Luce Curatorial Fellow

The New Britain Museum of American Art seeks an outstanding emerging scholar to serve as the Luce Curatorial Fellow in support of Puerto Rico in Focus:
Historical Interventions, a major exhibition and scholarly initiative exploring the intersections of Puerto Rican and American art. Working closely with the two exhibition co-curators based in Connecticut and Puerto Rico, the Fellow will contribute to all phases of exhibition research, catalogue development, loan coordination, scholarly convenings, and public engagement.

This fellowship offers an exceptional opportunity for a highly organized, intellectually curious, and collaborative scholar who is eager to contribute to new research in the field of American art while gaining experience across every stage of exhibition development. The successful candidate will thrive in a dynamic museum environment, balancing independent research with cross-departmental collaboration, managing multiple projects simultaneously, and engaging thoughtfully with colleagues, lenders, scholars, and community partners.

A demonstrated interest in expanding scholarship on Puerto Rican and American art, together with a commitment to careful research, clear communication, and collaborative problem-solving, will be essential to success in this role.

The Fellow will become an integral member of the Museum's Curatorial Department while undertaking research in both Connecticut and Puerto Rico. This fellowship is generously funded by the Henry Luce Foundation and forms part of the Museum's multi-year Puerto Rico in Focus initiative, which seeks to broaden understandings of American art by examining the historical, cultural, and artistic connections between Puerto Rico and the United States

Reports to the Director of Collections & Exhibitions and co-curator of the exhibition, with routine and direct work with co-curator based at the University of Puerto Rico; works collaboratively with exhibition co-curators and Museum staff across the Curatorial, Registration, Learning & Engagement, Collections, and Marketing departments.

• Conduct original scholarly research supporting the development of the exhibition.
• Research artists, artworks, collections, historical contexts, and themes relating to Puerto Rican and American art.
• Assist with development and refinement of the exhibition checklist.
• Conduct collection and archival research during research trips in Puerto Rico and the mainland United States.
• Compile and maintain research files, bibliographies, chronologies, and artist dossiers.
• Assist with provenance, exhibition history, bibliography, and object research.

• Support research for the exhibition catalogue.
• Compile bibliographies, image permissions, and reference materials.
• Coordinate research requests for contributing authors.
• Assist with preparation of artist biographies and object entries.
• Track catalogue deadlines and editorial workflow.

• Assist with identifying and researching prospective loans.
• Assist with the drafting and management of loan requests.
• Coordinate loan communications with lending institutions.
• Work closely with the Registration Department to track loan status and documentation.
• Maintain records related to exhibition loans and lender communications.

• Provide administrative coordination between the exhibition co-curators.
• Maintain project timelines and research calendars.
• Assist with meeting preparation, agendas, and documentation.
• Coordinate internal communications among Museum departments participating in the project.

• Assist in planning and implementing a scholarly advisory convening.
• Coordinate travel, logistics, honoraria, scheduling, and meeting materials.
• Prepare background research and briefing materials.
• Document proceedings and follow-up actions.

• Collaborate with the Learning & Engagement Department to support the development of exhibition-related public programs.
• Assist in preparing research and interpretive materials for educational programming.
• Coordinate curatorial content for the Museum's Bloomberg Connects digital guide.
• Supp…