Museum Curator

The Washakie Museum is housed in a spacious, modern, LEED-silver building, and supported by a generous endowment and strong community membership and engagement. We have two permanent galleries and a 2,000 square foot rotating exhibit gallery, as well as a 2,700 square foot event center. The museum is staffed with a highly collaborative team of professionals who share a dedication to preserving and sharing local history, and providing educational, arts, and cultural events for audiences of all ages.

Our hometown of Worland is a small community in the beautiful Big Horn Basin of Wyoming. The Basin is surrounded by six scenic mountain ranges, offering world class hiking, rock climbing, hunting, and fishing. Paleontologists and archeologists from all over the world do field work in our Basin every summer!

The Curator manages the Museum’s collection and plans and implements exhibits. The Curator plays a major role in keeping the Museum relevant to the community and enticing to visitors. This is a full-time, in-person position, reporting to the Executive Director. The Curator will be part of a highly collaborative museum staff and must be willing to assist wherever needed.

• Develop, implement and monitor an annual plan for exhibits at the museum, working more than 12 months out as possible. This includes exhibits for the Temporary Gallery as well as mini-exhibits for the foyers.
• Design, research, prepare, and present at least one in-house exhibit each year, featuring items from the collection.
• Research, book, install and manage traveling exhibits.
• Regularly review permanent exhibits to identify necessary repairs, maintenance, or updates.
• Work with Executive Director and Assistant Curator to promote exhibit attendance.
• Work with the Museum Educator to develop educational programming to complement exhibits.
• Work with the Event Manager to plan exhibit openings and other activities related to exhibits.
• Maintain the Museum’s collection, ensuring the proper preservation, documentation, and interpretation of artifacts, making sure they are protected, suitably maintained, and accessible to the public.
• Work with the collections committee and follow the collections policy.
• Identify gaps in current collection; implement outreach activities to build collection.
• Plan and manage curatorial budget, optimizing financial and material resources to support museum activities and ensure long-term sustainability.
• Stay abreast of emerging trends in the museum industry and research best practices to keep the museum relevant and innovative.
• Be engaged in the local community to learn as much as possible about local history, and to get ideas for exhibits, oral histories, and opportunities to build the collection.
• Interact professionally with colleagues, volunteers, and sponsors.
• Help with special events, rentals, and front desk as needed.

Required:

• Two years museum experience, including experience overseeing collections and registration activity, as well as exhibit planning and development.
• Knowledge of professional museum standards and terminology, principles, techniques, and programs.
• Knowledge and experience with Past Perfect collection management software.
• Knowledge of ethical standards and legal matters relating to the management of museum collections.
• Demonstrated project management experience.
• Must be self-directed, organized, and goal oriented.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills, to communicate effectively with colleagues, donors, visitors, and others.
• Proficient in Microsoft Word, Excel, Publisher, and PowerPoint.
• Able to work flexible hours including evenings and weekends.

Preferred:

• BA/BS degree from an accredited four-year college or university with major coursework in museum studies, history, anthropology, archaeology, or education.
• Experience with artifact handling and photography.
• Comfortable/experienced using hand tools and basic power tools (for exhibit installation).
• Experience in using social media to promote events and engage audiences.

Starting Compensation: $36,000 - $40,000/year

The Washakie Museum currently offers paid vacation, paid sick time, employer paid health insurance, and a 3% simple IRA match after 2 years of employment.