SFMOMA
Contemporary and modern art museum
Associate Registrar - Exhibitions
About the job
- A bachelor's degree in art history, Museum Studies, or a closely related field is required.
- A minimum of four years of extensive registration experience in an art museum or similar institution, including collections and exhibitions experience, is required.
- Experience and expertise in current and innovative registration methods and practices relevant to modern and contemporary art, including knowledge of museum legal and ethical issues, is required.
- Significant experience with exhibition assembly, touring, and dispersal, including packing, crating, and shipping artworks at local, national, and international levels, is required.
- Strong critical thinking skills and the ability to assess and make independent decisions about competing priorities are required.
- The ability to manage multiple projects while establishing and meeting deadlines is required.
- Excellent organizational skills and proficiency in project management software such as Asana are required.
- Strong initiative, follow-through, and the ability to operate under time pressure and multiple demands are required.
- The ability to work independently and in partnership with colleagues is required.
- The ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with museum colleagues, volunteers, and interns, and to represent the museum effectively to outside professionals, lenders, donors, and members of the artistic community, is required.
- Creative and flexible problem-solving skills, sound judgment, and a strong professional presence are required.
- Working knowledge of twentieth-century art history is required.
- Familiarity with basic conservation concepts, procedures, and terms is required.
- Proficiency with Microsoft applications including Outlook, Teams, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint is required.
- Expertise with collections management systems and experience with digital asset management systems are required.
- Proficiency with Asana or other project management software platforms is required.
- The ability and willingness to maintain a high level of accuracy and attention to detail is required.
- The ability to communicate effectively in person, by video conference, telephone, and in writing with artists, galleries, donors, borrowers, trustees, colleagues, and the public is required.
- The ability to work effectively on a wide variety of concurrent projects while supporting Registration Department goals is required.
- Demonstrated commitment to access, sustainability, diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility in the arts sector is required.
- Apply best practices and standards to oversee and coordinate all registration aspects of major exhibitions and exhibitions organized for travel by SFMOMA.
- Maintain in-depth oversight of registration needs for exhibition projects from initiation through completion.
- Review and contribute to exhibition co-organization and venue tour contracts.
- Review, negotiate, and sign loan agreements on behalf of the museum and manage the agreed-upon registration terms.
- Coordinate the safe packing, shipping, and handling of artworks for temporary exhibitions.
- Communicate with lenders, donors, vendors, packers, forwarding agents, shippers, and related colleagues.
- Generate and sign certificates of insurance.
- Lead object review and object deinstallation and installation meetings with cross-departmental teams.
- Advise on access and security measures.
- Oversee installation and deinstallation of works in staging areas or galleries through virtual oversight or in-person travel as needed.
- Coordinate courier activity for loans to SFMOMA.
- Examine artworks and produce condition reports documenting their condition and characteristics.
- Coordinate examinations and treatments with Conservation.
- Coordinate matting and framing of works.
- Conduct periodic gallery checks and work across departments to address potential risks to works on view.
- Track insurance needs as projects progress.
- Arrange for the return of borrowed works.
- Travel to borrowing institutions to oversee unpacking, installation, condition reporting, repacking, and related museum business for SFMOMA-organized exhibition tours.
- Monitor the condition of works in exhibition.
- Arrange dispersal at the close of exhibition tours.
- Work with Collections Management to maintain safe conditions for works in storage.
- Work with Conservation and Collections Management to coordinate artwork treatments, housing, and storage projects.
- Work with Conservation and consultants to operationalize workflows for intake, storage, and long-term accessibility of media-, web-, and software-based works.
- Work with Project Management and Photo Studio to facilitate photography of artworks.
- Work with Collections Management to conduct and reconcile inventories and audits.
- Write and update standard operating procedures as necessary.
- Oversee the completeness and maintenance of records and files for assigned projects by adding documentation, data, and digital assets to relevant museum systems.
- Participate in maintaining exhibition insurance records and files.
- Generate and distribute reports related to exhibitions.
- Produce and monitor budgets for the registration component of exhibitions and process invoices.
- Mitigate risks to artworks and relationships with people and organizations.
- Make recommendations about practices and policies related to SFMOMA's exhibition registration.
- Represent the area of expertise in meetings and communications related to museum programs.
- Mentor, assign work to, and supervise the activities of Assistant Registrars and Registration Assistants.
- Develop training sessions and materials and assist with onboarding new departmental staff.
- Delegate tasks to Assistant Registrars, Registration Assistants, and on-call staff in collaboration with the Director of Registration.
- Represent the museum at local, national, and international levels.
- Participate in professional networks, workshops, and programs to stay current with relevant practices, methods, and technologies and share new skills with the department.
