Assistant Curator [C.M. Russell Museum, Great Falls, MT]

The C.M. Russell Museum seeks a self-motivated, detail-oriented, multitasking curatorial team member with superior research, writing and communications skills for the position of Assistant Curator. This position reports to the Chief Curator. The Assistant Curator helps develop an ambitious program of temporary and permanent collection exhibitions and is charged with conducting scholarly research, lecturing and publishing in the area chiefly associated with the museum’s mission. Working together with the director and chief curator, the assistant curator will encourage the growth of the collection through acquisitions and gifts.

• A keen appreciation and understanding of the C.M. Russell Museum’s mission.
• MA or Ph.D. in art history, experience with art of the American West, humanities, anthropology, museum studies or related fields.
• Must have a working knowledge of current museum best practices and previous museum work experience with changing and temporary exhibitions.
• Creative thinker with strong written and verbal communication and interpersonal skills and demonstrated strength in organizational skills, attention to detail and deadlines.
• Assist in identification, development and selection of exhibitions, including originating exhibition concepts and preparing exhibition proposals.
• Ability to collaborate with colleagues throughout the museum and to foster and maintain good working relationships with museum donors, directors and colleagues from other institutions, the scholarly community, dealers, collectors and other individuals associated with the museum.
• Actively cultivate potential sponsors.
• Participate in the museum’s public education and outreach programs.
• Respond to correspondence relating to the collection and assist the public and visiting scholars.
• Assist in managing traveling exhibitions.
• Assist in preparation of budgets and grant proposals.
• Other duties as assigned.

About The Museum

The mission of the C.M. Russell Museum is to collect, preserve, research, interpret and educate on the art and life of Charles M. Russell; the art and lives of his contemporaries; and the art of preceding and ensuing generations that depicts and focuses on the culture, life, and country of Russell’s West.

The C.M. Russell Museum is one of the nation’s finest museums of American Western art and the home of the most complete collection of Russell art and memorabilia in the world. The permanent collection of more than 12,000 objects also includes the works of other well-known artists: O. C. Seltzer, Winold Reiss, J. H. Sharp, E. E. Heikka, E. I. Couse, Olaf Wieghorst, Henry Farny, Frank Tenney Johnson, Maynard Dixon, Robert Scriver, Jay Contway and Gary Schlidt. Special collections and permanent exhibitions include the Browning Firearms Collection and The Bison: American Icon, Heart of Plains Indian Culture.

The museum opened in 1953 with a single small gallery housing the personal Russell collection of Josephine Trigg, a close friend and neighbor of the Russell family. Subsequently, the museum underwent expansions in 1969, 1985 and 2001, to reach its current capacity of more than 70,000 square feet. The museum complex now occupies a full city block that includes the C.M. Russell home and studio, which together were designated a National Historic Landmark in 1966. Also included is the Frederic G. Renner Library and Archives, one the preeminent collections of research materials associated with Charles Marion Russell. Additional holdings include the Joe DeYong archives and the Richard Flood Collection. Accredited by the American Alliance of Museums and a member of the Museums West consortium, the C.M. Russell Museum is one of the premier attractions in Montana.

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