Board Member for Collections Care and Curatorial Oversight

• Groam House Museum

• VO101876

About Us:
Groam House Museum, a dynamic volunteer-led museum in Rosemarkie, is dedicated to preserving and celebrating the Pictish and Celtic heritage of Easter Ross. Known for our renowned Rosemarkie Cross-slab and the George Bain Collection, we connect our local community and visitors with Scotland’s artistic and cultural legacy. To support the museum’s sustainability and ensure the care, enhancement, and accessibility of our collections, we are seeking a trustee with a strong background in museum collections care and curatorial practices.
Our mission is to inspire engagement, wonder, and enjoyment in the heritage of our local area, nurturing both cultural preservation and community creativity.

The Role:
We are currently seeking a dedicated board member with significant experience in collections care, curatorial tasks, or conservation management. This trustee will play a crucial role in shaping the museum’s collections strategy, overseeing the safe handling, cataloguing, and conservation of artefacts, and providing expert guidance on managing new acquisitions. Additionally, this trustee will serve as a lead and mentor for our collections-care team, a group of skilled and dedicated volunteers who work weekly on-site.
Given the upcoming relocation of our collections to Arndene, this role also includes guiding the collections team through this transition, ensuring proper storage and organisation at the new site, and supporting a robust cataloguing system to enhance future accessibility and research.

Key Responsibilities:
● Collections Care and Conservation: Advise on and oversee the care, documentation, and conservation of the museum’s collections, including the George Bain Collection and Pictish artefacts.
● Cataloguing and Documentation: Lead ongoing cataloguing efforts, ensuring all objects are adequately documented in the eHive system, with a focus on completing incomplete entries and creating new records as needed.
● Strategic Input: Support the board’s strategic direction by contributing curatorial and collections care perspectives, enhancing governance, and ensuring sustainability.
● Training and Mentorship: Provide training and guidance to our volunteer collections team in collections handling, cataloguing, conservation, and best practices for object care.
● Advocacy: Act as an ambassador for the museum, promoting our mission to preserve and showcase Scottish cultural heritage.

Experience required

Who We Are Looking For:
We are committed to fostering a diverse and inclusive environment and welcome applications from experienced collections and curatorial professionals. We are particularly interested in candidates with:
● Proven experience in museum collections care, cataloguing, and conservation.
● A background in curatorial practices, exhibition planning, and cultural interpretation.
● Knowledge of Pictish, Celtic, or Scottish heritage is beneficial but not essential.
● Skills in training, volunteer management, or community outreach within a museum or heritage setting are advantageous.
Whether you have held a leadership role in museum collections or have a hands-on curatorial background, your expertise will be highly valued in shaping our museum’s future.

Travel details

PARKING
There is free parking off the High Street close to the museum.

PUBLIC TRANSPORT
There is a frequent local bus service from Inverness / Cromarty. The bus stop is on the High Street close to the museum. See stagecoachbus.com

ACCESS
Some parts of the museum are not accessible to all – there is no lift to the upper floor gallery.

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