The Museum of Northwest Art (MoNA), La Conner, Washington is conducting a search for the newly created position of Director of Curatorial Affairs & Curator of Northwest Art (DCA&CNWA). This expansive new position has been created to provide strategic vision and managerial leadership to MoNA’s collection, exhibition, research, and scholarship initiatives and will work alongside the museum’s key positions to catalyze meaningful academic and community engagement with the museum and its collection of Northwest art. 

ABOUT THE MUSEUM OF NORTHWEST ART The mission of the Museum of Northwest Art is to collect, preserve, interpret, and exhibit art created in the Pacific Northwest, support artists, and strive to integrate art into the lives of all people. Founded in La Conner, Washington in rural Skagit Valley in 1981 as the Valley Museum of Northwest Art to celebrate the legacy of the Northwest School. Today MoNA’s Permanent Collection includes 2,400 historical and contemporary works of Northwest art (20th century Northwest School artists, landscape and still life, 1960s and 1970s abstraction, glass and contemporary craft). Exhibitions rotate up to four times annually and reach 45,000+ visitors through museum free-admission and outreach programs. In the past three years, as the Museum re-emerged from the pandemic, the institution has been redefining its role, including who the Museum serves and how it impacts the community and cultural sector, to create a lively hub of engagement and belonging. Led by an active and energized Board and a team of 13 staff members, the Museum is developing a ‘continuity of meaning’ across collections, exhibitions, education programs and partnerships, responding to community needs, and facilitating connections among diverse constituents with the goal of being a space of transformative reflection, exchange, and empowerment of the many cultures that partake in the diverse cultural milieu of the Pacific Northwest.

THE OPPORTUNITY The Director of Curatorial Affairs & Curator of Northwest Art is one of three leadership positions that will collaboratively work to establish and support MoNA’s direction and strategic priorities. Reporting to the museum’s Executive Director and working in close collaboration with the Director of Education and the Manager of External Affairs, this position will conceive and organize exhibitions (whether drawn from the collection of modern and contemporary art or through loans from individual/institutional collections) that advance interdisciplinary and innovative opportunities to celebrate the cultural and artistic history of the Northwest while putting forward a more nuanced and inclusive interpretation of “American” art in the region. The Director of Curatorial Affairs/Curator of Northwest Art will be a proven administrator with experience mentoring staff and a well-developed understanding of curatorial, installation, and collections care and shared-stewardship practices with Native American, Latinx, Black and Communities of Color in the region. The DCA&CNWA provides direct supervision to three positions: Collections Manager, Collections Assistant, and a part-time installer/art handler. 121 1st Street, La Conner, Washington 98257 In 2021, Executive Director Stefano Catalani joined MoNA with more than 20 years of curatorial and management experience in museums and higher education. Under new leadership, MoNA has been redefining its role vis-à-vis the communities that the Museum represents and serves. With exhibitions and educational initiatives aimed at establishing ongoing, intentional and long-term relationships with the diverse communities in the region, the new position of Director of Curatorial Affairs & Curator of Northwest Art is a critical and transformative step for MoNA in building capacity for cultural engagement. Inherent in this opportunity is the potential to help develop a vision for MoNA as a welcoming museum that is visitor-centered, civic-minded, diverse, inclusive, responsive, and participatory. The new position of Director of Curatorial Affairs & Curator of Northwest Art will have a critical role in helping redefine the role of the Museum by utilizing the collection as a springboard to develop relevant and compelling exhibitions, as well as public programs that inspire inquiry and discovery, serving both the local and larger regional community, and beyond. This opportunity will appeal to an aspirational museum professional who is excited about providing thought partnership around the considerable strengths of MoNA’s collection and activating its potential of community engagement through exhibitions and curatorial initiatives. The DCA&CNWA will have preferably a specialization in the American Art canon and also the breadth of experience to advance a community-centric and interdisciplinary approach to exhibition development, related scholarship, and programming that speaks to the current cultural and sociopolitical landscape in inclusive ways. They also administer the Museum of Northwest Art collecting activities, working closely with the Executive Director and Museum Collections Committee to establish priorities and plans for collection care, stewardship, research, documentation, and access. Supported by a dedicated staff, they will demonstrate a generative and inclusive vision that engages and excites community stakeholders and motivates and inspires confidence from individual donors and collectors.

