Kiki Pohlad '13 Curatorial Assistant

Skidmore•Saratoga Springs, NY

20h•$45,000 - $47,000•Onsite

About The Position

The Curatorial Assistant (CA) will assist the Associate Curator, Malloy Curator, and Dayton Director in research, administrative, and editorial tasks for exhibitions and accompanying publications. The CA will also help facilitate access to the museum collection; give public, private, and class-based tours of the museum and exhibitions; respond to external requests for images and research on the museum collection; and supervise student interns. The CA has the opportunity to propose and execute exhibitions and programs that they author. Because of the broad scope of the museum's exhibitions and goals, the successful candidate will have a wide range of interests, the ability to learn quickly, an innate aptitude for flexibility, the ability to juggle multiple tasks on projects with both near and distant deadlines, and a positive solutions-oriented approach.

Requirements

Bachelor's Degree
Museum and/or prior work experience
Research skills
In-depth knowledge of contemporary art and art history
Excellent writing skills
Experience in proofreading or other editing texts
Knowledge of Chicago Manual of Style

Nice To Haves

Experience with a collection management system

Responsibilities

Assists in all aspects of department administration, providing critical support to the Associate Curator, Malloy Curator, and Dayton Director on all exhibitions, publications, and other projects. This work necessitates a high level of organization at broad project levels as well as detail-oriented attention to project logistics and communications and a dedication to ensuring the department meets internally and externally set deadlines.
Organizes and maintains exhibition checklists. Works closely with individual curators to keep all images and artwork captions up-to-date and communicates changes to relevant departments.
Communicates about curatorial projects across departments, including but not limited to collaborating with registrars on loan requests and followups; brainstorming with engagement team about programming; offering ideas, images, and writing for social media and other publicity; providing information and feedback to designer. Communicates with external book designers and other freelancers about individual projects.
Writes and/or edits exhibition and publication texts under the supervision of the organizing curator. Requires research skills, in-depth knowledge of contemporary art and art history, excellent writing skills, and experience in proofreading or other editing texts. Knowledge of Chicago Manual of Style required.
Organize exhibition images. This work includes liaising with outside photographers, ensuring all exhibitions are photographed in a timely fashion, working with supervising curators to review and approve images, communicating with Tang Museum colleagues about using and locating approved images.
Manage exhibition catalogs and other publications. Work with individual curators to ensure that publications stay on track by liaising with photo editors, designers, writers, outside editors, and printers. Edit or proofread texts that come from a variety of sources including newly commissioned interviews and essays, existing gallery texts, reviews, historic material, and so on; secure hi-res images and copyright permissions as needed.
Offer support to the Associate Curator on cataloging and digitization needs by researching the collection, completing data-entry tasks, and updating approved revisions to cataloging data in the collections management system, EmbARK. Experience with a collection management system preferred, though training is provided for the right candidate.
Correspond and engage with museum colleagues and scholars external to the Tang. This work might include responding to requests: to publish images by ensuring such use is acceptable, providing captions and hi-res images; to borrow Tang collection artwork on loan; for research on the Tang collection or past exhibitions. Responsibly represents the curatorial department, the museum, and the museum mission both on and off campus by giving public and private tours to campus and external groups, attending art fairs and conferences, and assisting in hosting responsibilities for visiting artists and scholars.
The CA is invited to propose their own authored exhibitions, programs, or other projects; if approved, this work includes executing the project from initial conception/proposal through to realization, managing all logistical details, collaborating with key artists, and communicating across museum departments.
Supervise 3–5 student interns. Assign projects and deadlines, provide training as needed, and review and offer feedback to interns on all tasks.