Associate Registrar
Reports to:Director of Collections and Exhibitions
Employment Status:Full-Time
FLSA Status:Exempt
Annual Salary: $66,560.00
The Orange County Museum of Art (OCMA), located on the Segerstrom Center for the Arts campus in Costa Mesa, California, seeks a highly effective and proficient Associate Registrar with the breadth of experience and expertise to manage assigned registration activities for the fullest range of modern and contemporary artwork types and exhibition complexities, and to provide collection, exhibition, and loan support to the Curatorial and Collections Departments.
OCMA manages a collection of over 4,500 objects, a robust exhibition schedule, and an active loan program. Reporting to the Director of Collections and Exhibitions, the successful candidate will work closely with OCMA Curators, Installation Director and Preparators to provide overall support on all collection and exhibition projects.
The Associate Registrar will have a central role in advancing registration methods, policies, and procedures for the Museum’s exhibitions program in ways that are aligned with the Museum’s strategic priorities and the goals of the Curatorial and Collections Departments, and will be responsible for successfully planning, managing, and documenting registration activities for assigned projects related to the Museum’s exhibitions program, including temporary and touring exhibitions.
The position provides an opportunity to establish leadership skills in advancing the Museum’s dynamic exhibitions and collections programs, operate as a lead registrar on assigned projects, work collaboratively with colleagues in Curatorial, Facilities, Operations, Security, Visitor Experience, and other Museum departments in realizing collections stewardship, exhibitions and artwork research, and represent the Museum’s interests to artists, studios, fabricators, estates, donors, vendors, galleries, other museums, and other art communities.
Essential Duties and Responsibilities
●Provide support to the Director of Collections and Exhibition Director, Curatorial, and Collections office.
●Travel Nationally and Internationally, including couriering artworks both nationally and internationally as needed, and act as an ambassador for the Museum.
●Assist with preparing, tracking, and the reporting of departmental operating and project budgets.
●Oversee cross-departmental deadlines, calendars, and schedules.
●Enter data in the Museum’s Collection’s Management System (Mimsy), following established policies and guidelines.
●Assist with the movement of objects through internal and external processes, review cataloguing, create paper files for accessions and exhibitions, and generate forms and reports as requested.
●Schedule fine art packing and shipment for loans, couriers, and exhibitions and ensure loan and insurance documentation is in order.
●Work with Museum Art Preparators to professionally handle, pack and unpack, transport, store, install, and de-install artwork of all types according to Museum standards.
●Perform condition reports and liaise with art conservators.
●Assist with the accessioning process, object file creation, inventories, on-site and off-site storage maintenance, and access to collection objects and records for staff and visiting scholars.
●Keep art storage and installation areas clean and orderly for efficiency and for the safety of personnel and art objects.
●Participate in inventory checks and maintain accurate location records.
●Assist with exhibitions from the early budgetary and planning stages through installation and deinstallation processes.
●Assist with the internal review and coordination of OCMA approved loans.
●Aid in the tracking and preparation of regular progress reports on departmental activity.
●Monitor and manage external departmental email account.
●Work outside of business hours to receive art shipments and assist with installations.
●Other projects as assigned by Supervisor.
Qualifications and Requirements
●Bachelor’s Degree in Art History, Museum Studies, or closely related field.
●Minimum 2 years’ registration experience in an art museum or similar institution, with collections and exhibitions experience required.
●Experience and expertise in current registration methods and practices, relevant to modern and contemporary art and knowledge of museum legal and ethical issues.
●Must have experience with exhibition assembly, touring and dispersal, as well as packing, crating, and shipping artworks at the local, national, and international levels.
●Expertise with collections management systems and experience with digital asset management systems.
●Strong critical thinking skills.
●Clear, concise, and correct writing skills.
●Capable of assessing and making independent decisions about competing priorities, ability to manage and complete a high volume and wide variety of tasks and projects with little or no guidance, meeting deadlines, and reacting with appropriate levels of urgency for the tasks and objectives of the Curatorial and Collections Department.
●Excellent organizational skills, high-level of accuracy and attention to detail.
●Strong initiative and follow-through skills.
●Ability to operate under pressure of time and multiple demands.
●Ability to work independently, as well as in partnership with colleagues.
●Proficiency to establish and maintain effective working relationships with museum colleagues, volunteers, and interns, and effectively represent the museum to outside professionals, lenders, donors, and members of the artistic community.
●Creative and flexible problem-solving skills.
●Sound judgment and strong professional presence.
●Working knowledge of twentieth and twenty-first century art history.
●Familiarity with basic conservation concepts, procedures, and terms.
●Proficiency with Microsoft applications (Outlook, Teams, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.)
●Effective and professional communication with diverse groups of people is essential.
●Strong ability to execute work through a diversity, equity, and inclusion lens.
●Commitment to accessibility and sustainability in the arts.
●Experience with Digital Collections Information Systems.
Physical Demands
●Must be able to bend, lift, sit, and stand for long and varying periods of condition reporting, and supervising, directing, or guiding others to move, pack, and unpack works of art.
●Able to lift and/or move up to 25 lbs.
●Able to sit or stand while working at a computer for long periods of time.
●Ability to move around work area and Museum and remain onsite for extended periods.
●Occasional use of ladder and aerial lift.
●Ability to travel between Museum locations and other travel as required by position responsibilities.
Apply
Please submit cover letter and resume to Vickie Byrd, Chief Human Resources Officer, vbyrd@ocma.art.
Disclaimer
This job description may not be inclusive of all assigned duties, responsibilities, or aspects of the job described above, and may be amended at any time at the sole di