The Amon Carter Museum of American Art seeks a Director of Education and Library Services (DELS), a senior-leadership position. The DELS will have the opportunity to illuminate one of the world’s finest collections of American art, including many masterpieces, through museum interpretation, educational programs, and facilitation of research.
The DELS leads a division of the museum consisting of two departments: Education, and Library and Archives. Education provides programs for greater than 20,000 pre-K-12 students, university students, and adults; distance learning for all ages; and exhibition interpretation. Library and Archives fosters new knowledge in diverse audiences via published works and unpublished documents. Complementing the museum’s art collection, the research library offers over 150,000 items on American art, photography, and history from the early nineteenth century to the present, one of the largest collections focused on American art in the country.
As a member of the museum’s Leadership Team, the DELS contributes vision, expertise and inspiration to the formulation of strategic plans and the oversight of their fulfillment. S/he manages department staff members and coordinates their work with other divisions. The successful candidate will be a visionary and an innovator regarding the roles of educational programming and information services in an art museum. S/he will relish collaboration with fellow professionals; fostering deep connections and fruitful collaboration between education and library services departments and other departments within the museum; and actively engaging communities beyond simply delivering products to them. S/he will have a record of successful leadership in a museum 2 setting that includes developing engaging, effective museum programs, particularly for adults, and leading a department.
The Amon Carter Museum has been making a transition from a founder-led institution to one guided by a collegial Leadership Team consisting of the Executive Director, Chief Operating Officer/Chief Financial Officer, Director of Collections and Exhibitions, Director of Development and Communications, Director of Human Resources, and the DELS. Executive Director Andrew J. Walker and COO/CFO Scott Wilcox share authority, with the former setting the artistic direction, working with donors and providing the public face of the museum; and the latter handling administrative matters, finances and day-to-day operations. The successful DELS will embrace this organizational structure, thrive in the museum’s collaborative work environment, and lead the Education and Library Services Division through process management, mentoring, and evaluation.
PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE DIRECTOR OF EDUCATION AND LIBRARY SERVICES: The DELS will help provide the leadership and vision for the museum’s excellence. The DELS will serve on the museum’s Leadership Team and manage mid-level staff in the Education and Library and Archives Departments, which employ about 18 staff. S/he will maintain a working relationship with the Board of Trustees. S/he will be an ambassador to community groups and patrons and will represent the museum at national professional meetings. The DELS will work with the development department in fundraising initiatives, and will prepare and manage the departmental budgets within the Education and Library Services Division.
RESPONSIBILITIES:
1. Build on the museum’s reputation for educational excellence, especially in the area of pre-K-12 visits, strengthening existing programs. Oversee development of new interpretative and public programs, with particular emphasis on programs for adults.
2. Oversee Library and Archives’ initiatives to expand their reach and foster new learning in service of the museum’s strategic goals, for example, through external partnerships.
3. Maintain up-to-date knowledge of best practices in museum education and informational services to inform program development at the museum.
4. Initiate, cultivate and maintain partnerships with such entities as schools and universities, other museums, healthcare organizations, community agencies, and libraries.
5. Gather data on departmental activities and conduct effective evaluation to promote constant improvement and inform the Leadership Team.
6. Represent the Education and Library Services Division on the Leadership Team, working as an effective teammate and advocate, setting strategic directions, and contributing to significant decisions for the museum.
7. Develop and manage operational processes to achieve departmental objectives in fulfillment of the museum’s strategic plan.
8. Foster a culture in the Education and Library Services Division of forging strong partnerships within and beyond the museum in pursuit of institutional goals.
9. Perform supervisory responsibilities, managing department staff within the division.
10. Recruit, interview, recommend for hire, train, and evaluate staff as needed. Ensure appropriate and effective management of staff, interns, and volunteers by mid-level staff.
11. Cultivate leadership skills in departmental staff and encourage their professional growth.
12. Assist the Development Department as appropriate to secure funding for museum programs and information services.
13. Oversee formulation and management of Division budgets.
QUALIFICATIONS — KNOWLEDGE, EXPERIENCE, SKILLS AND ABILITIES:
1. Minimum of 5 years of museum-education and management experience in a senior-management position at an art museum or similar institution, such as an American history museum with a significant art collection and strong educational programs.
2. Demonstrated leadership, mentoring, and organizational skills. a. Demonstrated ability to think strategically and creatively; experience with long-range planning for program planning and audience development. b. The ability to manage multiple projects, work under pressure and meet deadlines. c. Institutional perspective; able to consider and test ideas in a team setting without being wedded to one’s own. d. Problem solving skills, both as an individual and as part of a group of peers. e. Desire to advance into museum senior-administration and to mentor and professionally develop the Division’s professionals. f. Possessing professional presence, with a talent for inspiring and building confidence both within the museum and outside the institution among a broad range of constituencies. g. Passion for museum education. h. Diplomatic. Comfortable in dynamic or challenging situations.
3. Collaborative skills. Experience with or commitment to a team-oriented culture with shared responsibilities.
4. Master’s degree required in art history, art, museum studies, museum education, or similar field. Degree with specialty in the field of American Art or Culture is desirable.
5. Excellent communication and writing skills.
6. Proficient in community interaction and cross-staff partnership building.
7. Positive outlook. High energy, self-motivated, with a strong work ethic.
8. Business acumen and sound financial and logistical-planning abilities.
9. Computer proficiency with MS Office products.
ABOUT THE MUSEUM: The Amon Carter is an AAMD Museum with an operating budget of $15M. After six decades of growth, the Amon Carter houses more than 200,000 paintings, photographs, prints and sculptures, among them premier works by Thomas Cole, Frederic Church, Martin Johnson Heade, Thomas Eakins, Winslow Homer, Augustus Saint-Gaudens, Mary Cassatt, William Merritt Chase, Childe Hassam, Georgia O’Keeffe, Alexander Calder, Arthur Dove, Marsden Hartley, and Stuart Davis. The photography collection of 45,000 prints spans the entire history of American photography, and the museum houses the archives of eight American photographers (http://www.cartermuseum.org/collection).
HOW TO APPLY: Nominations welcome. Apply in confidence: Email cover letter, résumé (Word document preferred), salary requirement, and names of 3 references with contact information by September 11, 2017 to retained search firm: Marilyn Hoffman and Scott Stevens, Museum Search & Reference, SearchandRef@museum-search.com. EOE. References will not be contacted without prior permission of the applicant. The Amon Carter Museum is accepting only new applications for this reopened search.
