| Description |
Mills College is a nationally respected independent liberal arts college for women with graduate programs for both women and men. Located on 135 lush acres in the foothills of Oakland, California, the College enrolls approximately 950 undergraduate women and 500 graduate women and men. Consistently ranked one of the top colleges in the West by U.S. News & World Report and one of the "Best 368 Colleges" by The Princeton Review, Mills provides a dynamic liberal arts education fostering women's leadership, social responsibility, and creativity.
Mills College is seeking a dynamic and creative Director to lead its Art Museum in the development of a strategic plan, the creation of an innovative curatorial program, and the advancement of the educational interests of students and others involved with Mills College. Within the context of a supportive intellectual community and a beautiful environment, the Director will realize opportunities to enhance and utilize the collection, engage and inspire audiences throughout the Bay Area and beyond, and promote the work of women artists and curators nationally and internationally.
BASIC FUNCTION
The Director provides strategic leadership, curatorial oversight, and administrative expertise for the Museum. Reporting to the Provost of the College, the Director is responsible for stewardship and enhancement of the collection, fulfilling the Mills College Art Museum's public and educational mission, planning exhibitions that meet the artistic, educational, and financial goals of the institution and working with appropriate offices to cultivate friends and donors. The Director will develop and implement plans to ensure that the collection meets the needs of the curricular and public programs while also focusing on artistic and curatorial excellence. This includes planning for improvements to the facility, conservation of the collection, developing and attracting exhibitions that are enthusiastically embraced by the public while fulfilling Mills College's mission, and fostering research and learning by providing students and scholars with access to art and artists.
THE PROGRAM
The Mills College Art Museum has approximately 6,000 square feet of exhibition space within an architecturally significant historic building. The exhibition program focuses primarily on the creative work of women as artists and curators, as well as exhibitions drawn from the Mills collection and the annual (April-May) Mills College Senior and Master of Fine Arts Exhibitions. All exhibitions are free and open to the public.
THE COLLECTION
The Museum's first director was the renowned printmaker Roi Partridge. Under his direction the Museum became an important center for visual arts, exhibiting American and European artists, craftspeople, photographers, and designers. Among those associated with Partridge's tenure were Alexander Archipenko, Ansel Adams, Diego Rivera, Imogen Cunningham, and Edward Weston. The Museum's various collections grew under the subsequent direction of Alfred Salmony and Alfred Neumeyer, who came to Mills as refugees from the University of Berlin. During Neumeyer's tenure Mills hosted exhibitions of work by Lyonel Feininger, Fernand Leger, Lásló Moholy-Nagy and the Bauhaus, and Max Beckmann.
Today the Museum collection includes over 8,000 objects. Prints acquired by Neumeyer comprise one of the museum's most distinguished collections; works on paper include over 4,000 prints, drawings, and photographs ranging from old masters to the German expressionists. Ceramics include hundreds of works by artists ranging from Poor, Wildehhain, Arneson, Picasso, Wood, Andreson and Kottler, to Japanese works dating from the Momoyama and Edo periods, to modern Japanese masters such as Shoji Hamada and Kanjiro Kawai. The collection also includes ancient Southwestern ceramics from the Anasazi, Hohokam, and Mogollon cultures. There is a significant collection of California paintings, a selection of eighteenth and nineteenth-century French works, and a range of modern and contemporary paintings, drawings, prints, and mixed media works. The Museum also holds a substantial collection of California Native American basketry.
Representative Duties
IMMEDIATE PRIORITIES
The Director's immediate priorities will be to:
• Understand all facets of the Mills College Fine Arts programs and the Mills College Art Museum; gain a comprehensive knowledge of Mills College's history, culture, people and supporters, traditions, finances, collections, curriculum, public programs, operations, students and prospective students, teachers, alumni, fellows, and the base of financial support for both the College and the museum; understand the diverse local and national constituencies of Mills College, including artists and the art audience;
• With these factors in mind, analyze exhibitions, the collection, and available human, financial, and other resources that can be used to create an innovative program;
• Work closely with the Mills College community to bring forth their best ideas, efforts, resources, and contacts in support of the Mills College Art Museum;
• Mentor students and participate with art faculty and staff in the development of the museum's annual (April-May) Senior and MFA exhibitions;
• Review and manage the financial plan of the Mills College Art Museum, ensuring that budgeting is based on sound assumptions; monitor and control costs;
• Develop funding plans from philanthropic sources for operations, special exhibitions and programs, and capital needs, such as renovations to the existing building; work closely with the Executive Vice President for Institutional Development to cultivate high-level donors and develop key relationships with potential new donors;
• Work with the staff, faculty, and students to understand their contributions, strengths, and concerns; implement open channels of communication and encourage a feeling of collaboration throughout the organization; ensure that the wealth of intellectual capital residing at the College is put to work to advance the Museum;
• Develop strong connections with other arts institutions, private collectors, schools, and curators; develop exhibitions that can be developed creatively within a modest budget-programs that will inform, attract, and engage the public and the Mills College community.
