National Gallery of Art Andrew W. Mellon Postdoctoral Curatorial Fellowship

The National Gallery of Art hosts a postdoctoral curatorial fellowship endowed by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and is accepting applications now through May 1, 2023, for fall 2023. This is a two-year fellowship with the possibility of renewal for a third year. The fellowship provides curatorial training and supports scholarly research related to the collection of the National Gallery of Art. The fellow is fully integrated in a curatorial department with duties, privileges, and status equivalent to those of an assistant curator. Time is divided between assigned projects and general curatorial work within the department, including research on the collection and new acquisitions, work on the presentation and interpretation of the collection, participation in aspects of special exhibition and publishing projects, and opportunities to give public lectures.

Through weekly gatherings and discussions, the fellow takes part in research sharing and sessions that explore the inner workings of the National Gallery. The fellow takes part in departmental and curatorial-wide meetings and has opportunities to work with departments across the National Gallery.

The ideal candidate will demonstrate scholarly excellence and promise in addition to a strong interest in a museum career. Applications are requested from scholars whose interests and areas of expertise align with National Gallery of Art collections and programs. Specifically, the fellow will be a full participant in the preparation of one of the three exhibition projects and departments listed below, including developing exhibition frameworks, creating the object checklists, determining layouts, preparation of exhibition interpretation, writing for the exhibition catalog and/or contributing written content for web-based platforms, and where possible, contributing to in-person public programming for audiences in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area as well as virtual programming for nationwide audiences. Cover letters and statements must specify which project is most aligned with the applicant’s scholarly expertise and interests.