Museum Curator (Art )
What you'd do
The National Gallery of Art welcomes all people to explore art, creativity, and our shared humanity. Millions of people come through our doors each year, with even more online, making us one of the most visited art museums in the world. Our renowned collection includes over 160,000 works of art, from the ancient world to today. Admission to the West and East Buildings, Sculpture Garden, special exhibitions, and public programs is always free.
Major duties
The National Gallery of Art serves the nation by welcoming all people to explore and experience art, creativity and our shared humanity. The incumbent serves as Curator and Head in the department of Sculpture and Decorative Arts (CEA-SD), which holds an outstanding collection of works of art numbering around 3,900 works of European sculpture and decorative arts from the Hellenistic period to the early Twentieth Century. The incumbent reports to the Senior Curator of European Art (CE), who reports to the National Gallery's Chief Curatorial and Conservation Officer (CCCO). Duties for this position include Proposes, organizes, and oversees the development of major and focused exhibitions of European sculpture and decorative arts from the National Gallery's collections and through domestic and international loans. Directs scholarly exhibition planning, authors or edits catalogues, and collaborates with guest scholars and internal departments. Manages the permanent collection of European sculpture and decorative arts through close collaboration with Conservation, Registration, Design and Installation, Imaging, and Interpretation. Oversees installations, object research, cataloguing, conservation priorities, interpretive materials, and outgoing loans. Develops and implements collection strategies for European sculpture and decorative arts. Identifies acquisition opportunities, prepares acquisition proposals, cultivates relationships with collectors, dealers, donors, and scholars, and collaborates with Advancement to secure gifts and acquisition funding. Conducts and oversees advanced scholarly research on European sculpture and decorative arts. Publishes original scholarship, presents lectures, contributes to exhibitions, ensures accurate cataloguing, and advances the Gallery's research mission. Provides strategic leadership for the department by planning exhibitions, acquisitions, staffing, budgets, and long-range goals. Supervises curatorial staff, fellows, interns, and contractors, and represents the department within the Gallery and externally.
What you need to qualify
Basic Requirements: Degree: museum work; or in an applicable subject-matter field. OR Combination of education and experience -- courses equivalent to a major, as shown in 1 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 in 1 above. Specialized Experience Statement: Candidates must possess at least one year of specialized experience, equivalent in responsibility to the GS-14 level in the Federal service or private sector, working with European sculpture and decorative arts in a curatorial capacity in a fine arts museum; AND demonstrated experience researching, curating, and proposing acquisitions of European sculpture and decorative art from Europe and the United States. OPM Qualifications Standard: Individual Occupational Requirements: Museum Curator Series 1015 Associated Group standard: General Schedule Qualification Standards Other Relevant Eligibility Criteria: None You must meet all qualification and eligibility requirements by the closing date of this announcement. Merit promotion applicants must meet the time-in-grade requirement as defined in 5 CFR 300, Subpart F. Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religious; spiritual; community, student, social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience. You must meet all qualification and eligibility requirements by the closing date of this announcement. Note: Applicants who are referred to the hiring office for selection consideration may be required to submit writing and/or work samples as part of the interview/selection process. If the hiring office decides to request a writing and/or work sample as part of its selection process, the vacancy contact will reach out to you by email to: (1) inform you of this requirement; and (2) provide further instructions.
Before you apply
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