Deputy Director of Curatorial and Academic Affairs and Curator of American Art

About the role

The Deputy Director of Curatorial and Academic Affairs and Curator of American Art is a faculty, non-tenure track, senior leadership role at the Georgia Museum of Art ("Museum"), responsible for setting and executing the museum's curatorial vision across its entire collection and exhibition program. Reporting to the Director, the Deputy Director provides strategic direction for exhibitions, acquisitions, publications, and academic programming, while ensuring the museum's curatorial mission is deeply integrated with the teaching, research, and public service goals of the University of Georgia.

Responsibilities

• Set the strategic direction for the Museum’s exhibition program, ensuring rigorous, innovative, and wide-ranging programming that reflects current scholarship and engages broad audiences.
• Oversee the care and development of the Museum’s American art collection, including acquisitions, deaccessions, provenance research, gift assessment, and donor cultivation; manage the departmental budget.
• Conceptualize, research, and organize exhibitions and gallery installations drawn from the permanent collection and loans from other institutions and private collections, with deep expertise in at least one area of American art and broad familiarity across the field from the colonial period through the present.
• Conduct and publish original scholarly research on American art and artists through peer-reviewed journals, exhibition catalogs, and other scholarly platforms; present at national and international conferences.
• Build and sustain relationships with artists, scholars, collectors, and peer institutions to support exhibitions, research, and programming related to the American art collection.
• Promote the Museum’s reputation in the field through participation in national and international professional organizations.
• Host and collaborate with guest curators, artists, scholars, and critics, including occasional residencies and symposia.
• Supervise and mentor direct reports, fostering a collaborative and intellectually ambitious departmental culture.
• Work closely with conservators and registrars to assess conservation needs, ensure proper documentation, and maintain the highest standards of collection care.

Academic Integration, Teaching, and Public Engagement

• Provide strategic oversight of the Learning and Engagement department, supervising the department head to ensure that programming aligns with the museum’s mission.
• Serve as a presenter, panelist, or subject expert in relevant symposia, conferences, and public programs.
• Oversee departmental initiatives to train students in curatorial practices and methods through experiential learning opportunities, including museum internships.
• Develop and teach undergraduate and graduate courses in the Lamar Dodd School of Art and other academic departments, as time and opportunity permit.

Institutional Leadership and Planning

• Serve as a key member of the museum’s senior leadership team, contributing to long-range strategic planning, staffing decisions, and institutional priorities.
• Closely work with the Museum Director and Development team to secure funding for exhibitions, acquisitions, and programming through grants, donor gifts, and institutional partnerships.
• Develop and oversee curatorial and exhibition proposals, setting objectives and monitoring expenditures.
• Represent the museum as an effective spokesperson at the local, national, and international level, advancing its profile in the broader museum and academic communities.
• Participate in staff and advisory council meetings as needed.

Donor Cultivation and Development

• Actively cultivate relationships with donors, collectors, foundations, and corporate funders in support of exhibitions, acquisitions, and programmatic needs.
• Solicit gifts of art and financial contributions to grow the permanent collection and support the museum’s mission.
• Collaborate with Development staff on grant applications and fundraising initiatives.

Service and Public Engagement

• Provide tours of special exhibitions and the permanent collection for the public, university groups, and visiting scholars.