Exhibits Assistant

Description:

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Exhibit Operations, Maintenance and Repair
Assists with continuous and ongoing exhibit operations, maintenance, and repair for all NPM galleries, exhibits, workshop, and exhibits AV and lighting controls. This includes assisting the exhibit specialist with routine maintenance and upkeep of equipment, as well as the daily tidying and organizing of materials, tools, and equipment. Routine maintenance may include changing blades on various saws, changing filters on fume hoods and tasks of that sort. Training will be provided for these types of tasks.
Conducts daily inspection and approved troubleshooting protocols for all exhibits, AV, and interactives. Visually inspects all components of all exhibits daily. Physically tests every mechanical interactive, push-button, touch-screen, etc. Conducts known troubleshooting measures, and reports any malfunctions or damage that could not be remedied through routine troubleshooting for further investigation and repair. Re-lamps exhibit lighting according to schedule and/or on an as needed basis.
Completes assigned exhibit maintenance and repairs, investigating possible solutions Replaces buttons; patches walls; resecures fallen graphic panels; resecures markers; replaces display case gaskets; realigns pull-panels; replaces damaged graphic panels; cleans scenic environments; resecures delaminating wallpaper or graphic murals; resecures decorative trims; cleans and dusts scenic elements and didactic models; specialized cleaning of exhibit surfaces such as graphic panels, frames, trim, etc.; or any other exhibit repairs and cleaning that can be assigned to a trainee.
Restocks exhibit consumables and cleans exhibit components daily. Ensures that the exhibits workshop, AV control room, and graphics production Suite remain tidy and organized. Assists with maintenance of exhibits equipment as directed. Advises Exhibits Specialist when restock of exhibits supplies are needed. Submits requests for purchasing or contracting for needed repair, production, and installation tasks as needed. Notifies supervisor of any display issues; recommends improvements or repairs as appropriate.
Exhibits Production and Installation
Assists with fabrication and placement of museum exhibits, displays, graphics and signage, which may include providing direct assistance to lead exhibit specialist; handling large, heavy materials; installing display cases, graphics, and exhibit furnishings; working independently following initial instruction and training by the lead exhibits specialist to fabricate exhibit components using techniques such as woodworking, metalworking, cabinetmaking, matting and framing, bending acrylic, cutting mats for mounting artwork, mounting graphics to various backings/substrates, fabricating wood pedestals, assembling benches and cabinetry.
Produces and installs exhibit and museum graphics and maintains stock of printing supplies. This involves printing provided designs, preparing graphic substrates, mounting graphic prints to substrates, and laminating graphic panels. Maintains the stock of printing supplies to ensure adequate supplies of papers, substrates, mounting materials and inks.
Assists exhibit and graphic design and production contractors by providing on-site support and assistance, photos and measurements of intended display locations, providing escort to during site visits or installation, and hands-on assistance for delivery and installation of exhibits and graphics including artifacts, casework, lighting systems, and other display or interactive components.
Project Support
Serves as a Point of Contact (POC) for production, installation, and maintenance/repair initiatives. Serves as a point of contact, especially for on-site escort and assistance for contractors or other SI employees. Communicates directly with service providers in order to facilitate scheduling site visits, access to exhibits, equipment, and supplies needed for production, installation, maintenance and repair services provided by contractors, SIE, OFMR or other providers. Provides input to the Exhibits Specialists and Director of Exhibits for the development of scopes of work or purchase orders for needed repairs, supplies and services.
Provides input for planning and carrying out exhibit operations and projects. For operations, provides updates from daily inspections, notifying the supervisor of any problems identified that could not be fixed, describing any suspected causes of the damage or malfunction, suggesting any ideas for repair, noting any tools, materials, or other resources needed for conducting repairs, estimating timelines when possible, and then carrying out any assigned tasks to solve the problem. Examples of typical projects may include issues such as dealing with multiple peeling wall-paper and graphic wallpapers throughout the building. The assistant would inspect all wallpapers and murals, identify the ones that were starting to peel, take photos of them, measure them, and identify which type of reattachment each location needed (clear or decorative corner extrusion or flat extrusion). The assistant also keeps the team up to date on the availability of equipment for exhibit installation such as lifts, which are needed for other museum repairs and maintenance.
Carries out simple diagnostics learned on the job to determine the type of problem and repair needed for malfunctioning or damaged exhibits, makes recommendations for repair options including AV and multimedia exhibits which may include calling in an electrician due to suspected disruption in power, replacing a monitor that is no longer working, or recommending repair vs. replacement for an exhibit component (may be at the scale of a cam lock, a display case, or a graphic panel).
Assists and/or escorts contractors providing installation, operations and maintenance support for exhibits, such as loading/unloading, installations/de-installations, maintenance and repairs, or other related work. Assists with the testing and evaluation of produced components for durability and workmanship.
The incumbent performs other duties as assigned.

QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENTS

Ability to carry out prescribed exhibit fabrication, installation, AV, operations, and/or maintenance procedures, gained through experience.
Knowledge to complete exhibit fabrication using woodworking, metalworking, cabinetmaking, matting and framing, plastics and/or other materials used for exhibit fabrication, gained through experience. Examples include: Bending acrylic, cutting mats for mounting artwork, mounting vinyl graphics to various backings/substrates, fabricating wood pedestals, assembling benches and cabinetry.
Ability to follow prescribed procedures for the safe storage, use, and disposal of materials and supplies used in exhibition repair and fabrication.
Ability to use various hand tools and power tools associated with exhibit maintenance and repair, gained through experience. These include, but are not limited to drills, power drivers, nail guns, laser level, laser measure, clamps, circular saw, and router.
Ability to safely use and maintain various types of equipment commonly found in an exhibit workshop including but not limited to table saw, band saw, belt sander, drill press, and fume hoods, gained through experience.
Ability to operate lifts to change light bulbs, complete annual training requirements, following safety procedures and work at heights up to 35 feet.
Knowledge to clean, operate and perform basic troubleshooting of exhibit media, audio/visual, computer interactives, and/or control systems, gained through experience.
Ability to use a computer to carry out simple administrative and graphic production tasks. This includes printing and routine printer maintenance using the printer application maintenance functions.