Director-Curator, Neutral Ground

Michelle Sound & Phyliss Poitras-Jarrett, nimama is a tough cookie & Looking Beyond Ourselves, 2022. Photographer: Daniel Paquet

Job Call – Director-Curator

About Neutral Ground:

Launched in 1982, Neutral Ground is a non-profit organisation dedicated to developing opportunities for artists and engaging the public with emerging, experimental, multidisciplinary artistic practices. Neutral Ground is located in oskana ka-asastēki, also known as Regina, Saskatchewan. Primarily a public gallery, Neutral Ground operates on Treaty 4 land, which encompasses the territories of the nêhiyawak, Anihšināpēk, Dakota, Lakota, and Nakoda, and the homeland of the Métis/Michif Nation.

Term: Permanent, Full-time
Hours: 35 hours a week with periodic evening and weekend work
Compensation: 50,000 – 55,000 per year
Benefits: Health and dental benefits, 4 weeks of vacation for the first year of employment and 5 weeks total, per year, moving forward.
Contribution to relocation expenses (if applicable) may be provided.
Application Deadline: Friday, July 14, 2023 at 11:59 pm
Target Interviews Dates: July 20 – 24, 2023
Target Start Date: September 1, 2023 (flexible)

Organisational Environment

Neutral Ground’s current administrative office is located at the rear of the Main Gallery, in a mezzanine space. Access to the office is via one flight of straight stairs.

Neutral Ground is committed to diversity and inclusion. The organisation encourages applications from candidates who are members of racialized communities, women, Indigenous peoples, persons with disabilities, persons with low-income and working-class backgrounds, persons of minority sexual orientations and gender identities, and those with the skills and knowledge to productively engage within diverse communities.

Summary of Position

Reporting to the Board of Directors, the Director-Curator, will work to manage all aspects of the gallery’s daily operations. They will lead NG in the development of a curatorial vision and will have opportunities to curate projects, exhibitions and/or other engagement activities.

Four-day work week; hours totaling 28. The remaining 4 – 7 hours/week will be worked flexibly to fulfil job duties including exhibition/event installations and receptions, board meetings, fulfilling grant deadlines, and other tasks as needed.

Breakdown of Duties: The position will be understood through three involvement categories.

Leading: asks that are the responsibility of the Director-Curator with support from either the Board of Directors or support staff.
Collaborating: tasks that are shared with the Board of Directors and will contribute to the organisation as a whole.
Supporting: tasks that are the primary responsibility of the Board of Directors or other staff for which the Director-Curator will take a supporting role.

Leading

• Overseeing the day-to-day operations of the organisation, with the support of a second staff person;
• Maintaining organisational charitable status through documents management, annual review engagements, and Provincial and Federal charitable return submissions;
• Manage and promote programming through a hybrid of curatorial work and works selected by a jury from the open call for submissions;
• Articulating and implementing a programming vision for the organisation in keeping with Neutral Ground’s ethos as an artist-run centre;
• Financial oversight: Drafting, monitoring, and updating budgets; working with the bookkeeper, treasurer, and accountant to maintain best financial practices, file management, and accounts payable/receivable, along with the preparation of year-end materials for annual financial reviews;
• Core and project grant writing, reporting, and communication with funders
• Overseeing public promotion, engagement, and community partnerships (both existing and the development of new partnerships);
• Managing and hiring additional staff at the organisation;
• Curatorial support for exhibiting artists;
• Reporting to the Board of Directors on financials, programming, and engagement;
• Observing Neutral Ground’s policies and procedures, and implementing them in day-to-day operations; and
• Manage membership lists, equipment rentals, and communication with the membership including the annual member’s survey.

Collaborating

• Annual budget planning;
• Fundraising and sponsorship initiatives to supplement core funding;
• Develop membership programming, benefits and relationships, through communication, recruitment, and community engagement that supports the aspirations of our artist membership;
• Annual events, both existing and initiating new endeavours;
• AGM planning and implementation;
• Policy development;
• Strategic planning, visioning and implementation;
• Determining staff requirements for programming; and
• Development and implementation of strategies, policy, and operations that prioritise equity and decolonization, rooted in reciprocal conversation and best practices, as determined by diverse communities.

Supporting

• Maintaining gallery hours through presence in the gallery space;
• Gallery maintenance;
• Exhibition installation;
• Fostering meaningful engagement with gallery visitors and developing materials that support visitor understanding of programming (such as didactic materials, tours, etc.); and
• Day to day administration, such as record keeping, equipment rentals, and other tasks handled by other staff.

Competencies:

• Post-secondary education in the arts, administration, or equivalent experience;
• 2+ years of arts administration and/or curatorial experience, through either an independent practice or within an organisation;
• Strong ability to work collaboratively with staff, volunteers, interns, members, and Board of Directors;
• Office management and administration skills, reliability and discretion;
• Knowledge and respect for diverse points of view and the ability to facilitate productive exchange through consensus building and collaboration;
• Gallery promotions including social media posts and press engagement;
• Innovative thinking in new strategies for contemporary art, through curation, engagement, and support for artists and their work.

Assets:
The following are considered assets but not requirements for candidates:

• Valid driver’s licence and access to a vehicle
• Comfort climbing 12-foot ladders
• Language proficiency in a language other than English
• Independent visual, and/or writing and/or curatorial practice

Find out more about Neutral Ground, visit: neutralground.sk.ca

Please submit the following by email with the subject line “ Director-Curator Application: your name” to: board@neutralground.sk.ca

1 page Cover Letter expressing your interest, experience, and capacity to meet the listed job duties;
Curriculum Vitae (maximum 5 pages);
Or
Link to 5 minute video expressing your interest, experience, and capacity to meet the listed job duties

Those invited to interview for the position will be asked to provide the names, contact information (email and phone number), and list the nature of your professional relationship for two references who can speak directly to the required job competencies.

Candidates with disabilities will receive accommodation throughout the hiring process upon request. Please email board@neutralground.sk.ca to request accommodation.

Neutral Ground thanks all applicants for their time and interest in this position, though only those selected for an interview will be contacted by July 31, 2023.

Neutral Ground Artist-Run Centre
1835 Scarth Street
Regina, SK S4P 2G9