Jobs

Associate/Full Conservator of Textiles position at the Cleveland Museum of Art

Listing Start Date: February 5, 2025
Expires: April 5, 2025

The Cleveland Museum of Art welcomes applications for a full-time Conservator of Textiles, at either the associate conservator or full conservator level. The Conservator of Textiles is responsible for the conservation and preservation of the museum’s textile and fashion collection, in accordance with the American Institute for Conservation’s Code of Ethics and Guidelines for Practice. This includes the examination, documentation, and treatment of artworks containing textiles for acquisition, storage, exhibition, and loans. They are responsible for determining if treatment is required, making treatment recommendations, and carrying out and/or supervising conservation treatments and preparations for mounting and display. They lead all activities in the textile lab including administrative duties such as ensuring safety compliance, budgeting, supply and equipment ordering, management of staff, and organization. They co-supervise the Technician for Textiles and Works of Art on Paper, in partnership with the Conservator of Works of Art on Paper. The Conservator of Textiles leads individual treatment and research initiatives and contributes to collaborative efforts led by the Chief Conservator and other senior staff that further conservation and art historical research at the Cleveland Museum of Art. Notably, the successful candidate will assume management of the textile conservation program at an exciting time for the museum, which has just launched a strategic fashion exhibition and collecting initiative and is embarking on a strategic fundraising effort.

The successful candidate will join a convivial, generous, and skilled conservation department consisting of ten conservators, three technicians, and a lab coordinator, along with numerous interns (pre-program to graduate) and fellows. The Conservation team is committed to the mentorship and support of emerging conservators, and regularly hosts pre-program conservation interns, graduate interns, and post-graduate fellows with the support of substantial endowment funds; the textile lab itself has dedicated internship funds. The department also has access to the significant resources of the Cleveland Museum of Art, including a dedicated conservation technical imaging specialist and an outstanding library and archives, which is one of the largest in the nation, prioritizes collecting conservation literature, and assigns a research librarian to assist with conservation-specific queries. The department partners regularly with Philanthropy and has achieved remarkable fundraising success regarding strategic endowments within the past five years.

The internationally renowned textile collection contains about 4,500 textiles from 62 countries that were made over four millennia, from 2000 BCE to the present. The general emphasis is on masterpiece quality rather than comprehensive collections, with the greatest strengths dating from before 1500. The most distinguished areas include textiles from Islamic lands (Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Spain, and Turkey), medieval China, Central Asia, and Italy as well as early lace and Peruvian South Coast textiles. In addition, contemporary fiber art, African art, and fashion are becoming increasingly important. The museum’s leadership recently approved the beginning of an acquisition program for fashion.

The Cleveland Museum of Art is renowned for the quality and breadth of its collection, which includes more than 66,500 objects and spans 6,000 years of achievement in the arts. A major renovation and expansion project completed in 2014 has transformed the museum into a significant international forum for exhibitions, scholarship, performing arts and art education. One of the top comprehensive art museums in the nation and free of charge to all, the Cleveland Museum of Art is located in the University Circle neighborhood. The city and surrounding areas contain excellent cultural institutions, outdoor parks, and schools. Cleveland has a robust art and culture scene, including one of the world’s finest symphonies. Local resources and collaborators include Case Western Reserve University with its innovative maker space, think[box], the Cleveland Clinic, Praxis Fiber Workshop, and ICA-Art Conservation, which is the nation’s oldest regional lab.

For more information on the department please visit www.clevelandart.org/conservation

For more information on the museum’s strategic plan, please visit www.clevelandart.org/…

For a full listing of the requirements, responsibilities, and benefits please visit the job posting.