What can I do with a B.A. in Japanese Studies?

Institution: Worcester Art Museum
Location: Worcester, MA
Application Deadline: November 15, 2014
Education: PhD preferred

The Worcester Art Museum seeks an exceptional Assistant Curator of Asian Art to help lead a distinctive program centered upon the Museum’s significant Asian collections, launched in 1901 with a large bequest of Japanese prints by John Chandler Bancroft. Worcester’s holdings of Asian Art encompass the entire continent and range from antiquities to the twentieth century. Areas of particular depth include Japanese painting, with a notable concentration of haiga, and Japanese prints, including extensive holdings from the Edo, Meiji, and postwar eras. Other areas of strength include Chinese painting, ceramics, and jades; modern Japanese ceramics; and Indian and Persian painting. Specialists in all fields of Asian art are welcome to apply.

Guided by the Museum’s global perspective, vision statement, and strategic plan, the Assistant Curator of Asian Art will help shape the reinstallation of the Asian collections and develop a dynamic range of exhibitions, publications, and programs, meant to increase WAM’s audiences for Asian art, contribute original scholarship to the field, and enhance patronage for both the curatorial program and the entire museum. The Assistant Curator of Asian Art will work collaboratively with colleagues to create meaningful connections by integrating collections across departments and media. Under the guidance of the Director of Curatorial Affairs, other activities will include developing the collections by recommending acquisitions, proposing strategic deaccessioning, soliciting gifts, and cultivating patronage.

The Assistant Curator of Asian Art will lead exhibition project teams, collaborating with other curators as well as Education, Design, Conservation, Registration, and Marketing staff to ensure that projects meet the highest professional standards while fostering the museum’s values of innovation, relevance, and audience engagement. The Assistant Curator will also work closely with Development to acquire resources necessary to sustain and enhance exhibitions, publications, and acquisitions, as well as support the museum’s broader cultivation efforts and campaigns. In addition, the Assistant Curator of Asian Art will help create opportunities for interdisciplinary collaborations with the area’s many cultural and educational institutions, including the many colleges and universities in and around Worcester as well as with the city’s rapidly growing Asian communities.

The candidate must have experience in project planning, management, and implementation, possess strong interpersonal skills, be an excellent communicator, and be willing to work flexibly in larger teams. A PhD is preferred, as are a broad knowledge of art history, three or more years of curatorial experience, and an understanding of Asian art from antiquity to the twentieth century.

Centrally located in New England, Worcester is an hour from Boston, Providence, and Hartford, an hour and a half from the Berkshires, three hours from New York City, and is convenient to Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine.

Qualified applicants please send CV and cover letter to the Director of Human Resources, Worcester Art Museum, 55 Salisbury Street, Worcester, MA, 01609, or email documents tohumanresources@worcesterart.org by November 15, 2014. Early applications are encouraged. We pledge to conduct a confidential search. The Worcester Art Museum is an equal opportunity employer committed to diversity.

Post details: http://www.worcesterart.org/Information/Jobs/asian.html