Asian Art Curator Job at RISD Museum

The RISD Museum, formerly the Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design, is the art museum of the Rhode Island School of Design, a private art school in Providence, Rhode Island, co-founded with the school in 1877. It was founded by 34 members of the Rhode Island Women's Centennial Commission alongside RISD itself, and grew out of an earlier 1854 effort by the Rhode Island Art Association to establish a permanent art museum in Providence.

It is the 20th-largest art museum in the United States and organizes its holdings across seven curatorial departments. Its collection contains more than 100,000 works of art and design representing diverse cultures from ancient times to the present, with a research focus centered on the maker. The Pendleton House, part of the museum complex, was built to display the bequeathed decorative arts collection of Charles Pendleton upon his death in 1904, and is considered the first period-room wing of its kind in an American museum.

The Chace Center, an addition designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect José Rafael Moneo, opened in 2008 and unified the museum's original buildings. The museum functions as both a public art museum and a teaching resource integrated with RISD's academic programs, serving undergraduate and graduate research across the college's curatorial departments.

The RISD Museum is hiring for the sole curatorial-track position within its Asian Art department, with the appointment level (Associate Curator or Curator) determined by the candidate's experience, professional qualifications, and record of scholarship or exhibitions. The role holds responsibility for the development, care, and interpretation of the Museum's Asian art collection, encompassing acquisitions strategy, documentation and preservation, exhibition and publication development, teaching within the Museum's academic programs, and support for fundraising and public engagement.

The position works closely with the Director, Chief Curator, and other Museum departments, and is described as central to the Museum's broader strategic plan and its integration with RISD's academic programs.

• Position Type: Full-time
• Contract Type: Regular;
  Exempt
• Salary: Not specified in the source (referenced only as "Salary Grade Structure," with internal grade codes given — see below)
• Grade: Associate Curator 535EX;
  Curator 550EX
• Reports To: Chief Curator (with additional coordination through the Director)
• Working Hours: 35 hours per week; 12 months per year

• Collection Development
  • Responsible for the development of the collection
  • Maintain a sound knowledge of the art market, including the availability and value of objects
  • Maintain contact with dealers and cultivate donors and potential donors
  • Through the Director and Chief Curator, recommend purchases, gifts, deaccessions, and methods of deaccessioning (sale, exchange, transfer)
• Collection Care
  • Provide basic cataloguing information to the Registrar for all objects acquired or already owned by the Museum
  • Schedule and supervise inventories of objects in the collection
  • Conduct and record or publish research on objects in the collection
  • Work in collaboration with the Registrar to set standards for housing, storage, and installation, and oversee proper storage of objects for safety and accessibility
  • Determine conservation priorities, develop a budget plan, recommend appropriate treatments, and supervise treatments, in consultation with conservation
  • Recommend loans and set standards for care
  • Serve as courier at the request of the Director
  • Work closely with the Museum Security Department to ensure security of works of art
• Exhibitions, Education & Interpretation
  • Interpret and display Asian Art — generally and within the collection specifically — through exhibitions, publications, and educational programs, in coordination with departments responsible for interpretation and audience engagement, and in alignment with the Museum's strategic plan
  • Teach and make the collection accessible to RISD faculty and students, the broader academic community, and the general public, with an emphasis on…