Assistant Registrar

About the Role

Reporting to the Head of Registration and Collections, the contract Assistant Registrar will assist with special exhibitions planning and implementation as well as assist with collections management projects during the period of this contract. The post holder will assist on exhibitions, including, but may not be limited to: PST: Growing and Knowing in the Gardens of China deinstallation and dispersal; Scott gallery reinstallation; Wang Mansheng exhibition planning and installation; and Edmund de Waal exhibition planning. Collections Management work includes inventories, re-housing and updating the museum database.

The position will work closely with Registration and Collections Management, Preparations, Exhibitions, Botanical curators, Art curators, as well as the departments of Preservation, Facilities, Security, and staff across the institution to further the mission of The Huntington.

This is a limited term position, budgeted full-time for one year at 30 hours per week.

Essential Duties

Permanent Collections and Collections Management:

• Assist Permanent Collections Registrar with processing new acquisitions, including, but not limited to: corresponding with vendors/donors, executing acquisition agreements, making shipping arrangements, cataloging and condition checking, housing for permanent storage, and maintaining object records (both paper and electronic).
• Assist with digital and physical management of both Art Collection and Botanical Art Collection paper and electronic files.
• Working under the guidance of the Collections Specialist, assist with the ingest of collection data from Botanical’s various servers into The Museum System (TMS) database and back cataloging in TMS for the Art Collection.
• Assist Collections Manager with an inventory and re-housing project of decorative art objects.
• Conduct inventory of parts of the Botanical Art collection, prioritizing high value and significant collection items, with the assistance of collection art handlers.
• Take photo-documentation of collection or arrange for in-house catalog photography, when necessary.
• Track location of objects for purpose of permanent storage, object preparation, installation, or temporary display.
• If time allows, assist Permanent Collections Registrar with researcher visits to the Scott Print Room- corresponding with researcher, updating calendar, pulling works, setting out for viewing, supervising viewing, and returning works to their home locations.

Temporary Exhibitions:

• Assist supervisor with managing logistics of exhibitions in the Chinese Garden Gallery, including, but not limited to: drafting relevant correspondence, preparing incoming loan agreements, providing facilities reports and other requested documents, arranging for couriers and loans shipments, creating and maintaining loan and exhibition records (both paper and electronic), updating installation/ de-installation schedules, and updating exhibition budget tracking sheets.
• Working with the Head of Preparations or Lead Preparator, oversee installations and de-installations; and generate condition reports and packing notes.

General Departmental Duties:

• Update Master Project Schedule (excel) and Art Outlook Calendar as necessary.
• Other duties as assigned.

Candidate Requirements and Experience

Knowledge, skills, and abilities:

• Minimum of a Bachelor’s Degree in History, Library Science, Art, Art History, Museum Studies, or a related field.
• Excellent organizational and communication skills.
• Self-starting, resourceful, proactive, flexible, and a creative problem solver.
• Able to follow through on all assignments with minimal direction and meet deadlines.
• Excellent team player.
• Able to discreetly and tactfully recognize and handle sensitive and confidential information.
• Strong computer skills and experience working with a museum database.
• Skilled at maintaining and preserving appropriate and orderly filing systems.
• Able to work in a cooperative and collegial manner with staff across divisions and the institution as well as with clients and donors outside the institution.

Experience

• Minimum of two years museum registration and or collections management experience is required.
• Experience conducting inventories and museum quality packing skills is preferred.
• Experience with FileMaker and The Museum System database is preferred.

Working Conditions

• Ability to lift and carry objects up to 50 lbs, climb ladders and work at heights.
• Exposure to art materials and conservation chemicals.
• Occasional evening or weekend work may be required for exhibition installations or special events.

The Application Process

Visit us at https://huntington.org/careers to apply directly. 

Please submit a cover letter and CV/resume as a single PDF attachment. 

You will have the opportunity to submit additional documents on the “My Experience” section of the application.