Summer Visitor Services Attendant

Summer Visitor Services Attendant

Job Type: Part/Full-time Summer Student Employment (30-35 hours per week)

Supervisor: Visitor Services Supervisor

Pay: $16.55/hr

Start Date: June 17, 2024

End Date: August 31, 2024

Application Deadline: May 3, 2024

The Opportunity 

The Thunder Bay Art Gallery is welcoming applications from attentive and personable candidates for our team of summer Visitor Services Attendants. As the friendly and professional first point of contact at the Gallery, successful candidates will greet visitors, provide helpful information, conduct giftshop sales, maintain public spaces, and ensure positive Gallery experiences. An interest in visual arts and previous customer service experience is an asset.

The Thunder Bay Art Gallery is a popular destination that delivers exhibitions & programming year-round providing local, national, and international visitors opportunities to engage with Indigenous and contemporary Canadian art. The Gallery welcomes over 30,000 annual visitors of all ages and backgrounds.

The Thunder Bay Art Gallery is uniquely positioned in Northern Ontario as a cultural institution with significant regional, provincial, and national profile. The Gallery has grown steadily over the last 45 years and is at a crucial stage of growth and advancement as we prepare to move into a purpose designed facility on Thunder Bay’s beautiful waterfront that will more than triple our operating and programming space.

Primary Areas of Responsibility 

1.       Share accurate information about gallery functions, exhibitions, events, fundraising initiatives, and public programs.

2.       Answer questions over the phone and in person. Take detailed messages and direct inquiries to appropriate staff members when required.

3.       Complete daily opening and closing procedures including building maintenance and security checks.

4.       Ensure the safety of artwork by explaining rules to patrons, maintaining presence in exhibition spaces, and when necessary, following procedures for rule enforcement.

5.       Track Gallery visitor attendance.

6.       Process admission fees, memberships, donations, and class fees.

7.       Assist customers with store purchases.

8.       Provide customer assistance with gift shop purchases.

9.       Conduct inventory management through restocking of items, setting up merchandising displays, and maintaining a clean and organized environment. Complete a mid-summer inventory count.

10.   Reconcile and balance the daily cash summary.

11.   Maintain public spaces through daily vacuuming, dusting, disinfecting, and tidying.

12.   Set up/clean up tables, chairs, and refreshments for events and meetings.

13.   Support education programming through the preparation of activities and materials.

14.   Provide educator support through additional supervision of art class participants during gallery visits and outdoor activities.

15.   Responsibilities as assigned.

Essential Skills 

• Exceptional interpersonal skills including an ability to engage with sensitivity to a diverse audience.
• Strong communication skills, both verbal and written.
• Excellent organizational skills and ability to collaborate with team members to achieve daily goals.
• Comfortable with the public and able to lead tours of exhibitions.
• Observant of details and capable of problem solving.
• Knowledge of visual arts an asset.
• Point of sale and customer service experience an asset.

About Thunder Bay Art Gallery: 

The Thunder Bay Art Gallery gratefully acknowledges that we are located on the territory of the Anishinaabe peoples of Northwestern Ontario. We work and live on the lands of the Fort William First Nation who are signatory to the Robinson-Superior Treaty of 1850.

As the public art gallery for Thunder Bay and Northern Ontario, the Thunder Bay Art Gallery exhibits, collects, and interprets art with a focus on the work of contemporary Indigenous and Northern Ontario artists. The Gallery nurtures a life-long appreciation of the visual arts by:

·         presenting exhibitions of artistic and educational value to cultivate a depth of visual arts experience for the public in Thunder Bay and the broader region of Northern Ontario;

·         supporting and enhancing the development of contemporary Canadian artists with an emphasis on (but not limited to) contemporary Indigenous artists and artists from Northwestern Ontario;

·         stewarding, conserving, and animating a permanent collection of art focused on the work of contemporary Indigenous artists and innovative cultural and artistic practice of Northwestern Ontario artists;

·         and, presenting public programming and outreach activities in order to build audience, increase reception, and expand understanding of the visual arts.

For over 45 years the Thunder Bay Art Gallery has steadily grown and is now the largest art museum in Northern Ontario. Today, we have more than 1600 works of art in our world renowned permanent collection and welcome more than 30,000 people through our doors each year. Every day, the Gallery provides school tours, hosts free public programs, and shares our space with community groups. We are a bustling cultural hub committed to contemporary Indigenous, local, and regional art.

Finally, we are in the process of preparing for the transition to a new purposed designed facility on Thunder Bay’s waterfront in late 2025. This new gallery will more than triple our exhibition and operating spaces. This significant addition to Ontario’s cultural infrastructure will provide $33 million in direct economic impact during construction. Once open, the Gallery’s operations will generate $2.2 million annually in direct and indirect impacts to the local and regional economy, as well as an estimated $7 million in annual visitor spending.

How to Apply 

Applicants who are Deaf, have an exceptionality or disability, or who need support expressing interest or applying for this opportunity are encouraged to contact Valin Sacchetti, Administrative Coordinator at administration@theag.ca or call 807.577.6427 to allow for appropriate accommodation of your needs and to discuss alternate formats for submitting your application.

To apply for this position, please send via email to Visitorservices@theag.ca, a cover letter, a current resume and the names of two references, under the subject line “Summer Visitor Services Attendant” addressed to:

Katy Poirier, Visitor Services Supervisor

Thunder Bay Art Gallery
PO Box 10193
Thunder Bay, ON, P7B 6T7

The Thunder Bay Art Gallery is committed to employment equity and diversity and encourage applications from all qualified candidates, including women, people of any sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression; Indigenous peoples; visible minorities and racialized people; and people with disabilities. We thank all applicants for their interest; however, only those selected for an interview will be contacted.