Curator of Collections in Louisville, Kentucky at Kentucky Derby Museum

Kentucky Derby Museum is a 501(c)(3) non-profit charitable organization that sits on the front steps of historic Churchill Downs Racetrack. It is one of the premiere attractions in the Louisville region, celebrating the tradition, history, hospitality and pride of the world-renowned event that is the Kentucky Derby. The Museum welcomes over 258,000 visitors annually; a large percentage of those visitors come from outside of Kentucky, journeying from across the country and the world.

Position Purpose:

The primary purpose for this position is to manage, preserve, and develop the museum’s collection of artifacts, artworks, and archives. This position involves researching, acquiring, cataloging, and interpreting objects to ensure their historical, cultural, and educational value is accessible to the public. The Curator of Collections is responsible for maintaining the integrity and conservation of the collection. This position will report to the Senior Director of Curatorial and Education.

Essential Functions/Accountabilities:

• Oversee the acquisition, documentation, care, and management of the Museum’s collection. This includes cataloging, classifying, and maintaining accurate records for the collection database, maintaining storage areas and managing security issues
• Research and recommend potential acquisitions that enhance the Museum’s collection. Evaluate and facilitate deaccession of items that no longer align with Museum’s mission or collection goals.
• Ensure proper care, storage, and preservation of all objects in the collection. Work with Senior Director of Curatorial & Education to access and implement conservation treatments, and establish best practices for the long-term preservation of objects.
• Ensures that all appropriate collections forms are complete and up-to-date. This includes deeds of gift, incoming and outgoing loans and records of bequests or transfers.
• Collaborate with the Curatorial Team to plan, curate, and organize exhibitions. Develop interpretive materials, including, labels, catalog entries, and digital content to provide historical, cultural, or artistic context to the public.
• Conduct research on the collection to deepen understanding of individual pieces or groups of objects. This research may be used both internally and externally.
• Provide expertise on the collection for both internal and external purposes. This includes social media, external media opportunities and answering public research requests.
• Works with curatorial staff on the creation and management of digital records, ensuring that the collection is available for internal and external research purposes.
• Ensure that all acquisitions and collection practices comply with Museum ethics, legal requirements, and cultural sensitivity standards.
• Supervises other collections staff, interns or volunteers.
• Other duties as assigned.

While every effort has been made to make this description of the essential functions as complete as possible, it in no way states or implies that this is an exhaustive listing of the only duties you will be required to perform. The omission of specific statements of functions or responsibilities does not exclude them from the position if the work is similar, related, or is a logical assignment to the position.

Minimum Qualifications:

· BA or MA in Museum studies, public history, or related field.

· Three (3) years’ experience in collections/archival management.

· Must have a working knowledge of library science.

· Ability to read and interpret written documents such as newspapers, magazines and internal manuals.

· Ability to deal with various types of problems that may include logistics, scheduling and supervising personnel.

· Ability to count and calculate sequential numbers in assigning new accession numbers and understand Imperial measurements.

Work Schedule:

· Approximately 40 hours per week, hours may vary (open all days of the week).

· All team members are required to work additional hours during Derby season. This includes but is not limited to working shifts on Thurby, Oaks, Derby, and the Sunday of Derby weekend. All team members are also required to work the week of the National FFA conference and Breeder’s Cup (when held in Louisville).

Working Conditions:

While performing the duties of this position, the employee is regularly required to stand for long periods of time, walk, and climb stairs. This individual will be required to lift packages up to 25 lbs. The employee is required to have non-standard workday hours during the spring and fall sessions. All indoor spaces are air-conditioned, although some job duties may take place outside, or in another non-climate-controlled space.

While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly exposed to a crowded work area. To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to navigate a crowded area and handle a challenging workload.