Curatorial Assistant

Description

About Denver Botanic Gardens: Green inside and out, Denver Botanic Gardens was founded in 1951 and is considered one of the top botanical gardens in the United States and a pioneer in water conservation. Accredited by the American Alliance of Museums, The Gardens has a robust living plant collection, natural history collection and art collection along with temporary art exhibitions. The Gardens is a dynamic, 24-acre urban oasis in the heart of the city, offering unforgettable opportunities to flourish with unique garden experiences for the whole family – as well as world-class exhibitions, education, and plant conservation research programs.

For more information, visit us online at www.botanicgardens.org.

Along with the mission of bringing plants to people, our Core Values are a fundamental driver of the Gardens culture. They are:

Sustainability. We are devoted to an institutional, environmental and human sustainability.

Diversity. We champion inclusion, diversity, equity and accessibility for all we encounter, and also support programmatic, ecological and plant diversity.

Relevance. We make connections with all people using a lens of inclusion, equity and responsiveness.

Transformation. We believe ever-evolving public gardens change the world and lead to positive transformation of human spirit and knowledge.

Denver Botanic Gardens is currently seeking a Full Time Curatorial Assistant in our Exhibitions Department! Read below to see if the requirements might be a good fit for you:

Position Summary

This position provides essential administrative support to the curatorial team within the Exhibitions, Art & Learning Engagement Department to implement the Gardens’ ambitious exhibition program. The role takes a proactive and detail-oriented approach in a demanding, fast-paced, and multi-priority environment.

This position requires impeccable organization skills and attention to detail are a must in this position, as essential activities include calendaring, proofreading copy, overseeing workflows to meet content deadlines for marketing needs, sharing copy and images with stakeholders for various platforms (signage, web, press releases, eblasts, and similar) across multiple and overlapping deadlines, coordinating images and related credit lines for promotional use, image licensing, and routing content within the editorial workflows.

Requirements

General Duties and Responsibilities

• Formats, routes, and coordinates copy and image assets for marketing needs, including press releases, blogs, website, member magazine, and e-communications.
• Copyedits and proofs written materials for quality, accuracy and alignment with institutional standards.
• Develops and manages content schedules and deadlines for materials produced across the department for marketing, in-gallery, and other department-wide uses.
• Assists with scheduling exhibition-specific deadlines in collaboration with the broader Exhibitions team.
• Oversees internal review process, adapting and troubleshooting as needed and take a proactive role in moving materials through the workflow to meet deadlines.
• Routes content through translation and design pipelines.
• Coordinates rights and reproduction related to exhibitions and permanent collection objects, including securing image licenses and photographic permissions, tracking the status of marketing needs within the licensing workflow, and maintaining the accuracy of credit lines.
• Tracks, implements, and communicates updates to content amid a fast-paced content development environment. Helps with version management and organization of related documents and images.
• Provides research and writing support for exhibitions and collections as needed, including finding and sharing resources with curatorial and collections team members.
• Compiles and supports development of exhibition checklists; updates and exports documents for internal and external distribution.
• Contributes to exhibition-related volunteer and staff training presentations and documents, serves as presenter for trainings as needed.
• Assists with scheduling and integration of exhibit-related programs, working with multiple departments.
• Collaborates and communicates effectively with other department team members, the institutional calendaring team and artists to schedule, coordinate, and deliver public programs related to exhibitions, including artist talks and exhibition receptions.
• Staff’s events and programs including artist talks, receptions, and similar, acting as greeter and guide as needed. Includes some nights and weekends.
• Assists with artist residency and fellowship programs, including administrative aspects, artist coordination and communications.
• Obtains supplies for various programs and gallery complements.
• Responds to general inquiries from artists, gallerists, scholars, the public and other museums and gardens under general guidance.
• Leads tours of exhibitions as requested.
• Posts and manages calls to artists and related submissions and participates in and coordinates jurying activities.
• Assists with budget tracking and use of grant funds; supports grant reports and grant submissions as needed.
• Assists with exhibition installation and logistics as needed.
• Maintains satisfactory working relationships with managers, co-workers and others.
• Maintains a positive, helpful and solution-oriented demeanor when responding to or serving members and visitors.
• Regular attendance at the worksite may be required. As with all positions at Denver Botanic Gardens, the incumbent must be in good performance standing to be eligible for remote work. Remote work is at the discretion of management at all times.
• All Gardens employees must be committed to the mission of connecting people with plants, especially plants from the Rocky Mountain region and similar regions around the world, providing delight and enlightenment to everyone.

Position Qualifications: Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

• Superior organization and project management skills with keen attention to detail are critical.
• Ability to navigate and prioritize complex projects with overlapping timelines and move quickly between different kinds of activities and projects.
• Bilingual English-Spanish preferred but not required.
• Must have proven excellent customer service, interpersonal, and communication skills in dealing with the public.
• Ability to maintain stability under pressure and able to deal well with stressful situations.
• Ability to be flexible and willing to modify plans, when necessary, throughout the day.
• Ability to work a flexible schedule, including evenings, weekends and/or holidays.
• Knowledge of Microsoft Suite products, specifically Word, Excel and Outlook and Teams.
• Ability to work overtime as necessary.
• Must be a positive representative of the Gardens both internally and externally at all times.
• Must work with respect and cooperation at all times with fellow employees and the public.
• Must be committed to working safely at all times.

Experience/Education:

• High school diploma / GED and/or combination of education and equivalent experience is required.
• One to two years’ experience with administrative work and copyediting or editorial workflows, ideally within a museum or gallery environment or working within the disciplines of art, natural history, or science.
• Bachelor’s or associate degree in publishing, journalism, art history, museum studies, or related field desirable, but not required.

Travel:

Up to 10% travel required. Requires the ability to travel to remote locations (or other Garden locations) where environment may vary significantly.

Denver Botanic Gardens has an incredible benefits package for eligible employees!

Our major benefits include a choice of Medical Plans, a Dental and Vision Plan and Life Insurance Plan. We have a Flexible Spending Account (FSA) and a Healthcare Spending Account (HSA).

The Gardens offers a generous Retirement Savings Plan with Company contribution of 6% after one year of service for eligible participants.

The Gardens also offers paid holidays, vacation, sick time, and access to personal lines of insurance. Additional benefits include short-term and long-term disability coverage, an Employee Assistance Program (EAP) and an RTD ECO pass.

For eligible employees, The Gardens employment also includes a complimentary Denver Botanic Gardens Membership, access to Gardens education classes and summer concert tickets.

Come work for a place that offers you SO much more than just a paycheck!