National Museum of Wildlife Art, Chief Curator of Art

The National Museum of Wildlife Art (NMWA) seeks a Chief Curator of Art to provide artistic vision, intellectual leadership, and strategic direction at a moment of important institutional planning and growth. As the Museum prepares for a significant expansion of its facilities and advances long-range plans for its next phase of development, the Chief Curator will play a central role in shaping exhibitions, guiding collection stewardship, mentoring a curatorial team, and strengthening the Museum’s reputation as the leading institution dedicated to wildlife art in the United States.

National Museum of Wildlife Art

Founded in 1987 by a group of collectors, conservationists, and civic leaders in Jackson Hole, the National Museum of Wildlife Art was established with a clear and distinctive purpose: to explore humanity’s enduring relationship with wildlife through art, and to inspire deeper understanding, respect, and stewardship of the natural world. From its inception, the Museum has been shaped by the conviction that wildlife art is a powerful lens through which to examine culture, conservation, and our shared responsibility to the planet.

In 1994, the Museum opened its permanent home on a dramatic 70-acre site overlooking the National Elk Refuge. The architecture, constructed of Idaho quartzite and inspired in part by the ruins of Slains Castle in Scotland, is intended to blend into the landscape and reflect the natural beauty of the region. The campus includes the primary exhibition building, galleries, an auditorium, education and maker spaces, a museum shop, and a restaurant.

The Museum’s three-quarter-mile Sculpture Trail, designed by award‑winning landscape architect Walter Hood, features more than 30 wildlife sculptures and offers visitors an integrated outdoor art experience with sweeping views of the National Elk Refuge and surrounding mountains.

In 2008, Congress formally designated the institution as the National Museum of Wildlife Art of the United States, recognizing the scope, quality, and national significance of its collection and mission. While this designation affirms the Museum’s national profile, it is a privately operated, nonprofit institution accredited by the American Alliance of Museums.

The Museum’s permanent collection comprises more than 5,000 works of art, spanning 2,500 BCE to the present and encompassing painting, sculpture, photography, and works on paper. The collection is internationally recognized for its depth in American and Western wildlife art and includes significant works by artists such as Georgia O’Keeffe, Carl Rungius, Rembrandt Bugatti, Rosa Bonheur, John James Audubon, Eugène Delacroix, and Andy Warhol, among others.

The Museum has an active acquisition program and in recent years has taken a more intentional approach to broadening representation within the collection, including works by women artists, Indigenous artists, and contemporary voices that expand and challenge traditional narratives within the field of wildlife art.

NMWA maintains an active exhibition program, typically presenting three to five major temporary exhibitions each year, complemented by rotating and longer‑term installations drawn from the permanent collection. The Museum also presents longer‑term and semi‑permanent installations that anchor the visitor experience. These include rotating presentations of masterworks from the permanent collection, gallery reinstallations such as Exploring Wildlife Art, and outdoor sculpture installations along the Sculpture Trail.

For almost 40 years the Museum also has hosted Western Visions®, its annual signature exhibition and sale of contemporary wildlife art, which serves as a major cultural event, artist platform, and important source of earned and philanthropic support.

The Museum currently has a professional staff of 32 full‑and‑part‑time employees, organized through curatorial, education, advancement, marketing, operations, visitor services, and finance departments. Governance is provided by a 27‑member Board of Trustees whose membership reflects the Museum’s national reach, drawing on collectors, philanthropists, and cultural leaders from…