UAE Nationals are encouraged to apply
New York University Abu Dhabi (NYUAD) seeks to appoint a Manager, Art Gallery Academic and Public Engagement reporting to the Galleries Executive Director and Chief Curator.
The NYUAD Art Gallery’s founding decade has seen major artist commissions, book publications, and historical research exhibitions from across the globe that have earned it international recognition and awards. It also supports the Project Space, which is an exhibition laboratory for the academic and regional community, featuring the work of emerging artists, MFA and undergraduate final projects, alongside faculty-generated exhibitions. The Art Gallery Reading Room is a classroom and event space that enables robust programming and activation around art and learning.
Together, the spaces of NYUAD’s Art Gallery serve as a testing ground for curatorial strategies that nourish innovation around exhibition practice in the Gulf, and in dialogue with the global art world.
As the NYUAD Art Gallery enters its second decade, the Manager of Academic and Public Engagement will broaden public audience engagement, deepen academic partnerships, and continue to grow the Gallery’s profile. This role does so by bringing the public, students, scholars, key stakeholders, patrons, and sponsors into vibrant exchange around art at NYU Abu Dhabi and in the UAE.
The Manager, Academic and Public Engagement will activate five project areas that the Art Gallery department oversees:
The Art Gallery department connects the public and the university communities in multiple realms. One key method is the teaching museum model (as a teaching hospital is to a medical school): the doing is also the learning.
The museum team of the Art Gallery actively mentors and trains students and fellows while delivering major exhibitions to the many audiences it serves. The Manager, Academic and Public Engagement will play a key role in that connectivity across public and academic realms. This role will:
This role will lead objectives in four areas of engagement:
The Manager, Academic and Public Engagement will be a key representative of the Art Gallery, and a public face of the university. Working closely with the Gallery’s Executive Director and curatorial team, they will establish and sustain relationships across academic communities, cultural organizations, and with sponsors and funders.
As a representative of NYUAD, the ideal candidate will be a polished professional, and comfortable speaking in public settings about art, community, and pedagogy. With meticulous attention to detail and schedules, and an agile and inclusive approach to managing and executing projects, s/he will lead with a mission-driven commitment to bringing people together around cultural community at NYUAD. This role helps realize the university’s overall mission to generate societal impact and excellence in education.
Key Responsibilities:
Academic and curricular engagement:
Collaborate closely with curators and faculty to develop and lead strategies for pedagogical engagement, across divisions within NYUAD, and with schools and universities regionally.
1) Responsible to develop, market, and oversee execution of academic “in-reach” and school outreach:
2) Design and implement rigorous programs that support undergraduate and graduate level art and art history students to develop capacities in museum practice.
3) Act as a lead point of contact for faculty community building, together with the Curators. Build relationships with faculty across the university, and with the community of teachers and professors in the UAE, with the purpose of collaborating on building out exhibition programs out for greatest impact on learning outcomes and engagement with faculty research areas. Present at faculty orientation, attend faculty events, and become familiar with the faculty community to facilitate the greatest connectivity possible.
Public engagement:
Create a portfolio of programs, campaigns, and outreach that activate NYU Abu Dhabi’s campus as a public cultural destination, and transmit the Art Gallery’s mission, activities, and key contributions to the fields of art and museum practice in the region and in key international forums. Grow both local and international audiences. Develop and lead strategy, planning, and execution in all areas related to expanding footfall, digital reach, and depth of meaningful audience engagement with the university, exhibition content, and critical questions in exhibition practice today.
1) Conceive and coordinate programming that shapes the Gallery’s profile:
2) Develop campaigns to reach new audiences for the University, the exhibitions, and the programs. Collaborate on strategy around PR, social media, and marketing, with the Head of Publications and Content, with whom this role works closely. Key point person on:
3) Develop relationships with the larger community, representing the Arts at NYUAD in a range of public gathering activities, including art openings and events in the culture sector, locally and abroad, as well as broader programs in the local cultural sector, including performing arts, literature, and heritage.
Stakeholder Development and Partnerships:
Cultivate relationships and partnerships that further the mission of the institution, in terms of reputation and sustainability. Identify and connect to potential stakeholders, both internally and externally. Work closely with Executive Director and team to ensure existing and new relationships are cultivated and sustained through carefully considered events and personal exchange.
1) Manage a stakeholder development program that engages a full range of potential sponsors and advocates, from alumni to cultural leaders and advisors.
2) Track member, donor, and recent visitor activities, when sending invitations, managing guest lists, attending events, and providing check-in at events.
3) Work closely with the Head of Museum Administration and Business Operations to prepare stakeholder correspondence, proposals, briefings, and detailed reports. Occasional evening and weekend work is required, as per the nature of stakeholder engagement.
Reporting on Gallery Activities:
Generate meaningful and compelling presentations and reports that tell the story of the department to our constituents, including the community, leadership, stakeholders, funders, and advisors. Reporting data and narrative is generated together with the reporting group, including the Executive Director and the Head of Museum Administration and Business Operations. This includes:
This vacancy will remain opened until filled. Review of applications will begin July 5, 2024.
Required Education:
Preferred Education:
Required Experience:
Preferred Experience:
NYU Abu Dhabi is a degree-granting research university with a fully integrated liberal arts and science undergraduate program in the Arts, Sciences, Social Sciences, Humanities, and Engineering. NYU Abu Dhabi, NYU New York, and NYU Shanghai, form the backbone of NYU’s global network university, an interconnected network of portal campuses and academic centers across six continents that enable seamless international mobility of students and faculty in their pursuit of academic and scholarly activity. This global university represents a transformative shift in higher education, one in which the intellectual and creative endeavors of academia are shaped and examined through an international and multicultural perspective. As a major intellectual hub at the crossroads of the Arab world, NYUAD serves as a center for scholarly thought, advanced research, knowledge creation, and sharing, through its academic, research, and creative activities.
