Current Opportunities

Executive Director and Chief Curator, Syracuse University Art Museum

Job Description

Syracuse University seeks a dynamic and experienced arts administrator for the position of Executive Director and Chief Curator (EDCC) of the Syracuse University Art Museum (SU Art Museum). The EDCC will be a collaborative leader who articulates and advances the vision, mission, and values of the SU Art Museum and its programs while supporting the shared strategic priorities of Syracuse University. The EDCC will lead the strategic initiatives of the museum and be committed to inclusion, diversity, equity, and access in advancing the museum’s mission.

Job Responsibilities

The EDCC reports to the Associate Provost for Strategic Initiatives in the Office of Academic Affairs. Job responsibilities include:

Oversee all administrative and operational activities of the museum and provide strategic and collaborative leadership and vision. Provide guidance and mentorship to seven full-time staff—Associate Director, Curator, Curator of Education and Academic Outreach, Registrar, Assistant Registrar & Provenance Researcher, Preparator, and Administrative Specialist—as well as graduate assistants, work-study students, fellows, and interns. Lead the development and implementation of the museum’s strategic plan, which supports the museum’s mission and shared strategic priorities of Syracuse University. Lead the application process for American Alliance of Museum accreditation and uphold professional best practice standards to retain accreditation status. 

Articulate a compelling vision for the museum and its role as a center for teaching and research at Syracuse University. Lead and oversee the thoughtful growth and care of the University art collection. Lead and oversee a program that generates exhibitions, publications, and other types of audience engagement that advance scholarship, develop the museum field, and introduce new audiences to the power of art and its ability to increase empathy for people and experiences different from their own. Provide critical review of research and scholarly texts created by all staff. Provide oversight of the exhibition schedule for the SU Museum and Palitz Gallery at the Lubin House in New York City. Support the museum’s mission to increase awareness and appreciation for the arts through expanding connections and collaborations with university and community stakeholders.

Serve as the lead fundraiser for the museum and responsibly manage financial resources and the museum budget. Discover and engage Syracuse University alumni and donors for philanthropic gifts including both gifts-in-kind and financial. Serve as the Board Manager for the newly formed Advisory Board, including cultivating new board members. Work closely with the Advisory Board to raise the profile of the museum and Syracuse University. Research and write grants for the museum’s strategic initiatives and projects.

Implement a collections care strategy that adheres to professional museum best standards and includes policies governing conservation, documentation, security, storage, and physical and digital access of collection. Work with all appropriate departments at the University to maintain existing exhibition and storage facilities and develop new strategies for future growth.

Plan, oversee and manage the departmental budget which includes an operational budget provided by the University as well as several endowments and restricted and non-restricted funds. Approve expenditures and develop long range budget planning. Prepare museum Annual Report, as well as year-end reports for grants and funders.

Job Qualifications

Apply highly developed creative and problem-solving skills and use high-level persuasion and negotiation skills to build on existing relationships with faculty and local, regional, national, and international communities to advance the aims of the Academic Strategic Plan at Syracuse University.

Strong vision for public impact and collaboration with both Syracuse University stakeholders and the local Syracuse community.

Expertise or subject knowledge in at least one area of the museum’s collection, with proven experience developing programming that takes a global approach and highlights the diversity of people, ideas and works of art.

Demonstrated knowledge of current trends and conversations within the museum and curatorial fields, including equity-oriented practices that center community voices.

Extensive knowledge of and experience with professional practices of collection care and management.

Extensive knowledge of the American Alliance of Museum accreditation process. Preference given to experience successfully completing the accreditation process.

Experience working successfully with advisory boards, faculty councils and student groups.

Significant record of successful fundraising through philanthropy and grants.

Demonstrated managerial experience in a leadership role.

Excellent written and verbal communication skills.

Significant (5-10 years) museum administrative experience (or equivalent combination of education and experience), including curatorial practice and exhibition planning, education programming, operations, board development, fundraising, public relations, marketing and budget management. Master’s degree in art history or related field, PhD or equivalent preferred.

About the Syracuse University Art Museum

The SU Art Museum is a point of pride for the University, featuring one of the top ten largest academic museum collections in the United States and providing a rich academic resource for the faculty, students and alumni of Syracuse University. It serves the culturally vibrant communities of Syracuse and the Central New York region, as well as New York City through its exhibitions and programming at the Louise and Bernard Palitz Art Gallery at Lubin House. The museum acquires and preserves works of art and uses its extensive collection of more than 45,000 objects to serve as a museum-laboratory for research, exploration and discussion and aims to foster diverse and inclusive perspectives by uniting students and the local and global communities. The museum welcomes all visitors to experience its exhibitions and public programs that promote original research, creative thinking, and increased mindfulness.

The SU Art Museum plays an active educational role on campus. Its galleries and new study room function as learning sites and its expansive collection as a teaching and research tool that serves students and faculty from all schools and colleges on campus. The museum hosts approximately 250 class visits per year and works closely with faculty from a wide range of academic departments. Museum staff also collaborate with faculty in curating curriculum-focused exhibitions, offering students the opportunity learn about the work of the museum and to contribute their perspectives to the interpretation of the museum’s collections. Launched in Summer 2022, the museum also hosts a Faculty Fellows Program, a stipend-supported opportunity that guides faculty from diverse departments on how to incorporate object-based teaching and research into their existing course syllabi and that provides ongoing curricular and instructional support.

The SU Art Museum is a member of the Coalition of Museum and Art Centers (CMAC), a vibrant consortium of visual art centers across campus (see https://cmac.syr.edu/). The SU Art Museum also has several programs that engage with community partners and the SU community, including the Photography and Literacy Project (PAL Project), which promotes critical thinking, self-expression, literacy and self-esteem for youth in Syracuse City School District schools.

Collection and digital access

The SU Art Museum serves as the steward of a collection of 45,000+ objects that spans 5,500 years, is global in geographic scope (including Europe, the Americas, East Asian, South Asian, and West Africa), and represents a diversity of media (including works on paper, paintings, sculpture, photography, ceramic, textiles, glassware. The collection also features gifts from artists, including content from studios and complete print catalogues;  related correspondence and business records for many of these artists are held at the University Libraries’ Special Collections Research Center.

Recent collecting efforts have focused on supporting the University’s curriculum and introducing greater racial and gender diversity into the museum’s holdings. Since 2019 purchases have prioritized contemporary artworks by Black, Indigenous and artists of color. 

Museum staff work closely with advisors throughout the University to optimize the physical space including exhibition galleries and collections storage and to improve physical and digital accessibility of the museum collections. The museum recently adopted the Gallery Systems’ eMuseum as its digital platform, allowing online users to better search its holdings. About two-thirds of the museum’s approximately 45,000+ objects have been digitized, and the museum continues to seek grant funding to digitize the remaining one-third.

Exhibitions

The SU Art Museum presents annually eight to ten exhibitions in its galleries on the University’s main campus and three to four exhibitions in the Palitz Gallery at the Lubin House in New York City. It also curates innovative virtual and traveling exhibitions. Recent exhibitions have highlighted artists who have been traditionally under-represented in the canon and have explored themes such as migration, diaspora, innovation, the justice system in the United States, and climate change.

For more information about SUArt’s current and past exhibitions, please visit the website: https://museum.syr.edu/exhibition/

For inquiries, please contact committee chair Dean Michael Speaks at maspeaks@syr.edu.

To apply for this position, please submit resume and cover letter to:  https://www.sujobopps.com/postings/97926