Gallery Technician, Nanaimo Art Gallery

Gallery Technician

Salary: $24 – $26/hr., benefit plan available
Hours: 30 to 37.5 hours/week, negotiable
Closing Date: June 28, 2022
Anticipated Start Date: We would like to enable the successful candidate to start as early as July 18, 2023

The Opportunity

Join our dynamic team at Nanaimo Art Gallery! The Gallery Technician shares the Nanaimo Art Gallery team’s values of relevance, relationships, innovation, and openness. Reporting to the Curator, the Gallery Technician is responsible for art handling, exhibition installation and de-installation (collaborating with the curatorial team), as well as exhibitions and gallery maintenance, collections management and administrative support for curatorial projects. Reporting to the Executive Director, the Gallery Technician is responsible for building maintenance and related issues.

About Nanaimo Art Gallery

Located in the heart of Nanaimo, on the lands of the Snuneymuxw, Nanaimo Art Gallery is an ambitious public art museum that engages and inspires our community through art.

We honour the Snuneymuxw people and the territory on which the Gallery operates, carrying ourselves with qwum qwum uy’shqwalawun: operating in the spirit of “good heart, good mind.” With this intention, Nanaimo Art Gallery’s values are relevance, relationships, innovation, and openness. We are a welcoming organization and a creative hub for Vancouver Island, where we build relationships, connect communities, and effect change through art.

An inquiry-based approach infuses and connects all Gallery activities, and a small, dedicated team of staff, board and volunteers offers a program that is rooted in our unique regional context and resonates with audiences globally.

The Position
Profile of the Candidate

You are a problem solver who is hard working, adaptable and organized. You are excited at the opportunity to contribute to a growing art organization. On a daily basis you will work closely with your colleagues as a key member of a supportive team in which all voices are heard.

Drawing on your experiences, you will help realize multifaceted on- and off-site exhibitions, installations, and presentations, and are responsible for the maintenance of the permanent collection, shipping and receiving artworks, curatorial administrative support, and overseeing building maintenance. You will participate in a wide range of activities outside the exhibition space, including team support, meetings, professional development, and other initiatives.

Responsibilities

Collaborating with the Curator, and with support from the Gallery team, responsibilities will include, but may not be limited to:

Collections management and administrative support

• Monitoring the condition of artworks in collection.
• Managing the care and conservation of artworks. Including matting works for display.
• Research, development and management of internal systems for managing a collections database
• Digitization and cataloging of collections
• Arranging pick-up and delivery of artworks
• Assisting with artist contracts

Installation, maintenance, and de-installation of exhibitions

• Handling, installing, and occasionally transporting artworks
• Safely packing and unpacking artworks
• Condition reporting
• Readying exhibition space for installations (including painting, repairing drywall, etc.)
• Working in consultation with Curator, contract Preparator, and/or artists to install artworks and exhibitions.
• Setting up and maintaining audio/visual equipment and new media artworks/installations in consultation with Curator and artists (working with staff and outside contractors as needed)
• Providing technical support for on-site and off-site talks and presentations
• Lighting of exhibitions in consultation with Curator
• Working with Preparator and outside contractors to fabricate items specifically for exhibitions
• Monitoring and maintaining exhibitions while on display
• Monitoring and recording the gallery temperature and humidity levels

Working closely with the Executive Director your responsibilities will include, but may not be limited to:

Building Maintenance

• Monitoring and maintaining general building maintenance
• Arranging for trades contractors
• Assist administration with purchase of equipment
• Maintaining workshop and support spaces
• Acquiring quotes, ordering, purchasing and picking up equipment, supplies and materials for exhibition and building maintenance
• Regular monitoring of outside spaces
• Managing security system
• Responding to security emergencies

Requirements (Qualifications, Knowledge, Education and Skills)

• Ability to think critically, employ sound judgment, evaluate situations and engage appropriate parties at varying levels to arrive at solutions.
• Ability to successfully organize, prioritize and complete multiple planned and unplanned projects
• Proactive and self-motivated
• Confident and clear communicator with strong written and oral communication skills
• Administrative and organizational skills
• Knowledge of how to correctly pack, unpack and handle artworks
• Passion for art and culture
• Desire to contribute to and collaborate with a creative team
• Proficiency in common communication tools (MS Office, Google Suite, Zoom, etc.)
• Valid class 5 driver’s license and a reliable vehicle
• Ability to lift heavy objects

Preferred Qualifications

• Proficiency in IT maintenance and troubleshooting and AV equipment and technology
• Experience with data collection and databases
• Practical and technical skills such as carpentry, maintenance, and painting
• Knowledge of a wide range of building materials and methods
• Knowledge of occupational health and safety requirements for safe building practices and correct lifting techniques
• University degree in a related field such as visual art, audio and visual media, curatorial studies. Trades degree with experience will be considered
• 3-5 years’ experience in curatorial department, in collections management, as technician in art gallery/museum or equivalent related experience
• A combination of education and experience will be considered

To Apply

Please submit a letter of interest, detailed resume, and 3 references by email to Carolyn@NanaimoArtGallery.ca with the subject heading “Gallery Technician Search”

Closing date for applications is June 28, 2023. Only those selected for an interview will be contacted.

Nanaimo Art Gallery hires based on merit and is strongly committed to equity and diversity within its community.

The Gallery encourages applications from visible minority group members, women, Indigenous persons, persons with disabilities, persons of minority sexual orientations and gender identities, and others with the skills and knowledge to productively engage with diverse communities.

Date Prepared: November 25, 2021 (edited June 2, 2023)

Nanaimo Art Gallery
150 Commercial Street
Nanaimo, BC V9R 5G6
nanaimoartgallery.ca