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.

BACKGROUND

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.

BY THE NUMBERS

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 (https://museum.syr.edu/about/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.

Syracuse University is a private, international research university located in the geographic heart of New York State, with a global footprint, and over 150 years of history. The scope of Syracuse University is a testament to its strengths: a pioneering history dating back to 1870; a choice of more than 200 majors, 100 minors, and 200 advanced degree programs offered across the University’s 13 schools and colleges; over 15,000 undergraduates and over 6,000 graduate students; more than a quarter of a million alumni in 160 countries; and a student population from all 50 U.S. states and 123 countries.

BASIC FUNCTION

The Executive Director provides comprehensive artistic vision, administration, leadership, and oversight of the Museum staff. The Executive Director works to secure the Museum’s position as an innovative leader among academic art museums; champions the importance of the visual arts, arts education, curatorial practice, and scholarship; ensures that the Museum connects with and is accessible to the local community; and oversees Museum collections, exhibitions operations, finances, and fundraising (in collaboration with the University). The Executive Director is the SU Art Museum's public advocate and ambassador and is an active partner to the Advisory Board, the University community, and broader arts constituents locally, nationally, and internationally.

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.

Syracuse University is in the search for an Executive Director for the Syracuse University Art Museum. Please click to view the full position description or to nominate/apply (https://moppenheim.com/nomination-application/?organization=Syracuse+University+Art+Museum&position=Executive+Director) .

To apply, nominate others, or for further information, please contact:

Lee Kappelman

(202) 803-6674 or leek@moppenheim.com

Oscar Quiros

(415) 762-2643 or oscarq@moppenheim.com