Museum Instructor / Curatorial Assistant, Arts of the Americas and Europe

Institution: Brooklyn Museum
Location: Brooklyn, NY, United States
Department: Curatorial, Arts of the Americas and Europe
Reports to: Senior Curator of European Art and Senior Curator of Decorative Arts and Design
Contract: Full-time
Working hours: 35 hours per week (Monday–Friday, 9:00–17:00), with occasional evening and weekend hours
Salary: $51,034 per year

The Brooklyn Museum is seeking a full-time Curatorial Assistant to support collection- and exhibition-related projects within the Arts of the Americas and Europe department. Working closely with the curators of European Art and Decorative Arts and Design, this role combines administrative coordination, scholarly research, and hands-on exhibition work across a wide range of departmental initiatives.

The Curatorial Assistant contributes to the care, interpretation, and presentation of the European and Decorative Arts and Design collections. The position involves close collaboration with internal teams and external stakeholders, supporting research, writing, and public-facing activities tied to collections and exhibitions.

Key Responsibilities

• Provide general administrative support to the department and curators

• Act as a primary contact for internal and external inquiries related to collections and exhibitions

• Maintain departmental files and collection records using systems such as The Museum System (TMS)

• Organize and facilitate collection visits for researchers, school groups, donors, and the public

• Support temporary and collection gallery exhibitions, including:

  • Assisting with exhibition proposals and concepts

  • Managing exhibition checklists, schedules, and installation plans

  • Conducting subject-specific research

  • Drafting acquisition and deaccession justifications

  • Writing exhibition didactics, labels, and other interpretive texts

• Lead assigned research projects related to loans, acquisitions, and deaccessions

• Conduct collection and exhibition tours as requested

• Collaborate with colleagues across Conservation, Education, Visitor Experience, Exhibitions, Editorial, Graphic Design, Development, and Registrar teams

• Write social media content highlighting works from the collections

• Participate in visits to potential donors and lenders with curators

• Carry out other duties as assigned

Preferred Skills

• Experience with collection databases (particularly TMS)

• Knowledge of European Art, Decorative Arts and Design, or art of the Spanish Americas

• Foreign language skills

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in art history, museum studies, visual culture, or a related field, or 2–3 years of relevant experience in a museum or cultural organization

• Strong organizational skills and attention to detail, with the ability to manage multiple projects

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills

• Experience with collaborative, cross-departmental work

• Background in scholarly research and writing

• Proficiency in Microsoft Office and general office tasks

This position offers an opportunity to gain in-depth curatorial experience within a major international museum, contributing to research, exhibitions, and public engagement across significant collections.