Wornick Assistant Curator of Contemporary Decorative Arts

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2 days ago Requisition

Position Summary:

At an exciting moment for the Museum's Department of Contemporary Art, the MFA Boston seeks the Ronald

C. and Anita L. Wornick Assistant Curator of Contemporary Decorative Arts. The Wornick Assistant Curator represents a dynamic, emerging voice at the intersection of contemporary art and craft and a wide-ranging thinker with great promise. Reporting to the Chair of Contemporary Art, they have the curiosity and vision to grow and care for the contemporary craft, decorative art, and design collection;

develop engaging exhibitions and gallery displays; and deepen donor relationships as well as forge new ones.

They must be committed to exploring the changing nature of art museums and their relationship to the public while developing exhibitions and programs that embrace the transhistorical and global nature of the Museum and the consequent diversity of our holdings. They will champion through their work the Museum’s core values, namely that the experience of our visitor is paramount to our mission, strategies, and achievements.

They will have the primary responsibility for managing installations, exhibitions, conducting research, and handling acquisition matters related to the field of contemporary craft, from 1955 to the present. They will remain fluent in current discourse in the field and have a proven capacity to generate further scholarship.

With the guidance of the Chair and other, more senior department colleagues, the Wornick Assistant Curator will have the ability to organize ambitious and innovative exhibitions and publications, and to integrate contemporary craft, decorative arts, and design into our gallery displays. An interdisciplinary and highly collaborative approach to conceptualizing and carrying out projects will be essential to developing an overall vision, with the additional capacity and diplomacy to engage colleagues across a variety of other departments, including other, adjacent curatorial areas.

Essential Functions:

• As directed by the Department Chair, participate in Contemporary and interdisciplinary exhibitions with other curatorial departments. Develop, plan, and organize installations in the permanent collection galleries.
• Within the scope of the Museum’s approval process and with the guidance of the Chair, propose and execute exhibition ideas. Direct and oversee related activities, including presentation in galleries, publications, brochures, labels, text, and other interpretive materials.
• Further develop an overall vision for the scope and role of contemporary craft, decorative art, and design in relation to the broader collection of contemporary art and the Museum’s global and transhistorical collection.
• Actively seek out opportunities to engage with Boston’s community and beyond with the goal to deliver on the institution’s promise to be a meeting place of world cultures and to welcome and deeply engage a diverse range of visitors.
• Collaborate with the Museum’s Development team to cultivate and steward relationships with important collectors and donors, and to seek and act upon opportunities that connect new and existing donors with the Museum. As necessary, partake in the process of grant applications.
• In collaboration with the Chair, Director, and the Museum’s Leadership Team, discover, research, recommend and present objects for acquisition. Refine the collection through proposal of thoughtful de-accessioning.
• Work with Communications staff in marketing and public relations on endeavors that support exhibition projects or initiatives.
• Share expertise, and maintain extensive contacts with colleagues, scholars, artists, collectors, dealers, and consultants, as appropriate.
• Work closely with Conservation and Collections Management, Exhibitions Strategy and Gallery Displays, Facilities, Protective Services, contractors, and others partaking in art installations to ensure proper conditions and protocols are applied.
• Collaborate…