Director of Collections and Curatorial Affairs

PLEASE DO NOT APPLY THROUGH THE CMOG SYSTEM, APPLICATIONS SHOULD BE SUBMITTED TO ISSAACSON, MILLER AS INDICATED BELOW.

THE SEARCH

The Corning Museum of Glass (CMoG) seeks a strategic and innovative leader to serve as its next director of collections and curatorial affairs (DCCA). This is an opportunity to serve as a senior institutional leader at the world’s foremost institution in the art, history and science of glass where artistry, creativity, scientific inquiry, scholarship, public engagement, and invention coalesce. CMoG is celebrating its 75th anniversary in 2026, an occasion to mark its strong history, expand its local and international impact, and recommit to innovation and its mission to inspire people to see glass in a new light.

As a member of the museum’s leadership team, the DCCA provides curatorial vision, collections stewardship, and staff development to build upon the museum’s excellence in developing, managing, exhibiting, sharing and preserving the internationally renowned collection, exhibition program, and sector-leading publications. The DCCA sets and supports best practices and sustainable strategies for the departments within the directorate (Curatorial, Collections Management, Conservation, and Photography) and proactively partners with the president and executive director and leadership team to achieve key initiatives and set professional standards. The DCCA works in partnership with the directors of the Rakow Research Library and The Studio to ensure the collaboration of the three main components that comprise CMoG —the museum, the library, and the studio. The DCCA works closely with the advancement department on fundraising opportunities in support of positions, programs, and projects. They will bring a future-forward vision that integrates the work of collections and curatorial affairs throughout the museum and sets ambitious goals to advance the field of glass in all its intellectual and creative diversity.

Corning Museum of Glass has retained Isaacson, Miller, a national executive search firm, to assist in the recruitment of its next director of collections and curatorial affairs. Please direct all applications, nominations, and inquiries to Isaacson, Miller, as indicated at the end of this document.

CORNING MUSEUM OF GLASS

Founded in 1951 by Corning Incorporated as a gift to the nation, The Corning Museum of Glass quickly became known as the global center of glass art, science, and history. The museum’s authority drives the understanding and appreciation of glass across the globe and attracts over 300,000 visitors each year into its local community of 10,000+ where the median age is 39 years old. CMoG was named by the New York Times among the U.S. museums to see for 2025, and Newsweek readers voted CMoG one of the Top 3 Best Art Museums in America.

With more than 10,000 works on display, the museum galleries showcase glass selected from a permanent collection of more than 50,000 objects representing more than 3,500 years of history. The expansive collection is presented in three core galleries — 35 Centuries of Glass,Heineman, and Contemporary Art & Design — to tell the global story of glass from antiquity through the present day. The Innovation Galleries highlight the scientific and technological achievements using glass, ranging from casserole dishes to telescopes to optical fiber. Collection highlights include the 14th century BCE Portrait Inlay of Pharaoh Akhenaten, Roman glass, Venetian masterpieces, major Islamic and Asian works, global beadwork, works by modern makers such as Emile Gallé, René Lalique, Louis Comfort Tiffany, and Frederick Carder, and the largest collection of contemporary glass in the world.

The museum organizes one to two special exhibitions each year, and one annual commission. Additionally, the museum maintains an occasional traveling exhibition program; one example is its 2025 Brilliant Color exhibition at the Toyama Glass Art Museum in Toyama, Japan, an institution with which CMoG maintains an international partnership. The DCCA leads collaborations with other museums and institutional partners and this represents an increasingly important aspect of Corning’s programmatic efforts and leadership in the field.

CMoG is regarded as the conservation authority on glass to museums and institutions around the world. Conservators contribute meaningfully to museum exhibitions, programming, and digital presence, and have a long history of hosting graduate and mid-career interns, lecturing for colleges and universities, teaching glass conservation workshops, and presenting and publishing new scholarship. CMoG is also known for its expertise in photographing glass.

CMoG produces print and electronic publications about the history, technology, and art of glass and glassmaking. The Juliette K. and Leonard S. Rakow Research Library advances glass scholarship and acquires and makes accessible the published record on glass subjects across formats and languages. The Rakow Research Library holds more than 460,000 physical and digital items in its collection. As a point of comparison, The Morgan Library & Museum in New York City has 350,000+ items and was founded half a century earlier. The publications and curatorial teams drive the two foremost serials in the field: The Journal of Glass Studies(a peer-reviewed scholarly journal on all aspects of glass history) and New Glass Review (a juried annual worldwide survey of contemporary glass). These publications serve glass experts and the general public providing valuable information and reference, as well as showcase artists to raise the profile of glass and the museum. CMoG also publishes exhibition catalogues and monographic works that become defining works in the field, as well as videos that showcase glassworking techniques and profiles of artists who work in glass.

