Director of Programs at Prospect New Orleans
Job Title: Director of Programs
Job Status: Full-time
Location: New Orleans, LA
Salary: $80,000 – $85,000
About Prospect New Orleans
Prospect New Orleans was conceived in the tradition of international exhibitions such as the Venice Biennale and the Bienal de São Paulo to showcase practices from around the world in settings throughout the city with an emphasis on site-specificity. The Prospect exhibition is a citywide contemporary art triennial, formalized in 2008 and now at work on its sixth iteration, curated by Miranda Lash & Ebony G. Patterson and running November 2, 2024 – February 2, 2025.
Job Description
Prospect New Orleans is in search of a Director of Programs to play a leading role in developing Prospect’s programs during the 2024 year (including for the upcoming P.6 triennial) and into the future. The Director will manage Prospect’s Programs & Audience Engagement Manager. Core responsibilities will be ideating and developing execution and community engagement strategies for Prospect’s Artists of Public Memory commission series, artist-centric programming that occurs during the exhibition, Prospectors member events, and additional programming as needed. This position requires both vision and execution: ideating and designing programs and related engagement strategies and then shifting to thinking about the logistics of event execution.
The Director of Programs will report to the Executive Director. Prospect employees primarily work remotely, although in-person meetings and engagements are frequent.
Competitive candidates will have completed at least a Bachelor’s degree, will have substantial experience in programming, and will have a large network of individuals and organizations in New Orleans. While we will consider candidates from other communities, having a background in New Orleans is important. The ability to work independently and yet with a sense of responsibility to colleagues and sensitivity to overall organizational goals is crucial.
This position is full-time (5 days/week, M-F) and will at times necessitate flexible hours that may include occasional evenings and weekends. During the Prospect.6 exhibition (11/2/2024 – 2/2/2025), the Director of Programs should be prepared to shift to a Wednesday-Sunday schedule, in alignment with the open hours of the exhibition and the reality of most programming taking place on weekends.
The Director of Programs will join a small team of devoted professionals with diverse professional and life experiences. Ideal candidates will be highly organized, experienced, and connected; have a strong eye for detail; and broad fluency with the New Orleans art ecosystem and contemporary art in general. All Prospect employees are expected to remain aware of the local, national, and global context for contemporary art; to participate during Prospect’s community-facing events; and to occasionally represent the organization at public events.
Duties and Responsibilities
Programmatic
- Initiate and lead conversations with core organizational partners related to programs and outreach
- Lead the design, development, and execution of artist-centric programming during the Prospect.6 exhibition
- Conceptualize Prospect member events
- In collaboration with the Executive Director and presenting sponsors, steward a successful Halloween night Artist Party
- In collaboration with the Executive Director, aid in stewarding the Gala Committee and Gala Coordinator in producing a successful 11/1/2024 P.6 Gala
- Assume leadership of the Artists of Public Memory program, including budgeting, reporting, stewardship of currently active installation, and communication with artists and stakeholders
- In collaboration with the Executive Director, develop a clear plan for the next round of Artists of Public Memory commissions
- In collaboration with the Executive Director, lead the execution of programmatic support for Prospect artists, such as arranging studio visits from visiting curators and critics
- Create timelines and milestones for all programmatic activities
- In collaboration with the Executive Director, develop a 3-5-year organizational programmatic plan
- Develop metrics and methodologies of assessment for individual programs
- Meet regularly with the Executive Director
- Attend staff meetings
Managerial
- Serve as direct report for Prospect’s Programs & Audience Engagement Manager
- Develop a weekly cadence of communication with direct report
- Develop 1-month, 3-month, and 6-month goals for direct report and check in regularly to assess progress
- Occasionally join the Executive Director & Curatorial Director for directors’ meetings
Workload Expectations
- This is a full-time role (40 hours/week)
- The Director will conduct daily correspondence with Prospect staff and partners as needed via text, phone call, email, and video conferencing
- The Director will work some weekdays and evenings as needed for both public programming and staff meetings
To Apply
Prospect is excited to welcome interested applicants to email their resume, a brief statement about why they are interested in the role, and two professional references to Nick Stillman, Executive Director, nick@prospectneworleans.org. Thank you for your interest in Prospect New Orleans.