SHI - Exhibit Mounts Fabricator and Museum Outreach Specialist

Job Summary

Sealaska Heritage Institute (SHI) is a regional Alaska Native non-profit organization founded in 1980 by Sealaska Corporation. SHI’s mission is to perpetuate and enhance the culture of the Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian peoples. SHI collects and preserves materials that document the history, culture, heritage, and language of the Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian people of Southeast Alaska and other Alaska Natives and makes these materials available to the public for educational and research purposes. Our goal is to promote cultural diversity and cross-cultural understanding.  

SHI cares for a collection of about a thousand ethnographic and art objects according to current museum standards and offers high-quality exhibits in the Nathan Jackson Gallery, a 1950 sq ft climate controlled display area. The Exhibit fabricator and mount maker’s primary role is to install, fabricate and de-install exhibitions and to produce high quality mounts for objects on display.

Duties/Responsibilities

SHI Exhibit Mount Fabrication

• Install and fabricate mounts and display units, and deinstall all Exhibits at the Walter Soboleff Building and Arts Campus
• Assist with maintaining the objects on display at the Walter Soboleff Building and Arts Campus facilities; Liaise with other departments on the handling and accessibility of objects in offsite storage
• Install signage and object labels, as needed for exhibits and displays
• Evaluate, refurbish, and maintain existing exhibits and displays with the guidance of Archives & Collections staff
• Conduct routine and preventative repairs on all exhibits that includes maintenance and replacement for exhibit lighting
• Construct object mounts for the exhibit and assist with the staging of objects for professional photography purposes
• Assist collections staff in producing exhibit mount prototypes, components, and products
• Assist collections staff and guest curators with design elements and exhibit layout
• Build storage containers for objects in the permanent collection, education collection, Sealaska Corporation collection, and Clan Loan program
• Assist with receiving, handling, packing, moving, and shipping of all objects entering or leaving SHI, including traveling exhibits, and objects acquired by museum through gift, purchase, or loan
• Conduct in depth condition reports for all objects entering or leaving SHI
• Pack objects for transport, deliver objects to destinations, and pick up objects for transport to SHI as needed

Exhibits Outreach and Learning

• Lead educational tours of the exhibit's gallery for educators and students
• Liaison with other SHI departments regarding museum programming and tours 
• Ability and willingness to assist collections staff with the training of museum interns on exhibit fabrication, design, and mount making
• Advise Southeast Alaska tribal museums and cultural institutions with exhibition planning and design
• Lead Museum Boxes outreach program, manage scheduling, travel, and loans affiliated with the program
• Develop and design further topics for Museum Boxes

Other

• Follow all safety rules and regulations while performing work assignments 
• Keep office space clean and organized and tools tidy and maintained. Establish and maintain inventory of collection storage supplies and materials
• Other duties as assigned

Required Skills

• A proven interest in exhibit mount fabrication and design, collections management, conservation, museum studies, or related professions.
• Ability to adopt best practice standards for assessing, handling, and moving collections objects including packing and shipping.
• Prior experience working with museum collections and art and ethnographic objects
• Ability to read design drawings including detailed scale elevations and plans
• Must have a good driving record and reliable transportation
• Experience in exhibit fabrication and maintenance and other relevant work 
• Experience giving tours and working with outreach programs in a cultural institution.
• Ability and willingness to maintain high level of accuracy and attention to detail is essential, as is the ability to work well under pressure with a wide variety of museum professionals, vendors, students, cultural interpreters, and others.

Supervisory Responsibility

None

Work Environment

This position’s duties are performed at the Walter Soboleff Building. This role routinely uses standard office equipment such as computers, phones, photocopiers, filing cabinets, and fax machines.  This position also involves working in a shop environment with a wide variety of power tools and machinery.

Physical Demands

While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to verbally communicate. This position is active and may require standing, walking, bending, kneeling, crouching, and climbing all day. The employee must be able to lift and/or move objects up to 50 pounds.

About this Role

This is a full-time benefited position. SHI employees are expected to work during SHI’s regular business hours of 8:00am to 4:30pm Monday to Friday. Additionally, employees may work up to or over 45 hours per week or additional time as needed to meet workload demands or special events such as Celebration. Some travel required.

Required Education and Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in industrial design, Theater Production, Museum Studies or other relevant field and two years of related experience or a combination of education and relevant experience.

Preferred Education and Experience

• Master’s degree in a related field.
• 3 years of related practical experience in exhibit fabrication, exhibit installation, mount making, box construction, museum collections or a combination of education and relevant experience.
• Preference given to a degree in industrial design, theater production, museum studies, conservation, or a related field.
• Preference given to experience with Northwest Coast Indigenous art and object collections.

Please note this job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties, or responsibilities that are required of the employee for this job. Duties, responsibilities, and activities may change at any time with or without notice.