Curator of Native American Art

Curator of Native American Art at The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Job Status: Full-time, On-site
Location: New York, NY
Salary: $120K/yr – $165K/yr
Application Deadline: April 24, 2026 

About The Metropolitan Museum Of Art The Met presents over 5,000 years of art from around the world for everyone to experience and enjoy. The Museum lives in two iconic sites in New York City—The Met Fifth Avenue and The Met Cloisters. Millions of people also take part in The Met experience online.

Since its founding in 1870, The Met has always aspired to be more than a treasury of rare and beautiful objects. We are committed to fostering a collaborative and respectful work environment with a staff as diverse as the audiences we engage. Our staff members are art lovers who are passionate about working toward a common goal: creating the most dynamic and inspiring art museum in the world.

At The Met, every staff member – from security officers to researchers to scientists and beyond – lives by our core values of respect, inclusivity, collaboration, excellence, and integrity.

Respect: Engage one another with collegiality, empathy, and kindness, always.

Inclusivity: Ensure that all are and feel welcome and valued.

Collaboration: Reach across boundaries to exchange ideas and work together toward our shared mission.

Excellence: Lead the cultural world in quality and expertise—and inspire curiosity and creativity.

Integrity: Hold ourselves to the highest moral standards, admit when we fall short, and then evolve.

About the Department:

With a collection of some 20,000 works by African American, Asian American, Euro-American, Latin American, and Native American makers—ranging primarily from the mid-17th to early-20th century, with select contemporary expressions—the American Wing, founded in 1924, represents one of the largest and most comprehensive holdings of North American artistic expression in the world. These dynamic collections, housed in some 75 galleries, include paintings, sculpture, drawings, furniture, textiles, regalia, ceramics, basketry, glass, silver, metalwork, and jewelry, as well as historic interiors and architectural fragments—produced by highly trained and self-taught artists, both identified and unrecorded—comprising an expansively defined American art department housed within a global museum. An active department with a curatorial staff of twelve, as well as administration and collection colleagues, the American Wing regularly programs diverse exhibitions and installations that bring fresh approaches to our wide-ranging material.

General Statement of Responsibilities & Duties:

As the Curator of Native American Art, you will conceive, plan and realize meaningful exhibitions, installations and programs of differing scales in collaboration with colleagues across The Met. You must demonstrate a strong background and interest in overseeing a major collection of historical Native arts. You are a dynamic and seasoned museum professional who has proven experience as an effective advocate for your area of expertise through some or all of the following ways: innovative research and interpretation; development and refinement of collections; thoughtful and thorough engagement with NAGPRA and descendent-community partnerships; commitment to broad and inclusive audience engagement through exhibitions, installations, scholarly lectures, and public presentations. You are also a published scholar well-versed in a range of Indigenous North American art (historical and contemporary), passionately interested in works of art and their cultural meanings and relevance, and deeply committed to The Met’s mission of inclusive access, collaboration, and dialogue.

Primary Responsibilities & Duties:

• Oversee Native North American art in American Wing’s collection as well as promised gifts and loans housed at Museum
• Manage growth of Met’s diverse collections of Indigenous North American art, including recommendations for acquisitions, working with other curators, collectors, and communities
• Plan and oversee ongoing rotations of Native arts collection in partnership with Museum colleagues, including conservators and designers—from selection of items and drafting of interpretation to installation of works and sharing with public
• Propose and realize special exhibitions, installations, and accompanying publications— in collaboration with range of Museum colleagues and in varied contexts—that highlight Native arts in focus and in dialogue with culturally diverse production for regional, national, and international audiences
• Cultivate potential donors, including for departmental support groups
• Raise awareness of Met collections and programs with Native communities and organizations
• Develop robust collaborations and partnerships with descendant communities and advise on protocols for engagement, in partnership with NAGPRA Coordinator and Community Liaison and Research Associate for Native American Art
• Working with Met staff, coordinate visits with Tribal representatives, elders, academics, curators, and artists
• Create a welcoming environment for Indigenous communities to engage with their artwork and Met collections
• Research, catalogue, and publish collection of Native arts in print and on Museum website with attention to provenance and source-community information, in collaboration with NAGPRA Coordinator and Community Liaison and Research Associate for Native American Art
• Contribute to educational mission of Museum through public lectures, guide training, and mentoring of interns and fellows; outside teaching opportunities also exist
• Respond to public inquiries about Native arts at Museum
• Foster and maintain positive working relationships with departmental colleagues throughout Museum and institutions across the continent, as well as with members of scholarly and source communities, dealers, collectors, and other individuals involved with Met

