DIRECTOR SEARCH
ST. PETERSBURG MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS
ST. PETERSBURG, FLORIDA
Please direct all inquiries to the retained search consultant:
Opportunity Resources Inc., [log in to unmask]
(further contact information below)
BACKGROUND
The Museum of Fine
Arts of St. Petersburg, Florida, a Palladian-style building beautifully sited
adjacent to the city’s downtown waterfront, was opened to the public in
1965. In 2008, a new 39,000-square-foot wing designed by Yann Weymouth of
Hellmuth Obata & Kassabaum more than doubled the Museum’s size.
The Museum’s
collection now encompasses almost 15,000 objects, from Greek and Roman
Antiquities and Pre-Columbian, Native American and Asian art to European and
American painting, sculpture and photography. The significance of the
collection is evidenced by the number of loans requested by other prominent
museums. Berthe Morisot’s rare sculpture Head of Julie Manet
(Artist’s Daughter) was recently in an exhibition at Musée de
l’Orangerie in Paris and another significant O’Keeffe was on
exhibit at the Whitney Museum of American Art earlier this year.
Three major
exhibitions are mounted annually and ten in total. Most recently The Baroque
World of Fernando Botero drew a large number of visitors. The 2005 Dale
Chihuly show broke all previous attendance records, drawing 170,000 visitors.
The following year Monet’s London: Artists’ Reflections on the
Thames, organized by the Museum around its own Monet, attracted over
100,000 visitors and then traveled to The Brooklyn Museum and Baltimore Museum
of Art.
The extraordinary
breadth and scope of the exhibition schedule and the collections provides the
Education Department with a broad range of teaching opportunities for children
and adults and opens myriad possibilities for public programs.
The Museum of Fine
Arts operates with a budget of $2.8 million and a full-time staff of 19 and 9
part-time. The Museum is governed by a 26-person Board of Trustees.
The MFA is presently
completing the reaccreditation process of the American Association of Museums.
THE POSITION
The Director
reports to the Board of Trustees through its President. S/he is an ex-officio
member of the Board and works and communicates closely with its executive
committee, other committees and individual members. The Director’s
primary responsibilities are to provide vision, strategic planning and
implementation for the Museum’s advancement and to ensure financial
stability and continued programmatic excellence. S/he will take a leadership
role in program development and, with staff and Board, in all fundraising and
marketing activities, including the recently launched campaign to raise a $5
million endowment fund.
The Director
will play a significant role in continuing the Museum’s upward spiral and
expanding its visibility and recognition nationally and internationally.
§ Qualifications
and Characteristics
While no candidate will possess all of the skills and attributes listed,
the successful candidate will possess many of the following:
• At
least ten years professional experience gained at an art museum in
progressively senior positions; advanced degree in art history.
• Demonstrated
success in fundraising, donor cultivation and solicitations and ability to
devise new and innovative methods for increasing earned income.
• Evidence
of securing or initiating successful blockbuster exhibitions and sponsorship
for these exhibitions; active network and relationship with national and
international art institutions, especially through exhibitions and cultural
tourism experience.
•
A keen appreciation of the MFA’s mission.
• Evidence
of successful leadership through strong interpersonal skills with staff, board
and patrons; talent for building trust and confidence.
• Demonstrated
experience in collections management, conservation, accessions and
preservation.
• Dedication,
discipline and ambition to translate vision into concrete achievement.
In
addition, the candidate must possess:
• Exceptional
oral and written communication skills.
• Demonstrated
ability to think strategically and creatively, and to oversee day-to-day
operations.
• Demonstrated
financial management skills and experience with marketing, media relations and
branding.
• Ability
to oversee transformation and modernization of technological resources.
• Skill
and comfort managing creative people.
• A
passion for the job needing to be done.
• A
roll-up-sleeves work ethic, an open mind, outgoing personality, self confidence
and a sense of humor.
Address all
inquiries and recommendations in confidence,
to the
retained search consultants (e-mails are preferred):
Freda Mindlin or
Nancy Kaufman
Opportunity
Resources Inc.
196 East 75th
Street, Suite 14H
New York, NY 10021
Voice (212)
744-4409
Fax (212) 744-5004
Opportunity Resources Inc. is an executive search firm retained by
trustees of
cultural organizations to execute searches for senior level executives.
Opportunity Resources has specialized for over twenty-five years in providing
search services to non-profit cultural institutions nationwide.