In late 2024, the museum celebrated the expansion of The Studio, funded primarily by a successful capital campaign. The Studio, which is celebrating its 30th anniversary in 2026, features the first large scale kiln casting facility in North America and can support over 100,000 Make Your Own Glass projects annually. The state-of-the-art facilities provide artists and students with the tools and the support they need to take risks and make discoveries; opportunities for people of all skill levels to forge and deepen their understanding of glass; and connections to the glass community, where artists gather to create, learn, and share.

CMoG’s curatorial, conservation, library, education and interpretation, studio, and public demonstration teams each contribute distinct expertise to the museum’s scholarly, educational, and public-facing work. Across the museum, staff teach; conduct and publish extensive research; host residencies for artists and scholars; support research and the creation of new glass knowledge; and showcase public presentations and daily demonstrations of contemporary glassworking. In all of its facets, the museum is a dynamic institution that continues to actively collect, educate, preserve, and share the experience of the art, history, and science of glass.

---

Leadership

This position reports to the president and executive director. Dr. Jessica Levin Martinez joined CMoG as president in February 2026. Martinez previously served as the Richard J. Schwartz Director of the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art at Cornell University. During her tenure at Cornell, she raised significant endowment and current-use gifts in support of curatorial positions, programming, and spaces as well as acquisitions and conservation. Martinez has built a reputation as a leading advocate for museum-based interdisciplinary teaching with global collections. This area of expertise began at the Harvard Art Museums, where she served as the Director of Academic and Public Programs and as a research curator of African art initiatives. Martinez has taught museum courses and lectured on African art and museum practice at various museums and universities including University of Michigan and University of Chicago.

Martinez earned her doctorate in the history of art and architecture from Harvard University in 2004. She later travelled to Prague and Slovakia to investigate the provenance of Nazi-looted artwork. Returning to the US, she became an educator and administrator at the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art.

Organizational Capacity and Finances

The work of CMoG is enabled by approximately 250 staff members, with staffing levels increasing to more than 300 during the summer months. The DCCA oversees a multidisciplinary team of 20 staff members, including six direct reports: four curators, a senior manager of collections and exhibitions, and a curatorial coordinator. The broader team’s responsibilities include collections management, conservation, photography, registration, preparation, installation, collections care and documentation. The annual operating budget for the museum is approximately $66 million. The DCCA will oversee a departmental budget of $4 million with designated acquisition funds to continue to build the museum’s important collection.

The DCCA will also contribute as a member of the museum’s leadership team and work in partnership with Director of the Rakow Research Library, Director of The Studio, Chief Financial Officer, Chief Advancement Officer, Chief Marketing & Visitor Experience Officer, Chief People, Culture and Belonging Officer, and Chief Digital Information Officer.

KEY OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES

As CMoG looks to its future, the director of collections and curatorial affairs will address the following interrelated opportunities and challenges as key priorities:

Implement a curatorial vision to achieve institutional goals

As a member of the museum’s leadership team, the DCCA participates in setting the institution’s long term goals and ensuring they are carried out for the collections and curatorial affairs departments.

The director will:

• Develop an exhibition program that raises profile of the Corning Museum of Glass, contributes new scholarship, and welcomes new audiences.
• Develop plans to continually refresh and enliven permanent galleries, such as 35 Centuries of Glass and the Innovation Center, to ensure dynamic and relevant experiences.
• Inspire internal and external constituents about all things glass.
• Oversee the museum’s glass acquisition program and budgets in collaboration with curators across all stewardship areas to continue development of the comprehensive collection. The DCCA actively participates in the Board’s Collections Committee.
• Support collections care and management through the expert work of teams in registration, collections management, installation and preparation, photography, and conservation. Promote cross-institutional collaboration across teams eager to increase efficiency and facilitation of initiatives improved by interdepartmental communication and collective creativity.
• Work closely with colleagues across the museum to provide strategy and oversight in advancing master plans for display that include timeline, budget, gallery design concepts, interpretation, and implementation.
• Serve as a strategic partner to the president and executive director and help her build partnerships with other museums, institutions, fairs, academic institutions, and other cultural partners.