Curator, Exhibitions and Collections

University of Toronto; Toronto; On-site; CAD 86,000 - 111,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading Canadian university is seeking a Curator for Exhibitions and Collections to develop and implement innovative exhibitions. The ideal candidate will have a Master's Degree in Curatorial Studies and at least three years of experience. Responsibilities include liaising with stakeholders, overseeing collections, and enhancing community engagement. A commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion is essential.

Qualifications

• Master’s Degree (Curatorial Studies) and/or equivalent experience curating contemporary art.
• Minimum three years of senior experience in a equivalent position.
• Deep familiarity with contemporary art exhibitions and public art projects.

Responsibilities

• Curate and develop exhibitions and gallery installations.
• Liaise with creative professionals for exhibition concepts.
• Coordinate selection and acquisition processes.

Skills

Curatorial expertise

Project management

Communication skills

Collaboration

Education

Master’s Degree in Curatorial Studies

Tools

MS Office Suite

Job description

Overview

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Date Posted: 09/24/2025
Req ID: 45281
Faculty/Division: University College
Department: UC: Art Centre
Campus:St. George (Downtown Toronto)
Position Number: 00051116

About us:

The Art Museum is an internationally renowned centre for contemporary art and interdisciplinary inquiry located on the University of Toronto’s downtown campus, in Canada’s largest and most diverse city. With its two distinct gallery spaces (the Justina M. Barnicke Gallery at Hart House and the University of Toronto Art Centre at University College), the Art Museum offers intensive cycles of programming dedicated to artistic and curatorial experimentation. Featuring works in a wide array of traditional and contemporary media, the Art Museum’s exhibitions are further complemented by energetic offsite projects, digitally accessible programs, and research engaging with the University of Toronto’s extensive contemporary and historical art collections.

Working with artists and curators of diverse backgrounds, embodiment and cultural contexts, the program emphasizes the intersectional potential of the visual arts and cultural practices, their ability to undo existing and model new identities, creating other ways of knowing and belonging. This includes an emphasis on critical engagements with local histories, attention to their complex embeddedness in local and global relations, and the development of other, possible stories.

An integral part of all our programs are the in-depth and wide-ranging experiential opportunities for students and faculty, emerging and established scholars, visitors and communities alike – with mentorships, academic and co-curricular engagement, co-productions, partnerships, and other participatory involvement -- to catalyze the possibility of transdisciplinary knowledge and greater awareness of the worlds we share.

Above all, the Art Museum aspires to be a welcoming meeting point to bring into conversation the university community and broader publics. Creating multi-faceted opportunities for dialogue, our program fosters deeper knowledge of the visual arts, and especially their unique contribution to ways of seeing, hearing, sensing, and thinking about what is happening at present, and what is urgent in our time.

Your opportunity

The Art Museum is currently seeking a Curator, Exhibitions and Collections. Reporting to the Executive Director, and working with the team of the Art Museum, their mandate is to research, initiate, develop and implement original, guest-curated and collection-based exhibitions and outreach relevant to the Art Museum’s forward-looking program.

The Curator will produce exhibitions that contribute to the life of the university and the broader public and communities locally, nationally and internationally. Primarily focusing on developing within the context of the Art Museum, the curator will also explore how art might live in or redress public space on campus through exhibitions of works from the collection or new commissions. Throughout their work, the curator will address the existing paradigms of exhibition-making and collecting in our time, innovatively respond to the call for equity and its attendant forms in art. How do artistic works, in the form of images, objects, collaborations, and actions, contribute to a given place, and what are the forms of engagement that art may make possible amongst its publics, within and beyond the University community? Thinking through the nature of exhibition-making and collecting in the context of local histories, the curator will reimagine the relation between art and place, between visual culture and place-making, and the role that artistic and curatorial practice can play in relation to multi-faceted spaces, communities and publics.

Developing partnerships within and beyond the University in all aspects of their work, the curator will engage and implement best practices and protocols for building the collection through acquisitions and develop projects and exhibitions for presentation and circulation on and beyond the University’s downtown campus.

Additionally, they will oversee and direct the work of programming staff who report to them and whose focus is on developing engaged outreach, initiatives and partnerships that advance strategic objectives of their portfolio, including relevant lectures, exhibition tours, workshops and symposia.

Working with multiple stakeholders, they will build support for artistic projects toward overall programming enhancement, with consideration of the academic mission of the university and the educational and public role of the Art Museum.