About the company
SFMOMA is a major art museum in San Francisco focused on contemporary and modern art. It hosts rotating, high-profile exhibitions and provides accessible experiences for locals, families, students, and visitors. Its offerings include paid museum visits, memberships with benefits, and a Museum Store that sells art-inspired goods, along with digital publications and multimedia content. Revenue comes from ticket sales, memberships, retail, digital content, and philanthropy; the museum relies on donations and fundraising to support operations and special projects with the goal of educating, inspiring, and connecting people with art while maintaining financial health.
Company Size
501-1,000
Company Stage
N/A
Total Funding
N/A
Headquarters
San Francisco, California
Founded
1935
Get referred to SFMOMA
See people who can refer or advise you
Simplify's Take
What believers are saying
- August 19, 2026 exhibition slate adds fashion, Korean art, and Northern California craft.
- RM x SFMOMA opens October 3, 2026; BTS fandom drives ticket sales and memberships.
- Samsung Art Store and Google Arts & Culture create global distribution without building new galleries.
What critics are saying
- May 7, 2025 layoffs cut 29 jobs after a $5 million structural deficit.
- Attendance reset to 600,000 annual visitors shows tourism weakness still damages revenue.
- RM x SFMOMA betting on fandom risks overdependence if exhibition demand softens by 2027.
What makes SFMOMA unique
- SFMOMA remains the West Coast's first modern art museum, with a deep Fisher Collection.
- August 12, 2026 named Anna Katz; Fisher-funded leadership strengthens painting and sculpture.
- 2026 partnerships with Samsung and Google extend SFMOMA's collection far beyond San Francisco.
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Benefits
Health Insurance
Dental Insurance
Vision Insurance
Life Insurance
Disability Insurance
Mental Health Support
Pet Insurance
Health Savings Account/Flexible Spending Account
Pre-Tax Commuter Benefits
401(k) Retirement Plan
Company News
Day around the bay: 95-foot Illuminated installation launches on Market Street. Local: * SFMOMA, Museum of the African Diaspora, and Yerba Buena Center for the Arts have launched a public art partnership called Yerba Buena Illuminated, which first features Los Angeles artist Jennifer Steinkamp's 95-foot piece, It's a nice day for a white wedding, projected onto the Humboldt Bank Building at 785 Market Street. [Chronicle] * Japheth Dillman of San Francisco was convicted Monday of wire fraud and conspiracy, which each carry a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine, after allegedly cheating investors out of almost $1 million in a cryptocurrency trading scheme. [KRON4] * Sunday Streets had a successful event in Bayview over the weekend with support from the Civic Space Foundation and African American Arts & Cultural District after city funding for the street festival was cut in February. [Chronicle] National: * A California man was arrested in Washington DC Tuesday after US Capitol Police spotted a guillotine in the bed of his pickup truck. [NBC News] * Developer Lennar Homes wants to build a subdivision in Shafter, California, outside Bakersfield - on land that's planned for the installation of high-speed rail tracks. [California Post] * Fans have been piling bouquets of flowers on Dolly Parton's Hollywood Walk of Fame star, and tributes from fellow celebrities have been pouring in following the announcement of her death Tuesday. [TMZ] Video: * Enjoy this brilliant scene from the classic, 1972 screwball comedy, What's Up, Doc?, featuring Barbra Streisand and Ryan O'Neal leading a chase down an SF hill and narrowly missing a large pane of glass. Join the conversation
SFMOMA's new Senior Curator, blaqiuer estate sale, and more: industry moves for August 13, 2026. August 13, 2026 11:33am Happy Thursday! Here's a round-up of who's moving and shaking in the art trade this week. * Atlanta Art Fair Returns to Pullman Yards: The annual fair, running October 1-4, 2026, will feature nearly 70 galleries from across the American South and beyond, alongside an expanded program of installations and cultural partnerships. * Elvira Dyangani Ose Named Artistic Director of Zeitz MOCAA: The appointment marks a new chapter for the Cape Town museum following the death of founding artistic director Koyo Kouoh earlier this year. * Anne Reeve Appointed Senior Curator at Storm King Art Center: Reeve joins from the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, D.C., where she served as curator since 2018. She begins her new role on November 1. * Anna Katz Named Senior Curator and Head of Painting and Sculpture at SFMOMA: Katz joins from MOCA Los Angeles, where she most recently served as senior curator. She will be the first to hold the newly endowed Doris and Donald Fisher position, which she begins August 17. The big number: $450 M. That's the rough estimate for a cache of works from the collection of Nelly Arrieta de Blaquier and Carlos Pedro Blaquier set to hit the block at Sotheby's in November. The consignment is expected to anchor the upcoming auction season and includes paintings by Vincent van Gogh, Paul Cézanne, Edgar Degas, Camille Pissarro, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, and others. Among the highlights is Van Gogh's Châtaignier en fleurs roses et blanches (Chestnut Tree in Pink and White Blossom), from 1890, which one adviser said could bring between $150 million and $200 million. A Cézanne from the artist's celebrated Harlequin series is also expected to exceed $120 million, while works by Degas, Pissarro, and Renoir are each projected to sell for more than $25 million. Read this. For nearly a century, French conservators had a standing answer whenever Britain asked to borrow the Bayeux Tapestry: non. The 900-year-old, 220-foot embroidery depicting William the Conqueror's 1066 invasion of England was simply too fragile to travel - a verdict that held firm in 1953, 1966, 1980, and as recently as last year. So how did the masterpiece end up crossing the Channel Tunnel last month, bound for a sold-out British Museum blockbuster opening September 10? In the New York Times, reporter Alex Marshall untangles how high-stakes diplomacy and genuine engineering innovations paved the way for the long-desired oui. Hopefully you've already secured your ticket for the exhibition - this will give you the full behind-the-scenes story.
