Position Summary
Since its establishment in 1941, the Sidney and Lois Eskenazi Museum of Art at Indiana University (IU) has grown from a small university teaching collection into one of the foremost university art museums in the country. A preeminent teaching museum, the museum’s internationally acclaimed collection includes more than 45,000 objects representing nearly every art-producing culture throughout history.
A major highlight of the museum’s wide-ranging collection are its collections of approximately 4,400 works of art from Africa, Oceania, and the Americas (North and Central America, the Caribbean, and Latin America). Thanks in large part to the late Chicago-based collectors Raymond and Laura Wielgus, the Eskenazi Museum possesses one of the most significant collections in this area of any American university art museum. IU is also home to Mathers Museum of World Cultures, which houses a collection of related objects; a nationally recognized, leading African Studies Program; and a Foreign Language Studies Program that teaches more languages than any other school in America. These resources complement the museum’s rich collection of arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas.
The Eskenazi Museum of Art is nearing completion of a $30 million renovation of its acclaimed I. M. Pei–designed building. The newly renovated museum will be an enhanced teaching resource for IU and southern Indiana. Positioning the institution as a premier teaching museum requires breakthrough research and programming that advance its mission in powerful ways. To this end, the museum seeks a thoughtful, outgoing, and passionate individual who will serve as the Wielgus Curator of the Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas.
We seek a candidate with an expertise in the arts of Africa, but who is also capable of overseeing our collections of the arts of Oceania and the Americas. The candidate must be a scholar of the highest order who is both capable of conducting their own research on the collection and possesses the ambition and skills to create and manage a robust research program to study, teach, exhibit, and publish the museum’s renowned collections. The individual must work closely with faculty and students in the department of art history and must be skilled at establishing productive relationships with related schools and departments, including the African Studies Program in IU’s Hamilton-Lugar School of Global and International Studies and the Mathers Museum of World Cultures.
As part of the Eskenazi Museum’s curatorial team, the successful candidate will work collaboratively with colleagues throughout the institution, but especially in the areas of curatorial and education, to activate the museum’s outstanding collections. Of particular importance will be a strong working relationship with the museum’s curator of contemporary art.
The successful candidate must possess an M.A. in art history, but a Ph.D. is preferred. The candidate should also have some demonstrable museum experience as well as a record of accomplishment in successfully producing significant exhibitions, public programs, and publications. The position is a non-tenured faculty appointment.
Major Job Responsibilities
Skills and Knowledge
Basic Qualifications
M.A. required; Ph.D. preferred. Rank will be based on credentials. Two to three years art museum or major art gallery experience with a record of creating, organizing, installing, and writing didactics for exhibitions.
Department Contact for Questions
Questions regarding the position or application process can be directed to Maggie Kroh, Assistant to the Director, Eskenazi Museum of Art, 1133 E 7th Street, Bloomington, IN 47405 or mkroh@indiana.edu.
For best consideration, all applications must be received by December 1, 2019.
Interested applicants can submit materials electronically at http://indiana.peopleadmin.com/postings/8562