« Back to all jobs Assistant Registrar
- Employer: Saint Louis Art Museum, St. Louis, MO
- Salary: $38,000-$50,000 per year
Summary: To assist in the management and implementation of all registration functions related to the Museum’s 35,000+ object collection, including acquisition, deaccession, documentation, borrowing, lending, shipping, tracking, and overall care and preservation of the collection and objects in the Museum’s care, following current and best museum practices at large and in support of the Museum’s Collections Management Policy.
Essential Duties and Responsibilities:
- Assists the Head of Registration in supervising the care of works of art for which the Saint Louis Art Museum has assumed responsibility, including objects in the permanent collection; objects on loan to the Museum; objects on temporary deposit with the Museum; and objects that have been accepted as promised gifts or extended loans to the Museum’s collection.
Loan Management
- Field and process incoming and outgoing loan requests, working with colleagues in Registration, Curatorial, Conservation, and the Director’s office to ensure timely, well-documented, and vetted responses
- Correspond and communicate with borrowers and lenders, always presenting and upholding a high standard of care and professionalism
- Review the facilities of borrowing institutions to ensure that they can provide adequate handling, storage, care, insurance, and security for objects on loan
- Prepare, negotiate, and execute loan agreements, working with borrowers and lenders in a diplomatic but firm manner to agree on mutually acceptable terms and conditions of loan
- Ensure that all conditions of loan are met throughout the loan period, liaising with internal and external colleagues as needed
- Document incoming and outgoing loans by creating and maintaining registration loan files and TMS loan records
- Arrange and oversee domestic and international art shipments, ensuring that works are shipped legally, safely, timely, and to Museum standards, communicating directly with fine art shipping companies and domestic and international customs brokers to ensure safe transit
- Procure fine art shipping companies to build custom crates that comply with the Museum’s standards for packing and crating
- Oversee packing, unpacking, and condition reporting for all incoming and outgoing loans, ensuring that the Museum’s collection and objects in its care ship safely and with the utmost attention; consult with colleagues in Installation and Conservation to resolve issues when needed
- Prepare and train colleagues to serve as art couriers, ensuring the Museum’s corps of couriers is well-prepared, capable, confident, and compliant with any Federal and international requirements regarding the transportation of art
- Assign loan numbers to incoming objects and maintain records of condition, lender, length of loan, movement of objects, and receipt upon return to lender
Acquisitions and Deaccessions
- Arrange and oversee shipping, packing, and unpacking works of art entering and leaving the Museum’s collection, working with fine art shipping companies and customs brokers to ensure safe, legal, and timely transport
- Prepare acquisition documents including Deeds of Gift and General Warranties
- Review records of objects proposed for deaccessioning, ensuring that proposed objects comply with the Museum’s Collections Management Policy
- Research donors of deaccessioned objects, track credit line usage, and record deaccessioning and disposal information in TMS
Collection Management
- Implement standard Registration practices for collections management including object numbering, tracking, and documentation
- Create and maintain correct records in TMS for all objects in the collection and on loan, ensuring that information is accurate, up-to-date, and complete
- Identify and resolve issues concerning numbering, status discrepancy, component identification, and location tracking
- Research and bring to conclusion objects deemed as abandoned property
- Update storage maps; maintain the location hierarchy and fields in TMS
- Prepare, run, and distribute collection-related reports as needed
Special Projects as assigned, may include:
- Serve as Principal Security coordinator for the Museum’s Certified Cargo Screening Program administered by the TSA
- In collaboration with colleagues including the TMS Administrator, work to implement greater TMS usage and efficiency including report/form development, process refinement, and field standards.
- Contribute to the development of the Registration budget
- Oversee Registration interns and volunteers as needed
- Collaborate with colleagues in Development to ensure the safety of the collection at internal and external events hosted at the Museum; represent Registration’s interests in various event and planning meetings
- Coordinate the logistics of in-gallery set-up of floral arrangements during the Museum’s annual Art in Bloom event
- Upon successful completion of TSA training, serve as domestic and international art courier, overseeing loan handling and movement, condition reporting, and issue resolution
- Accept and release art shipments outside of normal business hours (24/7)
