Chief Curator
WE ARE NO LONGER ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS FOR THIS POSITION.
About The Andy Warhol Museum
To engage and inspire through Warhol’s life, art, and legacy.
The Andy Warhol Museum (“The Warhol") holds the world’s largest collection of Warhol’s artworks and archival materials, making it one of the most comprehensive single-artist museums in the world. The Museum seeks to illuminate the art, life, and times of one of the most influential American artists of the 20th century and takes visitors on a tour of Andy Warhol's personal and professional life — from Pittsburgh art student to Pop icon.
The Warhol was established in 1994 as a collaboration between the Carnegie Institute, Dia Art Foundation and The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc. The Warhol is one of four museums that comprise The Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh, which also includes the Carnegie Museum of Art, Carnegie Museum of Natural History and Carnegie Science Center.
Featuring more than 10,000 artworks and 50,000 archival objects, the Museum is the global keeper of Warhol's legacy. Paintings, drawings, commercial illustrations, sculptures, prints, photographs, wallpapers, sketchbooks, and books cover the entire range of Warhol’s career. The Warhol’s film and video collection includes approximately 350 preserved Warhol films, and it houses the entire output of the artist’s work in video, comprised of more than 4,000 videotapes.
The archives also include Warhol’s serial work the Time Capsules—610 containers that the artist filled, sealed, and sent to storage. The Warhol’s collection is an unmatched resource for the explorations of the Chief Curator, highlighting underrepresented aspects of Warhol’s production but also serving as an inspiration and touchpoint for exhibitions of other artists. The Warhol continues to make important discoveries in the collection including the recent identification of master tapes for some of the Velvet Underground’s best-known songs, which will form the basis of an exhibition in 2023. The collection is also a focus point for collaboration with other institutions globally who are eager to co-create exhibitions.
The Warhol offers a range of public programming and performance series, including the ever-popular Sound Series concerts to contextualize and illuminate The Museum’s collection. This includes special exhibitions, artist talks, panel discussions, social events, educator workshops and youth programs. These public programs will be housed in a new live music and events space currently being planned adjacent to the museum and anticipated to begin construction in 2023.
In 2022, The Warhol launched The Pop District. The Pop District is a long-term, multi-phase project that will feature a new, live performance and event facility, a six-square-block public art initiative, and a scalable workforce development program focused on digital medial production training for diverse, regional youth. The workforce development program serves as a digital production resource for the curatorial program of the museum and its work is distributed through the museum’s social media channels, which are among the most popular in the world.
The Pop District will comprehensively transform Pittsburgh’s eastern North Shore through the power of arts, creativity, and economic development. Its launch garnered international attention including from The New York Times. The Chief Curator will lead, with their team, the public art interventions (with both local and global artists) that are a key component of the effort. To learn more about The Pop District, please visit www.warhol.org.
The Warhol hosts rotating exhibitions that feature deep dives into the Museum’s collection or showcase contemporary artists that resonate with Warhol's life and work. Highlights of current, upcoming and past exhibitions include:
Andy Warhol’s Social Network: Interview, Television and Portraits
September 24, 2022–February 20, 2023. Andy Warhol’s Social Network examines the intersections between Warhol’s longest running project, Interview magazine; his ventures in television with his original series Fashion, Warhol TV, and Warhol’s Fifteen Minutes; and his portrait commissions of the 1970s and 1980s.
April 22 – August 15, 2022 I Want It All embraces Pivi’s penchant for physical and visual excess. The exhibition includes photo and video documentation of Pivi’s ambitious performances as well as expansive site-specific installations.
Marisol and Warhol Take New York
October 14, 2021 – February 14, 2022 Marisol and Warhol Take New York charts the emergence of Marisol (1930–2016) and Warhol (1928–1987) in New York during the dawn of Pop art in the early 1960s. The exhibition explores the artists’ parallel rises to success, the formation of their artistic personas, their savvy navigation of gallery relationships, and the blossoming of their early artistic practices from 1960 to 1968.
October 20, 2019–March 1, 2020 Andy Warhol: Revelation is the first exhibition to comprehensively examine the Pop artist’s complex Catholic faith in relation to his artistic production. While his monumental crosses and depictions of Christ directly reference biblical stories, this exhibition will also explore his coded depictions of spirituality such as an unfinished film reel depicting the setting sun, originally commissioned by the de Menil family and funded by the Roman Catholic Church. Revelation toured to the Speed Museum of Art and The Brooklyn Museum after originating at The Warhol.
The Warhol is guided by six values that are embedded in the institution, its practices and programs:
- The Warhol is a place to express and explore multiple perspectives, push boundaries, and challenge conventions.
- The life story of Andy Warhol, in all its complexity, is inspirational and guides their work.
- The collection is the heart of the institution, and it will succeed through sharing, preserving, and interpreting the collection in the most accessible way possible.
- The Warhol believes in learning by doing and being a place of experimentation.
- The Warhol is committed to advancing diversity, equity, inclusion and access in every aspect of its work.
The Warhol’s IDEA work has been ongoing at The Warhol since its inception. This is reflected in the fact that the museum’s curatorial program has focused entirely on women and people of color for many years. The museum was recognized by the A.W. Mellon Foundation as having one of the most diverse staffs in the country for an institution of its size. The Warhol’s advisory board has not only adopted formal IDEA goals but has one of the first intentional recruiting programs of its kind to ensure diverse representation. The Warhol is supported in this work by the VP for IDEA at the Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh.
For more information about The Andy Warhol Museum and its programming, please visit: https://www.warhol.org/
The Opportunity
The Warhol is already a global presence, sending shows drawn from its collection to leading national and international venues. In addition, exhibitions at The Warhol regularly garner major national press and tour to other important venues. In the next five years, The Warhol will be increasingly important to its local community through the programs of The Pop District focusing on public art, creative placemaking and workforce development. As a member of the senior management team, the Chief Curator has the opportunity to actively shape The Pop District as it moves forward.
Reporting to the Director, the Chief Curator will work to expand the reach, relevance and impact of The Warhol’s artistic contributions by playing a key role in strategizing, articulating, and executing a vision for The Warhol’s curatorial program. The Warhol’s collection is an unmatched resource for the explorations of the Chief Curator, highlighting underrepresented aspects of Warhol’s production but also serving as an inspiration and touchpoint for exhibitions of other artists. This includes exhibitions, publications, programs, and projects that support experimentation, research, and artistic and intellectual exchange.
The Chief Curator is a key member of the leadership team and a critical partner to the Director and Board of Advisors in building and strengthening the vision and artistic identity of the institution. This leader will provide critical input on a number of topics, including audience engagement, and equity and inclusion strategies.
As the supervisor of the Museum’s curatorial department and 3 direct reports, the Chief Curator works closely with the Director to implement the Museum’s artistic mission while continuing to curate a limited number of world class exhibitions both individually and as a team member. Additionally, the Chief Curator is responsible for actively seeking out and implementing new frameworks and contexts through which to present and explore artistic ideas and serving as the primary internal and external spokesperson on artistic matters.
Read and download the full Position Profile here.
