Curatorial and Assistant
- Program stream:
- Young Canada Works in Heritage Organizations
- Job title:
- Curatorial and Assistant
- Organization name:
- U of L Art Gallery
- Job location:
- Lethbridge, Alberta
- Length of assignment:
- 2018-05-07 to 2018-08-24 (12 weeks)
- Hourly wage:
- $17.00
The Curatorial Assistant will work directly with the U of L Art Gallery's existing collections, exhibition and project commitments and will initiate and/or upgrade public programming. This position is significantly co-funded by the Young Canada Works in Heritage Organizations (Summer Jobs) program, and The U of L Art Gallery invites applications from all enthusiastic and qualified candidates who meet the YCW criteria.
Position Summary
The Curatorial Assistant will assist the permanent gallery staff with the care, maintenance, access, preparation, documentation and exhibition of the University’s art collection, gifts, exhibitions, work spaces and public programming. The Curatorial Assistant will support artwork installations & de-installations as directed, including preparation, mounting, framing, packaging and shipping of artworks, photography of events and installations, and assist with public and summer art camp programming. The Curatorial Assistant will also undertake curatorial and/or writing projects, under the supervision of the Director/Curator, commensurate with meeting the Gallery’s commitments to its current exhibition, gift and publications schedules. The Curatorial Assistant will also contribute to the ongoing editing and development of the Gallery’s Collection database, under the direction of the Gallery Registrar.
Detailed Duties & Responsibilities
- Assist with the packing, unpacking, wrapping, handling, shipping, crating and documentation of artworks for exhibitions, gifts, or loans
- Assist artists with ongoing work on public and youth art engagement projects in their practice
- Review, research and re-develop existing lesson plans for summer youth art camps, and indigenous youth art programming for the coming school year – together with regional First Nations schools and the Friendship Society.
- Review, research and plan for New Canadian Youth art projects in partnership with local refugee service agencies
- Install/de-install exhibition artworks as directed, including artwork matting and framing, placement of artwork on walls, in cases, or in & out of storage facilities
- Assist with the cleaning, maintenance and/or restoration of Gallery spaces, as necessary, and/or reporting deficiencies in cleaning or maintenance to the Manager or Director/Curator
- Assist Canadian artists with the planning, procurement and construction for exhibition installations, shipping, storing and/or protection of artworks
- Assist the Director/Curator with any writing or research projects connected with the exhibition, publication and curatorial initiatives of the Gallery
- Assist with requests for photo documentation, commensurate with experience, as directed by the Director/Curator or Manager, for social media, marketing and general correspondence
- Assist the general public with inquiries about the Gallery and/or the Collections and direct specific inquiries to the Director/Curator or the Manager
- Assist with the ongoing addition and editing of data in the Collections database, under the supervision of the Registrar, Director/Curator or Manager
- Perform other related duties, as assigned and directed from time-to-time, commensurate with the day-to-day operations of the Gallery, its collections, gifts and exhibitions
- Assist other University personnel, including contractors, with access to Gallery spaces, as necessary, for proper and due maintenance of those spaces
- Report any identified or known artwork or facility deficiencies to the Manager or Director, as soon as possible, or in the event of an emergency, to U of L Security or Building Maintenance
- Attend such Gallery and/or University planning or staff meetings as required or directed by the Director/Curator or Manager, commensurate with Gallery operations
Reporting
The Curatorial Assistant reports directly to the Manager in most cases, and will report directly to the Director/Curator with regards to any curatorial work.
Term of Position
This term position is considered “temporary full-time”. It runs from May 7, 2017 – August 24, 2018, without interruption. There is no possibility for “banking time” or working outside of the May 7 – Aug 24/18 period under the auspices of this specific position.
Hours and days of work
This position assists existing permanent staff of the U of L Art Gallery, and to that end will work the same principal hours:
- 7 hours/day, Monday – Friday [35 hours/week]; 8.30 – 4.30 daily, 1 hour for lunch
- Accommodation or variations to hours or days worked can be made by mutual agreement of the Curatorial Assistant and the Director/Curator or Manager
- Statutory Holidays, as recognized by the province of Alberta, will be honoured as “paid days off”
- Maximum number of days: 80; Maximum number of hours: 560 (incl. statutory holidays)
- Hours of work missed as the result of any leave cannot be worked beyond Aug 24/17
Rate of Pay
For the duration of the term, May 7 – Aug 24, 2017, the Curatorial Assistant will be paid at a rate of $17.00 per hour [$595.00 per week]. Any overtime requested by the Director/Curator or the Manager will be paid at the rate commensurate with AUPE Collective Agreement standards [Article 17, July 1/16 – June 30/17 edition].
Conditions of Employment
The Collective Agreement between the Alberta Union of Public Employees (AUPE) and the University of Lethbridge, Article 2.05, directs that: Temporary and Casual Employees shall be granted all the terms and conditions of this Agreement, except the following Articles shall not apply: [list of 17 articles]. This PDF document can be found on the U of L Human Resources webpage:
http://www.uleth.ca/hr/sites/hr/files/AUPE%20Collective%20Agreement.pdf
Training
Experience with any and all of the following would be of benefit, but we are willing to provide training, as necessary, to the appropriate candidate:
- Photography, including photolights, reflectors, light meters, SLRs
- handtools associated with Gallery installations
- light construction work - drywall patching and painting
- databases, spreadsheets, Photoshop, Excel, MSWord, Outlook
- laptops, iPads
First-Aid Training: We will arrange for your St. John's Emergency Level A, unless you already have it.
