Preparator II
Huntington Public Library
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Benefits offered by this job
Job summary
The Huntington in San Marino, California is seeking a skilled Preparator II to join the Preparation Department. You will assist in planning and implementing schedules for special exhibitions, rotate permanent collections, and care for objects to museum standards.
This is a hands‑on role involving packing, installation, mounting, and safe handling of artworks. Ideal candidates have 3–4 years in preparation or exhibitions, expertise with packing, crating, and heavy equipment, as well as experience
Qualifications
- Three to four years of experience in preparation, collections management, and installation in a gallery or museum setting.
- Expertise in industry standard materials, processes, equipment, and safety protocols.
- Excellent working knowledge of installation methods required.
- Proficiency in mounting, matting, framing of works on paper.
- Extensive experience using heavy equipment, including scissor-lift, gantry, pallet jack, pedal lift.
- Must have safe driving record.
- Demonstrated knowledge of art-handling procedures for two- and three-dimensional objects in various materials, sizes, and weights
- Knowledge of museum-quality packing, and crating.
- Must be able to lift 50 pounds.
- Conduct self in a professional manner and establish positive working relationships with museum staff, representatives from other arts institutions, consultants, artists, and vendors.
Responsibilities
- Receiving, unpacking and packing artworks
- Assist curators in placement of artworks in galleries
- Handling and installing artworks and collections objects
- Hinging, matting and framing artworks
- Generating profiles and schematics for display mounts
- Creating or modifying display mounts and case risers/buildups
- Performing carpentry work such as retrofitting crates and modifying pedestals
- Spackling and painting
- Lighting exhibitions, to Curatorial and Preservation standards
- Monitoring and maintenance of exhibition lighting and A/V elements
- Performing regular gallery dusting and cleaning
- Assisting with buildouts of historic painting frames
- Organizing supplies and communicating resupply needs
- Driving art preparation vehicles to transport art on and off campus
- Attending and occasionally leading in-house training workshops in Huntington object prep procedures
- Providing guidance to Broad DAP apprentices during their placement at The Huntington
- Attending regular departmental meetings
- Attending object review meetings and consulting with Preservation Dept. on object prep needs
- Providing input to supervisors and colleagues on preparation and installation methods
- Sharing project status information with supervisor and colleagues
- Accessing FileMaker and TMS databases for object information
- Updating object preparation status via Excel
- Tracks and communicates object location changes
Skills
Tools
Job description
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.
Founded in 1919, The Huntington 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.
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.
The Preparator II is a member of the institution’s Preparation Department, under the Registration and Collection Management Department. This position is integral in the consistent planning and implementation of the Institution’s schedule of special exhibitions, permanent collection rotations, and collections care. This position is part of a team of preparatory staff. The position’s primary responsibility is to assist in all handling, display preparations, installation, packing, storage and care of artworks according to museum standards. Reports to Head of Preparations.
Receiving, unpacking and packing artworks
Assist curators in placement of artworks in galleries
Handling and installing artworks and collections objects
Hinging, matting and framing artworks
Generating profiles and schematics for display mounts (book cradles, slants)
Creating or modifying display mounts and case risers/buildups
Performing carpentry work such as retrofitting crates and modifying pedestals
Spackling and painting
Lighting exhibitions, to Curatorial and Preservation standards
Monitoring and maintenance of exhibition lighting and A/V elements
Performing regular gallery dusting and cleaning
Assisting with buildouts of historic painting frames
Organizing supplies and communicating resupply needs
Driving art preparation vehicles to transport art on and off campus
Attending and occasionally leading in-house training workshops in Huntington object prep procedures
Providing guidance to Broad DAP apprentices during their placement at The Huntington
Attending regular departmental meetings
Attending object review meetings and consulting with Preservation Dept. on object prep needs
Providing input to supervisors and colleagues on preparation and installation methods
Sharing project status information with supervisor and colleagues
Accessing FileMaker and TMS databases for object information
Updating object preparation status via Excel
Tracks and communicates object location changes
Three to four years of experience in preparation, collections management, and installation in a gallery or museum setting.
Expertise in industry standard materials, processes, equipment, and safety protocols.
Excellent working knowledge of installation methods required.
Proficiency in mounting, matting, framing of works on paper.
Extensive experience using heavy equipment, including scissor-lift, gantry, pallet jack, pedal lift.
Must have safe driving record.
Demonstrated knowledge of art-handling procedures for two- and three-dimensional objects in various materials, sizes, and weights
Knowledge of museum-quality packing, and crating.
Must be able to lift 50 pounds.
Conduct self in a professional manner and establish positive working relationships with museum staff, representatives from other arts institutions, consultants, artists, and vendors.
Ability to plan, prioritize, multi-task, and meet deadlines
Woodworking and/or metalworking skills
Working knowledge of fabrication methods
Ability to ensure adherence to the institution’s brand in all activities
Facility with word processing, Excel, Outlook/Gmail
Proven solutions-oriented, diplomatic problem solver and true team player
Excellent interpersonal and verbal communication skills
Gallery, workshop, and office settings. Most of the work will be indoors, but there is some occasional outdoor work.
Prolonged periods of standing, bending, sitting, and stooping.
Lifting and carrying up to 50 pounds.
We provide competitive compensation, generous benefits and perks for all eligible employees including:
- Pay Rate: $28.00- $29.00/hr. Commensurate with experience.
- Medical, Dental, Vision
- 403(b) retirement plan and matching retirement plan with an outstanding employer match
- Considerable paid time off, including annual leave, sick leave, and holidays
- Discounts for staff in The Huntington Store and restaurants
- Free admission to various museums and cultural institutions
- Free passes each month to welcome family and friends to visit the grounds
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