Collections Assistant
- Program stream:
- Young Canada Works in Heritage Organizations
- Job title:
- Collections Assistant
- Organization name:
- Bill Reid Gallery of Northwest Coast Art
- Job location:
- Vancouver, British Columbia
- Length of assignment:
- 2018-05-14 to 2018-08-03 (12 weeks)
- Hourly wage:
- $15.00
Collections Assistant
Bill Reid Gallery of Northwest Coast Art
639 Hornby Street, Vancouver BC
604.682.3455
Period of employment: May 14 - August 17, 2018 (14 weeks)
Hours: 9:30 am – 5pm Monday to Friday (7 hours per day with 1/2 hour lunch)
Salary: $15.00 per hour
The mandate of the Bill Reid Gallery (BRG) is to reveal the vital and diverse Indigenous cultures of the Northwest Coast through the extraordinary work of Bill Reid and inspirational contemporary art. We respectfully acknowledge the Coast Salish Peoples on whose traditional territories we live and work, and all the First Nations of the Pacific Coast.
Job description:
The Bill Reid Gallery recently launched a new collections database. The Collections Assistant will work with the curator on a Cataloguing and Digitization project to increase and improve the amount of information on our collections available to the general public. The gallery has approximately 500 artworks and important archival materials related to the life and career of Bill Reid, including finished artworks (sculptures, prints, carvings, jewelry, paintings) as well as sketches, cards, letters, and ephemera belonging to the artist. The Collections Assistant will catalogue, arrange, describe, and scan collection information and enter it into our collections management database. The student will also work with the curator to add a catalogue number to each collection item.
The Collections Assistant will also assist the curator with collections related aspects of exhibitions, loans and public programs. This includes organizing collections lists, updating the database, preparing condition reports, and gathering information for exhibition labels.
The Assistant must be organized and detailed oriented and will perform other related duties as required. The Assistant will acquire skills in cataloguing, museum standards and policy, database software, artifact handling and preservation, archival collections arrangement, scanning, photoshop, acquisitions, storage, and research procedures. They will gain strategic planning, problem solving and leadership skills under direction of museum staff. The setting will provide experience in cultural diversity, working as a team, working collaboratively with other programs and exhibitions, and the importance of preserving history for future generations.
About the Bill Reid Gallery
Bill Reid (1920-1998) was an acclaimed and influential Indigenous artist in Canada – a master goldsmith, carver, sculptor, writer, broadcaster, mentor and community activist. Reid was born to a Haida mother and an American father with Scottish German roots, and only began exploring his Haida ancestry at the age of 23. The Bill Reid Gallery of Northwest Coast Art was created in downtown Vancouver in 2008 to honour his legacy and celebrate the diverse indigenous cultures of the Northwest Coast. Bill Reid infused Haida traditions with his own modernist aesthetic to create both exquisitely small as well as monumental work that captured the public’s imagination, and introduced a timeless vocabulary to the modern world. Bill Reid and his work from the 1950s-1980s were really pivotal to our current perceptions of Northwest Coast art.
Skills required
Student in the field of library and archival studies, Indigenous studies, museum studies, or curatorial studies
Must be between the ages of 16 and 30 and intend to return to your studies in the fall.
Good level of computer literacy including spreadsheets, database software, email.
Familiar with the Rules of Archival Description
Fluent in English, Indigenous language would be an asset
Knowledge of Northwest Coast art and Indigenous cultural history an asset
Candidates will be chosen on the basis of their skill level and ability, therefore we welcome all applicants regardless of race, gender or disability.
Indigenous students are encouraged to apply.
Applications
Please forward applications with resume by email to:
Beth Carter, Curator
bcarter@billreidgallery.ca
Applications will be accepted until April 25, 2018.
POSITION IS DEPENDENT ON GRANT FUNDING
We thank all applicants for their interest;
However, only those selected for an interview will be contacted.
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