Requirements & Qualifications:

• MA in History of Art, Visual Studies, Cultural Anthropology, or Cultural History, required; ABD or PhD, preferred
• 10 years of relevant work with historical Native North American collections in museum or academic setting, preferred
• Expertise in broad spectrum of historical and contemporary Native arts
• Demonstrated achievement in current curatorial practice
• Scholarly contributions to field of Native arts through original research and critical inquiry in publications, exhibitions, community engagement, and public speaking
• Sensitive understanding of current curatorial practice and methodologies, especially regarding Indigenous North American arts and culture, including provenance research and NAGPRA guidelines
• Commitment to collaborating and promoting meaningful exchange of ideas with Indigenous community members
• Ability to work effectively with Indigenous communities in partnership with curatorial and other colleagues in American Wing and across Museum in executing projects such as special exhibitions, rotations, and educational programs
• Experience in cultivating donors and collectors
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills (written, oral, visual)
• Highly motivated, organized, and detail-oriented
• Proven project-management skills and ability to work effectively and collaboratively with various colleagues across the Museum
• Commitment to maintaining a high degree of professionalism and diplomacy
• Ability to contribute to an inclusive, respectful, and collaborative work environment as a manager and colleague

Compensation Range:

• Pay Range: $120,000.00 – $165,000.00 / Annually

The advertised pay scale reflects the good faith minimum and maximum salary range for this role. The advertised pay scale is not a promise of a particular wage for any specific employee. The specific compensation offered to a candidate may be dependent on a variety of factors including, but not limited to, the candidate’s experience, education, special licensing or qualifications, and other factors.

Location Requirements At time of employment, employees are expected to be located within commuting distance of the Museum. “Commuting distance” means that they are located in one of following states: New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, or Pennsylvania (the “Tri-state and PA” areas), and be able to commute to and from the Museum in a single day.

Benefits Offerings The Museum provides competitive compensation, and generous benefits and perks for all eligible employees. Note: Benefits Offering may differ based on Employee Status.

• Medical, dental, vision and life insurance
• 403(b) basic retirement plan and optional matching retirement plan with an outstanding employer match
• Considerable paid time off, including annual leave, sick leave, and 13 Museum holidays
• Long-term disability coverage
• Flexible Spending Accounts & Health Savings Account (pre-tax income for eligible health care expenses)
• Commuter benefits (pre-tax income for parking or mass transit expenses)
• Free financial-planning services
• Financial assistance for relevant coursework, seminars, and training programs
• 25% discount for staff in Museum shops
• A subsidized staff cafeteria
• Access to the Museums Council pass, which grants free admission to various museums and cultural institutions

We recognize that it is highly unlikely that someone meets 100% of the desired attributes for a role. If much of this job description describes you, then please apply for this role.

The Met is committed to the full inclusion of all qualified individuals. As part of this commitment, The Met will ensure that persons with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodations. If reasonable accommodation is needed in this process, please contact benefits@metmuseum.org.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art provides equal opportunity to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, creed, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, ancestry, age, mental or physical disability, pregnancy, alienage or citizenship status, marital status or domestic partner status, genetic information, genetic predisposition or carrier status, gender identity, HIV status, military status and any other category protected by law in all employment decisions, including but not limited to recruitment, hiring, compensation, training and apprenticeship, promotion, upgrading, demotion, downgrading, transfer, lay-off and termination, and all other terms and conditions of employment.