Vice President, Public Programs & Exhibitions

Department: Public Programs

Employment Type: Full Time

Location: Stephen A. Schwarzman Building

Compensation: $265,000 - $290,000 / year

Description

To learn more about this opportunity, please contact:

Tory Clarke
Partner, Bridge Partners
tory.clarke@bridgepartnersllc.com

Overview
The Organization:
The New York Public Library (NYPL) has been an essential provider of free books, information, ideas, and education for all New Yorkers for more than 125 years. It includes the world-renowned research centers at the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building, the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, and the Library for the Performing Arts. Our mission is to inspire lifelong learning, advance knowledge, and strengthen our communities, and we rely on three great resources—our staff, our collections, and our physical and digital spaces—to provide opportunities for learning and growth.

The Library’s uniqueness lies in its vast research holdings, coupled with its vibrant community branches and its public/private partnerships throughout the nation and the world. Its vision and reach are both local and global. Serving more than 16 million patrons a year across the New York metropolitan area and millions more online, the Library holds more than 56 million items, from books, e-books, and DVDs to renowned research collections used by scholars from around the world.
Averaging 25+ exhibitions and 200+ programs a year, the NYPL’s exhibitions and public programs are rich, varied and inspiring, including:

• At the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building: The Polonsky Exhibition of The New York Public Library’s Treasures showcases some of the most extraordinary items from NYPL’s collections, inspiring and empowering visitors to discover, learn, and create new knowledge through manuscripts, artworks, letters, still and moving images, recordings, and more that bring vividly to life voices of the past, while LIVE from NYPL – one of NYC’s premier cultural series – features of free events, conversations, and performances that bring together distinguished writers, artists, thinkers and scholars.
• At the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture: exhibitions like 100: A Century of Collecting and programs such as the Black Comic Book Festival celebrate Black history, imagination, and scholarship. Through year-round events and exhibitions, the Center invites audiences of all ages to engage with the depth and global breadth of Black culture.
• At the Library for the Performing Arts: exhibitions and public programs spotlight the creative forces behind music, dance, theater, and film. Recent highlights include the exhibition Rhythm Is My Business: Women Who Shaped Jazz, and conversation series The Dance Historian Is In, the musical workshop and performance series Across a Crowded Room.
  …and many more!

The Role:
The Vice President of Public Programs & Exhibitions is the senior leader responsible for the strategic direction and execution of programs and exhibitions across NYPL’s three research libraries. They will define and implement a strategic vision for engaging the public through programs and exhibitions at the research libraries, reaching 2M+ visitors per year across dozens of exhibitions and hundreds of programs.
Location: New York City

Reports to: Brent Reidy, Andrew W. Mellon Director of the Research Libraries
Team: 40+ total FTEs.
Budget: $7 million per annum

Overview & Opportunities:
Illuminate the Wonder of the Research Libraries

• Take the NYPL’s historic collections and their innovative interpretation/exploration to new heights, forging a blueprint for public programming that engages the public’s curiosity around big ideas, and for exhibitions that underscore the breadth and depth our collections in contemporary and innovative ways.
• Lead the effort to translate the vastness, richness, and cultural significance of NYPL’s research collections and subject areas, and the insights of their curators, into compelling exhibitions and public programs. Shape storytelling that captivates broad audiences while honoring the intellectual depth and specificity of each collection and research center.

Unify Vision

• Lead and shape a newly-formed team and division, bringing together the public programming and exhibition teams at the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building, the Schomburg Center, and the Library for the Performing Arts for the first time, to create a unified, strate