An exciting opportunity has arisen to join Watts Gallery Trust as Head of Collections and Exhibitions (Chief Curator) as we increase our focus on audience development and engagement.
The Head of Collections and Exhibitions (Chief Curator) will take a strategic and collaborative approach to enhancing the care, display, research and interpretation of Watts Gallery Trust’s collection of fine and decorative art, engaging the widest range of audiences with the art and ideas of Mary Seton Watts and GF Watts. Building national and international partnerships, the postholder will also lead on a programme of temporary exhibitions exploring nineteenth- and early twentieth-century British art. The postholder will lead the curatorial team and play a leadership role in Watts Gallery – Artists’ Village as a member of the Senior Management Team.
Working collaboratively as part of the Senior Management Team and in close partnership with other departments, the successful candidate will enable audiences to explore the relevance of our artists, their contemporaries and successors in a way that challenges, supports and stimulates audience engagement, both online and onsite.
Key knowledge, experience and qualifications:
- Significant experience in a senior curatorial position with substantial demonstrable experience of developing and delivering exhibitions and displays in a museum or gallery.
- A specialist knowledge in nineteenth- and early twentieth-century British art, history and visual culture.
- Line management experience.
- Publication and presentation history.
- Demonstrable experience of working effectively as part of a senior management team and with internal and external stakeholders.
- Experience of working to and leading on the implementation of Museum Accreditation Spectrum 5.0 standards including demonstrable experience of working with collections, object handling, loans procedures and collection documentation.
- Experience of audience development and outreach.
- Experience of working with the press and good networking skills.
- Positive line management and coaching experience.
- Substantial experience of managing budgets.
- MA or PHD in Art History or equivalent.
Full Job Description, including key accountabilities and details of how to apply, can be downloaded from our website.
Socially-distanced first and second interviews will take place on Tuesday 24 August and the afternoon of Tuesday 31 August at Watts Gallery – Artists’ Village. The appointment will be made by Friday 3 September and it is hoped that the successful candidate will be available to commence in post by the start of December at the latest. Please let us know within your covering e-mail if you are shielding or require any adjustments to the interview process.
Watts Gallery Trust is committed to providing equality of opportunity for all staff and welcomes applications from all individuals for advertised jobs that match their skills and interests. We welcome applications from all sections of the community. We particularly encourage applications from Black, Asian and minority ethnic candidates, and from disabled candidates, as these groups are under-represented within the Arts field and at Watts Gallery Trust.
ABOUT WATTS GALLERY TRUST
Watts Gallery Trust (WGT) is an independent charity established in 1904 to manage the legacy of George Frederic Watts OM RA, one of the leading artists of the nineteenth century. Today, Watts Gallery Trust is an Arts Council England National Portfolio Organisation that oversees Watts Gallery – Artists’ Village. Consisting of Limnerslease, the former home of artists G F Watts and Mary Seton Watts, the Grade I listed Watts Cemetery Chapel, designed by Mary Watts, the Pottery Building that formerly housed the Compton Potters Arts Guild, and Watts Gallery established in 1904 as the UK’s first single artist museum, the Artists’ Village is a leading regional visitor attraction. The Trust delivers an ambitious and far-reaching engagement and learning programme in prisons, in the local community and onsite, working to deliver its founders’ Art for All ethos with some of the most vulnerable in society. It also manages the Artist’s Studio Museum Network of 157 artist’s studio museums across Europe, and the thriving Watts Gallery – Artists’ Village, which is located in Compton, outside Guildford across 18 acres of Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
