Work at SVACEmployment Opportunities

Director of Marketing

Southern Vermont Arts Center is seeking a Director of Marketing who will interpret the essence of our nearly 100-year old organization in its quest to become a leading attraction for the general public to discover and enjoy the art of Vermont.  

We are beginning an expansion phase to reach this goal, and the Director of Marketing will play a critical role, working with the Executive Director, in leading the organization to succeed over the coming years. Our Board President has challenged us to become a primary destination for Vermont’s many visitors along with a gathering and learning center for area residents. 

We intend to reach beyond the historic art audience to the broader general public who hold in common their love of Vermont. We envision an art organization that everyone finds approachable, engaging, comfortable, welcoming, visually appealing, and understandable.  

If this innovative approach excites you and you have the skills outlined below and the motivation to play a leading role in our organization, we encourage you to apply. 

Essential Duties & Responsibilities

• Marketing Communications & Content Development: Collaborate with the Executive Director to create an effective marketing plan around exhibitions, education, events and earned income. Focus on developing strategies to increase attendance, website traffic, educational program participation, and membership. 
• Content Creation & Management: Lead the creation and management of both digital and print content. This includes handling all aspects of content from media stories, prospecting and member retention campaigns to social media posts and email communications.
• Email Marketing & Social Media Campaigns: Manage and implement email marketing, including weekly blasts, segmented triggers, and building the email file. Develop and implement all social media communications to increase engagement and build an online community tied to SVAC.
• Website & Public Relations: Oversee website content and public relations activities, ensuring brand consistency across platforms and campaigns. Grow website traffic and conversions. Handle collaborations with external partners and digital marketing agencies.
• Performance Tracking & Budgeting: Define success metrics, create regular reports on marketing performance, and manage the marketing budget, including forecasting expenses and income. Provide insights and action plans from Google analytics data and member/prospect data.
• Project & Campaign Management: Develop timelines for marketing initiatives and ensure campaigns are executed smoothly and on schedule. Collaborate with staff across the Arts Center and create new processes for timely content creation.

Qualifications
The role is designed for someone who can balance creative vision with analytics and strategic execution. 

• Creative Leadership: The ideal candidate must be a team player who is highly creative, able to manage projects, meet deadlines, and work collaboratively. 
• Experience in Digital Marketing & Ecommerce: At least 5 years of experience in digital marketing and ecommerce is essential, comfortable in fast-paced, results-driven environment.
• Graphic Design Skills:  Fluency in Adobe Creative Suite (Illustrator, InDesign, Photoshop): Ability to design annual reports, case for support, promotional postcards, flyers, digital ads, and exhibition catalogs and signs that the general public will find interesting and understandable. Photo and video editing a plus.
• Experience with Print Layout & Production: Understanding design for print, including working with printers and ensuring materials meet production specifications, is important for creating polished, professional physical content.
• Website Design: Knowledge of designing for digital platforms, such as creating social media assets, email templates, and website graphics, is also highly valuable.
• Content Strategy: Expertise in developing both digital and print content to meet strategic goals. Must be measurable and drives growth.
• Passion for Art & Engagement: A deep enthusiasm for sharing art and educational programs with the public and creating content that focuses on engaging visitors in a meaningful way.
• Problem Solving & Organizational Skills: The role requires excellent planning and organizational skills, with the ability to manage complex workloads, make independent decisions, and pivot strategies as needed.
• Hands-on Approach: A collaborative attitude is essential, as is a willingness to handle tasks at all levels. Building trust and partnerships within the team is crucial.
• Proactive and Reliable: The candidate needs to be proactive, reliable, able to handle multiple projects at once, and meet deadlines.
• Analytics-Driven Success: A strong track record of using data and analytics to drive successful digital marketing campaigns, achieving measurable goals, and gain insights.
• Technical Skills: Expertise in tools like Google Analytics, Google AdWords, and CRM software. Needs to understand enough to manage external digital agencies and partners.
• Marketing Automation: Demonstrable experience leading marketing automation campaigns to drive engagement and conversions.
• Highly Organized and Collaborative: The candidate must be detail-oriented and highly organized, able to manage several tasks and meet deadlines, while also being open-minded, collaborative, and flexible.

Salary and Benefits:
The salary range for the position is $60,000-$75,000. SVAC does not offer health insurance but offers vision and dental coverage.

