"Art Museum Registrar"

Job Summary

The Allen Memorial Art Museum at Oberlin College invites applications for the position of Registrar. This is a full-time, 12-month Administrative and Professional Staff position reporting to the museum's director, beginning in January 2026.

About Oberlin College and the Allen Memorial Art Museum

For more than a century, Oberlin College has been committed to promoting direct study of original works of art to foster visual literacy and a deeper understanding of the diversity of the world's cultures. Today the AMAM houses an encyclopedic collection of more than 15,000 works selected to provide a comprehensive overview of the history of art and is recognized as one of the best academic museums in the country. The AMAM serves a broad regional audience and operates on the premise that learning about art is important for everyone, a principle demonstrated by free public admission, offered since its founding in 1917.

In addition to serving a broad public, the AMAM's collection is used in teaching in nearly all Oberlin College disciplines in the Arts and Sciences and the Conservatory of Music, including Africana studies, anthropology, art, biology, chemistry, cinema studies, comparative American studies, creative writing, environmental studies, foreign languages and literatures, history, Latin American studies, mathematics, music and historical performance, politics, and religion, among others.

The museum complex includes a 1917 building designed by Cass Gilbert. In the 1970s, Robert Venturi designed a gallery dedicated to the presentation of modern and contemporary art, the architect's first museum commission. The AMAM also shares responsibility with Oberlin College for a Frank Lloyd Wright-designed house, the first Usonian house in Ohio, located in Oberlin.

Founded in 1833, Oberlin College is a private, four-year, highly selective national liberal arts college near Cleveland, Ohio, and is also home to an outstanding Conservatory of Music. Together, the two divisions enroll approximately 2,900 students. Oberlin College was the first college in the U.S. to make interracial education and co-education central to its mission. The College continues to view a diverse, equitable, and inclusive educational environment as essential to the excellence of its academic program. Among liberal arts colleges, Oberlin is a national leader in successfully placing graduates into Ph.D. programs.

Oberlin College is committed to professional staff, faculty, and student diversity, equity, and inclusion. The incumbent will bring understanding of or experience working with underrepresented and diverse academic populations. Oberlin is especially interested in candidates who can contribute to the excellence and diversity of the academic community. Oberlin recruits, employs, trains, compensates, and promotes regardless of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, age, veteran's status, and/or other protected status as required by applicable law.

Responsibilities

The Registrar will have general responsibility for all permanent collection, art rental collection, unaccessioned artworks, art loans, traveling exhibitions, transport and insurance arrangements, conservation, and art storage and leadership of the Registration and Preparations team.

Specific responsibilities include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Leadership and management
  • Supervise all activities including those related to exhibitions, collections use and storage, incoming and outgoing loans (including condition checking, packing, crating and transport), and the museum's collections management database.
  • Establish collections management priorities, including maintaining best practices for collections management processes; general oversight of conservation and inventories; and maintaining art storage areas.
  • Supervise Assistant/Associate Registrar, Chief Preparator, and student workers, including hiring, training, work allocation, and performance appraisal.
  • Assist in training and supervising graduate assistants and Museum interns.
  • Maintain the museum's Collections Management Policy and Facilities Report and collaborate with the Manager of Property Protection on the Emergency Preparedness Plan. Communicate and enforce these policies and best practices with all staff.
  • Supports the museum's strategic plan and executes the tactics related to registration, exhibition planning and implementation, and collections management.
• Registration and Collections Management
  • Direct staff and college facilities personnel in the management and tracking of temperature, humidity, and other conditions for exhibition galleries, study rooms, and art storage.
  • Oversee the management of TMS collections database and eMuseum. With support of the Assistant/Associate Registrar, updates and maintains collection records in TMS and related hardcopy files, including bibliographic and exhibition histories, constituent records, and conservation and object valuation records.
  • Provide accurate identification and current location for all objects in collection or on loan to the museum and supervise their safe handling, movement, and storage in coordination with the Chief Preparator.
  • Arrange packing and shipping art, including gifts and purchases. Produces incoming/outgoing receipts and condition reports.
  • Prepare and maintain documentary files on all collection objects.
  • Manage on- and off-site art storage areas.
  • Conceive, propose, and implement special projects related to collections management.
  • Prepare statistical reports on the collection.
• Exhibition coordination
  • Maintains the exhibition calendar and coordinates exhibition logistic and long-term planning meetings
  • Compile packing, shipping, conservation, and other related estimates. Collaborate with colleagues to manage exhibition budgets; coordinates with vendors.
  • Collaborate with curators and preparators on exhibition project meetings to ensure effective cross-departmental communication.
  • Manage documentation and archiving of all museum exhibitions.
  • Maintain traveling exhibition files, handle all packing, shipping, and insurance arrangements for incoming and outgoing loans; coordinate and supervise the transport, unpacking, installation/de-installation, condition reporting and re-packing of artworks for exhibitions.
• Perform other duties as needed/assigned.

Required qualifications

• MA degree and/or museum studies degree/certificate
• Five to seven years of previous work experience in museum registration and/or collections management
• Knowledge of museum standards regarding care and handling of art and knowledge of legal and ethical issues related to a museum art collection
• Demonstrated experience with domestic and international exhibitions, loan management, and shipping experience including acting as a courier with artwork.
• Strong computer skills and previous work with relational databases to manage loans and exhibitions, including experience using The Museum System (TMS) database and/or related Gallery Systems products.
• Meticulous work habits and attention to detail; consistency in procedures and quality of effort in all areas of work
• Excellent organizational, interpersonal, and communication skills
• Demonstrated ability to prioritize tasks and to meet competing deadlines in a fast-paced, deadline-driven environment
• Represent the museum in a professional manner to donors, lenders, professional colleagues, and all college constituencies.

Compensation

Within the range established for this position, salary will be commensurate with qualifications and experience and includes a competitive benefits package.

Special instructions to applicant

All application materials must be submitted electronically through Oberlin College and Conservatory's online application process at: https://jobs.oberlin.edu/. A complete application will be comprised of a cover letter, resume and list of references. For questions, reach out to Jon Seydl, jseydl@oberlin.edu.