As a part-time Contributor to The Art Genome Project, you will create nuanced metadata about artists, creators, and works using our proprietary classification system and technical framework for describing art across the globe from prehistory to present. Core to every user’s experience of Artsy, The Art Genome Project (TAGP) powers search and discovery on the site and truly fuses art history with data science. TAGP aims both to connect current and future art lovers with the work their looking for and to introduce them to compelling new content. Its accessible taxonomy helps users to develop the language they use to describe art and better understand their own tastes.

You'll learn how to “genome,” or to evaluate artists and works to make them discoverable to Artsy’s users and personalize collectors’ experiences on the site. While this process is unique to TAGP, it has parallels in cataloging cultural objects or subject cataloging. Our team is comprised of art historians and information professionals, and although we approach our work from both of these angles, our focus is on the user’s experience of the information we create and on Artsy’s products that rely on this data.

While “genomers” (as we internally call Contributors) conduct their individual work remotely on their own schedules, each team member shares responsibility for creating, shaping, and maintaining the integrity of TAGP’s controlled vocabulary. We peer review one another’s work to stay in sync and we gather twice a month for in person meetings which are an open forum for debates, new ideas, and proposals. This is an opportunity for you to help establish an industry standard for describing art, design, and visual culture.

Key Responsibilities

• Conducting approximately 2-4 hours of review per month, such as peer reviews, spot-checking gene pages on the site, or revising existing genomes to identify gaps in coverage, misclassified content, or ineffective categorization rules and maintain baseline best practices.
• Preparing for and attending 2 genome meetings, or equivalent, per month either in person or via remote conferencing services.
• Producing accurate and informed “genoming” (i.e. using The Art Genome Project and in-house software to analyze and categorize artists, creators, and works) to meet monthly deadlines and content quotas.
• Additional responsibilities may include: contributing to the editorial process for drafting category (“gene”) definitions and scope notes; developing new “genes” that facilitate art information access and retrieval; working with the Manger of TAGP to improve and scale our taxonomic hierarchy.

Candidate Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Art History or a related field.
• Ability to work carefully and methodically to completion, even at rapid, repetitive tasks.
• Broad art history knowledge, including contemporary art, and incisive visual analysis skills.
• Self-starter who demonstrates a high sense of ownership and can work independently.
• Successfully sets and meets deadlines.
• Strong categorical thinking skills at both the micro-level and macro-level.
• Master’s degree or enrollment in a Master’s or PhD program in Art History, Information Science, or a related field is a plus, but not required.
• Knowledge of contemporary art from Eastern Europe, Latin America, or Southeast Asia, Old Master sculpture and works of art, or a specialty in 20th century decorative arts is a plus, but not required.

ABOUT ARTSY

Artsy empowers a global audience to learn about, discover, and collect art. Our mission is to expand the art market to support more artists and art in the world.

We partner with leading museums, international galleries, auction houses, and art fairs to create the world’s largest marketplace for art, transforming one of the last industries to fully embrace technology by creating a more accessible and connected digital landscape for art consumption.

Artsy is a company with a culture that naturally empowers its employees to do their best and most creative work. We are working to expand access to the art world, deepen passion and engagement with art and those who create it, and impact culture on a global scale. At Artsy, we envision a future where everyone is moved by art everyday.

WHY ARTSY

At Artsy there are no specific work hours or policies, no pointless bureaucracy. We only care that you achieve inspiring results and are a joy to work with. This means you must be highly energetic, enthusiastic, and resourceful—no problem is too big or too small for you to tackle. You will enjoy both responsibility and autonomy in your work.

WORKING AT ARTSY

Artsy has five core values that will inform your experience at Artsy.

Art x Science: We believe in uniting empathy with logic, emotion with data, and intuition with research in everything we do. Whether in business strategy or design, culture or code, we seek the magic that happens when the often separate worlds of art and science come together.

People are Paramount: We spend extraordinary energy finding the best person for a job—and once found, we give them the trust and autonomy to be CEO of their role. We avoid pointless bureaucracy and prefer to empower people with information rather than limit them with process.

Quality Worthy of Art: We aim to create an experience worthy of all the world’s art and so hold ourselves to the highest standards in all our work. We believe that the best long term quality comes from rapid shipping, iterating, and learning as we go.

Positive Energy: We know positivity and optimism benefit our work, and we harness positive energy as a vehicle towards greater awareness, growth, and collaboration. We believe in cultivating a positive relationship to art as opposed to one based on exclusivity or scarcity.

Openness: We believe in being open with each other and the world—whether in open-sourcing our code, sharing feedback, or building a diverse and inclusive work culture. We believe in bringing our full selves to work and manifesting an open world where everyone has access to art.

Artsy is an equal opportunity employer. We value a diverse workforce and an inclusive culture. We encourage applications from all qualified individuals without regard to race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, national origin, marital status, disability, and veteran status.