Curatorial Project Manager
Mel Ziegler, Flag Exchange (2011 – 2016); 50 American flags, one from each state, fabric, cable; dimensions variable; unique. Courtesy of the artist and Galerie Perrotin.
Curatorial Project Manager
With new projects coming online in Kansas City and places including Minneapolis, Denver, Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and internationally, el dorado is seeking applications for an experienced Project Manager with a background in contemporary art. The Project Manager should be a seasoned contemporary art producer, with approximately ten or more years of experience, and will play a key role in the development, production, management, and implementation of temporary and permanent public artworks, exhibitions, and ambitious artist-driven initiatives in the public realm.
el dorado’s current and upcoming projects span typologies from light industrial to curatorial; master planning to residential; urban design to custom fabrication; single family residential to block scale mixed-use developments; urban and rural. el dorado is an cross-disciplinary firm of 28 architects, designers, curators, and fabricators based in Kansas City, Missouri. We have a lively, rigorous studio culture, a full fabrication and mock-up shop, healthy compensation, and comprehensive benefits. This unique role supports el dorado’s recent expansion, which integrated a curatorial and writing practice into the heart of the firm to intensify our work at the intersection of architecture, contemporary art, and cultural impact.
Candidates for this role may come from a variety of backgrounds, such as architecture, contemporary art, municipal or cultural non-profits, but must have significant experience managing and implementing complex projects. The successful applicant will have a passion for the essential role artists play in public life, an ability to fluidly adapt to diverse project typologies, and facility to fully engage in strategy, while at the same time having core responsibility to operationalize and deliver projects. Bachelor’s degree required and Master’s degree preferred in a related field.
The Curatorial Project Manager:
- Has significant experience producing and shepherding projects within visual arts; public programming; architecture; urban and/or public realm design;
- Is articulate, meticulous, organized, proactive, deeply curious, funny, at ease under pressure, knowledgeable about the field, and passionate about engaging diverse publics in vital conversations through and around contemporary art and artists;
- Is responsible for managing all aspects of multiple small to large projects;
- Engages with artists, scholars, community partners, and others in service of project implementation;
- Is responsible for the coordination of all project efforts both administrative and technical in order to assure the most efficient and cost-effective execution of assigned projects;
- Serves as the secondary client liaison to bring the schedule, budgets, and scope of work to completion;
- Actively manages project budgets, schedules, and programs; tracks deliverables; project communications and documentation; office administrative tasks and project team assignments;
- Estimates fees, determines scope of work, assists with proposal generation and prime contracts, drafts agreements with artists and partners;
- Solicits consultant proposals and prepares scopes of work;
- Initiates and / or develops project designs, is responsible for preparing project presentations;
- Leads and directs activities of project team personnel while monitoring technical production on projects to ensure adherence to quality standards and productivity;
- Coordinates all trades and agencies related to delivery of projects;
- Responsible for interpreting, organizing, executing, and coordinating assignments as needed for each project: involving exploration of subject area, definition of scope, selection of items for investigation, and development of concepts and methods;
- Assists principals as required, and performs curatorial / designer duties as needed;
- Assists research process for all curatorial efforts;
- Develops key external partnerships in service of public engagement and curatorial efforts;
- Seeks curatorial and publication opportunities that are accretive to el dorado’s vision;
Interested candidates should submit a CV and portfolio to Monica Allen by emailing: monica@eldo.us with a subject line reading Curatorial Project Manager Candidate Response [your last name]. Please, no phone calls or drop ins. We are actively reviewing applications on a weekly basis. There is no deadline for submitting resumes and portfolios. el dorado is an equal opportunity employer that believes a dynamic creative community is enriched by diversity and inclusion. el dorado does not discriminate in employment opportunities or practices on the basis of race, creed, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions), marital status, national origin, ancestry, age, disability, family care status, protected veteran status, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, citizenship status, genetic information or any other characteristic protected by applicable law or humanist worldview.
About el dorado inc
Established in 1996, el dorado is an architecture, urban design, curatorial, education and fabrication practice located approximately in Kansas, Missouri. In the beginning, as equal parts art gallery, fabrication shop and design studio, we were known for fingerless gloves and raffish outbursts that helped jumpstart Kansas City’s emergent culture. Today, we work purposefully across scales and contexts, from city blocks to exhibitions, between critical ideas and our intangible, spiritual attachment to place. el dorado’s three partners and 28 staff — including 11 architects, a university professor, curators, industrial designers and certified welders — chase big ideas with a common touch.
Enlivening contradictions are coded within el dorado: yes, there’s the mythical city of gold, but we’re also named after a gas guzzler. Our core belief — design excellence is possible anywhere, for anyone — has us saying Hell Yes! to unexpected opportunities as often as, No!, we ain’t going down that dark road. We are equally as eager to upend industrial typologies as we are for ascendant collaborations with artists, bringing design integrity to low cost housing or starting critical design dialogues in rural America. Our Kansas City roots grant intimate knowledge of the strange magnetism that bridges flyover status with hard-earned belief in the possibilities of this place.
The mythologies and rigor of the Midwest flow through our practice, and we see the shared ethic between the astronaut’s moonshot and a farmer’s buckshot. el dorado seeks opportunities for everyday alchemy and radical normalcy throughout our polarized landscape. Our work creates common ground in the middle of everywhere.