What are the responsibilities and job description for the Collections Technician position at The Huntington?
About Us
At The Huntington, we believe that having a team of diverse backgrounds and voices working together will enable us to support and promote the appreciation of the humanities, the arts, and botanical science. The Huntington is proud to be an equal opportunity employer and is committed to providing employment opportunities regardless of race, religious creed, color, national origin, disability, sex, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation or any other characteristic protected by local, state or federal law.
The Huntington
Founded in 1919, The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens is a collections-based research and educational institution open to the public, housing world-class library, art, and botanical collections. Its mission is to support research and promote education in the arts, humanities, and botanical science and to display and interpret its extraordinary resources for diverse audiences.
The Culture
Here we are committed to the highest of standards in all that we do – from preserving and protecting the collections, to exhibitions, educational and scholarly programming, visitor and reader services, and beyond. Achieving excellence across these pursuits requires a diversity of perspectives, expertise, experience, and methodologies.
At The Huntington, our organizational Culture is shaped by the following core values: Intellectual curiosity, Collaboration, Stewardship, Belonging, and Integrity.
- Intellectual Curiosity: Knowledge, lifelong learning, and a spirit of inquiry are at the core of our mission and organizational culture.
- Collaboration: Teamwork and a collaborative attitude are important at all levels of The Huntington. We foster relationships internally among our departments and externally with organizations throughout the community.
- Stewardship: We are committed to the care and development of our collections, our financial and physical resources, our staff, and our community.
- Belonging: We strive to attract and maintain a workforce of individuals with diverse talents, backgrounds, and perspectives. Our organizational culture promotes a sense of welcome, inclusion, and connection.
- Integrity: We value respect and honesty, working to fulfill our mission with honor and ethical principles.
Job Description
About the Role
The Collections Technician is a member of The Huntington Art Division’s Collections Management team and reports to the Collections Manager. This position is integral in the consistent planning and implementation of The Huntington’s schedule of gallery maintenance and collections care. As the collections grow and our exhibition program expands, in line with The Huntington’s strategic plan, it is necessary to have skilled staff dedicated solely to the care and movement of permanent collection and keep up the gallery spaces that display the artworks. The position’s responsibilities include dusting of artworks on display and in storage, assistance with storage organization and rehousing projects, the packing and movement of permanent collection artwork, and organizing supplies.
The post holder will demonstrate a background of working directly with people from diverse racial, ethnic, geographic and socioeconomic backgrounds, using a welcoming, inclusive, and accessible approach.
This is an on-call position, with no set weekly hours.
Essential Duties
- Under the supervision of the Collections Manager, assists with regular gallery and outdoor sculpture dusting and cleaning as scheduled according to museum standards of care and preservation.
- Maintains cleaning log.
- In collaboration with the Collections Manager and the Permanent Collections Registrar, handles, transports, and houses artwork.
- In collaboration with the Collections Manager and the Permanent Collections Registrar, organizes and maintains storage.
- Organizes collections management tools, equipment, and supplies.
- Maintains log of object location movements for the Collections Manager and the Permanent Collections Registrar.
- Works with Registration and Collections Management colleagues to transport art on campus driving Art Department vehicles between collections storage facilities, galleries and other campus departments.
- Attends departmental and project specific meetings, as needed.
- Performs other duties or special projects, as required.
Candidate Requirements and Experience
Knowledge, skills, and abilities:
- High School diploma or equivalent. Bachelor’s degree in studio art, art history, or a related field, preferred.
- At least two years of experience in one or more of the following areas is desired: museum collection management, art preparation and installation, art conservation, studio art, libraries, archives, art gallery
- Demonstrated knowledge of safe art-handling procedures for two- and three-dimensional objects in a variety of materials, sizes, weights, and condition is required.
- Basic knowledge of packing techniques and museum quality packing materials is required.
- Experience creating custom boxes and storage mounts for objects is desired.
- Good hand-eye coordination, manual dexterity, and spatial reasoning
- High attention to detail
Ability to:
- Follow instructions, plan ahead, problem solve, and meet deadlines
- Work independently and within a team
- Climb, balance, stoop, kneel, crouch, or crawl
- Lift and/or move up to 50lbs independently
- Use and maintain basic hand tools; pallet jacks, hand trucks and other lift equipment a plus
- Establish and maintain effective working relationships with Huntington colleagues and professionally represent The Huntington when working with outside vendors, artists, or representatives from other arts institutions
- Maintain consistent and reliable attendance
Preferred:
- Experience with Microsoft platform
- Experience with TMS collections management software
- Outstanding interpersonal, written, and verbal communication skills
Working Conditions:
- Gallery, storage, and office settings. Most of the work will be indoors, but there is some outdoor work
- Prolonged periods of standing, bending, sitting, and stooping.
- Lifting and carrying up to 50 pounds.
Compensation & Benefits
We provide competitive compensation, generous benefits and perks for all eligible employees including:
- Pay Rate: $25.00/hr.
- Discounts for staff in The Huntington Store and restaurants.
- Access to the Museums Council pass, which grants free admission to various museums and cultural institutions.
- Free passes each month to welcome family and friends to visit the grounds.
Salary : $25
