Assistant Registrar [Telfair Museums, Savannah, GA]

Telfair Museums

Job Description

Job Title:                     Assistant Registrar

Date Written:              August 28, 2015

Department:               Curatorial

Reports to:                 Registrar/Collections Manager

Job Summary

The Assistant Registrar will support the Registrar/Collections Manager in the recordkeeping, care, and handling of Telfair Museums’ permanent collection of fine and decorative art, coordination of logistical and administrative arrangements related to incoming/outgoing loans and acquisitions, and the planning and installation of all exhibitions.

Duties and Responsibilities:

• Manages collections database:
  • Enter, correct and update data and images in the system, including value, exhibition history, publications, conservation, copyright, provenance, description, location, loan history, condition reports, measurements, insurance, etc.
  • Track the movements of all works in the Telfair’s care, including acquisitions, temporary loans, long-term loans and related materials.
  • Assist with individual/departmental needs by generating reports/lists (value, location, new accession, image, etc.) from the collections database when necessary.
  • Perform periodic inventories of the permanent collection and update records.
• Loans and temporary exhibitions :
  • Assist Registrar/Collections Manager with creating and maintain incoming and outgoing loan forms.
  • Assist as needed with installation and de-installation of gallery exhibitions and permanent collection installations, painting and preparation of galleries, and packing/crating of artwork with adherence to professional art handling and display standards.
  • Create condition reports for incoming and outgoing objects.
• Permanent collection care:
  • Answer general questions about the collection for the public.
  • Assist Registrar/Collections Manager in implementation and maintenance of proper storage management systems
  • Assist with handling and numbering of art objects
• Assist with other aspects of registration as needed, including the preparation of materials for meetings of the museum’s collections committee.

Required Skills and Education

• BA in Art History, Arts Administration, or related field.
• Two or more years of registration or comparable experience in a museum setting with significant experience in automated collections records management and cataloging.
• Above average written and verbal communication skills.
• Demonstrated computer literacy in word processing, database management, and imaging applications.
  • Excellent organizational and time management skills, accuracy and attention to detail.
  • Strong interpersonal skills.
  • Knowledge of professional standards in the handling, movement, and care of art objects.

• Solid work ethic, collaborative spirit, and a sense of humor.
• Ability to travel, both domestically and internationally.
• Ability to work some evenings and weekends.

Physical Requirements:

• Must be able to lift and carry delicate and awkward items weighing up to 50 lbs.
• Requires intermittent standing, walking, sitting, squatting, stretching, and bending throughout the workday.

• Must be able to see and hear, or use prosthetics that will enable these senses to function adequately to assure that the requirements of this position can be fully met.

Additional Application Requirements

Applications are available on Telfair Museums’ website, www.telfair.org. Completed applications must be received by July 1, 2015.

Please also submit a résumé/CV, and contact information for three professional references. Submit all documents to the attention of Mary Nestor-Harper, Human Resources Director, at nestorharperm@telfair.org.

All applications will be held in confidence; references will not be contacted until finalists have been selected and notified.

About Telfair Museums

Telfair Museums, founded through the bequest of Savannah philanthropist Mary Telfair, opened to the public in 1886, establishing it as the oldest art museum in the South.  The museum took a bold step forward in 2006 with the opening of a new contemporary building designed by Moshe Safdie. Known as the Jepson Center for the Arts, the building features over 7,500 square feet of gallery space for major traveling exhibitions of contemporary art and installations of works from the permanent collection. The Jepson Center is home to the Telfair Museums’ Kirk Varnedoe Collection, a cornerstone of the museum’s contemporary holdings. Assembled in honor of the late Savannah native, scholar, and MoMA curator Kirk Varnedoe, the collection features works on paper by some of the most pivotal artists of the past fifty years, including Jasper Johns, Chuck Close, Roy Lichtenstein, Jeff Koons, Robert Rauschenberg, Ed Ruscha, Frank Stella, Ellsworth Kelly, and Richard Avedon. The museum’s modern and contemporary collection also features works by Romare Bearden, William Christenberry, Helen Levitt, Sam Gilliam, and James Brooks.

See Job Description