Job Description

The Brooklyn Museum seeks to appoint an excellent communicator and scholar to a full-time curatorial position caring for the collections of American paintings, sculpture and works on paper, pre-1945. The successful candidate will be a recognized scholar in the field with proven ability to produce original and engaging exhibitions based on the Museum’s permanent collections and to communicate to multiple audiences through excellent writing and dynamic public speaking.  The curator will be a leader both inside the Museum and outside, playing a leadership role on the Museum’s curatorial team and representing the Museum among scholars, donors and the public outside the Museum, supporting and advancing the fundraising goals for the collection and for the Museum as a whole. In addition, the curator will work collaboratively with colleagues bringing imagination and passion to shared goals and projects.

The Brooklyn Museum holds one of the most important collections of American art in the world, including nearly 2000 paintings (oils, watercolors and pastels), 200 sculptures, and 3600 prints and drawings. Paintings from this collection are published in American Paintings in the Brooklyn Museum: Artists Born by 1876, by Theresa Carbone. The collection is currently exhibited primarily in “American Identities,” the Museum’s fifth-floor American galleries, and in the adjacent Luce Study-Storage Center. The American collections are found within the context of one of the great collections of the United States, providing opportunities for association with art from the ancient world to contemporary art, and art from around the world, including Africa, Asia and the Islamic World, and are housed in a landmark McKim, Mead and White building.

Responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

  • Conceptualizing and producing exciting exhibitions from the permanent collections, both for exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum and for travel to other venues.
  • Performing on-going review of the collection in order to recommend refinement, including acquisitions and deaccessioning, in accordance with the Museum’s collection plan; oversee the preparation of your department’s Collections Committee meetings and reports.
  • Working with Registrars and Collection Managers to maintain complete, up-to-date, and orderly records and cataloguing for the collection.
  • Working in collaboration with Conservation to provide planning and oversight for collection maintenance and conservation in accordance with best practices of collection stewardship.
  • Supervising the Assistant Curator of American Art, and interns and volunteers, as directed.
  • Working in collaboration with Development to encourage support for the collection and the Museum, especially in relation to the Fund for African-American Art support group; assist in grant writing, events and programs.
  • Developing relationships with collectors and donors in your field.
  • In collaboration with Exhibitions and other Collections curators, researching and interpreting the American collections and participating in cross-disciplinary projects, exhibitions, installations and publications.
  • Participating in the process of an active loan program from the permanent collection.
  • Representing the museum at professional conferences, symposia, etc.
  • Other duties as required or assigned.

Reports to: Managing Curator, Arts of the Americas and Europe

Work schedule: Full time, 35, hour per week (and additional, as required)

To apply: Candidate should submit curriculum vitae and a letter describing her/his particular suitability to the position by email tojob.curator.american.art@brooklynmuseum.org . Brooklyn Museum is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Applicants for positions are considered without regard to race, creed, color, country of origin, sex, age citizenship, disability or sexual orientation.

Job Requirements

Qualifications: Advanced degree in the history of art with a strong concentration on American Art prior to 1945; Ph.D. preferred. Three to five years museum experience required. The successful candidate will have demonstrated a deep commitment to engaging a wide public audience in innovative and exciting ways, as well as to art history, research and scholarship. Strong writing skills, the ability to teach and speak effectively to diverse audiences, and the ability to work effectively with colleagues in a highly collaborative environment are essential.