Registrar, Permanent Collection at the MIT List Visual Arts Center

Job Title: Registrar, Permanent Collection

Job Status: Full-time

Location: Cambridge, MA

Salary: $75,000 – $83,000

Description

The MIT List Visual Arts Center, MIT’s contemporary art museum, oversees the Institute’s permanent collections of contemporary and modern art through three distinct, world-class art collections. Working within the List Visual Arts Center, the Permanent Collections Registrar is responsible for overseeing the care and welfare of all three collections, totaling over 4,000 works, most of which is publicly sited throughout the Institute.

  • Through our Campus Art Loan Program, artwork from our Campus Lending Collection is made available to Administration, Faculty, and Staff offices, so that the MIT campus itself serves as our museum.
  • The Student Lending Art Program is a unique and popular MIT tradition that allows MIT students to borrow original works of art from the Student Lending Collection. The collection includes more than 700 framed original works of art, which are made available to students each September to take home and hang in their spaces.
  • MIT’s Public Art Collection, composed of over 30 outdoor and over 24 indoor works, reaches across the entire Institute. This collection grows through occasional gifts, and through MIT’s Percent-for-Art Program, administered by the List Center, which allocates up to $500,000 to commission permanent public art for each major campus construction project.

This highly independent role entails wide-ranging collections management and registration duties, including managing inventory and active loans in digital collection management database, managing storage and logistics, monitoring conditions and assessing conservation needs, overseeing insurance and updated valuations as needed, and accessioning new works.

Details of the role’s duties specific to each collection are outlined below:

Campus Art Loan Program

  • Work with MIT Faculty and Staff on selecting objects from the Campus Lending Collection to be installed throughout campus; administer loan agreements and fees.
  • Make or coordinate site visits to campus offices on a rotating basis to evaluate security, environmental conditions, and see if artwork will be appropriately sited.
  • Oversee installation/deinstallation logistics across campus with preparator and/or contracted art handlers.
  • Arrange for (re)framing, when necessary.
  • Conduct annual physical inventory of artworks throughout campus to monitor condition, verify location, and connect with staff borrowers.
  • Work with MIT’s Campus Construction to coordinate the deinstallation, storage, and reinstallation artworks for major building renovation projects.

Student Lending Art Program

  • Oversee and manage the lottery for popular program that allows students 500-600 students to each borrow an original artwork.
  • Supervise distribution and return periods at the beginning and end of each academic year: administer loan contracts via collection database.
  • As needed, work with IS&T [Information Systems and Technology] on managing the online lottery interface and website.
  • Provide training for Visitor Services staff during distribution and return periods.
  • Liaise with students regarding loans and any needs outside of the main borrowing and return periods.
  • Acquisition 10-20 new works annually [via Accession Worksheet, Deed of Gift, Incoming Receipts, Condition Reports, Recording Secretary Memorandums, Gift-in-Kind forms, Artist Questionnaires, and other documents as needed]; oversee all shipping logistics, framing, photography, database entry.

Public Art Conservation

  • Work with Public Art and Collections Manager to identify public art conservation short-term and long-range priorities, schedule treatments and annual maintenance care for all works, including monumental pieces from MIT’s outdoor public art collection.
  • Obtain estimates for treatments, track conservation budget and submit invoices for payment.

General duties

            Outgoing Loans (on occasion)

  • With Director and Curator, determine lend-ability of works (with additional conditions of loan) requested by other institutions.
  • Review facility reports of prospective venues in advance of signed agreements, and make recommendations to further ensure the safety of loans.

Insurance

  • Submit annual insurance art risk distribution reports for permanent and public art collections for the Office of Insurance.
  • Research collections valuations and update database valuation records.

Requirements

Qualifications

  • 4 years fine art or related registration and/or collections management experience
  • Knowledge of current and emerging trends in relating to art collections and collection management; best practices for data entry and reporting statistics
  • Ability to work proactively and independently with strong organizational, administrative skills
  • Proven experience with collections management databases (TMS / Embark; Collector Systems) as well as proficiency in Word, Excel, Outlook, Adobe Acrobat
  • BA required; MA in arts administration or art-related field desirable

Apply via AAM