MFA Boston Seeks Associate Curator of Folk and Self-Taught Art

The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston is seeking an energetic and dynamic curator and scholar to become the Joyce Linde Associate Curator of Folk and Self-Taught Art at a transformational moment for its Art of the Americas program.

Reporting to the Chair of the Art of the Americas, the Joyce Linde Associate Curator will partner with curatorial colleagues in the Art of the Americas and across the museum to help integrate the MFA’s collection of Folk and Self-Taught art into the Art of the Americas wing, and into other exhibitions and galleries across the MFA.  Drawing on the MFA’s recently-endowed Folk Art initiative, which seeks to reimagine the folk art collections for 21st century audiences, and offers support for exhibitions, public programs and community engagement, digital initiatives and travel and research, the Associate curator will participate in the department’s exhibition program, upcoming reinstallations and other special projects.

The ideal candidate will also explore the MFA’s collections and galvanize colleagues across the department and around the museum in thinking anew about the categories of folk and self-taught art, and in envisioning new ways to integrate the collections into the MFA’s galleries, and to make them accessible, relevant and important to the lives of the MFA’s visitors today. The Associate curator will bring a national perspective but also demonstrate a commitment to building relationships with communities in Boston and around New England.

The MFA’s collection of American folk art, broadly defined, has notable strength in works made in the northeastern United States in the 18th and 19th centuries. Highlights include paintings by Erastus Salisbury Field, William Matthew Prior, and Rufus Porter, nearly 350 works on paper from the Karolik collection, a significant collection of American quilts, and select examples of painted furniture and sculptural forms. Opportunities for growth include historical American art that enhances and complements the Karolik collection with a focus on artists of diverse ethnic, racial, socio-economic, and geographical background.

Salary Range: $81,000 – $83,000