ABOUT THE JOHNSON ATELIER
Since 1974, the Johnson Atelier has engaged with both local and international artists to design, produce, and restore works of art. The Johnson Atelier expands the capacity of artists through immersive making and creative collaboration – creating cultural experiences to enrich communities and inspire engagement. The Atelier was founded on the principle of solving problems for creators. The design team employs innovation, investigation, and bespoke solutions to bring the artist’s vision to life.
Seward founded the Johnson Atelier Technical Institute of Sculpture to help sculptors retain control over their artwork and gain access to previously guarded production techniques. The Johnson Atelier rapidly became an incubator for the advancement of art and technology. From all over the world, artists gathered at the Johnson Atelier to collectively advance all phases of production. This gathering of artists provided a stimulating and sometimes unorthodox environment in which everyone’s artistic practice could bloom through collaboration, dialogue and discovery. In recent years, Johnson Atelier has produced works of art in partnership with Kara Walker, Martin Puryear, Adrian Villar Rojas, Tallur L.N and many other notable artists.
Located in Hamilton, New Jersey, the Johnson Atelier is easily accessible from the New York City and Philadelphia metropolitan areas by public transit and is open year-round.
About Grounds For Sculpture
Grounds For Sculpture combines art and beckoning spaces to welcome, surprise, and engage all visitors in the artist's act of invention.
Grounds For Sculpture (“GFS”) is a 42-acre sculpture park, arboretum, and museum, founded by the late Seward Johnson. Opened to the public in 1992, it has become one of the premier cultural destinations in New Jersey, welcoming and enchanting 250,000 visitors annually. Located in Hamilton, New Jersey, GFS is adjacent to the Johnson Atelier.
Featuring over 300 contemporary sculptures by renowned and emerging artists in a beckoning, ever-changing landscape, GFS combines art and nature to surprise, inspire, and engage visitors from all backgrounds in the artist’s act of invention. In addition to its permanent collection, the campus includes more than 23,000 square feet of exhibition space and 25 artist studios.
GFS’s ability to collect and exhibit artwork is central to the organization’s mission to create a space for visitors from all backgrounds to interact with and find a connection to contemporary sculpture. Programming seeks to engage visitors of all ages with the collection and exhibitions as well as offer a deeper connection to artists’ process and approach to making. Founder Seward Johnson envisioned GFS as a “public space where the broadest cross section of the public is invited to relate to sculptural arts and nature in an emotional way and encouraged to overcome any natural, habitual, or learned resistance or fear of art, for an experience that elevates the soul and heals the spirit.”
GFS has expanded the presentation of work by leading contemporary artists to be reflective and responsive to the dynamic world around us, including MacArthur Genius Joyce J. Scott, Puerto Rican ceramicist Roberto Lugo, and the first major exhibition in the United States of the Indian conceptual artist Tallur L.N. GFS is a vibrant forum that invites a diverse public to create, learn, and discover personal meaning in their interactions with art, nature, and one another. Recent institutional partnerships with The Color Network, Monument Lab, Artworks Trenton and Spiral Q have led to new collaborative models in its curatorial approach.
The Grounds For Sculpture and Johnson Atelier Merger
In May 2025, Grounds For Sculpture (GFS) and Johnson Atelier became one unified body, forming a dynamic new catalyst for the production, conservation, and exhibition of large-scale, high-caliber sculptures, and amplified art experiences. This union cements artist and founder Seward Johnson’s legacy, and his vision for Grounds For Sculpture and Johnson Atelier to work as one body.
The merger promises to usher in a new era of artistic synergy, expanding impact, recognition, and artist support on a global scale. By combining the unique strengths of both institutions, GFS is set to redefine the landscape of large-scale art experiences and community engagement, creating a dynamic platform that bridges the gap between artists and audiences while fostering innovation in contemporary art.
Rooted in Seward Johnson’s radical approach to discovery and making the arts available to all, these two institutions have given artists unprecedented access to tools for sculpture production and invited the public to engage with contemporary sculpture collections and exhibitions for half a century. Grounds For Sculpture and the Johnson Atelier have always worked side by side. The result of this union will be a singular, distinct model that realizes Seward’s vision and best positions Grounds For Sculpture as a leader in supporting a globally diverse generation of artists.