ABOUT THE POSITION: Title: Director of Curatorial Affairs & Curator of Northwest Art

Department: Curatorial

Position Type: Full-time and Exempt (40 hours per week)

Reports to: Executive Director

Compensation range: $75-000-$80,000 commensurate to proven experience

Other Benefits: $300 per month health & wellness stipend, MoNA observes 11 paid holidays per year. PTO (vacation, sick, etc.) is accrued at a rate of 20 days/year in the 1st year of employment.

Location: La Conner, WA. Required to be onsite four days a week. 

RESPONSIBILITIES

•  Provide leadership and direction to the curatorial, registrar, conservation, and installation staff and department, including priority setting, coaching, and performance management. 
• Supervise and support curatorial participation throughout the process of exhibition, publication, research, and programming proposal development and implementation. 
• Play a critical role in the museum’s official opening, collaborate with the museum’s educational staff to support sustainable relationship building and organizational impact. 
• Play a critical role in the museum’s budgeting process, and collaborate with the museum’s institutional advancement staff to create sustainable fundraising in support of the exhibition program and collection management and care.
• Oversee research in the collections and collaborate with museum colleagues such as a Registrar/Collection Manager to develop appropriate methods for collections access and disseminating research to diverse audiences.
• Collaborate with the Executive Director and the leadership team to conceive and shape a distinctive and dynamic exhibition program that is well-researched, exciting, and advances the museum’s mission.
• Collaborate and implement the activation of the share-stewardship policies/practices and a DEAI strategy in all exhibitions and related initiatives. 
• Develop and implement exhibition budgets and schedules, collaborating closely with the Executive Director and museum staff.
•  Collaborate with Marketing staff to promote exhibitions, publications and collection related initiatives.
• Partner with the Education department to develop interpretative programs in support of the museum’s teaching mission and interpretive planning goals.
• Provide direction for the growth of collections, through acquisitions and gifts, as well as long-term planning and priorities for the conservation of items within the collections.
• In partnership with the Executive Director and development planning team, cultivates relationships with existing donors and potential donors, foundations, and collectors.
•  In partnership with the Executive Director and museum leadership team, build and maintain sustainable relationships with Indigenous and LatinX communities.
• Builds and maintains a network of professional relationships with artists, curators, critics, and other specialists locally, nationally, and globally.
• Contribute to the development, writing, implementation, and reporting of major grants and gifts.
• Other duties as assigned.

SKILLS and KNOWLEDGE

• 5 years of experience in collaboratively conceptualizing, designing, and installing relevant, creative and innovative exhibitions in an art and/or culture environment for diverse community audiences with progressively increasing levels of responsibility and accountability
• 4 years of experience leading, managing, mentoring staff members with diverse needs and complex interdependent deliverables 121 1st Street, La Conner, Washington 98257
• Demonstrated leadership in museum field specifically related to curatorial, collections, and exhibition development work
• Preferred experience working directly with Indigenous (Native American and Latinx) communities, navigating colonial histories and building sustainable, transparent relationships
• Demonstrated commitment to DEAI principles
• Experience in assisting with culturally complex, sensitive, or confidential projects - including a demonstrated ability to listen and deal empathetically with a wide range of people and cultural groups
• Enthusiasm for strategically communicating the museum’s mission to diverse individuals, communities, and cultures in our local community and globally
• Strong administrative, fiscal, and staff management skills, with a clear record of leading and managing museum projects, including exhibitions
• Advanced knowledge of museum curating, research, and collections development
• Knowledge and understanding of museum ethics and principles, especially with regard to issues of provenance/provenience
• Excellent presentation and writing skills, and effective communication, organizational, and time-management skills
• Ability to work as a member of a team-based environment with strong collaborative skills
• Demonstrated ability to direct, coach, and motivate direct reports 
• Willingness to build positive and effective relationships with museum colleagues, donors, and the broader Pacific Northwest communities
• Demonstrated experience and ability to achieve deliverables while working collaboratively and independently without close supervision within tight deadlines.

As an equal opportunity employer, all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, national origin, age, protected veteran or neurodiversity, disability status, or genetic information. The Museum is committed to being a welcoming place, where all members of the community experience belonging. MoNA strives to be a place where connecting through art experience can lead to a greater understanding of the human condition. MoNA’s Statement of Institutional Commitments to Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility. 12