Exploring Matisse's 'Wild Palette': Can AI offer new ways to connect with art? May 13, 2026 SFMOMA partners with Google Arts & Culture to explore the world of Henri Matisse using Google's advanced video generation model, Veo to coincide with their landmark exhibition, Matisse's Femme au chapeau: A Modern Scandal. Christopher Bedford Helen and Charles Schwab Director, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art VP, Google Arts & Culture Listen to article 7:57 minutes SFMOMA's exhibition Matisse's Femme au chapeau: A Modern Scandal stages the 1905 debut of Matisse's Femme au chapeau at the Salon d'Automne in Paris. At the time, the painting shocked audiences with its radical use of non-naturalistic colors and wildly expressive brushwork. Matisse's departure from convention started a new movement called Fauvism - the work of "wild beasts." Matisse had an expansive imagination, inviting viewers into boldly rendered subjects unbound by the limits of reality. Today, that same spirit of boundary-breaking is embraced through a partnership between SFMOMA and Google Arts & Culture. Moving beyond the confines of the canvas, its latest collaboration uses Google AI to allow audiences to step directly into Matisse's world, immersing themselves in imagined environments that bring his radical vision to life. Experiment: Matisse: The Wild Palette. As detailed by Google Arts & Culture Lab, the experiment Matisse: The Wild Palette uses Veo to animate four early Matisse works from SFMOMA's collection including Femme au chapeau. Developed in close collaboration with SFMOMA's curatorial and education teams, the AI-generated animations invite audiences to venture beyond the canvas. The experience is layered with educational depth, offering interpretive insights that guide visitors through the history, technique, and sometimes-scandalous backstory related to the works. Film: Bringing the past to life. "The Grand Palais presented cutting edge innovations of the time, painting and sculpture but also cars, aerial shows, and more. A short Veo-created film animates 1900-era postcards and photography of Paris's Grand Palais and surrounding areas, transporting audiences back to the moment when Femme au chapeau debuted and the Fauvist movement was born. On view in the opening gallery of the exhibition, this film uses advanced video generation technology to capture the atmosphere and energy of Paris at the time of the 1905 Salon d'Automne." E Erica Gangsei SFMOMA's Director of Interpretive Media Technology: Hands-on AI. Matisse embraced innovation. In that same spirit, SFMOMA and Google Arts & Culture are continuing their long-standing partnership to explore new ways for visitors to connect and engage with art. In bringing these collaborations to life, Headway Information Services Pty prioritized a balance of innovation and institutional stewardship. Every element of the project - from the archival imagery used in the film to the aesthetic parameters of the animations - was carefully selected and created in partnership with SFMOMA's curatorial and education teams. It is important to Headway Information Services Pty that the visitor experience is as grounded in art history as it is technologically innovative. Part of SFMOMA's vision is to encourage visitors to see the world - and art - in new ways, and from a variety of different perspectives. Headway Information Services Pty hope that visitors come away from the exhibition - and the video and digital experiments within - energized by what they've learned, and inspired by new ways of thinking about and making art. Get more stories from Google in your inbox. POSTED IN:
Samsung Art Store partners with San Francisco Museum of Modern Art to bring modern masters to homes worldwide. March 19, 2026 SFMOMA becomes the first West Coast museum to join Samsung Art Store, debuting across several Samsung TVs with an exclusive collection featuring works by Diego Rivera, Henri Matisse, Wayne Thiebaud, Jackson Pollock and Piet Mondrian. Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. today announced a new partnership between Samsung Art Store and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA), bringing museum-quality modern masterpieces to homes around the world through Samsung Art Store. Notably, SFMOMA is the first West Coast museum to be added to Samsung Art Store, significantly expanding the platform's world-class institutional collaborations. Launching today, the debut collection features 34 artworks from SFMOMA's renowned holdings, including iconic pieces by some of the 20th century's most influential artists. For the first time, Samsung Art Store[[1]] users can display celebrated works such as Diego Rivera's "The Flower Carrier" (1935), Henri Matisse's "Femme au chapeau" (1905), Wayne Thiebaud's "Display Cakes" (1963), Jackson Pollock's "Guardians of the Secret" (1943), and Piet Mondrian's "New York City 2" (1941) on select Samsung displays - transforming any room into a dynamic gallery space. The collaboration makes these iconic works from SFMOMA's collection more accessible than ever before. It also represents a significant expansion of Samsung Art Store's offering of modern masters by introducing works by