Anticipated pay for this role is $62,000

The W&L Art Museum and Galleries invites applications for two inaugural curatorial fellowships: the and the .?The two-year fellowships, with the possibility of a third-year renewal, are designed to support emerging curators and scholars while advancing the museum’s purpose, scholarship, and national impact.

Reporting to the Associate Director of Curatorial Affairs (ADCA), the curatorial fellows will support scholarly research on museum’s permanent collection of American art and decorative arts. The selected fellows will collaborate with the Collection and Curatorial team, along with members of the Washington and Lee campus community.?

The fellows are integral members of the museum's staff whose work serves the museum's mission. The fellows will develop practical skills in all four areas of curatorial practice: research, installation and exhibition development, collections management and planning, and public engagement. The fellows will also participate fully in the intellectual life of the campus community.?

The curatorial fellow must be in residence in Lexington, Virginia, during the fellowship period.?

Washington and Lee University actively promotes a dynamic and welcoming environment that allows students and employees of multiple backgrounds and perspectives to learn, work, and thrive together. Successful candidates will contribute to that environment and exhibit potential for excellence in their areas of expertise.?

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Essential Functions:?

• Contribute to knowledge about the collections and increase access to the collections through deep research and cataloging, including interdisciplinary interpretation and provenance research.
• Research artists and artworks in the permanent collection, rectify outdated or inaccurate records, and write interpretive texts.
• Mine the permanent collection for curatorial inspirations.
• Assist the ADCA with formulating plans for continuing to grow and shape the American art collection.
• In concert with Collection staff, assist with expanding physical and digital access to the art collection, establish priorities for storage and display, and work with contracted specialists to identify conservation needs and treatment.
• Supervise interns and students.
• Support the University’s teaching needs by facilitating direct engagement with the American art collection, including teaching or co-teaching courses, conducting gallery-based class visits, or leading object study sessions.
• Develop and contribute to public and campus-based programs, lectures, and other special events, including programs for and with students and faculty, with particular attention to expanding and diversifying Museum audiences.
• Represent the Museum and contribute to the field through participation in conferences, public lectures, publications, and institutional and scholarly partnerships.
• Inspire researchers, scholars, and students beyond the southeast to engage with the Museum’s collections, exhibitions, events, and other activities.

Minimum Qualifications:

• A master’s degree in art history, decorative arts, or other allied interdisciplinary humanities.?Candidates with a doctoral degree must have been officially conferred within seven years of the start date of the fellowship.
• Knowledge of museum ethics and the legal regulations governing collecting.
• The ideal candidate will demonstrate a strong interest in a curatorial career.
• Commitment to fostering the appreciation of works of art in a museum context.
• Demonstrated strength working collaboratively and in an innovative manner.

About the Museum at Washington and Lee:

The Museums at Washington and Lee are a dynamic hub where art, history, and scholarship intersect. Comprising two distinct entities—the Art Museum and Galleries, and the forthcoming Institutional History Museum and Chapel Galleries, the Museums are dedicated to fostering a community inspired by their rich history, collections, and exhibitions.

The Museums’ mission is to promote learning through direct engagement with its collections and to facilitate an interdisciplinary appreciation of art, history, and culture. It achieves this through a variety of permanent and rotating exhibitions that support the liberal arts curriculum, align with the university’s academic objectives, and reflect the diverse interests of the community.

The span multiple sites, including the Reeves Museum of Ceramics, Watson Galleries, Washington Gallery, and McCarthy Gallery. Together, they house an extensive collection of approximately 15,000 objects, ranging from early American portraits and European paintings to significant works on paper, photographs, and sculptures. The collection traces its origins to a bequest in 1875, when six portraits laid the foundation for what would become a vast and evolving repository of artistic heritage. Over the past 150 years, it has grown to include celebrated works by artists such as Elizabeth Catlett, Fernando Botero, Mohammed Omer Khalil, William Christenberry, Sam Gilliam, Sally Mann, Charles Willson Peale, Gilbert Stuart, and Andy Warhol. Additionally, the museum boasts a substantial collection of East Asian prints, scrolls, and decorative arts, highlighting its global scope.

One of the museum’s most remarkable holdings is the Reeves Collection. In 1967, Washington and Lee received an extraordinary gift: 200 barrels filled with more than 2,000 ceramic treasures spanning four centuries and three continents. This donation from alumnus Euchlin D. Reeves (Law Class of 1927) and his wife, Louise Herreshoff, a classically trained painter, laid the foundation for the Reeves Museum of Ceramics. The collection is now nationally recognized for its holdings of Chinese and Japanese export porcelain and also includes 200 of Herreshoff’s paintings, influenced by French and American Impressionism, Post-Impressionism, and Fauvism.

Through exhibitions, research opportunities, internships, and academic collaborations, the Museums at W&L continue to serve as a vital resource for engaging with the past while inspiring new ways of thinking about art, history, and culture.

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