Museum Mount Maker

Colonial Williamsburg
Williamsburg, VA 23185, USA

About the Position 

Essential Functions:

1. Produces design documents, including photographs, notes, drawings, and specifications necessary to produce the custom mounts, hardware, display support components and systems for a variety of artworks and artifacts, and maintains archives of those work products.
2. Fabricates, fits, adjusts, assembles, finishes, and installs custom hardware mounts, armatures, display systems, low-voltage display lighting components, and their associated artworks using a variety of metals, plastics, foams, woods, fabrics, and other exhibition materials, using brazing, soldering, welding, drilling, cutting, fastening sanding, filing, and painting, all to meet established deadlines.
3. Maintains the mount studio’s equipment, tools, and workspaces, ensuring that those production assets and the work environment(s) are safe and available for daily use.
4. Prepares and maintains an inventory of mount studio supplies, ensuring that orders, direct procurement, expenditures, and work order requisitions are correctly assigned to their appropriate project.
5. Equally shares, and coordinates / schedules with colleagues, the daily responsibility of replacing lighting burnouts in exhibition galleries, ensuring that this task is performed M-F mornings before 10 a.m. and that replacements lamps inventories are always stocked to perform routine relamping operations.
6. Assists with exhibition mockups, installations, deinstallations, and repairs, as well as transporting exhibition components, materials and supplies to / from the loading dock to / from their designated destination, or disposal.
7. Communicates effectively and professionally, with interdisciplinary exhibition teams to understand each projects’ goals and schedules, and plan workload accordingly.
8. Shares the responsibilities of maintaining the museum’s inventories of stored exhibition props, materials and equipment.
9. Performs other duties as assigned.

Other Duties:  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.

Required and Preferred Education and Experience:

Required: 

• A high-school education or GED equivalent
• Must have experience using commercial woodworking and metalworking power tools, and hand tools usually gained by working in the construction, or fabrication trades for 4 or more years. College or University Studio art experience may be considered as an alternate experience qualification.
• Must have one year of experience in the design and fabrication of custom metal artifact mounts and the handling of art objects in a museum or commercial mount making facility.
• Must present a portfolio in digital or hard copy, showing finished mounts in a museum or gallery setting.
• May be asked to present three to five actual examples of mount work.

Preferred:

• Two or more years of experience in the design and fabrication of custom artifact mounts and the handling of art objects in a museum or a commercial mount making facility.
• Previous museum exhibition production experience.
• 4 years’ experience in a commercial exhibition production shop.
• Experience working with and assembling low-voltage LED lighting components, AV components and controls inside cabinets and display cases is a plus.

Qualifications:

• Must possess advanced knowledge, skills, and the ability to use metalworking tools and perform processes, including cutting, brazing, welding, machining, joining, forming, tapping, fastening, grinding, and polishing.
• Must possess basic metal fabrication math skills, including measuring, estimating, marking, squaring, leveling, sawing, drilling, shaping, fastening and finishing, usually gained by working in the construction, or fabrication trades for 4 or more years.
• Must be able to work in noisy production shops, paint spray booth, and other production and maintenance areas for prolonged periods while standing, bending, reaching, and wear Personal Protective Equipment (eye protection, hearing protection, dust masks and safety shoes) and other PPE as directed.
• Must be able to work as part of a team or individually, with limited supervision and meet deadlines, follow instructions, and adapt to changing priorities and work non-standard hours, including overtime, early mornings, evenings, weekends and holidays as needed.
• Must have a valid Virginia driver’s license and be able to carry 50 pounds, use freight elevators, walk up and down stairs, work on ladders, scaffolds, aerial work platforms and dock levelers.
• Must occasionally pick up supplies, deliver exhibit components to the off-site warehouse, or obtain parts and equipment from the Foundation’s facilities location using one of the two museum vehicles.
• Must be proficient in the English language, spoken and written, to comprehend construction drawings, field notes, MSDS documents, and tool and equipment operators’ safety manuals and procedures.

Apply Here: Museum Mount Maker | MUSEUM, PRESERVATION, CONSERVATION, EDUCATION & RESEARCH (ultipro.com)