Museum Director of Visual Arts

Description:
Cedarhurst Center for the Arts seeks a strategic, collaborative Director of Visual Arts to serve as lead curator for our nationally accredited museum in southern Illinois. This position plays the lead role in developing Museum collections and realizing artist exhibitions, commissions, curatorial and public programs, and special projects that activate the Cedarhurst campus, advance forward-looking museum practices, and hone institutional thought leadership.

This position reports to the Executive Director.

Founded in 1965, the John R. and Eleanor R. Mitchell Foundation operates Cedarhurst Center for the Arts, a nationally accredited art and cultural institution in Mt. Vernon, Illinois. What began as a two-room museum has grown into a vibrant arts destination featuring:

• The expanded Mitchell Museum (33,000-square-foot cultural center with four galleries, interactive family space, and performance hall)
• The Shrode Art Center (gallery, classrooms, and studios)
• The Schweinfurth House and original Mitchell House (event and meeting spaces)
• A 65-acre Sculpture Park with 60 large-scale works

Cedarhurst advances its mission to enrich lives through the arts by presenting high-quality exhibitions, stewarding a nationally significant permanent collection, and developing programs that increase access to the arts for communities across southern Illinois and the surrounding region. In recent years, the museum has broadened its commitment to meaningful community engagement with increased partnerships and offsite programming, and by launching The Lights, a seasonal evening experience that expands holiday access and transforms the sculpture park with immersive light installations.

The museum stewards approximately 800 works of art across multiple media, including paintings, works on paper, photography, sculpture, decorative arts, and global artifacts. The core of the collection - begun in the 1940s and 1950s by founding philanthropists John and Eleanor Mitchell - includes significant American works by artists such as George Bellows, Mary Cassatt, Robert Henri, and Thomas Eakins. In contrast, the Sculpture Park includes major contemporary works by artists such as Chakaia Booker, Dennis Oppenheim, Alexander Liberman, and John Kearney.

Cedarhurst presents these holdings in dialogue with exhibitions, education, and community partnerships to serve a largely rural, multi-county region and impact more than 50,000 people annually.

The Director of Visual Arts enhances Cedarhurst’s reputation as a forward-facing public institution regionally and nationally. This role:

• Ensures professional stewardship of the permanent collection
• Leads curatorial vision and exhibition development
• Expands public access and engagement
• Contributes to scholarship, publications, and digital content
• Collaborates across departments and with artists, donors, and community partners

The Director of Visual Arts will support the Executive Director as a visible presence in the community and aid in the communication of Cedarhurst’s role as a nationally accredited museum with a significant permanent collection. A senior member of the Museum’s leadership team, this person will foster collaborative relationships across all museum departments, working closely with fellow Directors, as well as artists, donors, community partners, Docents, and other volunteers.

• Oversee the curatorial role in documentation, storage, conservation planning, and maintenance of archives, as well as in developing digital access and workflows that support collections stewardship.
• Oversee presentation and conservation of the indoor collection, advising on the need for more collections storage and potential for physical expansion.
• Oversee presentation and conservation of the outdoor collection, routinely assessing the art and site locations and working with Director of Operations to maintain proper care and presentation of outdoor gallery.
• Oversee, research, and coordinate national and international art loans, as needed.
• Research and recommend potential acquisitions that strategically strengthen…