Career Opportunity

Curator, Achenbach Foundation for Graphic Arts (3544 Curator III)

Recruitment: REF43611N

Published: August 06, 2024

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About:

Appointment Type: Permanent Exempt (PEX). This position is excluded by the Charter from the competitive Civil Service Examination process and shall serve at the discretion of the Appointing Officer. 

Specific information regarding this recruitment process is listed below:

• Application Opening: August 6, 2024
• Application Deadline: Interested applicants are encouraged to apply as soon as possible as this announcement may close at any time after 5:00pm on September 3, 2024.
• Current Compensation Range: $99,658/year - $121,212/year

Department Overview:

The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco are the city's largest public arts institutions and are comprised of the de Young and the Legion of Honor museums. The de Young, designed by Herzog & de Meuron and located in Golden Gate Park, showcases American art from the 17th through the 21st centuries, international contemporary art, textiles and costumes, and art from the Americas, the Pacific, and Africa. The Legion of Honor displays a collection of over 4,000 years of ancient and European art and houses the Achenbach Foundation for Graphic Arts (AFGA) in a Beaux-Arts style building overlooking Lincoln Park and the Golden Gate Bridge. The staff, the Board of Trustees, the volunteers, and various support groups are continuously working together to ensure the optimal utilization, display, preservation, and enrichment of this magnificent collection. The Fine Arts Museums believe that each employee contributes directly to the Museums' growth and success, and upholds the Museums' mission to make art accessible to the large and diverse Bay Area audience.

We Value Equal Employment Opportunity! 

The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco connect art, people and ideas.  Echoing the inclusive values of our region, we warmly welcome people of all backgrounds, connecting them to each other and to a world of art and ideas through programming that sparks curiosity and dialogue.  Between our two museums, you can experience a world of possibilities.

Role description

Section Description:  

Founded in 1948 with a bequest from Moore and Hazel Achenbach, the Achenbach Foundation for Graphic Arts (AFGA) is the department responsible for works of art on paper at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco: prints, drawings, photographs and artist books. For the scope and quality of its holdings, the AFGA is widely recognized as among the largest and best museum collections of works of art on paper in the United States. With a global collection of nearly 100,000 works representing over 500 years of graphic arts from around the world, the collection is the largest of its kind in Western United States, with particular strengths in Old Master European prints, modern and contemporary American prints and drawings, printmaking from the San Francisco Bay Area, and Japanese prints. Its holdings are utilized as a teaching vehicle as well as consistently loaned to exhibitions worldwide and featured in scholarly publications. Selections from the collection are exhibited in rotating exhibitions in specially designated galleries at the de Young and Legion of Honor. 

Role Description:

The Fine Arts Museums seek a highly motivated and qualified professional to serve as the Curator, AFGA. Reporting to and under the general direction of the Curator-in-Charge, AFGA, the Curator will plan and direct assigned activities of the Achenbach collection and supervise the activities of the curatorial team in the Department. This position works closely with the Curatorial Staff of other Curatorial Departments, as well as with the Exhibitions, Registration, Conservation and Technical Production staff; lenders; collectors; donors; trustees; dealers; and researchers.

Essential Duties:

The essential duties and responsibilities of the position include but are not limited to:

1. Identifies, classifies, researches and catalogues objects from the permanent collection; supervises the care and preservation of collection objects. Ensures the museum’s collection database is accurate, relevant and up-to-date in both physical and digital forms. Prepare labels, texts, brochures, and online resources relating to the access, presentation and interpretation of the permanent collection.

2. Suggests, conceptualizes, plans, designs, and supervises the display of the museum's collections of works on paper in the Legion of Honor and the de Young Museum. Plans and organizes loan exhibitions; manages the development of exhibition concepts, and conceptualizes new and engaging ways of displaying the permanent collection, in the museum and online. Makes cost estimates; corresponds with lenders; and coordinates the installation and promotion of exhibitions with other museum departments, including Publication, Registration, Design, Interpretation, Marketing, Communication, and Digital Strategy.

3. Produces high-level and inclusive scholarship in the field of works on paper by publishing in peer-reviewed journals and publications. Conducts original research in connection with collection objects. Represents and promotes the Achenbach department as an ambassador at conferences, scholarly events, and private functions that further the department’s mission and scholarly objectives. Builds and maintains advantageous departmental relationships with the community of collectors, art dealers, scholars, and institutions of higher learning.

4. Monitors the art market and makes recommendations for acquisitions, accessioning and deaccessioning works from the permanent collection. Develops ways to engage with collectors, donors, supporters and the department’s support group, Achenbach Graphic Arts Council, to entice both departmental support and gifts of works of art for the permanent collection.

5. Assist the fundraising and development efforts for the AFGA; actively participates in fundraising programs; cultivates and maintains relationships with donors, collectors, members of the community, and with the Achenbach’s support Council towards the support of the department’s programs of acquisitions, exhibitions, programming and scholarship.

6. Interprets the museum's collections and exhibitions in all fields. Assesses feasibility and provides recommendation on the loan of museum objects requested by other institutions; provides insurance values of objects on loan; maintains institutional relationships with colleagues from peer departments of works on paper. 

7. Corresponds and confers regularly with scholars, specialists, outside organizations, professional personnel, and the general public in connection with the permanent collections and assigned departmental activities and operations; supervises visits to the Roberts Seminar Room at the Achenbach from researchers and students; plans, supervises, and conducts programs of instruction in museum subjects and subject appreciation for children and adults; conducts lectures, public talks, audio tours, and gallery tours; presents and promotes the department’s current activities in the press, online, on radio and television programs. 

