Curator, Exhibitions and Displays

Details:

Location: Cornwall

Category: Collections Care, Curatorial, Exhibitions, Other

Salary: £36,067

Contract type: Contract Temporary

Hours: Full time

Telephone: 02078874997

Curator, Exhibitions and Displays

About the role: This is a 12-month Maternity Cover to fulfil the role and responsibilities of the Curator, Exhibitions and Displays at Tate St Ives. To ensure that current and future exhibition programme at Tate St Ives is properly held and developed including research, working closely with internal and external stakeholders, including Artist Estates and Funders, project management and implementation, as well as line management of the Assistant Curator, Exhibitions and Displays.

About your team: Tate St Ives’s vision is to be a valued part of Cornwall, offering life-changing experiences through its ambitious and internationally recognised programme. Tate St Ives presents exhibitions and displays focusing on the history of Modern Art and St Ives year-round. It also accommodates a comprehensive modern and contemporary exhibitions and events programme with a wide range of opportunities for audience engagement and learning. Tate St Ives acts as a vital local resource in Cornwall as well as an international centre of art and exchange.

Tate St Ives manages the Barbara Hepworth Museum and Sculpture Garden which contains the largest group of Hepworth's works, permanently on display at Trewyn Studio and garden where she lived and worked. Tate was also gifted Hepworth’s second studio, the Palais de Danse in 2015. A capital campaign is currently underway to restore and reactivate the building, a nationally important artistic heritage site, for inclusive public use.

What you will gain: Motivated, and skilled people are key to our continued success, and we want everyone at Tate to have the opportunity to develop and thrive. In this team, you will be encouraged to contribute your ideas, realise your potential, and learn new skills and knowledge.

Main Duties and Responsibilities:

1. Research, develop and deliver the Spring 2026 Solo Modernist artist exhibition and publication, working with a national partner organisation.
2. Research and develop the 2027 Spring exhibition Queer St Ives working with local, regional and national stakeholders.
3. Research and develop displays at the Palais de Danse aligned to the significant funding application to the National Heritage Lottery Fund.
4. Co-deliver the Paul Mellon-funded Symposium in April 2025 on Ithell Colquohoun.
5. Contribute to the briefing of Visitor Experience and other staff on new exhibitions and displays.
6. Collaborate across teams to ensure the effective delivery of all aspects of the exhibition and displays programme.
7. Act as a cost centre manager for selected exhibitions and displays, checking commitment logs, providing cost estimates and monitoring and re-forecasting budgets.
8. Liaise with the Registrar on required movement and conditions of art works and ensure that appropriate insurance arrangements are in place.
9. Give lectures, gallery talks, briefings to staff, sponsors and press, and tours and talks for VIPs and Tate advocates.
10. Establish excellent relationships with local and regional partners.
11. Line Manage the Assistant Curator.
12. Supervise interns or volunteers when required.
13. Maintain and develop an appropriate international network of contacts among artists, artists’ estates, gallerists, critics, scholars and auction houses.
14. Participate in Acquisitions Monitoring Group (MG2) that focuses on the acquisition of Post-1900 British art.
15. Accurately record data on The Museum System database (TMS), Tate’s Collection and exhibition management system.
16. Lead on the effective management of related UK and international tours and collaborations, including managing budgets, contracts, and logistics.
17. Collaborate across teams to ensure the effective delivery of all aspects of the exhibition and displays programme and work with Learning Curators in devising and delivering related interpretation and resources.
18. Manage the production of exhibition-related publications, including image research and copyright clearance, and limited edition prints as required.
19. Act as the primary contact for all external research enquiries relating to these histories of modernism and St Ives.

Barbara Hepworth Museum and Sculpture Garden and the Palais de Danse:

1. Oversee the Barbara Hepworth Museum and Garden (BHM) in terms of displays and loans.
2. In conjunction with the Curator of Interpretation and Learning team at Tate St Ives, oversee an ongoing programme of interpretation and public programming.
3. Liaise and work closely with Collection Care in relation to the ongoing care and maintenance of works in the BHM and Palais de Danse.

What you will bring to the team:

1. A relevant degree and post-graduate degree in the history of art or related field or equivalent with a sound knowledge of British and international contemporary art, with an interest in modern art.
2. Substantial work experience in an art gallery, museum, or with a collection, and extensive experience of the processes involved in staging displays and exhibitions and related events.
3. Curatorial flair with a track record of devising and delivering exhibitions with imagination and distinction and a well-developed visual sense and understanding of issues involved in the display of works of art in a public gallery, including functional operations.
4. Excellent interpersonal skills, with the capacity to lead, yet flexible enough to work well within a team, and work collaboratively across teams.
5. Effective and proven budget management skills.
6. Excellent organisational, planning and administrative skills, with ability to prioritise and coordinate multiple activities to meet deadlines.
7. Skilled negotiator with aptitude for managing different types of relationships.
8. Aware of issues of equality and cultural diversity as they affect the work of a major museum.
9. An interest in and commitment to the work of Tate.

National Museum Directors' Council, Tate Britain, Millbank, London SW1P 4RG.