Job Description

The San Diego Museum of Art seeks an experienced Associate Curator to work with the Deputy Director for Curatorial Affairs to research, acquire, and interpret the Museum’s collection of East Asian art, which includes approximately 7,000 works of art in various media (paintings, sculpture, photography, and other works on paper), including Buddhist sculpture of China and Japan, Ukiyo-e woodblock prints, and a wide variety of ceramics, metalwork, and decorative arts ranging in date from about 1,600 BCE until the present day.

The San Diego Museum of Art is currently undertaking the scholarly cataloguing of its permanent collection of Chinese Paintings, and the Associate Curator of East Asian Art will be responsible for conducting the research and writing that will result in the publication of this information in a variety of formats. The Associate Curator of East Asian Art makes recommendations for acquisitions; responds to queries concerning the collections; is responsible for the installation of the collection in the galleries; plans related exhibitions; and assesses potential donations and large collections for research. The Associate Curator works in close collaboration with the Museum’s Education and Membership and Development teams in order to develop opportunities for interpretative materials and programming about the collection and to secure funding for those projects. The Associate Curator must be an accomplished professional in the field of East Asian art, with a record of distinguished scholarship, publications, acquisitions, and exhibitions.

Founded in 1926, the Museum is located in the heart of Balboa Park and serves a diverse constituency as well as over 300,000 visitors each year. San Diego is the eighth largest city in the United States, and the international border with Mexico is located roughly 30 minutes from the front door of the San Diego Museum of Art. Since late 2004, all of the didactic materials in the museum’s galleries have been presented in both Spanish and English. The administration views the opportunity of providing “gateway” experiences to the visual arts as a high priority, and a demonstrated commitment to dynamic curatorial practice is considered an essential quality of the successful applicant.

Interested applicants should submit the following before October 31, 2015

1) Letter of interest
2) curriculum vitae
3) relevant writing samples
4) names and contact information for at least three professional references
5) salary requirements

Application materials to the following address:

Attention:  Mary Salerno – Director of Human Resources and Compliance
The San Diego Museum of Art
Post Office Box 122107
San Diego, California 92112-2107

Or

Resumes@sdmart.org

No telephone inquiries please.

The San Diego Museum of Art is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate in the hiring of personnel because of race, creed, color, national or ethnic origin, gender, age, sexual orientation, marital status or physical disability.

Job Requirements

  • Ph.D. in Art History required;
  • Demonstrated expertise in one or more of the following areas: Chinese art and Japanese art;
  • Demonstrated knowledge of East Asian languages and literatures;
  • Five years’ experience in a major museum context, preferably in the curatorial field;
  • Record of publications, fellowships, and public speaking;
  • Passion for the role of visual arts and for developing new audiences;
  • Experience in donor cultivation;
  • Excellent communications skills;
  • Eagerness to work collaboratively and in an innovative manner;
  • Multi-lingual proficiency (Japanese or Chinese preferred).

APPLY FOR THIS JOB

Contact Person: Mary Salerno
Email Address: msalerno@sdmart.org