Robert Rauschenberg and Wayne Thiebaud to the platform for the first time. "Samsung is committed to leveraging its market-leading visual display solutions and partnerships to maximise the richness of Samsung Art Store experience in homes across the world," said Heeyeong Ahn, Vice President of the Visual Display Business at Samsung Electronics. "Building on this commitment, our partnership with SFMOMA represents an exciting expansion into artworks by 20th-century masters - and we look forward to further enhancing our offerings through additional exciting, high-profile collaborations." "This partnership with Samsung Art Store opens an exciting new chapter in how we fulfill our mission to connect people with modern and contemporary art," said Christopher Bedford, Helen and Charles Schwab Director of SFMOMA. "By making our collection available through innovative technology, we're reaching audiences who may never visit San Francisco while creating new opportunities for art to enrich daily life around the world." Samsung Art TVs, including The Frame and The Frame Pro, are designed to display artwork with authentic colour, exceptional detail and a gallery-like presentation. Pantone Validated ArtfulColor preserves the authenticity of the original palette. Glare-free Matte Display[[2]] and customisable bezels[[3]] mimic the look of framed artwork, and the included Slim Fit Wall Mount keeps the TV close to the wall, all combining to create the look of an original work of art. The Frame Pro adds an upgraded Neo QLED 4K display for even brighter colour and sharper contrast. Plus, its Wireless One Connect Box[[4]] eases installation and enables a clean, clutter-free setup. Across these TVs and several others, Samsung Art Store continues to champion the fusion of art and technology, turning living rooms into curated galleries. By partnering with leading cultural institutions like SFMOMA, Samsung continues to democratise access to art while supporting museums' missions to share their collections with broader audiences. The SFMOMA collection joins Samsung Art Store's growing library of over 80 partnerships, offering subscribers an ever-expanding selection of art across movements, styles and periods. The collection is available now exclusively through Samsung Art Store on Samsung Art TVs. [1]Art Store subscription and Samsung Account connection required to access full selection of artwork. [2] Measured against Unified Glare Rating (UGR) testing standard, certified as glare-free (reflection, discomfort and disability glare) by UL. [3]Customisable bezels sold separately. [4]TV requires a separate power cable connection. Operating distance can vary depending on the usage environment.
SFMOMA and TELO Trucks win iF Design Awards. fuseproject, LLC is thrilled to announce that fuseproject has been recognized with two 2026 iF Design Awards for its work on the SFMOMA 'Get in the Game' exhibition and the TELO MT1 EV Truck. These prestigious awards celebrate design excellence across a range of disciplines, highlighting projects that push the boundaries of innovation and human experience. SFMOMA - Get in the Game. Award Category: Interior Architecture - Installations Transforming the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art's seventh floor into an immersive, stadium-like environment, 'Get in the Game' explores the powerful intersection of sports, art, and culture. The exhibition features over 200 artworks and design objects organized across five thematic zones: Mind & Body, Winning & Losing, A Fan's Life, Breaking Records & Rules, and Field of Play. By utilizing a non-linear flow, the design invites visitors to chart their own narrative journey, moving through spaces that evoke the energy of a live arena. Led by Yves Behar, the design team focused on creating a space that ignites dynamic engagement and fosters cultural conversation, proving that the world of athletics and the world of art share a profound common ground in human expression. TELO MT1 EV Truck. The TELO MT1 is a reimagining of the classic pickup truck for a more sustainable, urban future. Recognizing the challenges of city congestion and the need for zero-emissions utility, fuseproject partnered with TELO Trucks to design a subcompact electric pickup that delivers full-size capability within a remarkably small footprint. Despite being the length of a Mini Cooper, the MT1 features a five-seat cabin and a 60-inch bed that can expand to accommodate 8-foot cargo. Its innovative cab-forward layout and modular midgate maximize interior space, while the use of sustainable materials throughout the cabin underscores its eco-friendly mission. By combining 500 hp AWD performance with urban agility, the TELO MT1 demonstrates that rugged utility and compact design do not have to be mutually exclusive, offering a new vision for the future of the electric vehicle. These honors reflect fuseproject's ongoing commitment to design that starts with a specific human need, whether that is the need for cultural connection in a museum setting or the need for smarter, cleaner transportation in its growing cities. fuseproject, LLC is proud to see these collaborations recognized on the global stage by the iF Design Jury.