Curatorial Assistant, Costume and Textiles

Job Summary

Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) seeks a Curatorial Assistant, Costume and Textiles to join the RISD Museum.

The Curatorial Assistant, Costume and Textiles is an integral member of the department, with duties concentrated on the care of an important departmental collection, as well as leading object-based classes and forging links with faculty across a broad range of disciplines. The Curatorial Assistant will support the Curator's initiatives and develop connections related to teaching and learning from the collection. They will also perform collections care activities in concert with the Conservation Assistant, with a focus on storage, object movement, and student assistant mentorship. The Curatorial Assistant will be expected to communicate and collaborate with other departments across the museum and will work in close collaboration with members of the Costume and Textiles department, as well as with curators across museum disciplines, registrars, and installation staff. The successful candidate will recognize and value diversity as central to excellence.

The successful candidate will thrive in a campus environment that is committed to advancing the principles of social equity and inclusion, environmental and climate justice, and equal access to resources and opportunities.

Essential Functions:

• Work with the Costume and Textiles department curator(s) and conservator(s), as well as RISD Museum registrars, preparators, and other staff, to attend to the care of the C&T collection.
  • Documentation: supply cataloging information to the registrar's department pertaining to objects in the collection; complete media descriptions; conduct inventories of objects in the collection; conduct and record and/or publish research on objects in the collection.
  • Preservation: Assist in making responsive modifications as necessary for proper housing, storage, and presentation of the collection. Assist with the proper storage of all objects to ensure safety and accessibility in accordance with established process and procedure.
• Assist Curator in maintaining inclusive relations with the academic community by promoting the relevance of the collection within the scholarly activity of relevant disciplines and making visitors feel more welcome coming to and engaging with the museum.
  • Maintain and build systems for scheduling, organizing, and teaching object-based class visits of RISD and other university courses.
  • Develop into the role of leading classes at most twice per week throughout the academic year, as well as facilitating open hours in the Angelo Donghia Costume and Textiles Study Center. The hour-long classes with RISD students include close study of up to 20 objects; open hours allow students to review pieces seen in classes or to view individually requested objects for personal research.
  • Collaborate with Conservation/Collections Care Assistant on pulling collection objects from storage for class and open hours visits, as well as putting objects back into storage after the visits.
• Work in collaboration with the Curator of Costume and Textiles, Museum Editor, and Education Department to interpret the collection through an inclusive lens that actively contributes to the museum's efforts to redress its colonial foundations, including curating permanent collection gallery rotations and small exhibitions, writing labels, and participating in educational programs.
• Prepare and manage objects for museum photography sessions. Schedule photography and mount/dress objects for the occasion; track new photography.
• Alongside departmental staff, provide day-to-day oversight, guidance, and instruction to interns and work study students as needed and oversee them in collections care tasks and in handling of the collection.
• Develop the collection of costume and textiles and collaborate with curators on acquisitions that fill gaps in the collection and foster diverse and inclusive installations.

Additional Functions:

• Performs other related duties as assigned.
• Participate in the larger field and the museum profession through such activities as lectures, written contributions, and attendance at symposia, professional workshops and meetings and local/regional arts events.

Required Knowledge/Skills/Experience

• Bachelor's degree in relevant field including but not limited to Art History, Anthropology, American Studies, or Material Culture Studies.
• Demonstrated interest in the study of textiles and clothing.
• Excellent research and writing skills.
• Excellent verbal presentation skills.
• Collaborative, teamwork approach and flexibility.
• Strong interpersonal skills.
• Strong organizational skills.
• Must recognize diversity and inclusion as central to excellence.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Master's degree in relevant field preferred.