Associate Director of Collections

The Associate Director of Collections (ADC) is a key member of the leadership team and will provide dynamic leadership and vision for its Curatorial Affairs division at the Art Museum at Washington and Lee University, helping to steward its significant and historic collections.
The successful candidate will be an engaged, collaborative, and experienced leader who can provide strategic vision and mentorship to a professional team consisting of a Registrar, Collections Manager, and two curatorial fellows in American art and ceramics.

Reporting to the Director of the W&L Art Museum, the ADC will be responsible for establishing collecting priorities and processes, engaging new ways of sharing the museum’s rich collection, maximizing its potential and reach, and stewarding more than 15,000 objects spanning periods, geographies, and media, including American and European painting and works on paper (16th–21st centuries), East Asian art, Chinese Export porcelain, and historic and contemporary ceramics.

Washington and Lee University actively promotes a dynamic and welcoming environment that allows students and employees of multiple backgrounds and perspectives to learn, work, and thrive together. Successful candidates will contribute to that environment and exhibit potential for excellence in their areas of expertise.

Visit jobs.wlu.edu to learn more about working at W&L, our benefits, community, and living in the area.

About the Museums at Washington and Lee University:

The Museums at W&L are part of Academic Affairs, reporting to the Provost’s Office, and comprise two entities: the Art Museum and the Institutional History Museum. Each entity is dedicated to showcasing distinct collections and exhibitions and to fostering a community inspired by art and W&L’s history. 

About the W&L Art Museum and Galleries:

The Art Museum and Galleries’ mission is to promote learning through direct engagement with its collections and to foster an interdisciplinary appreciation of art, history, and culture. It achieves this through a variety of permanent and rotating exhibitions that support the liberal arts curriculum, align with the university’s academic objectives, and reflect the varied interests of the community, and offers students and faculty opportunities for research, internships, employment, exhibitions, and programmatic offerings.

The Art Museum and Galleries consist of eight galleries across three sites: the Reeves Museum of Ceramics, Watson Galleries, and McCarthy Gallery. Together, they house an extensive collection of approximately 15,000 objects, spanning centuries, geographies, and media within their decorative and fine arts holdings. The collection ranges from early American portraits and European paintings to a nationally recognized collection of Chinese and Japanese export porcelain, as well as significant works on paper, photographs, and sculptures. The collection traces its origins to a bequest in 1875, when six portraits laid the foundation of the art collection. Over the past 150 years, it has grown to include celebrated works by artists such as Elizabeth Catlett, Fernando Botero, William Christenberry, Sam Gilliam, Sally Mann, Charles Willson Peale, Gilbert Stuart, and Andy Warhol. Additionally, the museum boasts a substantial collection of East Asian prints, scrolls, and decorative arts, highlighting its global scope.

For more information, visit: artmuseum.wlu.edu

Essential Functions:

• Provides leadership in developing and shaping a vision for the future of collecting at the Art Museum, in collaboration with the Director, the engagement team, and University stakeholders.

• With other members of the leadership team, help set, articulate, and ensure delivery of strategic goals aligned with the institutional priorities.

• Conceptualizes and implements a comprehensive exhibition and permanent collection strategic plan to broaden and strengthen the museum's local, national, and international audience.

• Shapes curatorial policies, including contributing to the development of a comprehensive collecting plan.

• Leads and mentors a team of experienced professionals, and identifies professional development and training needs for related staff at all career levels; fostering a culture of trust, collaboration, and mutual respect.

• Develops and implements collection policies that support preservation, documentation, and scholarly research, including cataloging, provenance, and conservation efforts.

• Collaborates with the Education unit to engage audiences through public lectures, docent training, class sessions, and other outreach initiatives that build awareness and appreciation of the permanent collection.

• Fosters engagement by collaborating with faculty and students to pursue curatorial research projects to deepen engagement with the art collection.

• Researches, writes, and oversees scholarly and interpretive content for publications supporting the permanent collection, working closely with contract and museum staff.

• Oversees the financial management of the unit, including developing and monitoring the annual budget, managing expenditures, and ensuring alignment with institutional priorities and compliance with university policies.

• Identifies and assists with grants and other funding opportunities related to capacity building and special projects related to collections.

• Manages and/or collaborates on legacy initiatives and provides oversight on new projects.

