
• Self-Management and Personal Accountability – Prioritizes and completes tasks necessary to meet or exceed the mutually agreed upon expectations of the role while being accountable for personal and professional actions.
• People Oriented – Successfully works with a wide range of people from diverse backgrounds to achieve “win-win” outcomes. Maintains positive respectful relationships with others. Demonstrates respect for others. Understands and values differences between people
• Communication – Communicates in ways that elevate audience awareness and understanding. Skillfully determines what information needs to be communicated and conveys key messages and meaning. Projects authenticity, confidence, conviction and passion.
  

QUALIFICATIONS

The Executive Director of the Ellen Noël Museum should have a master’s or doctoral degree in an appropriate discipline or equivalent combination of education and at least 5 years of increasing responsibility in a museum/gallery setting or cultural nonprofit organization. Prior management in an art museum known for high quality and excellence is desirable. The position requires excellent knowledge and ability in fundraising, marketing, audience development, branding, and museum operations, including exhibition development. Although it is highly likely that the successful candidate will have career experience at a senior management level of an arts organization, it is also possible that the individual could come from another background.

COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS

Competitive compensation, commensurate with experience, and a standard benefits package including health insurance, paid time off, holidays, and a retirement matching feature.

APPLICATIONS AND INQUIRIES

Please submit a letter and resume by electronic submission with a summary of demonstrable accomplishments to:

Ms. Kathryn Martin, Vice President

Arts Consulting Group, Inc.

12504 Cypress Woods Court

San Diego, CA  92131

Tel       (888) 234.4236 ext. 3

Fax      (888) 284.6651

Email   EllenNoelArtMuseum@ArtsConsulting.com

The Ellen Noël Art Museum is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

www.noelartmuseum.org