Koons-Spurred Membership Spike Has Whitney Seeking Extra Help

Jeff Koons, String of Puppies (1988).
Photo: Benjamin Sutton.

How popular is the Whitney Museum’s Jeff Koons retrospective? The attendance data won’t be available until the shiny swan song to the museum’s Marcel Breuer building comes down on October 19, but here’s a clue: The Whitney has seen such a spike in new memberships and donations since the Koonstravaganza opened on June 27 that it has put out an ad for a “Development Records Assistant” on the New York Foundation for the Arts job listings site.

The ad, which lists the position as part-time and temporary, explains the job thusly:

With the growing popularity around our Jeff Koons exhibition, the Development Records department is seeking a temporary Development Records Assistant to provide data entry and administrative support. Reporting to the Manager of Development Records, the temporary Development Records Assistant will process gifts through the lobby, mail as well as online transactions.

What exactly would the person appointed to the Jeff and Justine Wheeler Koons Development Records Assistant position—as we’re assuming the job will be known once it’s endowed—be doing on a day-to-day basis?

– Daily processing of credit card, checks and online payments for membership, donations and events ticketing transactions
– Assist with daily closing of gifts and data cleanup projects as required
– Ability to adjust to shifting priorities & willingness to learn new programs and processes
– Responsible for department-related administrative tasks

A rabid and unconditional love of Jeff Koons’s work is not listed as a requirement, but we bet it would help.


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