Curatorial Associate, Architecture and Design

Position Overview:

The MIT Museum Architecture and Design collection, one of the most significant museum architecture collections in the country, had its origin with the establishment at MIT in the 1860s of America’s first academic program in architecture. Today it embraces architectural pedagogy – including nearly a century of student thesis drawings – and architectural practice (for example, office records of The Architects Collaborative, founded by Walter Gropius, and Kallmann, McKinnell & Wood; another Boston-area firm). The collection also includes significant examples of graphic design and photography, notably the Berenice Abbott and the Minor White/Creative Photography Laboratory archives.

The Curatorial Associate (CA) for Architecture and Design supports work in all of these subject areas and assists the Curator of Architecture and Design in a wide range of initiatives in collections development, management and access; exhibitions curation and installation; research and publications; public programs and education; public reference services; and supervision of interns.

Principal Duties and Responsibilities:

Collection development and management. Assists in the acquisition (and deaccessioning) of collections. Prepares inventories of new acquisitions. Rehouses and performs basic conservation on drawings and other artifacts. Catalogues and contributes essential metadata for the collection. Researches and writes collection guides, finding aids, web pages and other documentation. Supports the Curator and Museum Registrar and Collections Manager in the preparation of collection loans.

Imaging initiatives: Carries out digital imaging and postproduction file management to enable online access to, and maintaining digital surrogates of, the Architecture and Design collection.

Exhibitions: Assists the Curator, the Registrar, and the Exhibitions team in the planning and organization, research and curation, production and installation of exhibitions in the Kurtz Gallery for Photography and other venues. The CA also assists in preparing information to support the Museum’s fundraising and publicity efforts in connection with exhibitions and related programs.

Publications: Assists with research and preparation of collection and exhibition catalogues, essays and other publications.

Intern and Volunteer Supervision: Assists the Curator in the supervision of interns, volunteers and temporary staff. Provides some training and support, especially in the use of the museum’s collections database and digital imaging equipment. Monitors intern and volunteer workflow.

Educational programs: Assists the Curator and the Museum Education and Programs team in the organization and presentation of public educational programs, gallery talks, symposia and other events, and in hosting visiting curricular seminars.

Reference services: Assists the Curator and members of the Collections team in responding to reference requests from museum staff, the MIT community, researchers and the general public. Responds to email, telephone calls and in-person inquiries, and to image and reproduction requests, including the preparation of all permission and use agreements. Arranges appointments and assists with collections consultation. Occasional evening and weekend hours required for public programs or other events.

Supervision Received:

Reports to the Curator of Architecture and Design.

Supervision Exercised:

Assists in supervising temporary project staff, interns and volunteers.

Qualifications & Skills:

MINIMUM REQUIRED EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE:
Three years of curatorial, archival or other relevant museum or collections experience. B.A. in subject area related to the position (art history, visual studies, material culture, cultural history, history of photography, architecture or museum studies). Excellent organizational and time management skills, the ability to develop effective work processes and to coordinate multiple projects simultaneously. Ability to maintain precise and careful records. Excellent writing, oral communication and interpersonal skills. A positive and collegial work ethic, and the ability to work collaboratively within the Collections/Curatorial teams and Museum staff as a whole, and with faculty, students and the academic community. Ability to lift archival boxes weighing 35 lbs.

PREFERRED EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE:
Demonstrated knowledge of architectural and design history, digital media and/or the history of photography Master’s degree (or equivalent subject expertise, experience and training) in relevant subject areas. Experience with collection management digital tools including collections database systems and/or imaging platforms.

To Apply:

Applicants must apply online at MIT HR website.

MIT Museum
265 Massachusetts Ave
02139 Cambridge (Massachusetts)
http://mitmuseum.mit.edu/