Museum of Texas Tech University Art Division
TTU Research Aide - Collection Management

Position Description
Performs specialized work in conducting original research. Work is performed under general supervision with evaluation based on accomplishment of assigned objectives and overall effectiveness of project. May supervise research and student assistants.

About the University
Established in 1923, Texas Tech University is a Carnegie R1 (very high research activity) Doctoral/Research-Extensive, Hispanic Serving, and state-assisted institution.  Located on a beautiful 1,850-acre campus in Lubbock, a city in West Texas with a growing metropolitan-area population of over 300,000, the university enrolls over 40,000 students with 33,000 undergraduate and 7,000 graduate students. As the primary research institution in the western two-thirds of the state, Texas Tech University is home to 10 colleges, the Schools of Law and Veterinary Medicine, and the Graduate School. The flagship of the Texas Tech University System, Texas Tech is dedicated to student success by preparing learners to be ethical leaders for a diverse and globallycompetitive workforce. It is committed to enhancing the cultural and  economic development of the state, nation, and world.

About the Department and/or College
The Art Division at the Museum of Texas Tech University welcomes applicants to assist the Curator of Art in all aspects of collection management for a broad range of art media. The Museum is looking for a collection management assistant with a background in visual art and professional experience with the care and cataloging of works of art.

The Art Division stewards a collection of around 20,000 objects ranging from the 2nd to 13th century Americas to the European Renaissance and from 19th and 20th century Modernism to contemporary art, with a focus on the southwestern United States, including paintings and bronze sculptures as well as ivory and jade from China.

The Artist Printmaker/Photographer Research Collection features works on paper from the mid-20th century to the present and features artists’ archives of works, including sketch books, catalogues, trial proofs, and print matrices. The Arnold Collection holds primarily 20th and 21st century three-dimensional art, including glass, ceramic, and woven baskets.

Three collection storage areas allow environments custom suited to care of varied art mediums, also including photography, watercolor, and multimedia sculpture.

The Art Division organizes exhibitions from the collection and by guest artists, presents public programs, engages students, conducts scholarly research and publication, and reaches out to audiences in the community.

The Museum of Texas Tech University, founded in 1929 as the West Texas Museum, is a multidisciplinary, non-profit university museum in Lubbock, Texas, accredited by the American Alliance of Museums (AAM) since 1990. The Museum operates as an educational, scientific, cultural, and research element of Texas Tech University and a resource at all levels: local, state, national, and international. With exhibitions and programs in visual art, history, textiles, clothing, natural science, paleontology, and anthropology, the Museum provides expansive educational and enrichment programs serving community audiences and the members of the Museum of Texas Tech University Association. With a staff of more than 50 people, the Museum sees an average of 160,000 visitors and participants per year. The Museum also houses the University’s nationally recognized Heritage and Museum Sciences Master of Arts Program, which is educating the next generation of museum professionals.

Major/Essential Functions
- Coordinates all aspects of collections care, use, and access, ensuring overall safety, preservation, maintenance, and documentation of works of art on view, in storage, and on loan.
- Receives and inventories new acquisitions timely, including documentation, research, and housing; coordinates with Museum Registrar to facilitate the acquisition process.
- Assists in conducting the accession process timely, including condition reporting, cataloging, photography, housing, and populating vertical and digital files.
- Researches individual artists and works of art to prepare documentation, such as provenance history, value, loan requests, deaccessioning, condition reviews, and catalog data.
- Researches individual artists and works of art to aide in exhibition development, such as bibliographies, articles, images, and promotion materials.
- Seeks rights and reproduction permissions for various uses, including researching copyright holders and facilitating image use requirements.
- Facilitates periodic inventories of the collection and pursues needed updates, corrections, and preventative conservation.
- Maintains records and monitors for accuracy, including initiating software upgrades, database improvements, and regular data backup.
- Collaborates on exhibition logistics, including preparing art, documenting display requirements, and monitoring care of art on view.
- Coordinates and documents movement of objects with Museum Registrar and Museum Exhibits Division for collection exhibitions, programs, and incoming and outgoing loans.
- Maintains multiple collection spaces, including cleanliness, organization, supplies, and monitoring of environmental conditions, risks, and infestation; coordinates needs with Museum Operations.
- Coordinates and monitors access to artworks and assists in responding to requests relating to collections and exhibits.
- Travels to transport works of art locally and regionally.
- Assists with training and supervising student employees in collection related work.
- Collections care, maintenance, inventory, and handling requires standing, bending, squatting, lifting objects, working at heights from a ladder, and using hand tools, aided by fine motor skills and depth perception.

Required Qualifications
Bachelor's degree in a specialized field and one year research experience. Knowledge of modern research practices, the methods, resources, and standards thereof.

Preferred Qualifications
- Two or more years in collection management and/or registration in an art museum and experience with art handling and storage for a variety of art mediums.
- Master's degree in museum studies or art discipline, with an emphasis on art collection management.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities
- Experience researching and implementing best practices in preventative conservation, documentation, and scholarship of works of art.
- Knowledge of archival art storage materials and database use.
- Ability to use Adobe Photoshop and FileMaker.
- Attention to detail and high level of accuracy.
- Strong communication, project management, and organization skills.
- Ability to foster a cooperative and collaborative work environment.

Travel Required
Up to 25% with art transport

Minimum Hire Rate
$15.80 hourly, full-time

To Apply
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