Museum Curator

National Gallery of Art

$75K — $95K *
Education, Government & Non-Profit
Less than 5 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • Master's degree in art history, museum studies, or related field.
  • Minimum of 5 years of curatorial experience specializing in Northern European Renaissance and Baroque paintings.
  • Deep understanding of cataloguing and preservation standards for artworks.
  • Proven experience in organizing major art exhibitions.
  • Ability to conduct advanced scholarly research and publish findings in recognized outlets.

Responsibilities

  • Propose and organize major and minor exhibitions of Northern European paintings.
  • Manage the care of over 370 Old Master paintings.
  • Delegate scholarly work for cataloguing and storage of artworks.
  • Maintain accurate database entries for collections and exhibition objects.
  • Evaluate and make decisions on loan requests for special exhibitions.
  • Conduct and oversee advanced research on paintings for exhibitions and publications.

Benefits

  • Comprehensive federal benefits package including health and life insurance.
  • Flexible spending accounts for healthcare and dependent care expenses.
  • Generous leave policies to support work-life balance.
  • Retirement program options, including federal pension plans.
  • Access to employee development programs and resources.
Full Job Description
Summary

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The National Gallery of Art serves the United States in a national role by preserving, collecting, exhibiting, and fostering the understanding of works of art at the highest possible museum and scholarly standards. The Division of Paintings and Sculpture is responsible for the Gallery's acquisition, care, study, and display of a world-class collection of European and American paintings and sculpture. The incumbent is an established scholar and recognized connoisseur and serves as Museum Curator (Head of Northern European Paintings) reporting to the Head of European and American Art.

Duties for this position include.

  • Proposing, organizing, and coordinating or overseeing the development of major and minor exhibitions of Northern European Renaissance and Baroque paintings both from the Gallery's holdings and from other institutions and private collections.
  • Managing over 370 Old Master paintings in the permanent collection.
  • Performing and/or delegating scholarly and technical work to ensure thorough, up-to-date cataloguing, safe and orderly storage, and documentation of Northern European paintings belonging to the Gallery or proposed as gifts, purchases and loans.
  • Ensuring timely and accurate maintenance of The Museum System (TMS) database entries for permanent collections and exhibition objects.
  • Evaluating loan requests from other institutions to borrow paintings for special exhibitions; making recommendations for loan decisions and special loan conditions.
  • Performing and overseeing advanced scholarly research on Northern European Renaissance and Baroque paintings in the collection and on prospective acquisitions, or in the areas of special expertise, and for inclusion or examination in exhibitions, scholarly journals, Gallery publications, lectures, and symposia.


Requirements

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Conditions of employment

  • You must be a United States Citizen.
  • This employer participates in the e-Verify program.
  • Males born after 12-31-59 must be registered for Selective Service
  • See "Other Information" section regarding Selective Service requirements.
  • Suitable for Federal employment, determined by a background investigation
  • May be required to successfully complete a supervisory probationary period


Qualification requirements must be met by the closing date of the announcement. For information on qualification requirements, see Qualification Standards Handbook for General Schedule Positions viewable on OPM Website. It is your responsibility to ensure that you submit appropriate documentation prior to the closing date. Your resume serves as the basis for qualification determinations and must highlight your most relevant and significant experience as it relates to this job announcement. Be clear and specific when describing your work history since human resources cannot make assumptions regarding your experience.

Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religious; spiritual; community, student, social). Your resume must include the dates of all qualifying experience (from month/year to month/year) and the number of hours worked/volunteered per week.

Qualifications

Basic Requirements:

A. Degree: museum work; or in an applicable subject-matter field.

OR

B. Combination of education and experience courses equivalent to a major, as shown in A above, plus appropriate experience or additional education.

OR

C. Four years of experience that provided knowledge comparable to that normally acquired through the successful completion of the 4-year course of study as shown in A above.

Specialized Experience Statement: Candidates must possess at least one year of specialized experience, equivalent in responsibility to the GS-14 level in the Federal service or private sector preforming and overseeing advanced scholarly research on Northern European Renaissance and Baroque paintings for a art museum.

OPM Qualifications Standard:

Individual Occupational Requirements: Museum Curator Series 1015 Associated Group standard: Group Coverage Qualification Standard for Professional and Scientific Positions

Other Relevant Eligibility Criteria: None

You must meet all qualification and eligibility requirements by the closing date of this announcement.

Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religious; spiritual; community, student, social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.

Merit promotion applicants must meet the time-in-grade requirement as defined in 5 CFR 300, Subpart F. One year at the GS-14 level is required to meet the time-in-grade requirements for the GS-15 level.

Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religious; spiritual; community, student, social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.

Note: Applicants who are referred to the hiring office for selection consideration may be required to submit writing and/or work samples as part of the interview/selection process. If the hiring office decides to request a writing and/or work sample as part of its selection process, the vacancy contact will reach out to you by email to: (1) inform you of this requirement; and (2) provide further instructions.

Education

This position has an education requirement.

Education must be obtained from an accredited institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. Foreign education must be reviewed by an organization recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. For special instructions pertaining to foreign education and a list of organizations that can evaluate foreign education, see the Department of Education website.

Benefits

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A career with the U.S. government provides employees with a comprehensive benefits package. As a federal employee, you and your family will have access to a range of benefits that are designed to make your federal career very rewarding. Opens in a new windowLearn more about federal benefits.

The Federal Government offers a comprehensive benefits package.

Flexible Spending Accounts - http://www.fsafeds.com/

Health Insurance - http://www.opm.gov/insure/health/index.asp

Leave - http://www.opm.gov/oca/leave/index.asp

Life Insurance - http://www.opm.gov/insure/life/index.asp

Retirement Program - http://www.opm.gov/retirement-services/

Eligibility for benefits depends on the type of position you hold and whether your position is full-time, part-time or intermittent. Contact the hiring agency for more information on the specific benefits offered.

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