Head of Collections, Exhibitions and Research

Job Description

An exciting opportunity has arisen to join Watts Gallery Trust as we increase our focus on audience development and engagement.The Head of Collections, Exhibitions & Research will take a strategic and collaborative approach to enhancing the interpretationand display of our collection, driving engagement onsite and online, and building national and international partnerships to support our programme of interpretation, research, exhibitions and scholarship. The postholder will lead the curatorial team and playa leadership role in Watts Gallery - Artists Village as a member of the Senior Management Team.Working collaboratively as part of the Senior Management Team to conserve and interpret our collection and engage and stimulate the widest range of audiences withthe art and ideas of Mary Seton Watts and GF Watts, the post holder will plan and oversee the development and delivery of the gallerys renowned temporary exhibitions programme. Working in close partnership with other departments, the successful candidatewill enable audiences to explore the relevance of our artists, their contemporaries and successors in a way that challenges, supports and stimulates their interest.Key knowledge, experience and qualifications: Significant experience in a senior curatorialposition. An art historian with a strong track record of published work. Significant experience and interest in the decorative and fine arts and 19th- and early 20th-century art and history. Demonstrable experience of working effectively as part of a seniormanagement team and with internal and external stakeholders. Proven successes in internal and external collaborative working. Experience of audience development and outreach. Experience of working with the press and good networking skills. Positive line managementand coaching experience. Strong budget management experience. MA or PhD in Art History or equivalent. Working towards or already a Fellow of the Museums Association (FMA) or equivalent.Full Job Description, including key competencies and details of how toapply, is attached.Watts Gallery Trust is fully committed to equality and diversity and welcomes applications from all sections of the community. We actively encourage BAME and disabled applicants and value the positive impact difference has on our teams.ABOUTWATTS GALLERY TRUSTWatts Gallery Trust (WGT) is an independent charity established in 1904 to manage the legacy of George Frederic Watts OM RA, one of the leading artists of the nineteenth century. Today, Watts Gallery Trust is an Arts Council England NationalPortfolio Organisation that oversees Watts Gallery - Artists Village. Consisting of Limnerslease, the former home of artists G F Watts and Mary Seton Watts, the Grade I listed Watts Cemetery Chapel, designed by Mary Watts, the Pottery Building that formerlyhoused the Compton Potters Arts Guild, and Watts Gallery established in 1904 as the UKs first single artist museum, the Artists Village is a leading regional visitor attraction. The Trust delivers an ambitious and far-reaching engagement and learning programmein prisons, in the local community and onsite, working to deliver its founders Art for All ethos with some of the most vulnerable in society. It also manages the Artists Studio Museum Network of 157 artists studio museums across Europe, and the thrivingWatts Gallery - Artists Village, which is located in Compton, outside Guildford across 18 acres of Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.