Ellen Johnson ’33 Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art (Open Rank) [Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin, OH]

Description

Job Summary:  The Allen Memorial Art Museum (AMAM) at Oberlin College is seeking applicants for a curatorial position in Modern and Contemporary Art at the assistant, associate, or full curatorial level. The curator will oversee all aspects of the museum’s research, interpretation, and presentation for its important post-1900 art collections and will collaborate with the Curator of Academic Programs, Curator of Education, and other museum staff to engage students in curatorial and research projects and plan a broad range of public programs. The curatorship is a 12-month (i.e. continuing) Administrative and Professional Staff position at the Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin College, reporting to the Director of the Museum.

Responsibilities:  The curator will oversee an outstanding permanent collection of approximately 4,500 works of art from 1900 to the present and approximately 1,200 works in the Eva Hesse Archives. Responsibilities include developing in-house and traveling exhibitions in close collaboration with curatorial colleagues and the director; carrying out original research on the collection; identifying acquisitions through purchase and gift; teaching with the collection for Oberlin College classes and for other groups; expanding physical and electronic access to collection; working closely with museum staff and Oberlin College development staff to cultivate a broad donor base; preparing a long-range plan for post-1900 holdings; and monitoring and making recommendations for care of the collection. Active participation in identifying and writing grant proposals is critical. The AMAM’s collection of post-1900 art serves nearly all Oberlin College departments in the Arts and Sciences and the Conservatory of Music, including African-American studies, art, art history, biology, chemistry, cinema studies, comparative American studies, environmental studies, foreign languages and literatures, history, Latin American studies, mathematics, and music and historical performance. The curator will be actively involved in conceptualizing and initiating teaching exhibitions and museum-based courses, mentoring students, and supervising student curatorial interns.

Requirements

Required Qualifications:  A Ph.D. in art history preferred, with at least 3-5 years of museum experience, demonstrated knowledge of the exhibition process, a record of publication, and some teaching experience. This position requires broad knowledge of the field of art history, particularly from 1900 forward, with a strong commitment to contemporary art, and excellent communication and leadership skills. As an important liaison between the museum and faculty, students, donors, supporters, and artists, the successful candidate must be an outstanding collaborator, with highly developed administrative and organizational capabilities and a deep commitment to a contextual, cross-disciplinary approach to original works of art.

Compensation:  Within the range established for this position, salary will be commensurate with qualifications and experience and includes an excellent benefits package.

How to Apply:  Candidates should submit a letter of application, curriculum vitae, and names, addresses and phone numbers of three references by September 6, 2016 via Oberlin College’s PeopleAdmin system at https://jobs.oberlin.edu/postings/2785. Review of applications will be ongoing and applications received after the deadline may be considered.  All applications must be received via the PeopleAdmin portal; if you have a question, please contact Sally Moffitt, AMAM Administrative Assistant, at smoffitt@oberlin.edu.

About the Allen Memorial Art Museum (AMAM):  For more than a century, Oberlin College has been committed to promoting direct study of original works of art to foster visual literacy and a deeper understanding of the diversity of the world’s cultures. Today, the AMAM houses an encyclopedic collection of more than 14,000 works selected to provide a comprehensive overview of the history of art and is recognized as one of the five best academic museums in the country. The AMAM serves a broad regional audience and operates on the premise that learning about art is important for everyone, a principle demonstrated by the free public admission, offered since its founding in 1917. In the field of modern and contemporary art, the AMAM’s post-1900 holdings include outstanding examples of Expressionist, Cubist, and Surrealist paintings, sculpture, and works on paper by artists such as Kirchner, Modigliani, Picasso, Braque, Gorky, and Miró. American post-1945 holdings are impressive and deep, with superb examples of art from all the major movements, including Abstract Expressionism, Pop Art, Minimalism, Conceptual Art, New Realism, and Photo-Realism, as well as many works in new media such as video art and films and digital photographs by artists. All major figures in late 20th-century art are represented, among them De Kooning, Pollock, Rauschenberg, Johns, Stella, Rothko, Warhol, Morris Louis, and Chuck Close. The collection includes significant African-American, Latin American, and Native American artworks. The AMAM commissioned Claes Oldenburg’s first permanent outdoor sculpture, Giant Three-Way Plug, which was installed in 1970. Other outdoor sculptures are important early works by Mary Miss and Robert Morris. The AMAM purchased Eva Hesse’s seminal sculpture Laocoön in 1970, the year of her death, and houses the Eva Hesse Archives, the largest collection of material about and created by Hesse in any public institution—including working drawings, collages, photographs, diaries, datebooks, and letters. The museum complex includes a 1917 building designed by Cass Gilbert. In the 1970s, Robert Venturi designed a gallery dedicated to the presentation of modern and contemporary art, the architect’s first museum commission. The AMAM also shares responsibility with Oberlin College for a Frank Lloyd Wright-designed house, the first Usonian house in Ohio, located in Oberlin.