• Understands capacity needs within the unit, assesses those needs, and advocates for the resource needs with University partners. 

• Assists the Director and the Development team in contributing to fundraising initiatives, cultivating prospective individual donors, foundations, and institutional partners; develops and maintains effective relationships with the artists, dealers, collectors, donors, and museum peers.

• In collaboration with W&L Communications and contracted graphic designers, oversees promotional efforts to support exhibition and collection initiatives.

• Demonstrates a commitment to fostering a welcoming museum experience; ensures that curatorial initiatives are being carried out in alignment with W&L’s values.

• Develops a collaborative partnership with the leaders of the Special Collections and Archives, the Institutional History Museum, the Art and Art History Department, and other units within the Art Museum.

• Other related duties as assigned.

Minimum Qualifications:

• M.A. in art history or related field.

• Experience in supervision, managing, mentoring, and leading professional teams.

• 3-5 years of experience within an art museum or equivalent.

• Demonstrated acquisition and collection development experience.

• Familiarity with collection-management databases is required.

• Broad knowledge or expertise in the strengths of the collection, including American portraiture, American and European painting and works on paper (16th–21st centuries), East Asian art, Chinese Export porcelain, and/or historic and contemporary ceramics.

• Commitment to, and passion for, the museum’s mission

• Must demonstrate an ability to conceive, organize, and produce exhibitions.

• Knowledge of museum ethics and the legal regulations governing collecting.

• Knowledge of current best practices for art museums as articulated by the American Alliance of Museums, the Association of Academic Museums and Galleries, and other related professional organizations.

• Valid driver’s license and good driving history.

Application Instructions

Review of applications will begin immediately and continue until the position is filled.  Committee interviews are anticipated for November, with an expected start date of February 2, 2026. Required materials include:

• Cover letter

• Resume

• Names and contact information for three professional references

Application instructions for internal and external candidates can be found at https://www.wlu.edu/employment-opportunities/jobs-at-w-l.

Physical Requirements:

• Fingering: Picking, pinching, typing or otherwise working, primarily with fingers rather than with whole hand or arm as in handling.

• Grasping: Applying pressure to an object with the fingers and palm.

• Repetitive motions: Making substantial movements (motions) of the wrists, hands, and/or fingers.

• Walking: Moving about on foot to accomplish tasks, particularly for long distances or moving from one work site to another.

• Standing: Remaining upright on the feet, particularly for sustained periods of time.

• Balancing: Maintaining body equilibrium to prevent falling when walking, standing or crouching on narrow, slippery or erratically moving surfaces. This factor is important if the amount and kind of balancing the amount and kind of balancing exceeds that needed for ordinary locomotion and maintenance of body equilibrium.

• Climbing: Ascending or descending ladders, stairs, scaffolding, ramps, poles and the like, using feet and legs and/or hands and arms. Body agility is emphasized. This factor is important if the amount and kind of climbing required exceeds that required for ordinary locomotion.

• Stooping: Bending body downward and forward by bending spine at the waist. This factor is important if it occurs to a considerable degree and requires full use of the lower extremities and back muscles.

• Kneeling: Bending legs at knee to come to a rest on knee or knees.

• Crouching: Bending the body downward and forward by bending leg and spine.

• Crawling: Moving about on hands and knees or hands and feet.

• Reaching: Extending hand(s) and arm(s) in any direction.

• Pushing: Using upper extremities to press against something with steady force in order to thrust forward, downward or outward.

• Pulling: Using upper extremities to exert force in order to draw, drag, haul or tug objects in a sustained motion.

• Lifting: Raising objects from a lower to a higher position or moving objects horizontally from position to position. This factor is important if it occurs to a considerable degree and requires the substantial use of the upper extremities and back muscles.

Working Conditions: The worker is not substantially exposed to adverse environmental conditions.

Types of Work: Medium work: Exerting up to 50 pounds of force occasionally, and/or up to 20 pounds of force frequently, and/or up to 10 pounds of force constantly to move objects.

Exempt, Full Time, Benefit Eligible

Washington and Lee is an Equal Opportunity Employer seeking candidates committed to high standards of scholarship, performance, professionalism, and to a welcoming campus community. Job description requirements are representative, but not all‐inclusive of the knowledge, skill, and abilities needed to successfully perform this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable qualified individuals with disabilities to perform essential functions.