Director of Collections and Curatorial Affairs
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.
Please see the attached document for the full job description and how to apply.
