Bates College invites applications for the position of Director of the Bates College Museum of Art. This is a continuing, full-time, 12 month managerial staff position reporting to the Vice President of Academic Affairs and Dean of Faculty, beginning in June 2025.

The Bates College Museum of Art (BCMA) is a nationally-recognized teaching museum at a small liberal arts college in Lewiston, Maine that brings a world of ideas to campus to enhance the vitality of the intellectual and cultural life of Bates, the surrounding communities, and beyond. Founded in 1955 as the Treat Gallery, BCMA is the center for The Marsden Hartley Memorial Collection, which includes over 100 Hartley drawings and sketches, as well as other ephemera. Featuring around 10,000 objects today, the museum’s diverse collection includes works by Maine artists and artists of national and international significance working in Maine, modern and contemporary works, contemporary craft, select holdings of pre-modern prints, photography, Pre-Columbian art, African art, and shaman art from Vietnam. Using exhibitions, collections, educational programs, and staff, the BCMA leads and collaborates in interdisciplinary teaching and learning at Bates College and throughout the wider Lewiston community, making the most of our intimate size and academic environment to create hands-on learning experiences, interactions with artists and scholars, and direct engagement with works of art. The BCMA is committed to creating spaces that are free and open to all and addressing barriers that might inhibit access. The BCMA collaborates with professional staff and community to create exhibitions and programs that reflect the diverse perspectives, experiences, and contributions of artists.

The Director will supervise the BCMA’s staff, and will work closely with the Office of Advancement and other stakeholders on campus and in the wider Lewiston community. A successful candidate will bring innovation and leadership towards leveraging the museum’s resources in an effort to increase engagement and access with the arts across campus, in our Lewiston community, and beyond. We seek a communicative, collaborative leader who will be thoughtful and proactive about creating partnerships with faculty, staff, students, and community members. The Director’s work will include strategic planning and implementation, increasing the overall visibility of the museum, and strengthening of initiatives that engage underrepresented and marginalized groups.

Review of applications will begin on January 27, 2025. Applications should include a cover letter expressing interest in the position (and that provides examples of past related experience), and a curriculum vitae. Application materials should be sent to deanoffaculty@bates.edu.

Bates students, faculty, and staff come from a diversity of educational and socioeconomic backgrounds, and we are committed to everyone’s success. Thus, we encourage applications from individuals from historically marginalized groups and from those who may have followed non-traditional career and educational pathways from diverse societal, economic, or academic circumstances. The search committee will request letters of recommendation from three referees for short-listed candidates. Employment is contingent upon successful completion of a background check and verification of degree.

Bates College is a residential liberal arts college in Lewiston, Maine—a diverse and growing community roughly 45 minutes from the state’s largest city, 2 1⁄2 hours north of Boston, and 4 1⁄2 hours south of Montreal. The Bates Museum of Art is a part of a thriving Maine arts community; nearby museums and arts organizations include: The Portland Museum of Art, The Colby Museum of Art, the Bowdoin Museum of Art, The Maine College of Art and Design, and the Maine Institute for Contemporary Art.