They will bring to all their work embodied experience and proactive attention to sustainable exhibition production practices (toward reduction of waste and ecological impact, as well as the re-use and sharing of resources), and, together with the team of the art museum, ensure the implementation of anti-racist, anti-harassment, and non-discriminatory processes that enable and provide a welcoming and inclusive atmosphere throughout their own work and all the museum’s relations.

Your responsibilities will include

• Curating exhibitions and gallery installations
• Liaising with creative professionals and vendors to generate and deliver creative concepts
• Implementing plans and process improvements for program and service activities
• Analyzing and making recommendations for programming enhancements
• Creating and/or editing original, published content and materials
• Developing and implementing community engagement strategies and plans
• Coordinating selection and acquisitioning processes
• Directing the activities of a single ongoing staff-appointed employee

Essential Qualifications

• Master’s Degree (Curatorial Studies) and/or equivalent education and experience curating contemporary art and exhibitions, including art in public spaces, working with collections, and policy implementation.
• Minimum three years of related senior experience in an equivalent position.
• Curatorial experience developing art in public spaces and collections.
• Deep familiarity and demonstrated abilities producing contemporary art exhibitions in all media in both, traditional and non-museum spaces.
• Experience coordinating exhibitions as well as public art projects related to the collection and temporary (off-site) programming.
• Experience implementing plans and process improvements for program and service activities.
• Experience and the ability to work with multiple stakeholders to develop exhibitions and public programming.
• Ability to multi-task and efficient implementation of projects.
• Excellent familiarity and working experience with all administrative tasks related to exhibition-making and collections in an A-designated museum context (including coordinating acquisitions, handling art works, CCPERB applications, donor relations).
• Experience fostering and maintaining positive relationships.
• Ability to make effective presentations in visual and didactic form.
• Ability to work cooperatively toward common goal.
• Excellent communication skills (verbal and in writing).
• Experience researching and writing grant applications.
• Thorough working knowledge of MS Office, including Powerpoint, Excel, Word, Office 365.
• Embodied and proactive experience and demonstrated commitments to anti-racist equity, across age, culture, genders, identity and complex embodiment.

Assets (Nonessential)

• Familiarity with TMS platform and/or similar collections management system.
• Experience overseeing and mentoring casual staff.
• Experience coordinating touring exhibitions.
• Fluent in a second language.

To be successful in this role you will be

• Achievement oriented
• Organized
• Proactive
• Resourceful

Notes

• Hours of Work: Monday through Friday from 8:45 AM to 5:00 PM, overtime on weekdays, occasional overtime on weekends.
• Please submit a cover letter with your application.

Closing Date: 11/14/2025, 11:59PM ET
Employee Group: USW
Appointment Type: Budget - Continuing
Schedule: Full-Time. Hours of work: Monday through Friday from 8:45 AM to 5:00 PM, overtime on weekdays, occasional overtime on weekends.
Pay Scale Group & Hiring Zone:
USW Pay Band 13 -- $86,340. with an annual step progression to a maximum of $110,415. Pay scale and job class assignment is subject to determination pursuant to the Job Evaluation/Pay Equity Maintenance Protocol.
Job Category: Arts & Culture

Lived Experience Statement

Candidates who are members of Indigenous, Black, racialized and 2SLGBTQ+ communities, persons with disabilities, and other equity deserving groups are encouraged to apply, and their lived experience shall be taken into consideration as applicable to the posted position.

Diversity Statement

The University of Toronto embraces Diversity and is building aculture of belonging that increases our capacity to effectivelyaddress and serve the interests of our global community. Westrongly encourage applications from Indigenous Peoples,Black and racialized persons, women, persons withdisabilities, and people of diverse sexual and gender identities.We value applicants who have demonstrated a commitment toequity, diversity and inclusion and recognize that diverseperspectives, experiences, and expertise are essential tostrengthening our academic mission.

As part of your application, you will be asked to complete a brief Diversity Survey. This survey is voluntary. Any information directly related to you is confidential and cannot be accessed by search committees or human resources staff. Results will be aggregated for institutional planning purposes. For more information, please see http://uoft.me/UP

Accessibility Statement

The University strives to be an equitable and inclusive community, and proactively seeks to increase diversity among its community members. Our values regarding equity and diversity are linked with our unwavering commitment to excellence in the pursuit of our academic mission.

The University is committed to the principles of the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA). As such, we strive to make our recruitment, assessment and selection processes as accessible as possible and provide accommodations as required for applicants with disabilities.

If you require any accommodations at any point during the application and hiring process, please [e-mail] .