Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (YBCA) is seeking an Assistant Curator
Description
Department: Visual Arts
Reports to: Director of Visual Arts
Status: Exempt Full-Time (30 hours per week)
Work Schedule: Monday through Friday, Includes evenings and special events
Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (YBCA) is a multidisciplinary contemporary arts center anchoring the arts district at 3rd and Mission in downtown San Francisco in the beautiful Yerba Buena Gardens. YBCA presents bold and innovative contemporary visual art exhibitions, performances and film/video screenings that provoke dialogue on the vital issues of our time.
Yerba Buena Center for the Arts is seeking a dynamic Assistant Curator within the Visual Arts department to support the needs of its ambitious exhibitions program. Reporting directly to the Director of Visual Arts, the Assistant Curator will be responsible for a variety of curatorial and administrative tasks including exhibition research and planning, participating as a member of the cross-disciplinary curatorial team; and support of marketing and fundraising activities. In addition, the Assistant Curator will have lead responsibility for coordinating several exhibitions, special projects and public program activities.
Principal responsibilities
- Participate with YBCA Curatorial Team to develop overall direction of exhibitions and cross-disciplinary projects for various constituencies.
- Responsible for conceptualizing, research, development, planning and implementation of exhibitions, including budgets for special projects and public programs as assigned including solo exhibitions as well as other projects of varying scope and size; innovative public programs; and public art projects.
- Responsible for developing interpretative texts and materials including gallery guides, wall text, labels, website content, and catalogues for assigned projects for curatorial and marketing departments.
- Participate in department-wide and cross-department planning and shared responsibility for assuring the success of all visual arts activities including curatorial and production activities.
- Responsible for garnering knowledge of and relationship with the Bay Area arts community.
- Work with artists, collectors, colleagues, and the registrar to secure loans and arrange shipping of artwork.
- Collaborate with various YBCA departments to support visual arts activities.
- Support Development Department in efforts related to fundraising for assigned exhibitions including gather and write visual arts program related information pertinent to grant applications, final reports, and other institutional needs.
- Work with Development, Community Engagement and Marketing staff to prepare and edit materials to promote, publicize, and interpret exhibitions and related public programs.
- Oversee interns and volunteers.
- Other duties as assigned.
Minimun requirements
- Bachelor’s degree in Art History, Curatorial Studies, Critical Visual Studies, Arts Administration, or related field of study. Masters degree preferred.
- At least 5 years recognized experience as a curator in the visual arts, or similar position, preferably in a museum context.
- Extensive knowledge of contemporary art and current artistic practices including experience working directly with artists.
- Recognized curatorial experience, preferably in a museum context.
- Demonstrated art historical research experience and proficiency.
- Superb verbal and written communication skills.
- Familiarity with museum practices of major American metropolitan galleries and museums.
- Ability to represent the museum with a high level of integrity and professionalism, adhere to museum policies and support management decisions in a positive, professional manner.
- Excellent organization skills; ability to coordinate complicated projects and manage multiple and diverse tasks simultaneously; ability to follow through and meet deadlines.
- Ability to take initiative and prioritize tasks; excellent time-management, problem-prevention and problem-solving skills; demonstrated ability for follow up and evaluation.
- Ability to work with close attention to detail and to maintain confidentiality.
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
- Demonstrated ability to work as part of a team as well as independently.
- Good interpersonal skills, including the ability to work with colleagues, artists, the public, Board, donors and volunteers; must be able interact and work well with people from diverse economic and cultural backgrounds.
- Comfortable working in a fast paced, team oriented environment.
- A commitment to presenting and interpreting contemporary art to diverse audiences.
- Proven interpersonal skills a must.
- Willingness to work alongside contemporary works of art and performances which present challenging and provocative subject matter.
- Ability to read/speak languages in addition to English desired.
How to apply
In addition to your resume and cover letter, please include ASSISTANT CURATOR YBCA in the subject line of your email to:jobs@ybca.org.
Please, no phone calls or faxes—really. While we love your enthusiasm, due to the volume of applications and our limited resources, we will respond only to applicants we intend to interview. If you receive our automated thank you, we have received your resume and there is no need to follow up.
Principals only. We do not accept resumes from third parties and we will not pay fees to any agency or firm. Any unsolicited resumes received will be considered the property of YBCA and will be processed accordingly.
We wish you the best of luck in your job search!
An equal opportunity employer
Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (YBCA) is committed to diversity in its programming and in creating a work culture and environment that is reflective of San Francisco Bay Area demography. The Center encourages and actively recruits applicants representing dimensions of difference that include — but are not limited to — age, national origin, ethnicity, race, religion, ability, sexual orientation, gender or political affiliation.