New Job Opportunity USA

Curator of Judaic Art

North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh North Carolina

The North Carolina Museum of Art (NCMA) seeks an innovative curator for a new fulltime position, Curator of Judaic Art.

The NCMA is one of the premier cultural institutions in the Southeast with an internationally renowned art collection with core strengths in European and American painting and sculpture, modern and contemporary art, and African art as well as collections of ancient Egyptian, classical Mediterranean, ancient American, and Judaic art.

The Curator of Judaic Art will be responsible for stewarding the Judaic Art collection at the North Carolina Museum of Art, including acquisitions, collection installations, care, research, and interpretation. This position will be part of a curatorial team of 10 responsible for building, researching, presenting, and publishing on the NCMA collection; organizing and coordinating exhibitions; participating in a wide range of educational and community-focused programs; and cultivating donors and fundraising opportunities. This role will report to the chief curator.

The Curator of Judaic Art will additionally have responsibility for developing a vision for and establishing the Judaic Art Center, which will be an umbrella entity housed at the North Carolina Museum of Art for projects and programs devoted to the study, exhibition, and interpretation of the artistic heritage of Judaism and the Jewish people. While supporting scholarship will be foundational, the Center will also be public-facing and statewide, with exhibitions and education programs directed at all sectors of the public, such as K–12 students and teachers; college students and faculty, including ongoing partnerships with the Carolina Center for Jewish Studies at UNC–Chapel Hill and the Duke Center for Jewish Studies; lifelong learners; and civic and religious groups. Rooted in North Carolina, the Center for Judaic Art will be the first of its kind in the United States and will play a national leadership role among museums with Judaic art collections while actively contributing to national and international scholarly dialogue.

Key Responsibilities:
• Provide curatorial and scholarly leadership for the Judaic Art collection and programming, contributing expertise in fine art, decorative arts, design history, material culture, etc., as well as historical, religious, cultural, and other academic disciplines, provenance, and collections care.
• Work in conjunction with the NCMA curatorial and interpretive staff to connect and integrate the Judaic art collection with all other segments of the NCMA collections, galleries, and exhibitions.
• Manage research, cataloguing, and publication (digital and print) for the Judaic Art collection.
• Originate projects that concentrate on special areas of interest and focus: Holocaust memorialization; diversity; increased recognition of under-represented communities, Israel, local and regional communal and artistic history, identity, and engagement.
• Work with Museum leadership to develop a strategic plan for the establishment of the Center for Judaic Art, defining a vision for programs, exhibitions, and publications at the North Carolina Museum of Art, across the state, and digitally.
• Cultivate and maintain strong relationships with the international community of specialized curators and collectors to increase knowledge and skills, and to share research. Actively engage with collectors to facilitate loans, gifts, and bequests.
• Work alongside NCMA advancement team for cultivation and fundraising efforts from donors (individual and institutional), including active and ongoing campaigns, targeted gifts, endowment, planned giving, etc.
• Serve as the lead connector between the NCMA and various, diverse components of the local Triangle, statewide, national, and international Jewish community, and multiple organizations. Serve as an innovator and implement various modes of integrating the NCMA and the Judaic Art collection in Jewish educational and communal programs that serve as models for museum collections and as modes of and tools for Jewish engagement, exploration, and continuity.

Qualifications and Requirements:
• Broad knowledge of Judaic art, including experience and expertise in historic silver.
• M.A. in Art History or comparable experience required.
• A minimum of five years of progressively responsible curatorial experience in an accredited museum preferred.
• Proven ability to conceptualize, research, organize, and direct complex projects such as exhibitions, collection installations, and publications.
• Demonstrated commitment to furthering diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility in Museum collections, exhibitions, and spaces.
• Ability to work independently and collaboratively with colleagues and museum staff.
• Ability to communicate and deal effectively with a wide spectrum of constituencies, including artists, scholars, students, collectors, patrons, board members, and the public.
• A strategic and entrepreneurial approach to fundraising for exhibitions and other curatorial projects, as well as to cultivating donations of works of art.
• A record of scholarly research and publication; excellent writing skills.
• Working knowledge of the legal and ethical aspects of collecting and exhibiting art, including issues of provenance.
• Familiarity with conservation techniques and practices desirable.
• Reading proficiency in at least one modern foreign language preferred.
• Ability to work some weekends and evenings as needed and to travel on behalf of the Museum as necessary.

Salary range: $72,000 to $75,000.

The position has a flexible start date, preferably June 2023. Select candidates will be asked to supply writing samples and references. All inquiries regarding the position should be addressed to Linda Dougherty, Chief Curator, NCMA, at: linda.dougherty@ncdcr.gov. Please note that due to the high volume of applicants, we are only able to contact those candidates whose skills and background best fit our needs.

To apply:
Interested applicants should submit a cover letter and resume by 5:00 pm on the closing date of March 31, 2023 to Jenny Crow, Business & Personnel Officer, NCMA, at: jennifer.crow@ncdcr.gov