Curator, Exhibitions and Collections, Art Museum at the University of Toronto

A photo of a person leaning forward, inspecting an artwork. Photo: Polina Teif

Job Opportunity: Curator, Exhibitions and Collections

Application Deadline: November 14, 2025, 11:59pm ET

The Art Museum is an internationally renowned centre for contemporary art and interdisciplinary inquiry located on the University of Toronto’s downtown campus, in Canada’s largest and most diverse city. With its two distinct gallery spaces (the Justina M. Barnicke Gallery at Hart House and the University of Toronto Art Centre at University College), the Art Museum offers intensive cycles of programming dedicated to artistic and curatorial experimentation. Featuring works in a wide array of traditional and contemporary media, the Art Museum’s exhibitions are further complemented by energetic offsite projects, digitally accessible programs, and research engaging with the University of Toronto’s extensive contemporary and historical art collections.

Your Opportunity:

The Art Museum is currently seeking a Curator, Exhibitions and Collections. Reporting to the Executive Director, and working with the team of the Art Museum, their mandate is to research, initiate, develop and implement original, guest-curated and collection-based exhibitions and outreach relevant to the Art Museum’s forward-looking program.

The Curator will produce exhibitions that contribute to the life of the university and the broader public and communities locally, nationally and internationally. Primarily focusing on developing within the context of the Art Museum, the curator will also explore how art might live in or redress public space on campus through exhibitions of works from the collection or new commissions. Throughout their work, the curator will address the existing paradigms of exhibition-making and collecting in our time, innovatively respond to the call for equity and its attendant forms in art. Thinking through the nature of exhibition-making and collecting in the context of local histories, the curator will reimagine the relation between art and place, between visual culture and place-making, and the role that artistic and curatorial practice can play in relation to multi-faceted spaces, communities and publics.

Developing partnerships within and beyond the University in all aspects of their work, the curator will engage and implement best practices and protocols for building the collection through acquisitions and develop projects and exhibitions for presentation and circulation on and beyond the University’s downtown campus.

Additionally, they will oversee and direct the work of programming staff who report to them and whose focus is on developing engaged outreach, initiatives and partnerships that advance strategic objectives of their portfolio, including relevant lectures, exhibition tours, workshops and symposia.

They will bring to all their work embodied experience and proactive attention to sustainable exhibition production practices (toward reduction of waste and ecological impact, as well as the re-use and sharing of resources), and ensure the implementation of anti-racist, anti-harassment, and non-discriminatory processes that enable and provide a welcoming and inclusive atmosphere throughout their own work and all the museum’s relations.

Your Responsibilities Will Include:

• Curating exhibitions and gallery installations
• Liaising with creative professionals and vendors to generate and deliver creative concepts
• Implementing plans and process improvements for program and service activities
• Analyzing and making recommendations for programming enhancements
• Creating and/or editing original, published content and materials
• Developing and implementing community engagement strategies and plans
• Coordinating selection and acquisitioning processes
• Directing the activities of a single ongoing staff-appointed employee

Essential Qualifications:

• Master’s Degree (Curatorial Studies) and/or equivalent education and experience curating contemporary art and exhibitions, including art in public spaces, working with collections, and policy implementation.
• Minimum three years of related senior experience in an equivalent position.
• Curatorial experience developing art in public spaces and collections.
• Deep familiarity and demonstrated abilities producing contemporary art exhibitions in all media in both traditional and non-museum spaces.
• Experience coordinating exhibitions as well as public art projects related to the collection and temporary (off-site) programming.
• Experience implementing plans and process improvements for program and service activities.
• Experience and the ability to work with multiple stakeholders to develop exhibitions and public programming.
• Ability to multi-task and efficient implementation of projects.
• Excellent familiarity and working experience with all administrative tasks related to exhibition-making and collections in an A-designated museum context (including coordinating acquisitions, handling art works, CCPERB applications, donor relations).
• Experience fostering and maintaining positive relationships.
• Ability to make effective presentations in visual and didactic form.
• Ability to work cooperatively toward common goal.
• Excellent communication skills (verbal and in writing).
• Experience researching and writing grant applications.
• Thorough working knowledge of MS Office, including Powerpoint, Excel, Word, Office 365.
• Embodied and proactive experience and demonstrated commitments to anti-racist equity, across age, culture, genders, identity and complex embodiment.

Schedule:

Full-Time. Hours of work: Monday through Friday from 8:45am to 5:00pm, overtime on weekdays, occasional overtime on weekends. This role is currently eligible for a hybrid work arrangement, pursuant to University policies and guidelines, including but not limited to the University of Toronto’s Alternative Work Arrangements Guideline.

Compensation:

USW Pay Band 13 – $86,340. with an annual step progression to a maximum of $110,415. Pay scale and job class assignment is subject to determination pursuant to the Job Evaluation/Pay Equity Maintenance Protocol.

Application Process:

For complete details and to submit your application, please visit the posting on the University of Toronto Careers portal. Please include a cover letter with your application.

Submission Deadline: November 14, 2025

For additional information or questions, please contact: artmuseum@utoronto.ca

Accessibility Statement

The University strives to be an equitable and inclusive community, and proactively seeks to increase diversity among its community members. Our values regarding equity and diversity are linked with our unwavering commitment to excellence in the pursuit of our academic mission.

The University is committed to the principles of the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA). As such, we strive to make our recruitment, assessment and selection processes as accessible as possible and provide accommodations as required for applicants with disabilities.

If you require any accommodations at any point during the application and hiring process, please contact uoft.careers@utoronto.ca.

Justina M. Barnicke Gallery
7 Hart House Circle
Toronto, Ontario M5S 3H3
416-978-8398

University of Toronto Art Centre
15 King’s College Circle
Toronto, Ontario M5S 3H7
416-978-1838

artmuseum.utoronto.ca
artmuseum@utoronto.ca
@artmuseumuoft