Jacques & Natasha Gelman Associate Curator

Metropolitan Museum of Art

Institution: The Metropolitan Museum of Art (The Met)
Location: New York City, New York, USA
Position Type: Full-Time 
Compensation Range: $95,000.00 – $100,000.00 / Annually
Application Deadline: Not specified

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

The Modern and Contemporary Art department at The Met is devoted to the study, collection and exhibition of art from 1890 to the present. An era marked by seismic cultural, social and political shifts across the globe, artistic responses to these changes have shaped multiple modernities and diverse contemporary practices. The department is committed to foregrounding the interconnected and richly variegated narratives and experiences that inform the art of this period from around the world.

Historically focused on the art of Western Europe and North America, since 2012 Modern and Contemporary Art has greatly expanded and diversified its collections, especially through works by women and artists of color, with particular emphasis on acquisitions from Latin America, South Asia, the Middle East, North Africa, Turkey, and African diasporas. Today, its holdings span a range of media, including paintings, sculpture, works on paper, design, decorative arts, and time-based media. The department presents rotating selections from its dynamic collections in its galleries and special projects throughout the museum.

GENERAL STATEMENT OF RESPONSIBILITIES & DUTIES

As the Jacques & Natasha Gelman Associate Curator, you will have expertise in the first half of the twentieth century, particularly in Europe. You will foster new research, scholarship, acquisitions, and displays to highlight, complicate, and resituate this landmark period in art history; and you will seek deeper inroads that enrich our understanding of canonical movements and shed light on underexplored areas. You will collaborate with Conservators and Scientists and act as an advocate within the wider curatorial field thru the publication and presentation of your work within professional forums.

PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES & DUTIES

• Engage in actively situating art and artists of this period within an international context, grounding the artists and their work within the most pressing social, political, and aesthetic issues of their time.

• Participate in the care of the collection, including potential provenance research, framing, deaccessioning, documentation, and label writing.

• Propose art historical narratives, installations, and acquisitions that make this material and period come alive for audiences.

• Conduct research and archival work to produce creative and fresh interpretative throughways into historical material.

• Communicate scholarly research in a variety of modes—written or through lectures or gallery talks—that accommodate a variety of audience needs.

• Work collaboratively across the department and Museum, especially on ongoing projects related to the Tang Wing, The Met’s new wing for Modern and Contemporary Art.

• Work independently and in collaboration/coordination with curatorial, collections, conservation, advancement, audience engagement, and administrative staff.

• Other duties as assigned.

REQUIREMENTS & QUALIFICATIONS

• Master’s Degree in Art History, or area of specialty required. PhD or equivalent preferred.

• Expertise in early twentieth century art, particularly in Europe.

• Experience working with museum collections preferred, including experience in building collections and curating collection displays.

• 5 years of experience in museum or academic institution.

• Proven scholarly achievement in the field of modern and contemporary art, including original research and critical inquiry in publications, exhibitions, and public speaking.

• Understanding of current curatorial practice and methodologies.

• Ability to undertake creation of precise and deeply researched records.

• Demonstrated experience organizing collection displays, major exhibitions, and educational programs.

• Proven project-management skills and ability to work effectively and collaboratively in partnership with other colleagues.

• Demonstrated engagement with and knowledge of artistic practice around the world.

• Commitment to maintaining a high degree of professionalism and diplomacy.

• Experience in cultivating donors and collectors.

• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills (written, oral, visual).

• Highly motivated, organized, and detail-oriented.

• Ability to contribute to an inclusive and positive work environment.

• Demonstrated competence in Met’s core capabilities: (a) quality of work, (b) collaboration, (c) communication, and (d) adaptability to change.

• Ability to adapt and produce results on multiple projects with shifting priorities.

• Facility in at least one European language, especially French or German.

• Familiarity with the following software: TMS, Adobe Suite, and Microsoft Office Suite.

COMPENSATION RANGE

Pay Range: $95,000.00 – $100,000.00 / 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

Research shows that women and people from underrepresented groups often apply to jobs only if they meet 100% of the qualifications. We recognize that it is highly unlikely that someone meets 100% of the qualifications 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.