Gallery Assistant - Part Time

Hands On Children's Museum•Olympia, WA

9d•$17 - $18

About The Position

The Hands On Children’s Museum is located on the picturesque East Bay waterfront in downtown Olympia. We are a nationally known family learning destination and the most visited children’s museum in the Pacific Northwest hosting more than 300,000 visitors each year. Our mission is to stimulate curiosity, creativity, and critical thinking skills through rich, interactive learning experiences. We believe that all children deserve respect and the opportunity to learn, regardless of their ability to pay, which is why the Museum works hard to serve more than one-third of its annual visitation through the Inspired Learning for All initiative. The Museum is recognized as a national Museum for All and won a Noyce Foundation Bright Lights Award for bringing art and science education to underserved populations. Voted a “Best Place for Kids” for more than a decade, the Museum offers a state-of-the-art LEED Gold facility with 150 indoor exhibits, a half-acre Outdoor Discovery Center, Art Studio, a MakeSpace for tinkering and inventing, café and gift shop, and award-winning education programs including camps, workshops, preschool, parenting classes, field trips, community outreach and family support programs. The Gallery Services Assistant position is perfect for people who are excited about engagement and interaction with the public in a fun, fast-paced, learning environment! Gallery Assistants are responsible for engaging visitors in play and making their visit magical. This includes monitoring exhibit areas for safe play and maintaining the cleanliness, organization, supplies, functionality, and safety of the museum exhibit galleries. Participation in special museum events, special projects and department and staff meetings is required.

Requirements

Must be able to perform work duties in an environment with noise and crowds.
Must be able to use a walkie talkie system for communication with other staff members.
Must have weekend availability.
Must be available for school holidays, museum events, and occasional after-hours events.
Must have a high level of energy, enthusiasm, flexibility and patience.
Ability to communicate with the public including Museum visitors, parents/caregivers and community members in a courteous and professional manner.
Must be able to work independently and multi-task in a fast-paced environment.
Must be able to work outdoors exposed to sunlight/heat or rain/cold.
Physical requirements include stooping, kneeling, bending, standing, squatting/crouching, crawling, pushing/pulling, climbing up and down stairs, and reaching above the shoulders.
Lifting boxes, tables, chairs, stools, and other exhibit pieces up to 30 lbs., and team lifting to 50lbs.

Responsibilities

Facilitate safe play with visitors, modeling how exhibits function and engaging with families.
Maintain exhibit galleries: re-positioning of exhibit props after visitor use, ensure exhibits are tidy and ready for use and replenish consumables in exhibits as needed.
Support Museum’s birthday party program.
Provide a high level of customer service to all museum visitors.
Other duties as assigned.