Careers

William King Museum of Art provides opportunities for employees to enrich their love of the arts while contributing their skills and talents to a creative and energetic work environment.

Please check back periodically for employment opportunities at William King Museum of Art.

Curator of Decorative & Fine Art

This position will conceptualize, develop, organize, interpret, and manage an annual program of approximately eight exhibitions with content focusing on decorative, industrial, and fine art exclusive of work created contemporarily or within the past twenty-five to thirty years.

Included as a special priority is the pre-1940 decorative, folk art, and material culture of Southwest Virginia & Northeast Tennessee as defined and articulated through the Betsy K. White Cultural Heritage Project, a standing program of the Museum.

This position will be the lead staff in the management of the CHP, including its Archive and permanent collection, understanding that ongoing research, especially that related to the development of new temporary exhibitions, of which there should be two annually presented exclusively in the Price / Strongwell Galleries, will serve to further enrich and increase the Archive’s records. This position will manage the Betsy K. White Cultural Heritage Gallery, which displays selections from the CHP permanent collection, and will develop a rotation of objects suitable to the priorities of esthetics, collections management, and audience interest.

This position will create and manage all registration activities for loaned artwork under this position’s responsibility , ensuring that all paperwork – condition reports, loan forms, any special written directions – are known to and available to the lead Preparator in a timely fashion to ensure efficiency in shipping in and out.

This position is the chief contact for all lenders to exhibitions, transferring information in a timely fashion between the Preparator and lenders, putting both in direct contact when and if necessary. Relative to the permanent collection, this position will work closely with the Registrar who has primary responsibility for the permanent collection, it’s paperwork, and its condition. The Museum is accredited by the American Alliance of Museums, and all art will be displayed and cared for according to the highest standards set forth by AAM. For loaned art, these standards will be applied within the scope of wall to wall responsibility that mandates care during transit, in Museum storage areas, and in our galleries. Exhibitions will be essentially educational in purpose and content and will be developed with connoisseurship as a primary value in selection of artwork. The majority of exhibitions should be organized by WKMA with the balance on loan from other institutions, constituting a whole program that strives to excellence and presents as interesting, engaging, and promoting of community.

This position works in collaboration with the rest of the staff, in particular with the Curator of Contemporary Art & Craft, Exhibition, Preparator, and Registrar(currently open position), but also with the education and community programming staff in the development of related activities, acting as a
participant when appropriate; with the marketing and publications staff for the production of print and media material; with the security staff in ensuring a safe environment for the storage and display of art; and with the Business Manager
for the insurance coverage of artwork.

This full-time position reports directly to the Museum’s Director. Essential requirements for this position include a degree in art history with post-graduate work and curatorial experience regarded as a plus.

This position requires a self-starter with a natural inclination for planning and the ability to work independently while within the framework of an interlocking organizational work plan. Personal work habits should be strong in detail management, research and writing skills, and an ongoing capacity to meet deadlines.

Specific functions of this position include:
• Creating approximately 8 temporary exhibitions annually for display in the United Company/LeGard Galleries and in thePrice/Strongwell Galleries for final approval by the Museum’s Director;

• Ensuring that a two-year exhibition plan is consistently in place, working closely for its development with the Curator of Contemporary Art & Craft and Preparator;

• Developing a final checklist, including insurance values, for each exhibition at least three months prior to its opening;

• Serving as the primary contact with all lenders, institutional and individual, ensuring that all registration information is accurate and complete, including insurance values, and that information related to scheduling pickup and return of
artwork is current and relayed in a timely manner to the Preparator;

• Determining, for the purposes of exhibition design, the relationship of objects within the checklist and working closely with the Preparator for a design that is esthetically engaging while respecting object relationship;

• Writing all related interpretive materials associated with each exhibition such as text panels, object identification labels, and other materials such as general audience gallery guides or catalogs, and working effectively within a timely manner with the Museum’s Marketing department;

• Participating in all installations, working under the lead of the Preparator;

• Sharing leadership responsibility and management of the Artistic Direction Committee, a standing committee of the Board of Trustees, with the Curator of Contemporary Art & Craft;

• Participating, as needed, in the decision-making process for any other artwork to be displayed in the Museum,
including in the Panoramic Gallery, informal hallway displays and within the Art Lab;

• Providing speaker recommendations for a strong lecture series related to exhibitions and collections under this
position’s responsibility, serving as lecturer or facilitator when appropriate;

