This is a professional position in the Department of Tourism & Cultural Affairs, Division of Museums & History at the Lost City Museum in Overton, Nevada. The Curator of Exhibits position is responsible for: 1-museum education and programming related to exhibition collections, assisting school tours; 2- management of museum exhibition collections (including registration, processing, preservation, conservation, security and appropriate use of artifacts in museum exhibits); 3- exhibit and gallery management (inspecting, cleaning, and correcting existing exhibit content); 4- exhibit transition management (developing new exhibit content, hands-on materials, design plans for exhibit replacement, etc). This position has a variable work week from Wednesday through Sunday and is required to work some holidays. Applicants are encouraged to apply immediately if interested as the recruitment may close at any time.

Bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university with major coursework in history, prehistory, natural history, museum studies, education, or closely related field plus two years of professional experience in a museum. This experience must have included experience in exhibit development, and collections registration, and/or developing, promoting, executing and evaluating educational programming; OR one year of experience as a Curator I in Nevada State service; OR an equivalent combination of education and experience as described above.
Implement collection management policy and procedures; assess and recommend acquisition of objects, archival materials, manuscripts, photographs for museum collections; conduct accessioning, cataloging, and inventory; maintain and secure collection records and databases; conduct research on collections for documentation and use in education programs, exhibits, and publications; conduct registration, documentation, access, use, and security.

Coordinate use of the following: collections in exhibits, educational programs, and publications; incoming and outgoing collection loans; reproduction of collections and use of intellectual property; storage and conservation of collections; personal, nonprofit, and commercial use of collections by outside entities; and statewide authorization program.

Coordinate and curate collections controlled by federal agencies and other entities as stipulated in agreements; respond to research inquiries related to collections and program areas; assist management of collection security.

Conduct research and develop content and media for programs; manage tours for adults, children, and school groups; partner with schools and coordinate programs to school curricula; develop teacher guides, training manuals, and schedules; manage and present lectures, workshops, demonstrations, performances, and special events for multiple audiences; conduct outreach education at schools, community events, and offsite locations; assist development and management of the education collection.

Participate in the preparation of long-term and temporary exhibits; serve on exhibit teams with other curators, staff, and experts; develop exhibit plans, concepts, and content and assist design; provide and prepare collections from the museum and other sources; manage conservation and security of collections on exhibit; research and write labels and interpretive media.

Provide technical information on museum collection practices and program areas for outside entities. May produce publications on program areas and collections for general and specialized audiences.

Interpret results of completed surveys; perform field evaluations and site excavations including locating, identifying and recording specific sites, and cataloging and plotting recovered artifacts; utilize information for report preparation, scientific research, educational purposes and/or to determine impact to cultural resource as required.

May conduct field surveys of archaeological, historical and pre-historical sites, and documents.

Perform related duties as assigned.

Under direction, incumbents collect, register, arrange, research, document and catalog materials for an assigned collection; provide access, security and conservation of that collection; carry out interpretations of collections; develop, execute, and evaluate educational programs and research; conduct field activities; investigate and pursue potential acquisitions; prepare publications on program areas and collections.
This job specification lists the major knowledge, skills and abilities of the job and is not all inclusive. Incumbent(s) will be expected to have knowledge, skills and abilities from a previous level.

Working knowledge of: conservation principles and practices in relation to exhibiting artifacts and/or maintaining a storage and retrieval system; loan contracts, renewals and museum policies regarding loaning collections; the museums gifting and exhibition policies; antiquities law; research and appraisal sources and resources offered by other agencies in order to assist the public; exhibit design and application; federal, State and department requirements for the curation, management, and preservation of collections; preservation and conservation technology to assess the condition of cultural resources and recommend appropriate action; the cultural resource management process; basic museum techniques and procedures in registration and accessioning artifacts; standard museum methods of identification in relation to determining the acceptance of artifacts and in their classification; exhibit design and application; collection management or education program development and management as appropriate; techniques relevant to the development of museum exhibits; registration theory and accession procedures as these apply to the development, maintenance and use of collections, and in application to the functions and operations of museums, archives, historical societies and libraries; preservation and conservation theory, practices and techniques in order to properly care for and protect collections; research methods and principles.

General knowledge of: history of Great Basin Nevada and The West.

Ability to: compose exhibit text and articles for publication; recognize problems relating to the development, organization and care of collections; work in collaboration with other museum professionals in the development and deployment of museum exhibits; assist in conducting research; make assessments on the condition and value of collections and artifacts; identify problems and determine appropriate solutions based upon interpretation of rules, regulation and department policy; exchange ideas and arrive at decisions, conclusions and solutions to cultural resource problems; restore artifacts.

Recruiter Contact Information: Susan Fowler - sfowler@admin.nv.gov