Ladder & Power Tool Training: we will arrange for this on-line training, unless you already have it
Police check: This may be necessary depending on demands and work with associated agencies.
Qualifications
The ideal candidate for this position would be a post-secondary student enrolled in a program connected with the visual arts and/or Art History and Museum Studies. Some demonstrated work experience would be necessary and beneficial, specifically with regards to: art and artifact handling, tool and ladder experience, working with excellent attention to detail, and experience in conducting archival and on-line research.
Experience working with youth, New Canadians, and/or regional First Nations groups would be a great asset.
Consistent with the criteria of the Young Canada Works funding program applicants must meet the following criteria:
- are a Canadian citizen or a permanent resident, or have refugee status in Canada (non-Canadians holding temporary work visas or awaiting permanent status are not eligible);
- are legally entitled to work in Canada;
- will be between 16 and 30 years of age at the start of employment;
- are willing to commit to the full duration of the work assignment;
- will not have another full-time job (over 30 hours a week) during the Young Canada Works (YCW) work assignment;
- have been a full-time high school, college, CEGEP or university student (as defined by their educational institution) in the semester preceding the YCW work assignment; and
- intend to return to full-time studies in the semester following the YCW work assignment
- have registered in the Young Canada Works online candidate inventory and meet Program eligibility (check: www.canada.ca/en/canadian-heritage/services/funding/young-canada-works/employers/employer-guide.html#Section1_Obligations_Candidates)
Applications
Interested applicants are encouraged to email a cover letter and resume to: Administrative Manager, University of Lethbridge Art Gallery, 4401 University Drive., Lethbridge, AB T1K 3M4 jon.oxley@uleth.ca Please include 2 - 3 references with the resume.
About the University of Lethbridge Art Gallery
Mission
The University of Lethbridge Art Gallery has a dual role, serving both the campus community and the general public. The Art Gallery plays a central role for research, learning and community engagement at the university. At the same time, the Art Gallery is a key component of the university’s public face and reaches audiences from Lethbridge, within Alberta and across the country. By making art works and the activities of the Art Gallery highly visible on campus, we foster understanding about the visual arts for the full range of students at the university. We also attract members of the public to campus thereby giving them access to contemporary and historical exhibitions, to professional visual arts programming, and to research produced at, and disseminated by, the Art Gallery and the university.
The U of L Art Gallery is crucial within the strong local art community. In addition to our exhibitions, programming, collecting and support of research, we partner with art galleries and cultural organizations throughout Southern Alberta. We assist smaller organizations and cultural groups in Southern Alberta by providing expertise and technical support and by loaning equipment. Furthermore, we train arts professionals and many of our past interns now work in galleries and arts organizations.
The U of L Art Gallery maintains a strong national profile by developing touring exhibitions and loaning art works to galleries across the country. As well, we have developed an innovative publications program to reach national audiences. Our publications go beyond being catalogues and include artist’s works created for the publication along with writers addressing the context of the works in the exhibition. The Art Gallery participates in Canada’s National Publication Exchange in order to distribute free copies of our publications to galleries and libraries across the country. On our web page, we sell our publications; disseminate documentation of our activities; and provide public access to the works in our collection through our on-line research collections database.
For more about the University of Lethbridge Art Gallery, please visit our website: www.uleth.ca/artgallery, and especially the "ABOUT" drop-down window.
About Lethbridge - one of the sunniest & warmest places in Canada (outside of the wine growing regions)
Lethbridge is a beautiful and diverse city of almost 100,000, located in southern Alberta on traditional Blackfoot Territory. Long known for its high number of annual sunshine hours, warm winter winds, the spectacular high level bridge, the architecturally reknowned University of Lethbridge - it is more recently becoming known for its generous policies and practices in welcoming new Canadians and refugees from all over the world.
Fast Facts About Lethbridge (from the City of Lethbridge webpage)
- Lethbridge enjoys more than 320 days of sunshine per year.
- Lethbridge became a city on May 9, 1906.
- The height of the CP Rail High Level Bridge is 95.7 metres.
- Lethbridge is one of only a few cities its size with two post-secondary institutions - Lethbridge College and University of Lethbridge.
- Agriculture is the main industry in southern Alberta and plays an important role in the city’s retail, wholesale and service sectors.
- Lethbridge provides a central location from which to see some of the most spectacular attractions and scenery that Alberta has to offer: www.exploresouthwestalberta.ca.
- Lethbridge offers more than 70 parks, 140 km of walking and running trails, playgrounds and sports fields throughout the city.
- Lethbridge is also close to the Rocky Mountains, a wide range of badlands, and many cultural amenities associated with the long history of first nations people in this area
- Yes, Lethbridge is home to many rattlesnakes, but they are gentle and shy creatures who go to great lengths to avoid people, and aren't nearly as poisonous as movies would have you believe
For more information about Lethbridge and area attractions, check out the following websites:
- City of Lethbridge: www.lethbridge.ca
- Waterton National Park: mywaterton.ca/ (World Heritage Site)
- Writing-on-Stone Provincial Park: albertaparks.ca/writing-on-stone (Pending World Heritage Site)
- Head Smashed In Buffalo Jump: history.alberta.ca/headsmashedin/ (World Heritage Site)
An no matter what rumours you've heard, Lethbridge has an incredible diversity of cultures and restaurants, and virtually everything that Calgary has...without the traffic!
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