Salaries always depend on a variety of things; for the graphic design
position you mention -- will you be overseeing a department (do you have
supervisory and management experience); will you be responsible for signage
for exhibitions, way-finding through the museum, catalogues, books,
collateral material for development, marketing, pr, etc.?; does your
experience include working with all levels of staff within the
organization -- from leadership, to curators, to administrative staff?; will
you be the major decision maker in that department/division of the museum?
We are currently recruiting for a "take-charge" supervisor of graphics for
an LA museum and the salary range is $80-90K, given the level of managerial
experience required.  In addition, there is a rigorous review of candidates'
portfolios and knowledge of many graphic applications.   Cheers!  Geri
Thomas, President, Thomas & Associates, Inc., www.artstaffing.com

----- Original Message -----
From: John Martinson <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Saturday, May 19, 2001 8:36 PM
Subject: Re: Graphic Designer Salary Question


> Paula,
>
> I feel that many museum's marketing/public relations people do much of
their graphics, hire it outside by job or by donations/in-kind.
> To have just a graphic person would be really specializing, and not many
> museums are open for that or have the budget.  IMHO, it would would have
> to be a very large museum with a very quality and firm budget.
>
> Our marketing person gets about $40,000 per year.
>
> Best of luck on your interview.
>
> John
> Curator of Collections
> (prior Director and Asst. Director)
>
> Museum discussion list <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> >
> > Hello.
> >
> > My name is Paula, and I am a graphic designer trying to move my career
> > into the marketing/publications department of a museum. I have been a
> > MUSEUM-L list "lurker" for some time now, trying to gather any and all
> > information I can about the museum world. And I have learned so much
> > from just observing the conversations that go on here. I really
> > appreciate the existence of this e-mail group.
> >
> > One thing that I have learned, is that I should do research on my own
> > before I ask questions of the list members. And so when I realized that
> > I needed to know the salary range for a graphic designer employed by a
> > museum, I tried very hard to find this information on my own. I did lots
> > of searching on-line, and also at the public library. While I did find a
> > little information about salaries for several types of museum jobs, I
> > have not been able to find specific information about what a graphic
> > designer employed by a museum makes.
> >
> > So...
> >
> > I have decided to come to the wise people of this list for some help. I
> > am hoping that someone on this list may be able to give me a salary
> > range. Believe me, I do realize that museum jobs do not pay huge
> > salaries. That is fine by me. But I am in a situation where I am about
> > to interview for a position, and I need to be prepared for the salary
> > negotiation. Without giving away too many details, this job would be in
> > a major U.S. city at a large museum. The person hired would be
> > responsible for all of the museum publications/advertisements and would
> > be the only designer employed by the museum -- although they would be
> > hiring outside contract help for certain projects as needed.
> >
> > Any kind of salary information that anyone can give me will be greatly
> > appreciated. Even general ranges will do. I just need some applicable
> > numbers to work with.
> >
> > Just as an FYI, the range I have created as a guess (based on my current
> > salary and on the few numbers I collected from my research) is $30,000
> > to $40,000. Someone please let me know if this range is too high.
> >
> > Thank you all so much for everything that you do. The generous sharing
> > of information on this list is greatly appreciated.
> >
> > Sincerely,
> > Paula
> > [log in to unmask]
> >
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