Director Grey Art Museum

New York University; New York (NY); On-site; USD 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

New York University is seeking a Director for the Grey Art Museum. The successful candidate will lead exhibitions, oversee a team, and promote the museum’s collection. The position requires strategic vision and a Master's degree in art history or a related field.

With 7+ years of experience in related areas, including fundraising and scholarly publications, the Director will engage with the NYU community while managing a significant budget and shaping innovative art engagement initiatives.

Qualifications

• 7+ years of related experience required.
• Experience with fundraising and scholarly publications is a must.

Responsibilities

• Determine and shepherd 2-3 exhibitions annually.
• Lead fundraising efforts.
• Oversee planning, budgeting, and operations.
• Promote the collection effectively.

Skills

Strategic vision

Curatorial experience

Leadership

Communication

Fundraising

Data handling

Education

Master's degree in art history or related degree

Job description

Position Summary

New York University (NYU) is seeking an imaginative and collaborative leader to serve as the next Director of the Grey Art Museum (the Grey or the Museum). This is an opportunity to shape the future of art engagement and scholarship in a vibrant academic community in the heart of New York City. The Museum is both half a century old, with its founding as the Grey Art Gallery, and just turning one, as the newly christened Grey Art Museum. It houses a renowned permanent collection, first established in 1958 as the NYU Art Collection and further enhanced with a gift of works from Abby Weed Grey in 1974, and offers a space for a remarkable array of shows over the last half century. In 2024, the Grey moved to a much larger and more visible space at 18 Cooper Square in lower Manhattan. With this move, the Grey Art Gallery was renamed the Grey Art Museum. The Grey’s new home occupies the entire ground floor of a venerable brick and iron building in the historic NoHo district, its storefront façade facing out onto a busy pedestrian thoroughfare. Today the collection totals over 6000 works, including The Abby Weed Grey Collection of Modern Asian and Middle Eastern Art.

Under the Provost’s leadership, the Director will provide strategic and administrative leadership for the Grey, overseeing a full-time team of 8 and an approximately $2 million operating budget, with additional fundraising to support exhibitions and new initiatives. The next Director will have the opportunity to engage with the NYU community, working with NYU’s Institute for Fine Arts as well as departments, centers, and institutes across the University, and to further integrate the Grey into the life of the campus life and surrounding community. The Grey seeks a skilled communicator and savvy administrator with strategic vision, curatorial experience, and an understanding of systematic planning, interdisciplinary and institutional collaboration, and the cultivation of numerous constituencies. The Director will lead an active exhibition and public programming schedule, expand the collection’s areas of strength, and continue to generate robust philanthropic support.

Responsibilities

The Director’s primary responsibilities include:

• Determining and shepherding the installation of 2-3 exhibitions annually in the space
• Leading fundraising efforts
• Overseeing the staff for planning, budgeting, exhibition and publication coordination, and operations
• Understanding and promoting the collection

The Director will also lead the planning and implementing of improvements and enhancements of the space. The Director will continue to build a museum that produces innovative shows and serves a wide variety of constituencies, from experts in art history, art preservation, and museum studies, to making the museum’s work more accessible both in person and online to NYU students, faculty, staff, and the general public. Additionally, the Director must be well versed in quality data collection to ensure adequacy, accuracy and legitimacy of data in NYU systems and be able to strictly follow data privacy and security procedures for data handling and analysis to ensure adherence to legal and institutional standards.

Qualifications

Required Education

Master's degree in art history or related degree

Required Experience

7+ years of related experience. Must include experience with fundraising and working with scholarly publications.

Equal Opportunity Statement

NYU is an Equal Opportunity Employer and is committed to a policy of equal treatment and opportunity in every aspect of its recruitment and hiring process without regard to age, alienage, caregiver status, childbirth, citizenship status, color, creed, disability, domestic violence victim status, ethnicity, familial status, gender and/or gender identity or expression, marital status, military status, national origin, parental status, partnership status, predisposing genetic characteristics, pregnancy, race, religion, reproductive health decision making, sex, sexual orientation, unemployment status, veteran status, or any other legally protected basis. All interested persons are encouraged to apply at all levels.