Director of Collections & Projects

Position: Director of Collections & Projects

Department: OZ Art NWA

Company: Ingeborg

Reporting to: President

Location: Bentonville, AR

Classification: Full-time, Exempt

We are seeking a highly organized, entrepreneurial, highly driven person to make magic happen as the Director of Collections & Projects for OZ Art NWA. This role, and the small team it leads, create unexpected delight in our community by installing art for everyone to enjoy in public and private spaces. This role oversees the acquisition, installation, organization and maintenance involved with a diverse, privately owned collection dedicated for public enjoyment.

The Director partners closely with the Principals, curators and community partners to bring the vision to life, largely working behind the scenes with their small team and multiple vendors. We are seeking a strong leader who balances their love of art with strong business and administrative skills to run this enterprise with bold thinking, creative problem solving and an owner’s mindset. The successful candidate will be a proactive, team-oriented, self-starter who is capable of multi-tasking, enjoys both collaboration and solo work projects, and has excellent interpersonal and communication skills. Wonder and innovation are at the heart of what we do so lifelong learning, embracing change and business savvy are imperative.

About OZ Art NWA

Founded in 2017, OZ Art NWA is dedicated to elevating the regional arts scene by amplifying the work of local arts organizations by sharing a growing collection on view in surprising public places throughout Bentonville and beyond. We are honored to share a hometown with the iconic Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art and rising star, the Momentary.

The collections span a variety of media and forms, including murals, outdoor installations, sculptures, paintings, and drawings, that celebrate contemporary voices speaking to issues such as diversity, gender equality, and racial equity. Exploration is a way of life in Bentonville and Northwest Arkansas. OZ Art NWA advances the experience by incorporating beautiful and inspiring art into everyday life across the region and celebrating the diversity of art around us.

About the Director of Collections & Projects Role

The Director of Collections & Projects will manage the OZ Art NWA team, overseeing the acquisition, installation, organization and maintenance involved with various private collections; one collection is public and two are personal to the owning principals. This is a behind-the-scenes role, working closely with multiple entities in our community to delight visitors and residents through art. This role will also be responsible for evolving the business model for the Oz Art collection to build on our strengths and activate new income streams. The Director will partner closely with the principals and president to whom the role reports, as well as work with contracted curators and other external partners.

This position requires flexibility in scheduling, including occasional nights and weekends. Approximately 75% of the role is focused on the public collection, with 25% dedicated to private collections across the two Principals. The Director of Collections & Projects may travel domestically (up to 10%).

Key Responsibilities

• Consult with Principals to set strategy for their vision.

• Manage the acquisition, installation, and administration of the various art collections (private and personal).

• Manage the business side of Oz Art, leveraging opportunities in art consulting, art lending, etc to supplement current operations. Build an efficient organization that makes savvy use of resources and focuses on adding differentiated value.

• Prepare and provide reports to Principals including financial, arts collection inventory, loans, insurance requirements, etc.

• Manage the public profile, community outreach and external communications efforts for the collection.

• Manage all aspects of the care and movement of artwork.

• Lead a team of 4 dedicated professionals.

• Complete all other duties as assigned within the scope of responsibility and skill required for the job.

Collections Care

• Manage and oversee the purchase process for new acquisitions for the collections including invoicing, funding, packing and shipping arrangements, and gathering of all relevant information for the object files at the point of purchase.

• Oversee all aspects of handling and movement of artwork in the collections, including, but not limited to shipment, installation and storage of artwork. Responsible for the safe and proper installation, display, resource planning and organized storage of all art objects.

• Serve as liaison to contracted curators, compiling data, relaying feedback and coordinating deliverables.

• Monitor the condition of all artworks and coordinate conservation and framing as necessary.

• Oversee collections related documentation including purchase files, object files, loan and transit files, condition and conservation files and other documentation related to the collections.

• Oversee the art database including data entry and reporting.

• Conduct regular inventories of the collections and work with the insurance liaison to assure the consistent and appropriate insurance of the collections.

• Partner with legal team to oversee drafting, review and negotiations of all loan agreements.

• Negotiate and arrange for appropriate storage for collections.

• Vendor management.

Supervision

• Directly supervise the Oz Art team who will be responsible for all technical aspects of art installations and maintenance of art in private homes, commercial spaces, offices, hospitality concepts and outdoor spaces.

• Set annual goals and manage performance of the Oz Art team.

• Provide training and development as needed for professional growth.

• Ensure safety and compliance of the team.

Outreach & Community Relations

• Manage, oversee and facilitate the loan of artworks from the collections on a local, national and international level, with the goal of engaging and educating the community and elevating the perceptions of NWA both locally and on a larger scale, through art.

• Serve as a community liaison in conjunction with the associate curator for the collections facilitating partnerships in the community.

• Provide guided tours, PR and marketing.

Business & Administrative Responsibilities

• Serve as primary liaison for the collections to Principals.

• Work with the Principals to set strategy and organizational priorities and then manage the implementation of those priorities.

• Identify opportunities for revenue generation and evolution of the business model.

• Develop and implement policies and procedures as they relate to new acquisitions, loans, transit, conservation, insurance, storage, art handling and all other movements of artwork.

• Keep abreast of current literature and innovations and attend conferences, workshops and trainings that may be necessary and beneficial to the collections.

• Work with external partners on legal, accounting, tax and insurance matters.

• Coordinate marketing and PR with other Oz entities to ensure alignment in the community.

• Maintenance of team vehicle.

Qualifications

• Master's degree in museum studies, art history or arts administration or equivalent training and experience.
• Minimum of 15 years museum or arts administration experience with direct collections care experience.
• Knowledge of and experience with collections care best practices. Includes but is not limited to: advanced knowledge of art preparation techniques, principles and practices; solid knowledge of materials, fabrication techniques and construction processes; understanding of preventative conservation, security, storage, shipping and receiving; registration methods, cataloging; legal and insurance issues.
• Experience with collections care software (Art Galleria preferred).
• Management and project management experience required.
• Excellentinterpersonal skills, including written and oral communication and relationship building.
• Driver’s license with clean driving record.
• Proficient in the use of MS Office software including: Outlook, Word, Excel and PowerPoint as well as Macintosh (OSX, iMessage, iCal, and iCloud).Skilled in Photoshop, Adobe Acrobat and DocuSign.
• Experience reviewing legal documents in partnership with legal team and analyzing data to prepare reports.
• PR / marketing / media experience preferred.

Benefits

We offer a comprehensive and generous benefits package which includes health care plans (medical, dental and vision), flexible spending accounts, paid holidays, paid time off, and a 401(k) retirement plan.

All offers of employment are contingent on successful completion (where permitted by state law) of a confidentiality agreement, background check, motor vehicle check, and credit check, subject to any applicable exemption available under the law. In addition, proper identification verifying eligibility to work in the United States on the first day of work is required.

Ingeborg is an equal-opportunity employer and we are committed to building and maintaining a culturally diverse workplace. We encourage women, minorities, individuals with disabilities, and veterans to apply. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, religion, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, status of protected veteran, among other things, or status as a qualified individual with a disability.