• Maintaining the Museum’s Cultural Heritage Archive of records resulting from the Cultural Heritage Project’s research, ensuring that the records are up-to-date and appropriately accessible for controlled scholarly research, both by staff and
the general public;

• Developing and managing, for approval by the Museum’s Director, an annual budget and work plan for the exhibitions under this position’s responsibility;

• Creating and maintaining exhibition files that include appropriate reports, forms and other material for use as historical data within the Museum’s history and planning activities;

• Creating an Exhibitions Report for each fiscal year within eight weeks of its close that chronicles visitor numbers, costs, checklists of objects, and related programs for use in the Museum’s annual report and running log of exhibitions;

• Other duties as assigned by the Museum’s Director.

 

To Apply: Email Resume and Cover Letter to Casey Powers, at cpowers@wkmuseum.org or call (276) 628-5005 ext. 111.

FULL-TIME OUTREACH INSTRUCTOR FOR VAN GOGH OUTREACH PROGRAM

 

William King Museum of art is seeking a full time outreach instructor for the Van Gogh Outreach program. The primary duties of this position include teaching Van Gogh Outreach lessons in Wise, Dickenson, Buchanan and Lee counties in Virginia. This individual should ideally be situated near these areas to be able to easily commute to several schools for morning lessons. The individual will be provided with a Van Gogh vehicle and trained to deliver pre-planned lessons in Native American cultures and Ancient History to children in second and third grade across several counties. This individual will commute to the museum in Abingdon at least once every two weeks to meet with the Director of Youth Education and gather supplies.

Requirements
• A bachelor’s degree in fine arts, art education, or art history
• Previous experience working with children
• A valid driver’s license
• Located within or near the Wise/Dickenson/Buchanan/Lee County area

Qualifications
• Reliable, organized, and independent
• Knowledgeable in history and geography
• Able to adapt to different teaching situations
• Experience in public elementary education
• Knowledge of teaching philosophy
• Able to provide a schedule of availability several months in advance
• Knowledgeable in various fine arts techniques
• Available to assist with other programs including field trips and summer art camps

Job Type: Full-time
Schedule: 8 hour shift

COVID-19 considerations: Teachers follow protocols per the school districts in which they teach. Masks and hand sanitizers are available at all entrances to the museum and Art Lab.

Work Location: On the road

Submit resume and cover letter to Kelsie Christian, Director of Youth and Family Education, at khale@wkmuseum.org. No phone calls, please.

Part Time Outreach Instructor for Van Gogh Outreach Program

 

William King Museum of art is seeking a part time outreach instructor for the Van Gogh Outreach program. The primary duties of this position include teaching Van Gogh Outreach lessons in Carroll county in Virginia. This individual should be situated near Carroll county to be able to easily commute to several schools for morning lessons. The individual will be provided with a Van Gogh vehicle and trained to deliver pre-planned lessons in Native American cultures and Ancient History to children in second and third grade across several counties. This individual will commute to the museum in Abingdon at least once every two weeks to meet with the Director of Youth Education and gather supplies.

Requirements
• A bachelor’s degree in fine arts, art education, or art history
• Previous experience working with children
• A valid driver’s license
• Located within or near the Carroll county area

Qualifications
• Reliable, organized, and independent
• Knowledgeable in history and geography
• Able to adapt to different teaching situations
• Experience in public elementary education
• Knowledge of teaching philosophy
• Able to provide a schedule of availability several months in advance
• Knowledgeable in various fine arts techniques
• Available to assist with other programs including field trips and summer art camps

Job Type: Part-time
Schedule: 4 hour shift

COVID-19 considerations: Teachers follow protocols per the school districts in which they teach. Masks and hand sanitizers are available at all entrances to the museum and Art Lab.

Work Location: On the road

To Apply: Email Resume and Cover Letter to Casey Powers, at cpowers@wkmuseum.org or call (276) 628-5005 ext. 111.

Contract Instructors

 

Art Lab at William King Museum is looking for experienced instructors for adult classes and workshops in ceramics (hand-building and/or throwing) and darkroom photography (black & white and alternative processes).

Job Type: Employment is contract part time occasional/seasonal.

Work Location: Art Lab at William King Museum of Art, Abingdon, VA

To Apply: Interested qualified persons may email resumes and images of their artwork or links to their website to Laken Bridges, Dir. Higher Education at lbridges@wkmuseum.org. Questions: 276-628-5005 #109.

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