Assistant Registrar

Job Details

Job Location: Norton Museum of Art - West Palm Beach, FL 33401

Position Type: Full Time

Job Shift: Day

About the Norton Museum of Art:

Founded in 1941 by Ralph Hubbard Norton and his wife Elizabeth Calhoun Norton, the Norton Museum of Art is Florida’s largest art museum, renowned for its distinguished collection. The Norton Museum of Art welcomes visitors to experience the transformative power of art through intimate and creative encounters with wide-ranging collections and programs of the highest quality. With holdings spanning Contemporary, Early European, Modern, and Asian Art, as well as Photography, the Norton serves as a cherished institution within its community.

Our Commitments:

To uphold our mission and ensure the Norton’s relevance to our community, we are dedicated to the following principles:

• Art: We celebrate and share excellence in the arts in all its forms.
• Audience: We cultivate meaningful dialogues and relationships with a diverse and inclusive audience.
• Ambassadors: Our employees, Trustees, volunteers, and partners are the vital links connecting Art and Audience.
• Foundations: We are committed to preserving the Norton’s fiscal and physical legacy for future generations.

Position Summary:

The Assistant Registrar is an essential member of the three-person Registration team in the Curatorial Department, reporting directly to the Senior Registrar & Collections Manager (SRCM). This role is crucial for ensuring the stewardship, preservation, and risk management of the Norton Museum’s collection and loans, which encompasses over 10,000 objects. The Assistant Registrar provides critical administrative and operational support across the full spectrum of collections management.

They serve as the primary coordinator for all rights and reproductions for both permanent collection works and objects on loan. Additionally, this role supports the SRCM and Registrar in managing logistics for 10‑15 exhibitions (of varying scales) annually and coordinates with the Director of Exhibition Design and Installation (DEDI) and Museum Technicians to ensure the safe handling, packing, and shipping of artworks.

• Assists the SRCM and Registrar with all efforts relating to the physical care, receipt, movement, accessioning, documentation, and storage of all art objects in the Museum’s collection and on loan.
• Works in close collaboration with the SRCM, Registrar, DEDI, and Museum Technicians to oversee and aid in the safe movement and installation of art.
• Supports the updating of the Museum’s object database (The Museum System, TMS) to reflect new‑found information or research pertaining to collection artworks including artist biographical information, titles, dates, updated label copy, publication references, and exhibition history.
• Supports the SRCM with logistics to photograph the collection and loaned artworks.
• Assists the SRCM and Registrar with inventories of the collection, including spot inventories and the biannual third‑party audit.
• When applicable, travels with outgoing loans and exhibitions as both a domestic and international courier to conduct condition reports and oversee installations and deinstallations of artworks at partnering institutions.
• Works closely with the SRCM and Registrar to execute art‑related hurricane preparedness and, when necessary, serves as one of the on‑site curatorial stewards during storms or as a back‑up after storms dissipate.
• Aids in the deaccession process which may include pulling TMS reports/checklists, updating electronic and hard‑copy object records, and arranging the packing and shipping of deaccessioned objects to external locations.

• Responsible for monitoring and ordering storage and conservation supplies.
• When needed, fulfills internal and external inquiries about the Norton Collection and archives.
• Produces loan agreements under the supervision of the SRCM and Registrar.
• Ensures compliance with loan conditions under the supervision of the SRCM and Registrar.

• Collections
  • Manages all licensing requests, both internal and external, for…