Collection Curator and Archivist

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Collection Curator and Archivist

Undergraduate Education | Frank W. Hale, Jr. Black Cultural Center

The Hale Black Cultural Center seeks a strategically minded professional to lead the stewardship, development, and activation of its African American art collection. In alignment with the Office of Academic Affairs' directive, this role will strengthen the connection between HBCC's mission and the collection by improving digital and physical accessibility, expanding community engagement, and elevating the visibility of the works through programming, partnerships, and scholarship.

The position serves as the primary collection advocate-supporting archival infrastructure, building donor and artist relationships, coordinating collection-centered events, and representing the cultural and historical significance of the archive within the university and broader community.

A. Collection Stewardship & Development

• Maintain and advance archival systems that support preservation, organization, and ongoing documentation of materials.
• Assist in securing and managing gift and loan agreements, reproduction rights, and related documentation.
• In collaboration with the Campus Art Collection Manager, oversee collection care: art handling, preservation practices, climate considerations, and display protocols.
• Develop metadata systems, finding aids, and digital frameworks for online access and visibility.
• Ensure accessibility of artworks for tours, teaching, curriculum use, and research inquiries.
• Assist in creating structured processes that enable faculty, practitioners, and students to access and work with the collection.
• Conduct or support the writing of catalogue entries and artist documentation.
• Advise on acquisition of new work, where funding allows
• Assist in representing the collection compellingly to donors, funders, and institutional partners.
• Collaborate to cultivate donor pathways and secure resources while ensuring donors and contributors feel confident in the long-term care, visibility, and legacy of their work.
• Assist in building trust with artists, their families, and estates; conduct oral histories and archival interviews.
• Integrate collection names and donor acknowledgments into exhibitions and calls for participation.

B. Community Engagement and Strategic Programming

• Treat the archive as a living community resource informed by regional and historical contexts.
• Cultivate relationships that support strategic acquisitions and continued growth of the archive.
• Reconnect artworks to the communities, artists, and cultural networks that shaped them.
• Partner with local artists, cultural organizations, arts institutions, and regional creative ecosystems to elevate the visibility of the collection and the history of the communities from which it came.
• Situate the collection in broader discourses around art history and cultural production.
• Support art-making opportunities, student workshops, and collaborative programs tied directly to the collection.
• Curate student gallery shows, site-responsive installations, and community-engaged exhibitions, including overseeing art handling and installation.
• Collaborate across campus with faculty, cultural units, and student organizations in sustained, purposeful ways.
• Collaborate with HBCC staff to support events, including occasional evening and weekend responsibilities as required.

C. Administrative & Operational Support

• Support the Director with administrative workflows that strengthen outreach, research, and strategic…