Downtown Gallery Assistant

Colby College; Benton (ME); On-site; USD 23,000 - 28,000; Part time

Job summary

Colby College Museum of Art in Waterville, Maine seeks a downtown gallery assistant to welcome visitors and support exhibitions and programs at the Schupf Art Center.

The role provides front-line engagement, handles logistics, assists with event setup, and ensures safety and security protocols. It is up to 20 hours per week with weekend and evening shifts; strong customer service, teamwork, and adaptability are essential.

Qualifications

• High school diploma or equivalent required.
• Three or more years of professional experience.
• Relevant engagement and/or administrative experience preferred.
• Strong customer service, interpersonal, and communication skills.
• Ability to work evenings and weekends as needed.
• Committed to antiracist, equitable work environment.

Responsibilities

• Welcome visitors and provide informational assistance about exhibitions and programs.
• Monitor gallery activity and enforce museum protocols and policies.
• Support security and incident reporting as needed.
• Coordinate with building manager for smooth gallery operations.
• Assist learning and engagement staff with program logistics.
• Help set up events and communicate with guests and staff.
• Support educational visits and outreach for school groups.
• Assist with data, grant reports, and program materials preparation.
• Attend meetings with engagement colleagues and community partners.
• Support office tasks and maintain supplies for the gallery.

Skills

Interpersonal skills

Organizational skills

Attention to detail

Written communications

Customer service

Education

High school diploma or equivalent

Tools

Microsoft Office Suite

Google Suite

Airtable

Adobe Creative Suite

EventBrite

SurveyMonkey

Workday

Job description

Job Description

Department: Museum Community and Visitor Engagement - JMPay Rate Type: HourlyEmployee Type: Job Summary:

The downtown gallery assistant position at Colby College Museum of Art provides a positive and welcoming presence for visitors of all ages at the museum’s Joan Dignam Schmaltz Gallery, located in the Paul J. Schupf Art Center, located in downtown Waterville, Maine. In addition to being the museum’s primary day-to-day presence in the space to welcome and support public visitors to the gallery, the downtown gallery assistant is also responsible for ensuring smooth logistical and administrative operations as well as effective adherence to security and safety protocols in the space. The successful candidate will work under the direction of the Museum’s Learning and Engagement Coordinator and also will work closely with the museum security manager and members of the engagement team. This position is up to 20 hours per week that will require work on weekends and evenings, reflective of operating and programmatic hours. The ideal candidate will be punctual, friendly, detail oriented, and adaptable to changing situations. This person should feel comfortable asking questions in order to prioritize a wide variety of tasks.

THE MUSEUM AND ITS MISSION

Located in Waterville, Maine, the Colby Museum opens access to art and artists for the Colby community, for Maine residents and visitors, and for audiences beyond, creating a forum for experimentation, research, dialogue, and connection. We grow and use our stellar collection in ways that activate the power of art to expand imagination and forge new connections, fostering a more open, creative, and compassionate society. We teach to inspire and open possibilities, so that students at Colby and other visitors can become more curious, nimble, and able to contribute within a changing world, in keeping with Colby’s dynamic liberal arts mission. We incubate art scholarship and practice in ways that explore and expand how the idea of America is understood and how art is made, interpreted, and shared. We do so by supporting new research, providing mentorship, and convening a diversity of people and perspectives. The Lunder Institute for American Art and our exhibitions, programs, and publications facilitate field-wide impact. We are committed to our audiences, including the Colby College community, residents of Waterville and the broader Maine region, national and international visitors, and the artists, scholars, and partners with whom we collaborate.

The starting rate for this position is $17.50 per hour.

Essential Functions

• Offer a positive and welcoming presence for visitors of all ages at the museum’s Joan Dignam Schmaltz Gallery of Art, providing excellent customer service and informational assistance related to exhibitions and programs in the museum’s gallery and the Schupf Art Center.


• Monitor activity in the gallery and ensure that all visitors adhere to museum protocols and policies.


