Description

Be The Difference Begins with Great People.

Are you looking for a new opportunity where you can make the difference in the lives of students and faculty? We’re always looking for highly talented individuals to join our team – people who think big, care deeply, and believe in being the difference in their work and community.

We prioritize student success, access to education, and service in our work to educate well-rounded servant leaders who transform their fields, our society and the world. Our Catholic, Jesuit approach emphasizes student engagement with the world around them and formation of the heart and mind.

We believe in our mission: The search for truth, the discovery and sharing of knowledge, the fostering of personal and professional excellence, the promotion of a life of faith, and the development of leadership expressed in service to others. These core values guide our relationships with our students, each other, and our community.

Marquette University offers a rich and competitive Total Rewards package including medical, dental, vision, 403(b) with up to 8% university match, generous time off package, and tuition benefits for employees, spouses, and dependents with no payback requirement! For more information, please view the Total Rewards Guide.

This is your next opportunity to join an organization that invests in their employees’ career journey by diversifying their skills, deepening their expert knowledge, encouraging a healthy work-life balance, focusing on personal wellbeing, providing leadership training, and sustaining a culture of respect and inclusion.

The Chief Curator leads the artistic program of the Haggerty Museum at Marquette University. As the Museum’s chief programmatic officer, their expertise and strong curatorial vision focuses on modern to contemporary art, showcasing the museum’s unique assets and aligning with organizational values. The Chief Curator will work closely with the Director and the museum team to develop and implement long-range, museum-wide plans including a strategic vision for exhibition guidelines, collection policies, cross-disciplinary coursework, and related community partnerships. This position is not only an original content creator, but a people leader with a collaborative spirit that strengthens relationships with professional colleagues on and off campus.

Requirements

Duties and Responsibilities  

1. Oversees the development and production of world-class, innovative, relevant, diverse, and accessible exhibitions per year relevant to the Marquette University campus and larger Milwaukee community. Leads development, research, access planning, interpretive strategies, and relevant policy creation for the Museum’s exhibitions, maintaining a very high level of programs and activities that engage diverse stakeholders and constituencies. Based on original research, conceptualizes and plans multi-faceted exhibition programs related to a diverse set of topical issues that align with the Museum’s mission, vision, values, and strategic priorities. Collaborate with curators on staff, guest curators, artists, scholars, faculty members, and others as required for project-based work.

2. Leads the vision for the Museum’s 10,000 object collection including refinement of the current policy, collecting plans, and other supervisory efforts. Chairs the Collections Committee to guide the stewardship and evolution of the museum collection. Sets the direction to expand the collection and work with the team to do so. Approves activities such as conservation, access and care, research, deaccession reviews, and loan requests.

3. Oversees museum education initiatives for higher education, K-12, and life-long learners alike. With the museum team, spearheads long-range goals to further enrich the Marquette campus and other local schools through interdisciplinary curriculum at the museum. Contributes to the conception and development of exhibition-related public program content with topical issues relevant to the campus and wider Milwaukee community. Depending on scale and needs, attends public programs and other special events to help with coordination and relationship building.

4. Works together with their leader and other team members on long-range institutional planning and policymaking efforts. Develops, with a team-oriented approach, the Museum’s exhibition and programmatic priorities, academic agenda, and a strategic vision for the collection. Serves as the Museum’s primary spokesperson for those areas and leads strategies for temporary exhibitions, collections planning and management, scholarly research, inter-institutional collaborations, campus public art projects, and academic engagement initiatives.

5. Responsible for the supervision of staff, which includes but is not limited to hiring, terming, disciplinary actions, performance management, staff development, etc. Indirectly responsible for the supervision of student employees, which includes but is not limited to hiring, training, disciplinary actions, ending the student’s assignment, etc.

6. Working with their leader and budget leader to prepare budget proposals for collections, exhibitions, public programs, and other special projects. Monitors the use of time, materials, and staff to remain within approved annual budgets for exhibitions, collections, academic engagement, and other curatorial initiatives. Formulates a long-range programmatic financial vision for those areas including staffing levels, facilities, equipment, and financial support needs.

7. Along with team members, maintains and forges partnerships with Marquette units across disciplines as well as other local organizations. In advance of each programming season/semester, facilitates strategic partnerships to share resources, learn from collaborators, enhance awareness together, increase a collective impact, and build a stronger community through shared initiatives.

8. In coordination with the Director and advancement team, cultivates relationships with donors, collectors, artists/galleries, and other stakeholders to support the excellence of the exhibitions and growth of the museum collection. Contributes written materials for funding applications and reports that support collections, exhibitions, academic engagement, or other related initiatives. Fields prospective donation offers and cultivates collectors to attract gifts to the museum. Regularly participates in Friends of the Haggerty events.

9. In coordination with their leader, they serve as a spokesperson of the museum on and off campus. Participate in professional organizations and travel to relevant conferences and events. Serves on select committees, regularly meets with colleagues to build community, meets with media outlets, and more to advocate for the museum, find opportunities to host meaningful experiences at the museum, and make a difference within the region’s creative sector.

Required Knowledge, Skills and Abilities       

• Bachelor’s degree in art history, museum studies, or related field
• Minimum 5 years of experience planning exhibitions and managing a collection of modern and contemporary art
• Minimum 5 years of experience developing cross-cultural, relevant, and innovative exhibitions and curatorial partnerships that involve multiple internal and external stakeholders
• People management and supervisory experience in an arts administration role
• Experience with and enthusiasm for fundraising, especially the development of philanthropic relationships with current and prospective donors to the Museum’s collection and exhibitions
• Knowledge of currently accepted curatorial practices, ethics, methodologies and regulations, including collections management, conservation, exhibition of objects, and interpretation of objects in collections and exhibitions
• Knowledge of research principles, protocols, techniques, standards, and procedures
• Strong leadership, decision making, interpersonal, planning, and organizational skills; solid presentation, negotiation, problem solving, conflict resolution, and meeting management skills
• Ability to develop and monitor annual operating and multi-year project budgets
• Knowledge of art history and art museum fields’ intellectual discourse
• Outstanding written and verbal communication skills
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite
• Ability to work some nights and weekends
• Requires occasional travel for professional conferences, etc.

Preferred Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

• Master’s degree in related field
• Excellent skills and experience in volunteer management, donor cultivation, and donor stewardship
• Knowledge of and ability to work with internal Marquette software and databases
• Demonstrated experience with budget development, analysis, and management
• Proven experience with pre- and post-award grants management
• Strong work ethics and superior record of ethical service