Curator of Modern & Contemporary Art - Full Time

Philbrook Museum of Art Inc; Tulsa (OK); On-site; USD 50,000 - 61,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

Maternity and paternity leave

PTO, Sick Leave, Holidays

Dental insurance

Vision insurance

Long Term Disability

Flexible spending accounts

Employee Assistance Program (EAP)

403(b) retirement plan and matching

Job summary

Philbrook Museum of Art in Tulsa, OK seeks applicants for a full-time (Open-Rank) Curator of Modern & Contemporary Art. This role oversees acquisitions, exhibitions, and related programming, and will supervise curatorial interns and volunteers.

The ideal candidate will have a Master’s in art history (PhD preferred) with at least two years of curatorial experience, strong research skills, and the ability to collaborate across departments. Salary begins at $55,000 with a 35-hour work week.

Qualifications

• Master’s degree in art history or related field (a bachelor’s degree and equivalent training may be substituted); PhD preferred.
• Minimum of two years of curatorial experience for assistant-level position.

Responsibilities

• Develop ambitious special exhibitions and traveling exhibitions within budget and audience expectations.
• Collaboratively plan gallery presentations and create interpretive materials.
• Evaluate acquisitions and deaccessions of modern/contemporary art.
• Contribute to the comprehensive catalogue, verify collection records, and support scholarship.
• Advise on long-term care of collections and conservation programs.
• Create innovative programs for focused and broad audiences.
• Collaborate across departments to support fundraising, learning, engagement, and communications.
• Develop and manage operating and project budgets.
• Recruit, train, and supervise interns and volunteers.

Skills

Modern art

Project management

Communication

TMS database

Collaboration

Museum practices

Education

Master’s in art history

PhD preferred

Tools

Microsoft Office

Adobe Suite

TMS (The Museum System)

Job description

Description

About Philbrook Museum of Art

Philbrook Museum of Art’s mission is to make a more creative and connected community through art and gardens. Comprised of a world-class art museum, a stunning historic home, and 25 breathtaking acres of gardens, Philbrook is a place for people from across Tulsa and beyond to be together. Here visitors can see art spanning 5,000 years and five continents— from around the world and from our own backyard. They can join in on tours, hands-on artmaking and nature play, artist talks, special exhibitions, celebrations and social gatherings, films, musical performances, and more. Through this wide range of programs and interpretative activities, Philbrook strives to be welcoming, dynamic, and relevant for visitors every day. The Philbrook Collection features more than 16,000 objects with a focus on modern & contemporary American, Native American, and European art. Serving over 160,000 visitors annually, Philbrook shines a light on Tulsa’s storied and complex past while building a diverse and creative vision of the city’s future.

Position Overview

Philbrook Museum of Art seeks applicants for a full-time (Open-Rank) Curator of Modern & Contemporary Art. This is a key position supporting the mission of Philbrook: to build a more creative and connected community through art and gardens. This individual will be responsible for the acquisition, preservation, interpretation and exhibition of Philbrook’s growing modern and contemporary art collections, including research and project development. They will organize original exhibitions and oversee traveling exhibitions, as well as spearhead related programming and supervise curatorial interns and volunteers.

Responsibilities & Essential Functions

• Develop ambitious special exhibitions as well as seek traveling exhibitions appropriate to the institution’s budget, audience, and expectations of quality.
• Collaboratively plan presentations in collection galleries, including the creation of related interpretive materials.
• Evaluate and recommend acquisitions and deaccessions of modern and contemporary art.
• Contribute to the ongoing creation of the comprehensive catalogue of Philbrook’s collections, including verifying, correcting, and augmenting existing collection records and database, as well as researching and contributing to scholarship related to the collection.
• Advise on the long-term care of the modern/contemporary art collections, including major conservation programs as well as in-house care and maintenance.
• Create innovative programs geared toward both focused and broad general audiences.
• Collaborate across the institution to support efforts in fundraising, learning & audience engagement, collections care, programming, public relations, and communications.
• Develop and administer operating budget and project-specific budgets, as assigned.
• Recruit, select, train, schedule work activities, and supervise interns, volunteers, or fellows working with modern/contemporary art collection.

Requirements

Qualifications

The ideal candidate is action-oriented, attentive to detail, resourceful, communicative, and brings a focused skill set and professional demeanor to their work each day. Philbrook is a highly creative and collaborative workplace very much driven by our local and regional audience.

• Master’s degree in art history or related field (a bachelor’s degree and equivalent training may be substituted); PhD preferred.
• Minimum of two years of curatorial experience for assistant-level position.

Knowledge/Skill/Ability

• Expertise in modern / contemporary art; experience working with gardens, outdoor / public art, or performance-based practices an advantage.
• Demonstrated skill in exhibition interpretation, development, and design.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills, with the ability to communicate with both academic and public audiences, art collectors, dealers & potential donors, visitors and professional organizations.
• Thorough knowledge of museum practices, including collections documentation, preservation, and interpretation.
• Highly proficient in basic software applications such as Microsoft Office suite, Adobe suite, project management tools, and collection databases such as TMS (The Museum System).
• Excellent project management, collaboration, organizational skills.
• Critical thinker who is comfortable with giving and receiving feedback, and who proactively works to identify problems and enact solutions.
• Ability to meet and manage deadlines.

Salary and Benefits

• Salary begins at $55,000
• 35-hour work week
• Health insurance
• Maternity and Paternity Leave
• Paid time off (PTO), Sick Leave, Paid Holidays
• Dental insurance
• Vision insurance
• Long Term Disability and other supplemental insurances
• Flexible spending accounts
• Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
• 403(b) retirement plan and matching

Philbrook provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws.