Executive Director, SU Art Museum

$150,000 - $175,000/Yr

Syracuse University - Syracuse, NY

Full-time - Executive

Syracuse, NY

Educational Services

About the position

Syracuse University seeks a visionary and dynamic museum professional to lead the Museum and oversee outstanding exhibitions, collections, research, visual arts education, and exceptional visitor experiences for the University community and Syracuse community at large. The SU Art Museum is a point of pride for Syracuse University, featuring one of the top ten largest academic museum collections in the United States and providing a rich academic resource for faculty, students, and alumni. It serves the culturally vibrant communities of Syracuse and the Central New York region as well as New York City through its exhibitions and programming at the Louise and Bernard Palitz Gallery at Lubin House. The Museum plays an active educational role on campus. Its galleries and study rooms function as learning sites, and its expansive collection is a teaching and research tool that serves students and faculty from all schools and colleges on campus. The Museum hosts approximately 250 class visits per year and works closely with faculty from a wide range of academic departments. Museum staff also collaborate with faculty to curate curriculum-focused exhibitions, offering students the opportunity to learn about the work of the Museum and to contribute their perspectives to the interpretation of the Museum's collections. The Museum also hosts a Faculty Fellows Program, a stipend-supported opportunity that guides faculty from diverse departments on how to incorporate object-based teaching and research into their existing course syllabi and provides ongoing curricular and instructional support. The SU Art Museum is a member of the Coalition of Museum and Art Centers (CMAC), a vibrant consortium of visual art centers across campus. The SU Art Museum also offers Photography and Literacy Project, which promotes critical thinking, self-expression, literacy, and self-esteem for youth in the Syracuse City School District. The SU Art Museum serves as the steward of a collection of more than 45,000 objects that spans 5,500 years, is global in geographic scope (including Europe, the Americas, East Asia, South Asia, and West Africa), and represents a diversity of media (including works on paper, paintings, sculpture, photography, ceramic, textiles, and glassware). The collection also features gifts from artists, including content from studios and complete print catalogs. Recent collecting efforts have focused on supporting the University's curriculum and introducing greater racial and gender diversity into the Museum's holdings. Since 2019, purchases have prioritized contemporary artworks by Black and Indigenous artists. In addition to the Executive Director, the Museum employs seven full-time staff that work closely with advisors throughout the University to optimize the physical space, including exhibition galleries and collections storage, and to improve physical and digital accessibility of the Museum's collections. The Museum has an annual operating budget of approximately 1.5 million, excluding additional University support and benefits from the advice and advocacy of a ten-member Advisory Board who work as ambassadors for the Museum alongside the Executive Director and staff to advance the interest of the Museum and Syracuse University. The Executive Director reports to the Associate Provost for Strategic Initiatives in the Office of Academic Affairs. Given the Museum's importance as an educational and cultural asset, the University's leadership is poised to invest in and support the Executive Director's bold strategic vision for the SU Art Museum. The Executive Director will redefine the role of an academic museum in the 21st century and reinforce its role as a destination on campus, in the city of Syracuse, and in the Central New York region as a place of welcome, stimulation, and contemplation for students, faculty, staff, and the citizens of Syracuse and beyond for years to come.

Responsibilities

• Oversee all museum operations in order to provide strategic and collaborative leadership and vision.
• Develop and maintain the University art collection, oversee the production of high quality exhibitions, publications, scholarship, and other programs for the SU Art Museum and Palitz Gallery.
• Support the academic mission to increase awareness and appreciation for the arts for students, faculty, staff, alumni, and members of the general public.
• Provide leadership, vision, and guidance and supervise the activities of seven full-time staff including Associate Director, Curator, Curator of Education, Registrar, Assistant Registrar and Provenance Researcher, Preparator, and Administrative Specialist, in addition to part-time staff, graduate assistants, and interns.
• Create a strategic plan with Board and staff to address museum mission, vision, and goals for the next five years.
• Implement appropriate policies governing conservation, documentation, security, and storage of, as well as physical and digital access to, the collection.
• Plan for the long-range development of programs and activities and direct the administrative and operational activities of the Museum.
• Develop and expand on opportunities that emphasize community engagement.
• Develop the physical footprint of the building to achieve the mission of the Museum.
• Oversee accreditation and application of professional practices.
• Develop and administer use and care of the permanent collection for viewing at the University, in New York.
• Work with all appropriate departments at the University to maintain the exhibition and collection storage facilities.
• Develop budget recommendations, maintain records, approve expenditures, manage endowment resources, and interview and select staff.
• Strengthen philanthropic support and partner with the Advisory Board and the Syracuse University Office of Development to increase major gift fundraising and attract new institutional and individual donors.
• Account for budget planning and controlling expenditures for the art collection. Prepare annual documentation of a multi-million-dollar University asset for financial/accounting departments/risk management. Prepare reports for use of restricted funds.

Requirements

• Advanced degree in art history or related field (Master's required, Ph.D. preferred) and several years of experience in a senior-level administrative role in a museum or similar environment, or an equivalent combination of experience and education.
• Highly developed creative problem solving, persuasion, and negotiation skills.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Proven museum experience, including executing exhibitions, publications, and programming.
• Experience overseeing collections, operations, fundraising efforts, public relations, marketing initiatives, and budgets.
• Administrative and operational sophistication: A record of effective management of physical, human, and financial resources.
• A deep understanding of and interest in financial and budget oversight and the interplay of institutional priorities, planning, resource requirements, and revenue generation.
• Substantial and successful fundraising experience; additional professional experience that reflects the development of robust support networks.
• Demonstrated knowledge of current trends and conversations within the museum field including equity-oriented practices that center community voices.
• Extensive knowledge of and experience with professional practices of collection care and management.
• Extensive knowledge of the American Alliance of Museums accreditation process.
• Experience working successfully with boards, faculty councils, and student groups.
• Significant record of successful fundraising through philanthropy and grants.
• Commitment to academic culture and a desire to contribute to the same: broad vision and curiosity; boldness of ideas.
• Leadership qualities: An audacious thinker with a record of successful executive leadership, including visionary thinking, strategic planning and implementation, board and community engagement, and program development and assessment.
• Commitment to diversity, inclusion, and accessibility: A record of dedication to and success in the advancement of diversity, inclusion, and accessibility.

Nice-to-haves

• Preference given to candidates who gained these experiences while working at a museum on an academic campus.
• Preference given to candidates with experience successfully completing the accreditation process.