To apply, please send a letter of interest and resume to:
Amelia Wiggins, Executive Director
Southern Vermont Arts Center
awiggins@svac.org

Curator, Modern & Contemporary Art

Southern Vermont Arts Center seeks a Curator at an exciting time of growth centered on sharing the story of Vermont art with all. The Curator, Modern & Contemporary Art will be a key leadership position responsible for setting the vision for SVAC’s modern and contemporary art collection, its representation of regional contemporary artists, and its program of temporary exhibitions.

Permanent Collection
SVAC has a nearly 100-year history of showcasing Southern Vermont artists, with a vibrant community of approximately 300 artist members and 40,000 annual visitors today. The Permanent Collection is comprised of over 1,000 paintings, sculpture, and works on paper by prominent American Regionalists including Reginald Marsh, Guy Pene duBois, Harriette Gowen Miller, Ogden Pleissner, Jay Hall Connaway, Marion Huse, Luigi Lucioni, Bernadine Custer Sharp, and Robert Strong Woodward, among others. For the first time this fall, the collection is being shared as a free online resource, part of a larger multi-phase project to document the collection managed by a highly experienced contract consulting Curator. SVAC is entering into planning phases for the creation of permanent galleries to share the collection with the public. SVAC’s campus also includes a 10-acre sculpture garden with exciting opportunities for future growth.

As we deepen our work with the collection, the Curator will lead the development of a collection plan, collection management strategy, and conservation planning. The Curator will also guide the planning for permanent collection installation and develop interpretation to share the story of Vermont art with the public. 

Contemporary Art
The Curator will create connections between the Art Center’s history and the rich artistic community working in Vermont today. This position will be key to fostering and growing SVAC’s relationships with a deep network of artists throughout the region. The Curator will lead the next chapter of SVAC’s presentation of regional contemporary art and guide SVAC’s work to support our artist community.

Exhibitions
The Curator will develop and execute a program of exhibitions that attracts, engages, and inspires growing audiences of locals and visitors. The Curator is responsible for development, installation, and management of all exhibitions at SVAC in both the Wilson Museum and Yester House.

Essential Duties & Responsibilities

• Conceive and develop exhibitions and gallery installations to attract and engage a wide range of audiences, with a special focus on sharing the story of Vermont art. Execute exhibitions from initial idea through final installation. Guide the planning for a permanent collection installation and future gallery rotations.
• Work closely with the Executive Director to forge and foster relationships with arts funders, supporters, and partners, both within and beyond the Southern Vermont region. Attracting strong grant funding for the exhibition program and upcoming collection installation is a primary objective. Cultivating relationships with partner organizations including universities and art museums is also essential.
• Develop annual work plans, budgets, and goals for Collections and Exhibitions, aligned with forthcoming institutional strategic planning. Manage a balanced budget and forecast expenses and income opportunities as we plan for growth.
• Develop an SVAC Collections Plan to define the scope and management of the permanent collection, ensuring compliance with professional ethics codes including the American Alliance of Museums. Guide the development of the collection, including identifying and suggesting gifts and purchases.

Qualifications

• Contagious passion for sharing art with others and an interpretive philosophy that centers visitor engagement.
• Five years’ curatorial experience in a museum or exhibiting arts organization and a Master’s degree in Art History with extensive knowledge of contemporary and/or modern art is required. Experience working with living artists and knowledge of American Regionalist artists is desired.
• Strong storytelling and writing skills that include compelling public speaking, an engaging writing voice that welcomes the broadest possible public into the conversation around art, and the ability to successfully interact with a wide range of stakeholders including community leaders, donors, and artists.
• Proven record of attracting grant funding for exhibitions and/or research. Demonstrated experience in donor cultivation and stewardship.
• Excellent problem-solving, planning, and organizational skills, with the ability to execute multiple projects and responsibilities. The ability to navigate a complex workload independently and take initiative to prioritize, pivot, and recommend changes when needed is especially desired.
• A hands-on, collaborative attitude. Comfortable rolling up sleeves and carrying out tasks at all levels to execute plans. Ability to build trust and partnership across SVAC’s small, hardworking staff is essential.
• Experience handling art and proper care and conservation of works. 
• Knowledge of research tools and methodologies.
• Availability for periodic evening and weekend openings and exhibition events.

Salary and benefits:
The salary range for the position is $65,000-$75,000. SVAC does not offer health insurance but offers vision and dental coverage.

To apply, please send a letter of interest and resume to: 

Amelia Wiggins, Executive Director
Southern Vermont Arts Center
awiggins@svac.org

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