Curatorial Assistant

**Curatorial Assistant**

**Learning & Collection Department**

**Royal Academy of Arts**

**£** **22,984 - £25,000 with generous pension and other attractive benefits**

**Permanent**

**About the Royal Academy of Arts**

The Royal Academy of Arts is one of the UK’s foremost arts institutions and our vision is to be a clear, strong voice for art and artists. It is a particularly exciting time in our history.

We are an innovative and forward-looking organisation, yet we’re also immensely proud and respectful of our more than two and a half centuries of heritage. Our mission is to be a clear, strong voice for art and artists and lead in the exhibition, creation and debate of the visual arts.

**About this role**

The Collections team require a Curatorial Assistant to support the curatorial activities of the Department across a range of areas. From researching art works dating from the 16th century to the present day and compiling catalogue entries, to collaborating on digital content, you will provide a high standard of administrative and curatorial support. You will assist with displays from the Collections - overseeing installations and deinstallations and organising production of interpretation. You will be involved with co-ordinating visitors and scholars, responding to written enquiries as well as working at the offsite store to assist with our busy loans and conservation programme. This is a great opportunity to learn about the workings of a wide-ranging accredited art collection and to gain valuable curatorial experience.

**About you**

We are looking for a diligent, organised and self-motivated individual. You must have a passion for the history of British Art and be willing to take on a range of tasks. Strong research and communication skills are essential, ideally gained working with collections, libraries and/or archives. You will have outstanding attention to detail and be educated to degree level or equivalent. Experience of handling art works, using collection databases, documentation, cataloguing and research would be advantageous.

This role will require you to be adaptable and willing to take on a range of tasks, as well as occasional out of hours working, for example, to supervise installations of collection works/ displays**. **This role will involve working on site at the Royal Academy as well as at our off-site store.

**How to apply**

**Interviews to be held week commencing: Monday 22**nd** August**

**JOB DESCRIPTION**

**Job Title**: Curatorial Assistant

**Department**:Learning & Collections

**Reports to**:Curator of Paintings and Sculpture

**Main Objectives**

Assist the Curator of Paintings and Sculpture and the Curator of Works on Paper and other collection staff in preparing, installing and deinstalling collection displays at the RA.

Assist collection curators and registrars in preparing loans from the collection and supervise and meet the needs of scholars and others studying the collection, particularly visitors to the Library accessing the works on paper collection (in collaboration with the relevant curator) and works at the off-site store.

Improve and share knowledge about the collection, through cataloguing, making information available online and leading tours of collections spaces.

**Main Duties**

**Access**
- Assist with collection displays, including carrying out research, writing interpretation, and liaising with internal and external curators and/or artists. Oversee installation and deinstallation of works from the collection. Carry out related administrative duties including location updates and organising the editing, design and production of labels and wall panels
- Meet the needs of researchers and others studying the RA Collection. Organise appointments for visitors to see works in the Library, around the RA campus and at the off-site store. Provide access to art works and accompanying information.
- Share knowledge about the collection through interpretation, talks, tours, preparing social media and digital content.
- Answer public enquiries
- Brief Front of House staff and volunteers on collection displays and other aspects of the collection as required.

**Research, cataloguing and website**
- Research and catalogue works from the collection
- Improve documentation of the collection, ensuring documentation standards are met and that there is consistency in the inputting and editing of data in the database. Upload information from past Royal Academy publications, exhibitions and displays to the database. Add information from external sources including research publications and exhibition catalogues. Research provenance of objects in the collection
- Write and edit web texts and check, update and release database entries to the website for individual objects. Ensure records for photographed objects are updated and released to the website
- Write and schedule contributions for the website, input articles into the content management systems
- Genera