Guest Indigenous Curator, MacLaren Art Centre

Guest Indigenous Curator
MacLaren Art Centre, Barrie

Location: This is a flexible, off-site program with some on-site requirements to be negotiated.
Job Type: Flexible, 3-year contract.
Funding: $25,000.00 p/year (paid in equal, quarterly installments)
Application Deadline: September 10, 2023
Start Date: Fall, 2023

The MacLaren Art Centre is seeking applications from emerging and established Indigenous Curators to participate in a three-year Guest Curatorial Program. This opportunity is the first of three guest curators that will be recruited over the next five years as the program evolves. The program, when fully implemented, will offer dynamic opportunities for artistic growth and exchange between curators from various backgrounds, experiences, and communities.

About the Opportunity

As a member of First Nations, Métis, or Inuit Peoples, the incumbent will foreground contemporary Indigenous artistic and/or curatorial practices through research, experimentation, programming, and the development and implementation of two exhibitions at the MacLaren Art Centre over the three-year term. The framework and nature of the projects are flexible and will be developed in collaboration with the MacLaren curatorial team. Throughout the program, the Guest Curator will be fully supported by the MacLaren curatorial and programming teams. A separate budget to produce exhibitions, publications, and the implementation of ancillary programming will be provided.

The goal of the program is to foster connections and improve awareness of and access to contemporary Indigenous artistic practices and curatorial research. By bringing Indigenous curatorial voices into dialogue with our community, the program aims to cultivate new and inclusive relationships, opportunities, and ways or working together. The Guest Curator will work collaboratively with the curatorial team to cultivate a creative space for research, experimentation, inclusion, and idea exchange. To facilitate a regional connection, the successful applicant will be required to commit to an agreed amount of time to be spent in the community over the three-year period (suggested minimum of six days per year).

If interested, the Indigenous Curator will have the opportunity to contribute to the MacLaren’s on-going strategic planning processes. This provides the option to contribute to the re-imagination of our artistic programs, to new operational models, and to help shape the institutions commitment to creating new ways of building and sharing Indigenous stories into the future.

About the MacLaren

The MacLaren Art Centre is a free public art gallery located on the traditional territory of the Anishinaabek, which include the Odawa, Ojibwe, and Pottawatomi Nations, collectively known as the Three Fires Confederacy. With over 4,000 works of contemporary and modern Canadian art in the permanent collection, the gallery serves an immediate community of approximately 300,000 people across Barrie and Simcoe County. We approach our work with a regional responsibility, responding to issues that matter in our immediate community within the broader context of the provincial and national visual art and cultural framework. We offer a variety of modern and contemporary exhibitions that focus on visual art and visual culture by Canadian artists of regional, provincial, and national significance. Our goal is to provide the community with an exciting and relevant range of art exhibitions, tours, lectures, and art programs that inspire curiosity, creativity, and interest in the visual arts.

Submission Requirements

Cover letter that describes your background and interest in the opportunity.
CV with relevant experiences, education, and qualifications.
Curatorial Statement.
Two relevant Writing Samples (max. 1000 words each; can be selections from longer essays).
Relevant Curatorial and/or Community projects.

How to Apply

In one pdf document, applicants must submit the Cover Letter, CV, Curatorial Statement and relevant Curatorial and/or Community Projects.
In a second pdf document, applicants must submit required Writing Samples.
Applications will be received via email at rachel@maclarenart.com no later than 11:59pm September 10, 2023. Subject line: Indigenous Guest Curator.

The MAC is committed to being an employer that reflects our community and fosters an inclusive workplace. We welcome and encourage candidates who are women, BIPOC, LGBTQ2S+ and people with disabilities to apply. Accommodations are available for all parts of the recruitment process. Applicants must make their needs known in advance.

We thank all candidates who apply but only those selected for an interview will be contacted.

MacLaren Art Centre
37 Mulcaster Street
Barrie, ON. L4M 3M2
www.maclarenart.com

Facebook: @maclarenart
Instagram: @maclarenart
Twitter: @MacLarenArt