AMP: Artists' Meeting Place and Resource Collective

Posting Date: June 2011
Civic Art Collections Manager

Reporting to the Director of Civic Art and working as a member of a team, the Civic Art Collections Manager plays a vital role in the County as the keeper of all County artwork records and the lead on all issues relating to artwork maintenance, conservation, and research. The Collections Manager will animate a growing civic art collection and develop new outreach strategies.

In 2004, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors adopted the County's first Civic Art Policy which allocates one percent of design and construction costs on new County capital projects to a Civic Art Special Fund. The Los Angeles County Arts Commission's Civic Art Program works with County departments to identify, inventory, maintain, illuminate and conserve the County's art collection as well as create a comprehensive inventory of County-owned art. Los Angeles County covers more than 4,000 square miles, ranging from mountains to beaches, and encompasses 88 cities and 137 unincorporated areas.

Responsibilities include but are not limited to:

o Maintenance and conservation
o Assess artworks and create condition reports
o Provide artwork maintenance information to County departments
o Manage art restoration projects
o Maintain and forge new relationships with County employees who are responsible for asset and facility maintenance
o Staff and build the Interagency Artwork Maintenance Task Force (with representatives from County departments who are concerned with artwork maintenance)
o Pursue grant funding for restoration projects

o Education and outreach
o Work with County departments, communities and schools to build curriculum around civic artworks
o Create plans for activities and events around civic artworks and the maintenance and restoration process (lectures, workshops, tours, artist interventions, performance, restoration demonstrations)
o Create informational material for distribution at the artwork site
o Develop innovative methods of distributing collection information particularly via the Internet

o Research and Documentation
o Seek out County artworks previously unknown to the Civic Art Program
o Research County artworks and artists
o Interview artists for promotion, documentation and preservation purposes
o Create and implement an evaluation tool for measuring the success of newly commissioned artworks
o Manage an online archive of searchable information about County artworks
o Write artwork reports and Web pages about the collection as needed
o Maintain artwork records (hard file archives, electronic files, and collection database)
o Manage reproduction requests for images of artwork in the County's Collection

Qualifications: Candidates should have a minimum of two years experience in a responsible, collections management role. The successful candidate will have wide knowledge of public art and contemporary visual arts; proven top-notch organizational skills; excellent oral and written communication skills; advanced knowledge of MS Word, PowerPoint, Access, Picture Manager and Excel; and ability to utilize computer-based research tools. A BA is required in visual arts, museum studies, library science or a related field, and a relevant advanced degree is desirable.

This is a full-time position with salary commensurate with experience.

Submit résumé, cover letter, and a list of three references to:

Letitia F. Ivins, Assistant Director of Civic Art
Los Angeles County Arts Commission,
1055 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 800, Los Angeles, CA 90017
(213) 202-5859 phone; (213) 580-0017 fax; employment@arts.lacounty.gov

Applications will be reviewed as received and position may be filled at any time.

Visit our Web site for the breadth and depth of the Arts Commission's programs:
http://www.lacountyarts.org/ and for more information on the Civic Art Program.

from LA Culture Net