Curatorial Associate

Description

Department: Collections

Reports to: Head of Collections Access

Classification: Salaried, exempt; full-time with benefits

Salary range:  $50,000 - $57,000 annually, depending on experience

This is an onsite, Boston-based position. Local candidates strongly preferred. No agencies, please.

Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Core Values

Isabella Stewart Gardner believed that art had the power to change lives and she built a beautiful, personal, and immersive Museum setting to do so. Today the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (ISGM) is a living embodiment of her bold vision; it’s a dynamic place where ideas and creativity in all its forms inspire visitors. Through exhibitions, music, programs, and performances we strive to tell new stories and challenge assumptions by engaging diverse voices and community members.

Our Core Values are:

• Creativity is our Legacy
• Community is our Purpose
• The Collection is our Catalyst
• Diversity, Equity, Accessibility, and Inclusion are our Commitments

The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum seeks to connect past with present, develop and sustain mutually beneficial partnerships with our local communities and artists, expand and diversify our audiences, and generate opportunities for creativity. We are firmly committed to creating both an inclusive work culture and a welcoming visitor experience. Our five-year strategic plan outlines the Museum’s core values, goals, and initiatives that serve as a renewal of Isabella’s promise for the Museum to be a place for “the education and enjoyment of the public forever.”

Essential Functions and Primary Responsibilities

• Provides exhibition and loan research, logistical, and checklist coordination and support for the William and Lia Poorvu Curator of the Collection.
• Catalogues, updates, and reviews records for collection objects in the collection management database (TMSC) following established workflows and style guides using data entry and research skills with primary and secondary sources.
• Plans curatorial events by coordinating with Museum operations, completing work orders, ordering catering, and event set up and breakdown.
• Answers and directs internal and external collection inquiries.
• Maintains and updates curatorial object files and research library.
• Project manages the Collection department’s “Isabella-Wiki: A Guide to the History of the Museum and its Founder” and volunteer collection access projects.
• Contributes to the “Inside the Collection” blog, online collection, and supports social media posts about the collection.
• Provides tours of the collection as needed.
• Performs other duties as assigned.

Requirements

Required

• Master's degree in art history required; specialty in an area of the Museum’s holdings.
• One or more years’ employment in a museum.
• Ability to follow detailed, established workflows with a meticulous attention to detail.
• Ability to work independently, meet deadlines, and a willingness to learn.
• Demonstrated ability to work in fast-paced and demanding environment while maintaining a professional and positive attitude.
• Superb interpersonal and communication skills (verbal and written); able to diplomatically troubleshoot and multi-task.
• Strong project management, time management, research, and problem-solving skills.
• Strong computer skills required. Proficiency with Google Workspace, Microsoft Office, basic Photoshop and image manipulation, Adobe Acrobat Pro, and databases. 
• Respect of confidentiality of sensitive collection and museum data is a must.
• Commitment to advancing the ISGM’s diversity, equity, accessibility, and inclusion (DEAI) initiatives.
• Legal authorization to work in the United States.

Desirable

• Prior experience of collection cataloguing and exhibition support.
• Basic knowledge of collections management databases.

Competencies

• Thoroughness 
• Building collaborative relationships
• Analytical thinking
• Initiative
• Oral and written communication
• Project management

COVID-19 Protocols

All employees of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum are required to provide their COVID-19 vaccination status. If you are not vaccinated, you will need to participate in an interactive process to request a religious or medical accommodation and to submit weekly test results, in addition to following other federal, state and CDC recommendations.

Equal Opportunity Employer

Diversity, Equity, Access, and Inclusion is one of the core values we hold close to our business practices. The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum is committed to affording equal opportunities to qualified individuals regardless of race, color, gender, gender identity, genetics, military/veteran status, pregnancy, religion, sexual orientation, age, national origin, ancestry, disability, or any other basis prohibited by applicable laws.

Request an Accommodation

Applicants with disabilities who are unable to fully access ISGM's online application system may contact us at hr@isgm.org for assistance with a reasonable accommodation.

Salary : $50,000 - $57,000