Theodore E. Stebbins, Jr., Associate Curator of American Art

Duties & Responsibilities

The Harvard Art Museums seeks a rising intellectual authority on pre-1900 American art. Tasked with organizing innovative exhibition and scholarly projects, the Theodore E. Stebbins Jr. Associate Curator of American Art will work with a range of partners and collaborators. Engaging with scholarly and public debate on the Harvard University campus and beyond, the curator will help to complicate the art-historical narrative and propose fresh perspectives on the definition of American art for the 21st century.

The Theodore E. Stebbins Jr. Associate Curator of American Art will assume the full range of curatorial responsibilities for the important collection of American art pre-1900 at the Museums, including crafting an ambitious exhibition, research, and publication program, and working closely with students and faculty to foster significant and sustained curricular use of the collection for both undergraduate and graduate teaching. The curator functions successfully within a team environment and promotes dialogue, engagement, and collaboration with colleagues within the division and with curatorial departments that have overlapping collections holdings and expertise, as well as the Straus Center for Conservation and Technical Study. The curator will also collaborate on selected projects and acquisitions as well as displays of the collection with relevant curators of works-on-paper collections and European paintings in the division of European and American Art, as well as with colleagues in the Division of Modern and Contemporary Art. Works by indigenous artists from the Americas are held by Harvard’s Peabody Museum, and offer the potential for curatorial collaboration.

The curator works to promote and strengthen the presence of American art at the Museums and in the wider world, and works closely with fellows, interns, and junior staff towards this end. The curator recommends purchases and solicits gifts for the collection, works to diversify the collection, and assumes an active role in soliciting funds for museum purposes, including acquisitions, exhibitions, and publications, from individuals, foundations, federal agencies, and other sources.