Gallery Assistant
Esker Foundation
Deadline to apply: August 1, 2024
Position: Full-time (37.5 hours/week), in person, permanent position
Salary: $52,000
A typical work week is Wednesday to Sunday, 10am – 6pm. Occasional evenings will be required.
Esker Foundation is seeking an organized and creative thinker to join our gallery team in the role of gallery assistant. The gallery assistant reports to the director/curator and works closely with the curatorial, programs & engagement, bookshop, and communication & marketing teams. Primary responsibilities include managing the front desk and engaging with gallery visitors, providing assistance to the director with general office and administration tasks, and assisting in the running of gallery events.
This is a full-time (37.5 hours per week), in-person, permanent position. A typical work week is Wednesday to Sunday, 10am-6pm. Occasional evening work will be required, given the nature of gallery programming. Should overtime be incurred, it will be compensated with time off in lieu at a rate of 1.5 hours for each hour of overtime worked. The salary for this position is $52,000. Benefits, following three months of employment, include health and dental, group retirement savings plan of 3% annually which is matched by the employee, 15 days paid vacation, 7 personal/health days, and underground parking.
The preferred start date for this position is September 9, 2024.
Application deadline: Thursday, August 1, 2024, 6pm MT
About Esker Foundation
Esker Foundation is located near the confluence of the Bow and Elbow Rivers, a site known as Mohkinstsis, and a deeply significant place within Treaty 7 territory. We acknowledge that the Treaty 7 region is part of the traditional territories of the Blackfoot Confederacy, including the Siksika, Piikani, and Kainai Nations; the Tsuut’ina Nation; and the Îyâxe Nakoda Nations, which includes the Chiniki, Bearspaw, and Wesley Nations. This City of Calgary is also home to the Otipemisiwak Métis Government of the Métis Nation of Alberta, Districts 5 and 6.
Founded by Jim and Susan Hill in 2012, Esker Foundation is a privately funded contemporary art gallery guided by curiosity and passion. Through exhibitions, public programs, publishing, and commissioning activities, the Foundation supports artists and audiences through a variety of learning, connecting, and collaborative models. As a team, we strive to place the artist and their practice at the core of our work, and to support, in as many ways as we can, the complex, difficult, and playful dialogues that exhibitions can produce. We each believe in the value of exhibitions and public engagement being responsive and experimental, and our production, activities, and relationships are all built in support of these values.
Esker Foundation is committed to anti-racism, anti-oppression, equity, and inclusion. We strongly encourage applications from Equity-deserving communities including individuals who are gender diverse, LGBTQ+, Two-Spirit, and individuals who are Indigenous, Black, or People of Colour. (Equity-deserving groups are communities that experience significant collective barriers in participating in society. This could include attitudinal, historic, social and environmental barriers based on age, ethnicity, disability, economic status, gender, nationality, race, sexual orientation and transgender status. )
While we seek to be accessible, we wish to be transparent about the current limitations of our facilities. Esker Foundation is not fully accessible in the following ways:
Multiple doors in our building, including access doors in our underground parkade and keyless entry doors within the building, are not equipped with accessibility buttons.
Esker Foundation is not presently equipped with technology that supports those with hearing or visual impairments.
We acknowledge that accessibility is a relational and dynamic conversation that will differ individual to individual. If you have any questions or concerns about barriers to access at Esker Foundation or the Atlantic Avenue Art Block, please reach out to employment@eskerfoundation.com
To learn more about the team at Esker Foundation please visit eskerfoundation.com/about.
Primary Responsibilities
Esker Foundation is committed to teamwork, professional development, and creating a supportive environment for growth and learning. All training for this position will be provided by Esker staff during regular gallery hours.
Front of House
You will primarily be responsible for managing the front desk and providing excellent in-person visitor experience. You will be an initial public contact for the gallery; answer and direct phone, email, and in-person inquiries; provide insight into gallery exhibitions; and help people feel warmly welcomed during their visit.
You will connect with the curatorial, programs & engagement, communication & marketing, and bookshop teams to engage in conversations around programming and exhibitions, and to cultivate in-depth knowledge on artists and their practices. Curiosity to gather knowledge on many levels and to appropriately engage with audiences will be key to enjoying and growing in this position.
Responsibilities include:
- Opening and closing the gallery during the Wednesday – Sunday work week
- Monitoring the front desk during opening hours
- Exhibition security checks and recording climate readings throughout the day
- Providing an informative and welcoming experience for all visitors
- Responding to, or directing, public inquiries received by phone, email, web or in person
- Managing the general Esker email account
- Recording and managing up-to-date phone messages
- Tenant bookings in Nest – which also includes general building and community relations
- Tracking and recording gallery attendance and other statistics
- Training volunteers on front desk responsibilities and Square POS
- Assisting in bookshop sales in-person and on e-commerce platforms, including the packaging and shipping of orders
Gallery Administration: You will also assist the director with general office and administration tasks.
Responsibilities include:
- Arranging and coordinating all staff meetings and master calendar for events
- Arranging and tracking all applicable staff training
- Assisting in EDIA research, audits, and staff training
- Monitoring office/common area equipment and purchasing office supplies as required
- Co-ordinating and booking artist and guest travel and accommodation
- Shipping and receiving of all non-art related material
- Arranging of courier services
- Mailing exhibition invitations and brochures and managing mailing lists
- Managing common kitchen, including purchasing supplies
- Additional office admin and day-to-day gallery tasks as needed
Public Program and Event Support: Assist with special events and public programs as required.
Responsibilities and skills required include:
- Assisting in the preparation and execution of opening receptions, including catering and bar needs.
- Assisting with both setup and cleanup of programming events.
- A full understanding of the technical support available for programs, including both software and hardware applications. This includes a working knowledge of Power Point, iPhoto, or other presentation software, as well as our in-house projectors, televisions, presentation hardware, microphones, and recording hardware.
Skills and Abilities:
With the recognition that skills and abilities do not necessarily need to be accompanied by an institutional qualification, formal educational credentials are not mandatory for this position.
- Flexible, respectful, and thoughtful to co-workers, artists and guests, volunteers, the local arts community and the public.
- This role requires someone who is personable, friendly, open-minded and enjoys interacting with people.
- The capacity to engage with and honour dialogues around reconciliation, inclusion, equity and diversity.
- Knowledge of and interest in contemporary visual culture.
- Excellent research, communication, organizational, computer, and writing skills.
- The ability to communicate your ideas and present information to a variety of audiences.
- The ability to work in a deadline-driven and collaborative work environment.
- The ability to take on and manage independent work initiatives and projects.
- An emotionally mature individual with strong self-awareness and a willingness to learn.
- Experience with the following software and platforms is an asset but not a requirement: Microsoft Office, macOS, WordPress, Square Point of Sale, Adobe Creative Suite (i.e. Photoshop, InDesign).
- Applicants must be eligible to work in Canada.
How to Apply
Please submit a cover letter outlining your relevant experience and skills and a resume or CV. Contact information for three professional references will be required if you are selected for an interview.
Professional references may include references from supervisors, co-workers, and professional colleagues, from a place of work or study, or where you have volunteered.
Send your application in one pdf to employment@eskerfoundation.com by Thursday August 1, 2024 @ 6pm MT with the subject line: Gallery Assistant.
Interviews will be held either in-person or by Zoom in mid-August 2024.
The preferred start date for this position is September 9, 2024.
