JOB 26.02.2011

Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art, AMAM Oberlin College

Oberlin, Ohio
Bewerbungsschluss: 04.03.2011

Christina Neilson, Oberlin College

The Allen Memorial Art Museum (AMAM) at Oberlin College is seeking
applicants for a curatorial position in Modern and Contemporary Art at
the assistant, associate, or full curatorial level. The curator will
oversee all aspects of the museum’s research, interpretation, and
presentation for its important post-1900 art collections and will
collaborate with the Curator of Academic Programs and Curator of
Education to engage students in curatorial and research projects and
plan a broad range of public programs. The curatorship is a 12-month
Administrative and Professional Staff position at the Allen Memorial
Art Museum, Oberlin College, reporting to the Curator of Collections
and the Director of the Museum.

Responsibilities: The curator will oversee an outstanding permanent
collection of approximately 3,600 works of art from 1900 to the
present and approximately 1,400 works in the Eva Hesse Archives.
Responsibilities include developing in-house and traveling exhibitions
in close collaboration with curatorial colleagues and the director;
carrying out original research on the collection; identifying
acquisitions through purchase and gift; expanding physical and
electronic access to collections; working closely with museum staff
and Oberlin College development staff to cultivate a broad donor base;
preparing a long-range plan for post-1900 holdings; and monitoring and
making recommendations for care of the collection. Active
participation in identifying and writing grant proposals is critical.

The AMAM’s collection of post-1900 art serves nearly all Oberlin
College departments in the Arts and Sciences and the Conservatory of
Music, including African-American studies, art, art history, biology,
chemistry, cinema studies, comparative American studies, environmental
studies, foreign languages and literature, history, Latin American
studies, mathematics, and music and historical performance. The
Curator will be actively involved in conceptualizing and initiating
teaching exhibitions and museum-based courses, mentoring students, and
supervising student curatorial interns.

Requirements: A Ph.D. in art history preferred, with at least 3-5
years of museum experience, demonstrated knowledge of the exhibition
process, a record of publication, and some teaching experience. This
position also requires broad knowledge of the field of art history,
particularly from 1900 on with a strong commitment to contemporary
art, and excellent communication and leadership skills. As an
important liaison between the museum and faculty and students, the
successful candidate must be an outstanding collaborator with highly
developed administrative and organizational capabilities and have a
deep commitment to a contextual, cross-disciplinary approach to
original works of art.

Compensation: Within the range established for this position, salary
will be commensurate with qualifications and experience and includes
an excellent benefits package.

To Apply: Candidates should submit a letter of application, curriculum
vitae, and names, addresses and phone numbers of three references by
March 4, 2011 to: Administrative Assistant, Allen Memorial Art Museum,
Oberlin College, 87 North Main Street, Oberlin, OH 44074. Review of
applications will be ongoing and applications received after the
deadline may be considered.

About the Allen Memorial Art Museum (AMAM): For more than a century,
Oberlin College has been committed to promoting direct study of
original works of art to foster visual literacy and a deeper
understanding of the diversity of the world's cultures. Today, the
AMAM houses an encyclopedic collection of more than 14,000 objects
selected to provide a comprehensive overview of the history of art and
is recognized as one of the five best academic museums in the country.
The AMAM serves a broad regional audience and operates on the premise
that learning about art is important for everyone, a principle
demonstrated by the free public admission, offered since its founding
in 1917.

In the field of modern and contemporary art, the AMAM’s post-1900
holdings include outstanding examples of Expressionist, Cubist, and
Surrealist paintings, sculpture, and works on paper by artists such as
Kirchner, Modigliani, Picasso, Braque, Gorky, and Miró. American
post-1945 holdings are impressive and deep, with superb examples of
art from all the major movements, including Abstract Expressionism,
Pop Art, Minimalism, Conceptual Art, New Realism, and Photo-Realism,
as well as many works in new media such as video art and films and
digital photographs by artists. All major figures in late 20th-century
art are represented, among them De Kooning, Pollock, Rauschenberg,
Johns, Stella, Rothko, Warhol, Morris Louis, and Chuck Close. The AMAM
commissioned Claes Oldenburg’s first permanent outdoor sculpture,
Giant Three-Way Plug, which was installed in 1970. Other outdoor
sculpture includes important early works by Mary Miss and Robert
Morris. The AMAM purchased Eva Hesse’s seminal sculpture Laocoön in
1970, the year of her death, and houses the Eva Hesse Archives, the
largest collection of material about and created by Hesse in any
public institution—including more than 150 working drawings, collages,
photographs, diaries, datebooks, and letters.

The museum complex includes a 1917 building designed by Cass Gilbert.
In the 1970s, Robert Venturi designed a gallery dedicated to the
presentation of modern and contemporary art, the architect’s first
museum commission. The AMAM also shares responsibility with Oberlin
College for a Frank Lloyd Wright-designed house, the first Usonian
house in Ohio, located in Oberlin.

Quellennachweis:
JOB: Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art, AMAM Oberlin College. In: ArtHist.net, 26.02.2011. Letzter Zugriff 29.03.2024. <https://arthist.net/archive/985>.

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