Lloyd Herman Curator, Renwick Gallery na Smithsonian Institution Careers

Position sensitivity and risk: Non-Sensitive.

Open to all qualified applicants.

Trust Fund positions are unique to the Smithsonian. They are paid for from a variety of sources, including the Smithsonian endowment, revenue from our business activities, donations, grants and contracts. Trust employees are not part of the civil service, nor does trust fund employment lead to Federal status. The salary ranges for trust positions are generally the same as for federal positions and in many cases trust and federal employees work side by side. Trust employees have their own benefit program, which may include Health, Dental & Vision Insurance, Life Insurance, Transit/Commuter Benefits, Accidental Death and Dismemberment Insurance, Annual and Sick Leave, Family Friendly Leave, 403b Retirement Plan, Discounts for Smithsonian Memberships, Museum Stores and Restaurants, Credit Union, Smithsonian Early Enrichment Center (Child Care), Flexible Spending Account (Health & Dependent Care). 

This position is located within the Renwick Gallery (Renwick), Smithsonian American Art Museum (SAAM), Under Secretary for Museums and Culture, Smithsonian Institution (SI), in Washington D.C. The mission of SAAM is to share the stories of our nation through American art and craft to inspire reflection, spark dialogue, and build connection. The Renwick displays a growing collection of American decorative arts and crafts and maintains an active schedule of exhibitions and public programs.

 

The primary purpose of the position is to support the curatorial aspects of the Renwick Gallery. Working under the general direction of the Renwick Curator-In-Charge, the incumbent serves as a member of the curatorial team. The Curator deploys historical understanding, collections expertise, and imaginative commitment to collaboration within and beyond the museum’s walls to creatively engage public audiences and stakeholders with the power of the past and engage our contemporary moment. The Curator is responsible for contributing to curatorial activities at the Renwick Gallery. As a recognized scholar in the field of American decorative arts, craft, design, or a related field, the Curator is expected to lead by example in performance of personal research, collections management and public service.

·        Conducts scholarly research in the American decorative arts, craft, design, or a related subject area for the purpose of making contributions to the position incumbent’s specialty field.

 

·        Uses and conveys research to understand and deploy the museum’s collections to the public.

 

·        Conducts complete and conceptually related studies that typically result in publicly engaged scholarship, exhibitions, public programs, digital outputs, and/or other American art works that may be definitive of a specific topic area.

 

·        Contributes documentation and historical context essential to collections records and collaborates with collections management staff to help monitor conservation and storage needs and to help determine digitization priorities, in coordination with museum-wide goals.

 

·        Produces research findings that result in publishable contributions to the field.

 

·        By advancing American art, craft, and design, the curator helps shapes interpretive priorities; fund-raising priorities; program plans; and exhibition topics, designs, development techniques, and target audiences.

 

·        The incumbent corresponds with donors, researchers, and colleagues; maintains necessary records and files; and prepares necessary reports for administrative and other purposes.

 

·        Plays a key role in shaping the collection, deepening knowledge of the collection’s holdings, and fostering its stewardship.

 

·        Following the values and goals outlined in the museum’s strategic and collections plans, the curator works to extend the ability of the collections to tell inclusive and revealing stories of the past; to maintain standards of physical care and intellectual control of the collections; and to extend public access to the wealth of knowledge the collections represent.

 

·        The curator contributes to the long-term health of the collection through strategic acquisition and deaccession, collections documentation within a shared data management system, and the advancement of public access.

 

·        The incumbent proposes acquisitions to improve and expand the overall quality of the collections.

 

·        Coordinates curatorial efforts of the Renwick with the Curator-in-Charge, and/or guest curators in the conception, development and implementation of museum exhibitions and related programs.

·        Plans and implements exhibition projects that promote scholarly and public interest in American arts and crafts and related fields.

 

·        Develops interpretive goals and strategies for the creation and implementation of digital, online, and virtual projects and exhibitions.

 

·        Provides programmatic advice in exhibition design and installation.

 

·        Supports fundraising priorities for the Renwick, including drafting proposals, and ensuring that standards and procedures are maintained in all trust-funded projects.

Education (if positive education is required) and Experience:
To qualify for this position, applicants must possess a degree in museum work, or in an applicable subject-matter field; combination of education and experience -- courses equivalent to a major, as shown in above, plus appropriate experience or additional education; or four years of experience that provided knowledge comparable to that normally acquired through the successful completion of the 4-year course of study as shown above.

 

The ideal candidate for this position has experience and/or background in art history and craft museum work, or in an applicable subject-matter field.

 

Experience required for this position is as follows:

·        Mastery of the knowledge of the historiography of American decorative art and craft history, to conduct research and integrate complex bodies of knowledge from varied subdisciplines into coherent visions of the broader field.

 

·        Mastery of the knowledge of the broader field of American decorative arts and crafts, the non¬American sources and influences on American Art, sufficient to have developed a specialization in a related or similar field of research.

 

·        Mastery of, and skill in conveying ideas in multiple formats (in writing, visually, aurally, digitally, through three-dimensional or environmental design, etc.), in order to provide information to a wide range of audiences with varying degrees of subject matter expertise.

 

·        Expert skill to research and/or collect objects related to American decorative arts, craft, design, and/or a related field, in order to collect, manage, or interpret objects.

 

·        Skill in developing public history products such as physical or virtual exhibitions or programs.

 

·        Skill to write, speak, and report on research topics in the field both for a scholarly audience and in a format that encourages public understanding; must know the differences between esoteric scholarly topics and those of a broader, more general interest.

 

·        Skill in leadership to influence staff to support museum goals and priorities while maintaining morale.

 

·        Ability to develop recommendations and scholarly emphases; to evaluate relevance and quality of staff research; and to lead development of exhibitions.

 

·        Writing skill sufficient to use correct English grammar, punctuation, and spelling; to communicate information that is highly technical in a succinct and organized manner; produce written information that is appropriate for the intended audience.

 

·        Knowledge of the SAAM collections, and other related public and private collections which emphasize American Art.

 

·        Working knowledge of the art market to allow for in-house judgments on insurance appraisals, values at market, etc.

 

·        Knowledge of museum practices and principles, such as the interrelationships and functions of the other offices and departments, in order to effectively communicate the curatorial function and work with partner staff members to accomplish goals.

 

·        Working knowledge exhibition budgets with an understanding of financial, logistical and personnel implications of curatorial decisions and commitments.

 

Any false statement in your application may result in rejection of your application and may also result in termination after employment begins.

  

Join us in "Inspiring Generations through Knowledge and Discovery."

 
Resumes should include a description of your paid and non-paid work experience that is related to this job; starting and ending dates of job (month and year); and average number of hours worked per week.  

What To Expect Next: Once the vacancy announcement closes, a review of your resume will be compared against the qualification and experience requirements related to this job. After review of applicant resumes is complete, qualified candidates will be referred to the hiring manager.

 

Relocation expenses are not paid.

The Smithsonian Institution provides reasonable accommodation to applicants with disabilities where appropriate. Applicants requiring reasonable accommodation should contact [email protected]. Determinations on requests for reasonable accommodation will be made on a case-by-case basis.  To learn more, please review the Smithsonian’s Accommodation Procedures (https://www.si.edu/OEO/IndividualswithDisabilities).  

The Smithsonian Institution is an Equal Opportunity Employer. To review The Smithsonian's EEO program information, please click the following: https://www.si.edu/oeo