• Maintain an alertness for unusual or suspicious activity and deal with various levels of incidents as necessary, including first response in an emergency; report security violations and write incident reports when necessary.


• Serve as a liaison and primary point of contact to the Schupf Art Center’s building manager to ensure smooth operation of gallery space and report any facility-related needs or emergencies, keeping the museum’s security manager and deputy director informed and/or seeking additional guidance when issues arise.


• Work closely with learning and engagement staff on logistics for public and academic programs in downtown gallery, communicating and sharing information with internal stakeholders; preparing resources; and tracking visitor information.


• Assist in program execution by providing logistical support as needed towards setting up event spaces and communicating with guests, visitors, and colleagues. This includes evening and weekend events.


• Contribute to a hospitable environment for guest speakers, tour groups, and pre K-12 groups by assisting with logistical arrangements, and attending to speakers; and school visit needs during their visit to the gallery.


• Provide logistical support for downtown programs, workshops, and training sessions that involve community members , students, teaching artists, interns, and other student workers.


• Participate in regular meetings with engagement colleagues at the museum and Waterville Creates partners downtown to maintain effective communication and coordination of operations and events at the Schupf Art Center.


• Assist the Mirken Director of Learning and Engagement and Mirken Coordinator of Campus and Community Collaboration with special projects as needed; work could include data compilation and preparation for grant reports, presentations, updating documents for internal stakeholders, material preparation for programs, and other needs as assigned.


• Support the engagement team with administrative office tasks, which includes ensuring office and artmaking supplies and interpretive elements for the gallery are fully stocked and in good working order.


• Support the work of the engagement team through the use of software, data management, and registration tools.

Position Qualifications

• High school diploma or equivalent required; professional coursework or post-secondary education are a plus


• Three or more years of previous professional experience


• Relevant engagement and/or administrative experience preferred


• Highly motivated, flexible, and comfortable with all audiences


• Unwavering commitment to fostering an antiracist, equitable work environment supportive of people from different cultures, backgrounds, and life paths


• Outstanding interpersonal, and organizational skills, with a high level of motivation and initiative


• Attention to detail and accuracy are critical


• Excellent verbal and written communications skills, with the ability to complete clear, concise, and accurate incident reports and other documentation


• Experience in a professional environment, able to work collaboratively within a team and a diverse organization and to collaborate effectively with students, faculty, art center and community partners


• Able to work independently as well as in a team, exercise judgment, establish priorities, and complete projects with minimal supervision and to adjust as new projects are assigned


• Proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite (e.g. Word, Excel) and Google Suite (e.g., Mail, Calendar, Docs, Sheets, and Slides); proficiency and/or ability to learn Airtable, Adobe Creative Suite, EventBrite, SurveyMonkey, Workday, and others specific to Colby College.

Physical/Mental Demands

• To successfully perform the essential functions of this position, an employee must be able to maintain appropriate confidentiality with regard to employee data, documents, issues, etc., and respect privacy needs of employees and past employees with regard to the same.


• The ability to comply with highly inflexible deadlines is required to successfully perform the essential functions of this position; there will be multiple occurrences of sudden, urgent task completion required.


• There may be occurrences of employees, past employees, members of the general public, and others who express opinions, may exhibit strong emotions, which will require the employee to interact professionally, diplomatically, and appropriately in such situations.


• While performing the essential duties of this position, an employee would frequently be required to move around the office space as well as within hallways, meeting rooms, and other parts of the campus facilities.


• There may be multiple/daily instances of prolonged personal computer use which would include keyboard and/or mouse usage as well as viewing a computer monitor.


• An employee must frequently lift and/or move up to 10 pounds and occasionally lift and/or move up to 35 pounds to perform essential position functions.


• Specific vision abilities required by this position include close vision, distance vision, and ability to adjust focus.


• The overall work environment requires the mental ability to shift focus quickly due to interruptions; an employee must be able to mentally track multiple projects and tasks as well.


• The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate; however, there may be unexpected instances of somewhat loud sounds.