Grounds For Sculpture will assume management and operations of Johnson Atelier and its state-of-the-art modeling, scanning, milling, painting and finishing capabilities, along with its assets including the seven-acre Meadow; the physical plan that houses the Johnson Atelier; the Motor Exhibits Building, which currently houses studios for 25 artists; and 2 apartments for guest artists. The vision, purpose, and practices will all remain the same.
This unification creates an epicenter of industry-leading production and makes way for even greater relationship-building between the next generation of artists and a broader audience. Johnson Atelier will be able to more effectively cultivate relationships with artists who might exhibit at, or add to, the permanent collection of Grounds For Sculpture; and this merger better positions Grounds For Sculpture to feed Johnson Atelier’s project pipeline with artist residencies and off-campus programming that increase the artists’ — and Grounds For Sculpture’s — reach with global audiences.
What’s more, this strategic integration represents an enterprising business model: a nonprofit sculpture park operating a revenue-generating sculpture fabrication business. Grounds For Sculpture will expand its ability to produce work that can be exhibited on its own campus and facilitate the production of work for venues around the world, allowing the organization to go beyond its gates and deliver on its mission to make sculpture and public art broadly accessible.
For more information on Grounds For Sculpture and the Johnson Atelier, please visit: https://www.groundsforsculpture.org/ or https://www.johnsonatelier.com/
THE OPPORTUNITIES:
The Johnson Atelier (“the Atelier”) is hiring for two critical roles: A Managing Director who is responsible for leading and overseeing the Atelier as an artistically distinguished and financially sustainable enterprise, with day to day management and oversight of the revenue and expense sides of the business; and a Senior Director of Business Development who will represent the Atelier externally with artists, galleries, architecture and design studios, set designers for theatre, film and television/streaming, along with collectors and partners in the field, with the goal of building and sustaining relationships with clients, expanding the Atelier project pipeline, and driving earned revenue.
The Senior Director of Business Development Opportunity
The Senior Director of Business Development will lead the Atelier’s sales efforts while originating, managing, and nurturing client relationships. This executive will build and sustain a network of critical relationships with artists, architecture and design studios, set designers (e.g., theatre, film, and streaming), galleries, museums, collectors, and industry partners, to raise the visibility of the Atelier and build and diversify its pipeline of new business. The Senior Director of Business Development will report to the Managing Director of the Atelier.
This is a unique opportunity for a strong sales leader to make a profound impact on an institution with a rich artistic pedigree and strong commercial potential, which is entering a period of growth and evolution. The ideal candidate will possess a strategic mindset, a strong creative sensibility, exceptional communication and professional networking skills, and a passion for building new business through the curation of a robust project pipeline.
Key responsibilities include the following:
- Develop and maintain a consistent sales pipeline to keep the company at or near full production capacity.
- Foster relationships with new and existing clients, and function as a trusted intermediary between the Atelier and the worlds of high art, design, architecture, and entertainment.
- Develop and implement sales tools and techniques to encourage revenue growth and diversification.
- Identify new business opportunities, such as emerging markets, potential clients, strategic partnerships, or innovative products and services.
- In partnership with the Managing Director, analyze market trends and identify new opportunities for growth.
- Maintain an in-depth understanding of the art fabrication world and its key players, as well as emerging visual and multimedia artists from across the United States and internationally. Work with the MD to identify opportunities to secure the Atelier’s competitive positioning in the artwork and design/fabrication markets.
Position Requirements
- Proven success in a sales role within a fabrication, studio, gallery, printmaking/or similar creative industry setting.
- Demonstrated track record of driving revenue growth.
- Depth of experience in networking, identifying, cultivating, and securing new talent, and evolving those talent relationships into long-term client/business partnerships.
- Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, adept at building trust and rapport with clients, partners, and other key stakeholders.
- Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to think strategically and make data-driven decisions.
- Familiarity with CRM systems and sales performance tracking tools.
- Willingness to travel as required to meet onsite with clients and serve as the Atelier’s external face at Art and Design conferences, symposia, gallery openings, premieres, and social functions deemed to have business relevance.
- The Senior Director of Business Development is expected to maintain a regular in-person presence at the Atelier and ideally will reside in either the NYC or Philadelphia metro area; however, considering the scope and requirements of the role, there is no minimum number of days per week expectation.[1] A relocation package will be provided to the successful candidate if they are outside a reasonable commuting distance.
Compensation & Benefits: Senior Director of Business Development
Salary is competitive and commensurate with experience. The salary range for this role is $130,000 - $150,000, accompanied by a generous benefits package.