Beverly and Gayle W. Doster Painting Conservator; Collection Conservation Specialist), Eskenazi

Overview

ART MUSEUM (BL-AMUS-IUBLA). Since its establishment in 1941, the Sidney and Lois Eskenazi Museum of Art at Indiana University (IU) has grown into a leading university art museum with a teaching mission. The collection includes more than 47,000 objects representing diverse art-producing cultures. The museum seeks a Painting Conservator responsible for the long-term study and care of works in the collection, specifically approximately 1,200 European and American paintings dating from ca.

1500 to the present. Strengths include Italian Renaissance and Baroque paintings, nineteenth-century American paintings, and modernist styles (e.g., German Expressionism, Cubism, post-war abstraction).

• Department-Specific Responsibilities:
  • Manage a wide range of treatment projects for paintings, from short-term aesthetic treatments to complex structural work.
  • Prepare outgoing and incoming condition reports for paintings on loan; advise on travel readiness, packing, and serve as courier as needed.
  • Advise on technical issues related to potential acquisitions and gifts.
  • Maintain strong knowledge and practice of preventive conservation, including Integrated Pest Management, appropriate light levels, humidity, temperature, and painting housing in storage.
  • Arrange consultations, analytical work, and treatments with external conservators and laboratories; assess and oversee treatment proposals from contract conservators.
  • Develop and oversee innovative methodologies for long-term painting preservation.
  • Consult with Campus Art on master works (e.g., Calder’s Peau Rouge, Benton murals); advise on conservation matters with Director of Curatorial Affairs, curators, and registrar.
  • Develop policies for long-term care and preservation of paintings following professional standards.
  • Administer department activities including budgets, staffing, and performance planning.
  • Participate in grant writing and development activities as requested.
  • Maintain thorough documentation of conservation assessments, treatment proposals, all stages of treatment, and final reports in paper and digital formats for storage in the museum’s database.
  • Supervise an assistant conservator pending position approval and hiring.
  • Collaborate with the education department and participate in teaching and outreach activities.
  • Propose research and collaborative projects with partner institutions, curatorial staff, and conservation professionals.

• General Responsibilities:
  • Practice preventive conservation, including developing protocols for Integrated Pest Management, light levels, humidity and temperature, and appropriate housing for artifacts in storage.
  • Develop schedules for museum services staff to dust objects and conduct periodic condition surveys; prepare outgoing/incoming condition reports for artifacts on loan; advise on packing and courier duties as needed.
  • Develop policies for long-term care of artifacts with emphasis on a teaching collection, planning major conservation/restoration projects, conducting condition surveys, and treating works for exhibition or loan.
  • Administer department operations, including staffing, performance planning/review, and staff development.
  • Maintain cutting-edge expertise in conservation practices, equipment, and materials by continuing education and collaboration with outside conservators and scientists.
  • Undertake primary research related to materials and manufacture of fine art and historic objects; assess chemical alterations due to environment or interventions and publish findings when feasible.
  • Propose and lead institutional research and collaborative projects with partner institutions and conservation professionals.

• Required
  Bachelor’s degree in art conservation or related field.
• Preferred
  Master’s degree in Art Conservation with a specialty in painting.
• Work Experience
  
  Required:
  
  5 years in art conservation or related field;
  Preferred: 3 years of professional publication and/or teaching/seminars.

• Required
  Proficient communication skills; professionalism; time management and priority setting; commitment to quality; flexibility in a fast-paced environment; initiative; high accuracy and…