Curating Contemporary Art in Heritage, Knowledge Transfer Partnership Associate

Job content

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Salary: £23,500 per annum
Closing Date: 13 September 2021
The role

This Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) is a new partnership between the Vindolanda Charitable Trust and Newcastle University. Working with these two partners and with the wider Hadrian’s Wall Partnership including Northumberland County Council, the KTP Associate will develop, with the support of academic mentors, a strategic plan for the commissioning and programming of contemporary art for Vindolanda and other key sites along Hadrian’s Wall. This is an exciting career developmental post for an individual who is passionate about the contemporary arts in heritage sites and the role it has to play in developing new audiences and profile at heritage sites.

Based at The Vindolanda Trust near Bardon Mill Hexham Northumberland, you will be engaged as a Knowledge Transfer Partnership Curating Contemporary Art in Heritage associate to work alongside the Vindolanda team to develop a considered strategic plan, its purpose to engage and attract new and emerging audiences in the physical and digital domains by placing contemporary art in this important UNESCO World Heritage site.

During the period of Roman occupation, Hadrian’s Wall was garrisoned with troops from across the Roman Empire which stretched from North Africa and Europe through to the Middle East. We are keen that this dimension of the Wall’s history should be taken on board in future art commissioning.

We are looking for a candidate who is passionate about contemporary art and heritage and would also enjoy working collaboratively with a wide range of partners.

Benefits:
Working within a stunning UNESCO World Heritage site setting with a supportive team and three University academic mentors (Judith King, Andrew Burton in Fine Art and Natalia Yannopoulou in the Newcastle University Business School) who have expertise within this area
Ability to access full Newcastle University resources including other departmental academics and research
£4000 individual training budget that can be used for materials, courses and attendance at conferences etc.
The opportunity to lead on the strategic planning of contemporary art programming including increasing knowledge of partnerships and funders
Develop managerial skills and attend two residential managerial workshops (each of one week duration)
Relate positively to the region’s status as a leader of contemporary art programming within a heritage context

Although the KTP curatorial associate will be an employee of Newcastle University to carry out the objectives of the project, he/she/they will be required to spend significant amount of their working time at Vindolanda, a major historic site near Twice Brewed, Northumberland. The contract is full-time, fixed-term for a duration of 2 years, although it is worth noting that more than 70% of KTP staff receive a permanent job offer by their KTP company.

The Vindolanda Trust is an independent charity established in 1970 to excavate the remains on its land and to share the knowledge gained with the public through museum exhibitions. https://www.vindolanda.com/

For more information or informal enquiries, please contact Prof Andrew Burton (Andrew.Burton@ncl.ac.uk)

For further information on the School of Arts and please visit the web page at: https://www.ncl.ac.uk/sacs/

For further details about Knowledge Transfer Partnerships please visit the web page at: http://www.ktp-uk.org/

Key Accountabilities

On starting the project the role includes a substantial amount of time familiarising with the project, its partners, project objectives, key milestones and partner priorities
Undertake research and analysis to develop a good understanding of the Trust’s operational duties and with the regional and national contemporary art/cultural sector, specifically those working within a heritage context
Develop a new marketing and promotional strategy with support of the academic supervisor
Disseminate and embed the knowledge of contemporary art within heritage context within the
Trust through presentations, group discussions, staff training and visits to similar projects
Throughout the project present findings to stakeholders through documentation and business case
Develop, with the support of the supervisors, a contemporary art strategy for VCT that is both ambitious, creative and forward thinking, aligning itself to the VCT business case that will demonstrate to heritage staff and partners the benefits of engagement
Develop a fundraising plan for contemporary art commissions and projects for Vindolanda and the wider Hadrian’s Wall Partnership that relates specifically to the strategic plan
Initiate discussions with funding partners and research Trusts and Foundations that Vindolanda Charitable Trust could apply to. Collaborate on the drafting of funding proposals
Prepare case studies to inform teaching in contemporary art/heritage module
Disseminate research via publications, journal articles, present at conferences and seminars

The Person (Essential)
Knowledge, Skills and Experience

Relative to your career stage, you should demonstrate in your application how you meet the following criteria:
Excellent understanding of contemporary arts in heritage settings
Experience/understanding of working within heritage or cultural organisations
Understanding of audience development strategies
Understanding of arts/heritage funding landscape
Ability to write reports and action plans
Experience in project management
Understanding of business case preparation
Ability to present within an academic environment (desirable)

Attributes and Behaviour
An enthusiastic highly capable individual ready to embrace the challenges of a project with an understanding of the value of arts
Willingness to be mentored and accept advice
Strong interpersonal skills with the ability to communicate at all levels to different stakeholder groups
The ability to work independently and collaboratively with colleagues
Personal motivation and drive and ability to use initiative
Excellent organisational and planning skills
Ability to prioritise, work to tight deadlines and willingness to work flexibly when required
Lateral thinker and able to communicate effectively with a wide range of people
Be an advocate for the placing of contemporary art within heritage locations.
Applicants must demonstrate (through formal or informal actions) evidence of their commitment to equality, diversity, inclusion in their spheres of work

Qualifications
Honours or Masters Degree preferably in Creative Arts, Cultural Management or a relevant discipline

Desirable requirement
Access to a vehicle and a clean driving licence.
Newcastle University is committed to being a fully inclusive Global University which actively recruits, supports and retains colleagues from all sectors of society. We value diversity as well as celebrate, support and thrive on the contributions of all our employees and the communities they represent. We are proud to be an equal opportunities employer and encourage applications from everybody, regardless of race, sex, ethnicity, religion, nationality, sexual orientation, age, disability, gender identity, marital status/civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, as well as being open to flexible working practices.

The University holds a silver Athena SWAN award in recognition of our good employment practices for the advancement of gender equality. The University also holds the HR Excellence in Research award for our work to support the career development of our researchers, and is a member of the Euraxess initiative supporting researchers in Europe.

We understand how important the full employment package is to our colleagues at Newcastle University and we are committed to providing a great range of benefits and discounts for all. You can learn more about what is available here on our Benefits Website page .
Requisition ID: 9383