8. In concert with the Curator in Charge, organizes, manages and supervises the work of the curatorial team of assistant/associate curators, fellows, interns, and volunteers. Supervises, advises, and instructs the junior staff, as well as students in research study of the museum's collections and activities. Assists and prepares documentation for department and museum meetings. Manages departmental files and database records. 

9. Develops, coordinates, and carries out policies and procedures relative to the operations of special phases of departmental activities. Prepares and maintains operational records and reports relating to the assigned activities.

How to qualify

Minimum Qualifications:

Education: 

Possession of a Bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university with major course work in fine arts, art history, decorative arts, design, history, library science, museum studies, natural history, science, technology, or other closely related disciplines. 

Experience:

Five (5) years of museum experience

Applicants must meet the minimum qualification requirement by the final filing date unless otherwise noted.

One year full-time employment is equivalent to 2,000 hours (2,000 hours of qualifying work experience is based on a 40 hour work week). Any overtime hours that you work above 40 hours per week are not included in the calculation to determine full-time employment.

Desirable Qualifications:

The stated desirable qualifications may be used to identify job finalists at the end of the selection process when candidates are referred for selection.

• Possession of a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) from an accredited college or university with major course work in art history. 
• Knowledge of modern and contemporary prints and drawings.
• Experience working in a curatorial capacity in a fine arts museum.
• Knowledge of fine arts, art history, history of printmaking and drawing techniques, and museum studies.
• Experience in museum policies and procedures, including the proper methods of handling, storing, and processing a variety of art objects, and the general care of collections in a museum.
• Knowledge of museum exhibition methods and practices, including the proper method of developing, planning, and implementing museum exhibitions.
• Ability to establish and maintain effective and appropriate working relationships with staff, volunteers, the general public, individuals, and outside agencies, organizations, and groups.
• Ability to communicate with tact and courtesy with the public. Ability to deal with sensitive issues related to museum collections.
• Two (2) years of supervisory experience.

Important: Your application MUST include the following documents. To upload these items, please use the "Additional Attachments" function within the application process.

• Cover letter that explains why you are applying for this job, and how your experience makes you a good fit for this role.
• Current resume
• Published writing sample

What else should I know?

Verification: Applicants may be required to submit verification of qualifying education and experience at any point during the recruitment and selection process.

Note: Falsifying one’s education, training, or work experience or attempted deception on the application may result in disqualification for this and future job opportunities with the City and County of San Francisco. All work experience, education, training and other information substantiating how you meet the minimum qualifications must be included on your application by the filing deadline. Information submitted after the filing deadline may not be considered in determining whether you meet the minimum qualifications.

Resumes will not be accepted in lieu of a completed City and County of San Francisco application.

Applications completed improperly may be cause for ineligibility, disqualification or may lead to lower scores.

Selection Procedure: The selection process will include evaluation of applications in relation to minimum requirements. Depending on the number of applicants, the Department may establish and implement additional screening mechanisms to comparatively evaluation qualifications of candidates. If this becomes necessary, only those applicants whose qualifications most closely meet the needs of the Department will be invited for an interview. Applicants who meet the minimum qualifications are not guaranteed to advance through all of the steps in the selection process.

Recruitment Analyst Information: If you have any questions regarding this recruitment or application process, please contact the analyst, Eric Quock, at equock@famsf.org.

HOW TO APPLY

Applications for City and County of San Francisco jobs are only accepted through an online process. Visit https://careers.sf.gov/ to begin the application process. Select the “Apply Now” button and follow instructions on the screen.

Applicants may be contacted by email about this recruitment and, therefore, it is their responsibility to ensure that their registered email address is accurate and kept up-to-date. Also, applicants must ensure that email from CCSF is not blocked on their computer by a spam filter. To prevent blocking, applicants should set up their email to accept CCSF mail from the following addresses (@sfgov.org, @sfdpw.org, @sfport.com, @flysfo.com, @sfwater.org, @sfdph.org, @asianart.org, @sfmta.com, @sfpl.org, @dcyf.org, @first5sf.org, @famsf.org, @ccsf.edu, @smartalerts.info, and @smartrecruiters.com).
Applicants will receive a confirmation email that their online application has been received in response to every announcement for which they file. Applicants should retain this confirmation email for their records. Failure to receive this email means that the online application was not submitted or received.

Additional Information Regarding Employment with the City and County of San Francisco:

• Information About The Hiring Process
• Conviction History
• Employee Benefits Overview  
• Equal Employment Opportunity 
• Disaster Service Worker
• ADA Accommodation
• Right to Work
• Copies of Application Documents
• Diversity Statement

All your information will be kept confidential according to EEO guidelines.

Carol Isen - Human Resources Director

The City and County of San Francisco encourages women, minorities and persons with disabilities to apply. Applicants will be considered regardless of their sex, race, age, religion, color, national origin, ancestry, physical disability, mental disability, medical condition (associated with cancer, a history of cancer, or genetic characteristics), HIV/AIDS status, genetic information, marital status, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression, military and veteran status, or other protected category under the law.

The City and County of San Francisco encourages women, minorities and persons with disabilities to apply. Applicants will be considered regardless of their sex, race, age, religion, color, national origin, ancestry, physical disability, mental disability, medical condition (associated with cancer, a history of cancer, or genetic characteristics), HIV/AIDS status, genetic information, marital status, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression, military and veteran status, or other protected category under the law.