Traveling Exhibitions Manager

Job Title:

Traveling Exhibitions Manager

Reports To:

Director of Collection Loans and Exhibitions

Art Bridges Foundation is the vision of philanthropist and arts patron Alice Walton. Founded in 2017, Art Bridges creates and supports projects that share works of American art with communities across the United States and its territories. Art Bridges partners with a growing network of nearly 400 museums of many sizes—impacting 25 million people nationwide—to provide financial and strategic support for exhibitions, collection loans, and programs designed to educate, inspire, and deepen engagement with local communities.

The Art Bridges Collection represents an expanding vision of American art from the 19th century to present day and encompasses multiple media and voices. For more information, visit artbridgesfoundation.org.

The Traveling Exhibitions Manager leads the planning and execution of Art Bridges’ Traveling Exhibitions program, providing day-to-day oversight of logistics, schedules, and partner communications across a portfolio of exhibitions. Working in close partnership with internal teams and external stakeholders, this role leads complex, cross-functional projects from proposal through closeout, ensures alignment on scope and deliverables, proactively escalates and resolves issues, and supports the department director in advancing program priorities and operational processes that support the circulation and care of traveling exhibitions within the program.

Success in this role requires strong project management, organizational, and relationship-building skills, along with the ability to manage multiple priorities, support cross-functional collaboration, and lead operational execution in a fast-paced environment. The role also requires sound judgment, attention to detail, adaptability, and a collaborative approach to supporting exhibitions, partners, and departmental initiatives.

Program Operations

• Oversee day-to-day operations of the Traveling Exhibitions program, including assessing and prioritizing departmental workflows, delegating responsibilities and ensuring timely completion of projects and deliverables.
• Support the department’s strategic plan by setting measurable goals, tracking progress, and delivering results while advancing operational effectiveness across the program.
• Develop and update department policies, workflows, project plans, timelines, and milestones in collaboration with key stakeholders.
• Lead high-priority traveling exhibition projects and other exhibition-related initiatives from planning through closeout, including cross-functional collaboration, partner coordination, risk management, and issue escalation to support successful project execution.
• Develop and manage department and project budgets; track expenditures, generate financial reports, review and process invoices, and proactively identify risks and recommend budget adjustments as needed.
• Maintain accurate project records in Asana, SharePoint, and Salesforce.
• Advance sustainability initiatives through environmentally responsible packing, shipping strategies, and climate-conscious loan agreements aligned with lender requirements.

Exhibition Operations

• Work collaboratively with organizers, lenders, and borrowers to facilitate the planning and implementation of traveling exhibitions.
• Support the department director with proposal development, review, evaluation, and the preparation of timely data, updates, and supporting materials for board reporting and presentations.
• Plan and facilitate meetings; develop agendas, distribute notes and action items, and support cross-functional communication and coordination across exhibition initiatives.
• Build strong cross-functional partnerships and collaborate with Marketing and program leadership to promote exhibitions, improve coordination, and support venue engagement.
• Develop, adapt, and oversee exhibition contracts; monitor lender and borrower compliance to ensure obligations are met and on schedule.
• Compile and distribute exhibition materials to venues, including budgets, checklists, interpretive content, and…