Archive Fellow

We are excited to announce a new initiative at Visual AIDS focused on highlighting and contextualizing the work of Black HIV-positive artists in our archive, supported by a grant from the Getty Foundation. 

Visual AIDS will hire a one-year Archive Fellow to develop and publish a research guide providing biographical and art historical context for ten artists in our Artist File collection. The guide will serve as a foundation for new scholarship and help bring overdue attention to artists whose contributions have too often been overlooked. The project will also focus on creating and updating webpages for Black artists on our online artist registry.

We are now accepting applications for the Archive Fellow position — please see below for more information. 

Job Description — Archive Fellow

Part-time, temporary (30 hours/week, September 2025–August 2026)

In-person at the Visual AIDS office in Chelsea, New York City

Compensation: $26/hour

With the support of the Community Archivist, the Archive Fellow will be responsible for producing a research guide highlighting ten Black artists in the Visual AIDS Artist Files collection. The Archive Fellow will interview artists and community members as part of their research process, and synthesize their findings by writing robust biographies of each artist. 

About the Visual AIDS Archive

The Visual AIDS Archive collects artwork documentation, personal papers, and records pertaining to the lives and work of artists living with HIV and AIDS, as well as those who have passed. The Archive was started in 1994 by Frank Moore and David Hirsh as a response to losing not only friends in the AIDS crisis but also the loss of art and materials that often followed. 

The Visual AIDS Artist Files collection consists of 39 linear feet of materials documenting the lives and artwork of more than 500 HIV-positive artists. The collection primarily consists of photographic documentation of artwork (both physical and digital), exhibition materials, publications, ephemera, correspondence, and personal papers and photographs. A finding aid is available at visualaids.org/archive. In 2014, Visual AIDS launched an online artist registry (visualaids.org/artists), which includes digitized images from the Artist File collection as well as images uploaded directly by artists and estates.

Duties include:

Research and outreach

• Review existing demographic information and conduct additional research to identify Black artists in the archive; correspond with artists, their families, and community members to fill in missing information
• Conduct fifteen research interviews with artists, their families, and community members

Write and publish a research guide

• Synthesize research and write original biographies for ten artists (many of these artists will have little to no existing literature)
• Create thematic groupings and subject headings to foreground additional access points beyond the artist’s race
• Work with a copyeditor and graphic designer to publish the guide as a PDF

Assist with further description and editing of finding aid in ArchivesSpace

• Contribute to the existing Artist Files finding aid by incorporating new biographical information into descriptive statements

The Archive Fellow should:

• Be a people person who is comfortable communicating directly and empathetically with our broad and diverse constituency.
• Have excellent research and writing skills, ideally with experience writing about subjects related or adjacent to the project scope.
• Be a critical thinker who brings a thoughtful perspective to reparative cultural work in an archival setting.
• Have a working knowledge of U.S. art history / cultural history from the 1980s to the 2000s.
• Hold or be pursuing a degree in Art History, Library and Information Science, or related fields, or the equivalent experience and expertise.
• Have a strong interest in learning about the intersections of AIDS activism, related cultural production, and contemporary and historic artistic communities.
• Be able to work in-person at the Visual AIDS office in Chelsea for the majority of their hours.
• Take the initiative in organizing and structuring their day-to-day work, while reporting regularly to the Community Archivist.

We know there are great candidates who may not have all of the qualifications and experience listed above but possess intuitive knowledge or other transferable skills. If that’s you, don’t hesitate to apply and tell us about yourself. Both lived experience and professional / academic background will be considered in the hiring process. 

Commitment and Compensation: This is a grant-funded part-time temporary position, primarily working in-person at the Visual AIDS office in Chelsea, New York. The Fellow will be expected to work 30 hours/week from September 2025 through August 2026; some flexibility is possible to accommodate the academic calendar. Compensation is $26/hour. Part-time employees receive paid time off and paid sick leave, but are not eligible for health or dental insurance.

To apply: Send a cover letter, resume, and a short writing sample (no more than 2 pages) as a single PDF file to [email protected] by July 31st. 

Visual AIDS is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer. We are committed to providing equal employment opportunities to you without regard to race, creed, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, pregnancy, marital status, age, veteran status, disability, HIV status, or genetic information.

This project is made possible with support from the Getty Foundation through its Black Visual Arts Archives initiative.

To apply: Send a cover letter, resume, and a short writing sample (no more than 2 pages) as a single PDF file to [email protected] by July 31st.

07/31/2025