Philip Hofer Curator of Printing and Graphic Arts (PG&A), Harvard University, Cambridge, MA

Posted March 2, 2020

Harvard University invites applications and nominations for the Philip Hofer Curator of Printing and Graphic Arts (P&GA) at Houghton Library.  The Curator provides vision, leadership, advocacy, interpretation, and passion for the collection and serves as catalyst and coordinator for a dynamic group of activities and individuals dedicated to connecting the holdings of P&GA to Harvard faculty, graduate and undergraduate students, and an international community of scholars, artists, and other researchers and enthusiasts. 

 

The Curator will have enthusiasm and demonstrated ability for sharing and interpreting the collection in the classroom, in the reading room, in the digital sphere, in publications, and through exhibitions and programming, and for communicating the value, power, and contemporary relevance of printing and the graphic arts to expert and general audiences.  The Curator will have an extraordinary opportunity to build and shape the collection and will develop and implement a strategy that incorporates diverse cultures, new and evolving technologies, and the role of printing and graphic arts in social and political change. 

 

Qualifications

The successful candidate will possess deep knowledge of printing history and graphic processes particularly as these relate to book illustration; the ability to master over time the broad range of formats, subjects, and time periods represented in the collection; enthusiasm for working with faculty and students; proclivity for adopting new technologies and methods that will improve access to and use of P&GA holdings; and a collaborative and collegial outlook

and spirit. 

 

About the Department of Printing and Graphic Arts

The Department of Printing and Graphic Arts was founded at Harvard in 1938 by legendary curator, collector, and connoisseur Philip Hofer.  The department holds an extensive collection of original artifacts from all periods illustrating the book arts and the materiality and historical development of the book, whether manuscript or printed.  In addition to facilitating teaching and research based in the collection, the department administers a vibrant set of programs including the Frances and Philip Hofer lecture series, the Philip Hofer Prize for Collecting Books or Art, workshops on letterpress printing, and other activities core to the department’s mission and spirit.

 

The Department of Printing and Graphic Arts is one of the main curatorial departments of Houghton Library, Harvard’s principal repository for rare books and manuscripts, literary and performing arts archives, and more. The library is a destination for students and scholars on campus and around the world, and each year welcomes thousands of researchers and students into its reading room and classrooms. Houghton Library’s collections represent the scope of human experience from ancient Egypt to twenty-first century America.  With strengths primarily in North American and European history, literature, and culture, collections range in media from printed books and handwritten manuscripts to maps, drawings and paintings, prints, posters, photographs, film and audio recordings, and digital media, as well as costumes, theater props, and a wide range of other objects. To learn more about the collections and Houghton Library, please visit our website at https://library.harvard.edu/libraries/houghton.

 

To view the complete position description and to apply, see here.  

 

Although the position will remain posted until filled, applicants are strongly encouraged to apply by April 10, 2020.