ONGOING RESPONSIBILITIES
GENERAL MANAGEMENT
• Evaluate and refine the mission of the museum and its place within Mills College and the arts community of the San Francisco Bay Area; develop and implement a strategic plan; ensure that approved policies are consistently carried out and that programs are aligned with Mills College's goals and mission;
• Ensure that the day-to-day operations and programs are professionally and efficiently managed, taking into consideration the financial implications of programming; oversee the organization's budgeting and financial controls; hire, supervise, motivate, and evaluate staff, ensuring that staffing is appropriate to meet the organization's goals;
• Oversee the preservation and maintenance and evaluate future needs of the Museums' physical assets (the collections and the buildings).
PROGRAM, COLLECTIONS AND EXHIBITIONS
• Provide direction for collection development, exhibitions, education programs, and marketing;
• Determine how best to foreground and enhance Mills College's special role and history in advancing education and opportunities for women of diverse backgrounds and ambitions;
• Work with staff to develop a systematic plan to preserve, strengthen and enrich Mills College's collection; develop relationships with collectors and artists that may lead to appropriate gifts to the Mills College Art Museum; identify funds and seek donors to support acquisitions and the preservation of the collection; recommend acquisitions to the College, with appropriate attention to the ongoing cost of storing and preserving the collection.
REVENUE, DEVELOPMENT AND COMMUNICATIONS
• Serve as an active fundraiser for the Museum; work closely with the Executive Vice President for Institutional Advancement, advisors, and staff to develop new and diversified foundation, individual, public and corporate funding sources;
• Serve as an articulate and persuasive spokesperson for the Museum; represent the Mills College Art Museum to all of its constituencies, including the public, funders, the arts community and members of the College community;
• Identify and help recruit new supporters whose talents, interests and commitment will help to further the Mills College Art Museum's mission and collection, and will expand funding opportunities; work to ensure active engagement of Board talent and resources in support of the institution.
• Perform related duties as needed.
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| Requirements |
IDEAL EXPERIENCE AND QUALIFICATIONS
The ideal candidate will have the following experience and qualifications:
• Management and leadership responsibility in a museum or other arts institution known for innovative programming and curatorial excellence, particularly in the area of contemporary art;
• Ability to work effectively in an academic setting with students, staff, and faculty; advanced degree preferred;
• The ability to work successfully with donors, community leaders, artist and curators, educators, and boards to strengthen the museum; measurable and successful results in raising funds and in identifying, cultivating and soliciting donors and other sources of revenue and acquisitions;
• A background working with scholars and curators as an active and valued collaborator; demonstrated ability to forge mutually respectful and effective relationships with a diverse group of personalities in a collegial and cooperative manner;
• Experience with marketing and raising the public profile of arts and cultural institutions; someone who is personally and actively engaged in connecting art to the public and the public to cultural resources;
• Outstanding oral and written communication skills, including the means to address issues in non-confrontational and non-polarizing ways, but nevertheless with determination; a track record as an effective communicator.
PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS
The successful candidate will be:
• A creative, mission-driven individual who is able to think holistically;
• Someone with a passion for the arts and a career commitment to connecting the public with diverse art forms;
• A good listener and strategist; comfortable receiving input from many sources, and able to analyze and formulate disparate information into a sound, well-organized plan; adept at planning, prioritizing, organizing and following through;
• Someone who will enjoy connecting with members of the community and other visitors to Mills College;
• A team player and team builder; a graceful communicator who is able to connect with a broad spectrum of people; a person who cultivates trust and engages the interest of constituents;
• An individual who is straight-forward, shares information easily, listens as well as gives advice, and respects the abilities of others; someone who imparts trust, integrity and solidity and guides others in a similar vein.
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