Gilcrease Museum, which houses an interdisciplinary collection representing the diverse heritage of the Americas, seeks an intellectually curious, creative, and self-motivated individual to be its inaugural Assistant Curator of Latin American Art and Culture.
The Assistant Curator of Latin American Art and Culture will lead exhibitions, acquisitions, research, and interpretation within Gilcrease’s broad visual culture and archival collections. These include fine art from the 16th through 20th centuries from throughout the Americas, ranging from Spanish colonial retablos and work by Juan Correa to paintings, drawings, and prints by Diego Rivera, Miguel Covarrubias, José Clemente Orozco, Maria Izquierdo, and Rufino Tamayo, as well as recent work by Mexican folk and self-taught artists. In addition, Gilcrease holds one of the most significant collections in the United States of manuscripts, documents, and rare books pertaining to European settlement and conflicts across New Spain, from the Caribbean and present-day Mexico to South America, dating from the 16th to 19th centuries. These objects’ stories are intricately intertwined with other museum holdings, notably collections of cultural material spanning more than 2,000 years, including works by Incan, Moche, Mayan, Panamanian (Gran Coclé), Mixtec, Aztec, Zapotec, Toltec, and West Mexican (Occidentale) creators. Furthermore, Gilcrease has nearly encyclopedic representation of Taos School artists and broad artistic and historical collections pertaining to the American Southwest within its holdings of Indigenous and non-Indigenous objects from the present-day United States.
The Assistant Curator of Latin American Art and Culture will participate on a seven-member curatorial team and collaborate with other museum departments, reporting to the Director of Curatorial Affairs. Primary duties include researching and cataloguing the collection; developing dynamic long-term, temporary, and traveling exhibitions; identifying and bringing traveling exhibitions to Gilcrease; and raising national and international visibility for Gilcrease’s work and for its collections. This role will also promote equity and inclusion of the Latinx community around all Gilcrease exhibitions and programs, and it will build and maintain community relationships to collaboratively celebrate and advocate for Latin American art and culture for a variety of audiences and constituents.
Key Opportunities
The Assistant Curator of Latin American Art and Culture will join Gilcrease as the museum prepares for its public reopening in early 2027 in a new 83,500-square-foot building. With this watershed moment Gilcrease is also embracing an intersectional approach to managing and displaying its 200,000+ objects. This includes interdisciplinary galleries that juxtapose objects from different times, places, and cultures, as well as increased attention to Indigenous histories and makers. Recognition for the breadth and quality of the Latin American collections is integral to this interpretative plan, and as the inaugural team member in this role, the Assistant Curator of Latin American Art and Culture will shape and magnify the visibility of these works and their adjacent histories.
Although this position is not dedicated exclusively to works on paper, the strengths of the Gilcrease Collection favor a scholar with background and interest particularly for prints, books, maps, manuscripts, and other works on paper. Gilcrease has a works on paper conservation lab to support this collection.
Benefits: The benefits package includes medical, dental, and vision plan options, 401(k), paid time off, and a range of other benefits and privileges available to all University of Tulsa employees.
The annual starting salary range for this position is $44,500 – $47,500.
Please consult the job posting on the University of Tulsa job application portal for more details.