The Roy Lichtenstein Curatorial Fellowship at the Columbus Museum of Art

The Columbus Museum of Art (CMA) is pleased to announce the opening of applications for the Roy Lichtenstein Curatorial Fellowship. This two-year fellowship in the museum’s curatorial department is funded by a generous long-term grant from the Roy Lichtenstein Foundation. The position is intended for recent postgraduates in art history or a related field anticipating curatorial career. The fellowship offers training in all aspects of curatorial work and opportunities to develop new projects and programs with both scholarly and public impact.

The Roy Lichtenstein Curatorial Fellowship grant recognizes Roy Lichtenstein’s connection to the Columbus community and the formative influence of his years living in the city. The artist matriculated into The Ohio State University’s College of Education, School of Fine and Applied Arts in 1940. He received his BFA in 1946 and his MFA in 1949. He also taught studio courses in the School of Fine and Applied Arts between 1946 and 1951.

The museum seeks a talented scholar and thoughtful communicator with strong curatorial ambitions in the areas of modern and contemporary art. The ideal candidate will use this position to meaningfully connect multiple partners, stakeholders, and audiences with artists, artworks, and the ideas they embody. Applications are requested from scholars whose interests and fields of expertise align with Columbus Museum of Art collections and programs.

The fellow is an integral member of the curatorial department and an active collaborator with staff across the museum. Reporting to the curator of collections and exhibitions and working in concert with the broader curatorial and exhibitions teams, as well as with colleagues at The Ohio State University and elsewhere, the fellow will assist in the organization and implementation of special exhibitions, permanent collection rotations, public programs, and publications.

About the Columbus Museum of Art:

The Columbus Museum of Art’s mission is to create great experiences with great art for everyone. Guided by a vision to connect people and art, CMA nurtures that relationship, and attempts to remove barriers between our community and its museum.

CMA’s collection includes outstanding examples of late nineteenth and early twentieth-century American and European works of modern art, represented primarily by the collections of Ferdinand Howald and Howard D. and Babette L. Sirak. These important collections are joined by significant holdings of the New York Photo League, as well as the Philip and Suzanne Schiller Collection of American Social Commentary Art and the Scantland Collection of contemporary art. In October 2015, the museum unveiled an extensive 50,000 square foot renovation. This major overhaul of featured construction of the Margaret M. Walter Wing, the upper galleries of which showcase the museum’s postwar and contemporary collections.

Since 2019, the museum has organized an off-site program of contemporary exhibitions at The Pizzuti, an 18,000 square foot facility located in the Short North neighborhood, which was gifted by Ann and Ron Pizzuti in late 2018. CMA also operates the Aminah Robinson Legacy Project which encompasses an artist residency program for U.S.-based visual artists and writers located in the former home of artist Aminah Robinson. Through its Art in Public Spaces (APS) program, the museum actively lends works from its permanent collection to city and state governmental institutions, including the Ohio Statehouse and Franklin County Courthouse, among others.

Eligibility

Applicants should have received a terminal degree in art history or a related field within the past five years. Consideration will be given to candidates whose scholarship focuses on modern and contemporary art, with a particular focus on areas of study directly relevant to the museum’s collections and special exhibition program.

Application Materials:

1. Cover letter addressing your interest in the position and specifying your areas of research, relevant experiences, and goals for the Fellowship
2. Full curriculum vitae of education, professional experience, honors, awards, and publications
3. Copy of a published paper or recent writing sample
4. Contact details for three professional references (including at least one academic reference)

The deadline for all application materials, including letters of recommendation, is Friday, June 28, 2024 and applications will be considered on a rolling basis

The proposed starting date for the Roy Lichtenstein Curatorial Fellow is Tuesday, September 3, 2024.

Position Title:

Roy Lichtenstein Curatorial Fellow

Department:                    Curatorial

Reports to:                        Curator of Collections and Exhibitions

Supervises:                       Interns and Volunteers, as needed

FSLA Status:                    Full-time, Exempt

Work Schedule:              Monday – Friday, 9:00 AM – 5:30 PM

Salary:                               $60,000 annually, with benefits

Proposed Start Date:    September 2024 or as agreed

Position Summary:

The Roy Lichtenstein Curatorial Fellow will provide curatorial, administrative, and research assistance to the museum’s curatorial staff in support of the curatorial department’s ongoing programs. The Fellow will work closely with the curator of collections and exhibitions on public programs, permanent collection matters, exhibitions, and publications. The Fellow may share responsibility with the museum’s registrars in responding to general collection inquiries and overseeing research requests and scholars’ visits. The Fellow is encouraged to pursue independent scholarly activity pertinent to their own research interests and background, ideally with relevance to the museum’s collections and exhibition program.

Duties and Responsibilities:

• Assist in the research, development, and implementation of exhibitions organized by the museum and its curators. This may include drafting exhibition-related texts, coordinating checklists, loan paperwork, written correspondence, photography, and other forms of documentation.
• Lead the development and coordination of selected public programs. Alongside internal museum colleagues, this may involve coordination with local colleagues and other outside partners.
• Maintain an active engagement with art-historical scholarship, including through scholarly publications, occasional writing, conference presentations, public programs, and related endeavors.
• Assist in the development and coordination of exhibition-related publications, including communication with authors, editors, designers, and publishing houses.
• Assist in maintaining documentary files and answer research inquiries about collections and exhibitions.
• Attend Committee on Collections meetings, taking minutes, and providing administrative and research support potential acquisition opportunities.
• Oversee and manage interns within the curatorial department.
• Provide guest curators with in-house curatorial support.
• Assist curators in the management of the permanent collection including research, installations, loans, and didactics.
• Provide curatorial support for the museum’s docent and educational programs as needed.
• Serve as liaison to donors and collectors as needed.
• Communicate across departments to ensure that Marketing, Advancement, and Learning departments have access to necessary information as needed on exhibitions, programming, and collections.
• Assist curatorial staff with administrative duties as requested.

Qualifications:

• Master’s degree in art history or related discipline required, PhD preferred.
• Relevant previous museum or gallery experience a plus.
• Strong organizational skills, including ability to prioritize and maintain attention to detail.
• Proficiency with standard office applications and aptitude to learn CMA’s collection management software.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.

Performance Standards:

The Roy Lichtenstein Curatorial Fellow is expected to be:

• professional and discreet in the performance of their duties
• efficient and accurate in their work
• a team player who works well with a variety of staff and volunteers
• a skilled communicator
• comfortable working with the academic community
• willing to take on additional responsibilities as needed

Physical Demands: The museum is happy to offer reasonable accommodation for those with disabilities, but candidates will need to see, talk, hear, and manipulate computer software.

Go to https://www.columbusmuseum.org/about-cma/job-opportunities/ to apply!