Senior Curator of Natural Sciences
ORGANIZATION
The mission of the Oakland Museum of California (OMCA) is to inspire all Californians to create a more vibrant future for themselves and their communities. The Oakland Museum of California’s values are fundamental to our institutional culture and guide our work together.
· Excellence: We are committed to excellence and working at the highest standards of integrity and professionalism
· Community: We believe everyone should feel welcome and part of our community, both within the Museum and with our visitors and neighbors
· Innovation: We embrace innovation and calculated risk-taking to achieve our mission.
· Commitment: Our work at the Museum demonstrates a sense of purpose and a shared accountability for the institution’s success
When OCMA, nestled between Lake Merritt and downtown Oakland, first opened its doors in 1969 it brought together three historically independent disciplines — art, history, and natural sciences — under one roof, to celebrate the many facets of California. The Museum’s collections — comprising more than 1.9 million objects including seminal art works, historical artifacts, ethnographic objects, natural specimens, and photographs — and programs explore and reveal the factors that shape California character and identity, from its extraordinary natural landscapes, to successive waves of migration, to its unique culture of creativity and innovation.
Following the conclusion of a successful $66 million capital campaign, the museum reopened in 2010 with the launch of the newly imagined and installed art and history galleries, plus a refurbished 10,000 square foot temporary exhibition space. In 2014, OMCA concluded the reinstallation of the natural history gallery. The transformation touches almost every aspect of the 300,000 square-foot Museum and improves integration of OMCA's collections and programs, strengthening its role as a public forum, and creating new opportunities for visitor participation.
The collections are animated by innovative interpretive strategies and interactive features, and new gathering spaces and program areas engage visitors and encourage them to share their own perspectives, questions, and stories. OMCA is committed to working with diverse communities to incorporate multiple voices and perspectives into the stories told in exhibits. Upcoming exhibits include:
· Bees: Tiny Insects, Big Impact, which explores how one of the most important creatures to human agriculture and the natural environment is under threat and what we can do to protect bees
· Pacific Worlds, a new major exhibition at the Oakland Museum of California, explores California's historical and contemporary place in the Pacific region, through rarely-seen objects from the Pacific Islands
· Black Panther Exhibit, in the fall of 2016, a major exhibition to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the Black Panther Party’s founding in Oakland, presenting a contemporary view of the Black Panther Party legacy from multiple perspectives and show how the Party continues to inspire grassroots social justice and community empowerment efforts locally, nationally and internationally
Shaped by an ambitious and creative mission, OMCA nurtures its deep ties to a diverse community by offering many educational and outreach programs, including the popular Friday Nights at OMCA, which combines music and dance, story time and art-making classes for the whole family. OMCA welcomes school children, scholars, local audiences, and all visitors to participate in events and activities and to discover their place in California's past, present, and future.
COMMUNITY
California’s Bay Area is one of the most vibrant and exciting regions in the United States, and the City of Oakland, just 12 minutes from San Francisco, offers a cutting-edge art and music scene, hip international dining experiences, and world-class sports teams, including the Oakland A’s and the Oakland Raiders. In 2012, Oakland was named the top North American city to visit by The New York Times. Oakland has a Mediterranean climate, with warm and dry summers and mild winters. The mild climate and the proximity to the Berkeley hills and Napa, Sonoma and Marin counties make the East Bay a paradise for both outdoor activities and gastronomic tourism. Lake Merritt, the nation’s first official wildlife refuge, is a focal point for family and outdoor activities.
Oakland is also at the leading edge of California’s changing demographics, mixing age, ethnic, and lifestyle diversity. Oakland is home to Mills College (6th among colleges and universities in the West, US News & World Reports) and is minutes away from the University of California, Berkeley, one of the nation’s top research institutions, and is just an hour’s drive from the famed Silicon Valley. Oakland is home to the headquarters of Kaiser Permanente, one of the nation’s pre-eminent not-for-profit medical systems. Oakland and the East Bay also provide excellent K-12 educational opportunities with a diverse offering of public and private schools. Sources: www.visitoakland.org; www.oaklandnet.com
POSITION SUMMARY
Reporting to the Director of the OMCA Lab, the Senior Curator, Natural Sciences (Senior Curator) is a public-facing position overseeing the Gallery of Natural Sciences and related functions intended to make California’s environmental heritage and current environmental issues accessible and engaging to a diverse communities both onsite and online. The position develops and directs curatorial content, artifact and specimen research, acquisition and documentation, and exhibition and gallery projects in the fields of California biology, ecology, environmental studies, and environmental history. The Senior Curator helps to engage multiple communities in dynamic conversations and explorations of content, linking California’s natural environment and biological sciences to the diversity and complexities of the California experience. The Senior Curator determines the collections, stories and experiences by which Californians come to understand and appreciate their natural environment and their place within it.
INSTITUTIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES
· Support the Museum’s mission, values, vision, and core commitment to the visitor experience, community engagement, and institutional relevancy for the future
· Contribute to and support the OMCA strategic plan, annual priorities, and institutional initiatives such as diversity advancement
· Promote a positive organizational culture based on mutual respect, a spirit of collegiality, cooperation, and openness to many perspectives
· Participate in a culture of ongoing learning, collaboration, innovation, creativity, and community engagement
POSITION DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
Collections, Exhibition, and Program Development
· Lead the development of new, visitor-centered ideas for natural science gallery and exhibition projects that meet the content, audience and business objectives of the Museum; think strategically about the timing, scale and positioning of projects to serve the Museum’s objectives; foster collaboration across OMCA curatorial team to create multi-disciplinary projects
· Develop, in partnership with experienced developers and designers, new models of participatory, visitor-centered, gallery and online experiences and exhibitions based on research, evaluation, and visitors’ diverse learning styles and motivations; be the advocate and lead on scholarship, content research and development
· Participate in the research and planning of touring exhibitions that meet OMCA’s mission and, when feasible, create additional elements to enhance the California experience for visitors
· Contribute to the development and execution of interpretive plans for gallery and exhibition rotations
· Support the Director with original research, writing and presentations
· Collaborate on the development and implementation of collections management systems, collection policies and procedures, and conservation activities; monitor and ensure Lab compliance with Museum policies and procedures, and professional standards regarding the acquisition, documentation, care, and presentation of collections
· Conduct research on OMCA collections; develop collecting and de-accession priorities and strategies based on OMCA’s collecting plan; oversee de-accession processes as needed
· Research, document, and develop collections and exhibit elements related to the natural sciences that reflect California’s biodiversity and environmental issues
· Facilitate and manage collection acquisitions, both donations and purchases, in consultation with collections and resource and enterprise teams
· Cultivate networks of California historians, curators, collectors, scientists and special interest organizations, in particular those in the Bay Area, as potential future collaborators and partners
· Keep abreast of developments in the fields of natural science and education studies, exhibitions, and related events; stay current on general museum news nationally and internationally
· Contribute to the development and writing of public relations and external communications materials as needed and engage in public outreach in the form of lectures, tours, research assistance and media appearances and serve as a spokesperson for Museum with general public and media
Facilitation of Content
· Conduct research to develop content for implementation of exhibitions, public programs, publications, and online activities
· Develop and conduct activities for engaging the public in dynamic conversations and explorations of content relevant to the California experience, both historical and contemporary, through such formats as OMCA advisory councils, community partners, professional peers and scholars
· Collaborate with staff in developing strategies for, and producing, a seamless integration of content with interpretation across diverse platforms such as exhibition text, web content, articles, public presentations, and programs
· Work collaboratively with outside museums and educational institutions, environmental organizations, state and federal agencies, science advisors, and citizen science programs
Project Management and Administration
· Participate in visitor evaluation at all stages of exhibit or project development
· Contribute to cross-functional project teams for exhibitions and other activities
· Manage projects including the preparation and administration of related budgets, timelines, and reports
· Partner with the Development team related to grant writing, administration of grant requirements, and donor cultivation
· Develop, negotiate, and monitor professional services contracts in conjunction with the Institutional Support Center
· Recruit, supervise, mentor and coach staff, volunteers, docents and interns
· Direct the performance and priorities of the natural science curatorial team, in consultation the Director, OMCA Lab
· Participate in donor cultivation and stewardship; identify new donor prospects amongst local collectors, businesses and philanthropists
TRAITS AND CHARACTERISTICS
The Senior Curator will be an expert in a natural science discipline who is passionate about using that expertise to translate the relevance of natural sciences to the Museum’s community. The successful candidate will be a collaborative leader, able to build consensus across disciplines and to lead cross-functional teams to the successful attainment of goals. The Senior Curator will demonstrate a high level of personal accountability, and express the ability to manage time, tasks and talent. The successful candidate also will greatly value and respect the insights and input of others – from museum colleagues to the adults and children who make up the Oakland Museum’s most important stakeholders. The Senior Curator will be able to effectively and eloquently communicate about the Oakland Museum and the Gallery of California Natural Sciences exhibits, activities and goals, building bridges between a broad array of California natural sciences and the broadly diverse populations of visitors
EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE
The successful candidate will possess a combination of experience and education that demonstrates the necessary knowledge and abilities for this position:
· M.A./M.S. or PhD degree in relevant field such as science, environmental studies, ecology or a related field required
· 7-10 years of related experience and 4+ years supervisory experience
· Professional work experience in a museum or related institution working with natural sciences or related fields including developing collections, exhibitions, publications, programs, outreach, citizen science projects, and other content platforms supported by research and collections preferred
COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS
Competitive compensation and benefits that include: health, vision, dental, acupuncture, life insurance; employer contributed 403b plan, vacation, holiday and sick leave, museum membership and discounts, and the pleasures of life in the Bay Area.
APPLICATIONS AND INQUIRIES
Send letter and resume (electronic submissions preferred) with a summary of demonstrable accomplishments to:
Ms. Laurie Dowling, Senior Consultant
Arts Consulting Group, Inc.
8581 Santa Monica Blvd., Suite 406
Los Angeles, CA 90069-4120
Tel (323) 721.0141 ext. 10
Fax (323) 936.1196