Figge Gallery Host
The Gallery Hosts provide a welcoming, safe, and informative visitor experience by answering questions, providing background on the museum’s collections and exhibitions, and assisting in wayfinding throughout the building. Hosts are responsible for undergoing continuous cross-training in four visitor-facing areas: visitor orientation, in-gallery experience, collection and exhibition content, and safety and security. Hosts will regularly educate themselves on exhibitions by viewing or attending docent training. If this training occurs outside of regularly scheduled hours, Hosts will submit a timecard for the time spent training. Hosts will review bi-weekly events calendar provided to them by Gallery Host Manager. Hosts will participate in safety training including and not limited to fire drills. Hosts will communicate to the Gallery Host Manager if additional training is desired.
Compensation and Hours
$15.00 per hour.
Part-time, non-exempt.14-21 hours weekly (not to exceed 30 hours/week)
Key Responsibilities
- Provide excellent customer service to guests
- Monitor gallery spaces to ensure the safety of guests and of works of art
- Enforce museum visitor policies
- Maintain and build on knowledge of the museum’s collections and exhibitions through training and self-guided research.
- Become an expert on the museum building and its role in the community
- Ensure easy and efficient flow through the museum
- Liaise with the security staff as needed
- Stay current with available training, including but not limited to security training, audience engagement and collection training, and visitor orientation
- High school diploma, GED, or prior military service.
- Ability to work with individuals from a wide variety of ethnic, cultural, and economic backgrounds.
- Ability to identify and positively resolve visitor issues in the moment.
- Good and thoughtful decision-making skills.
- Effective and persuasive communication skills; demonstrated ability to communicate clearly and effectively, in order to present information to diverse audiences
Desired Qualifications
- Relevant coursework in arts education, museum studies, studio art, art history, or history (American, Western European and Latin American) from an accredited college or university.
- Foreign language skills.
- Experience in a visitor-facing role at a comparable organization.
- Experience in hospitality, retail, attractions, or cultural organizations.
About Us:
The Figge Art Museum brings art and people together and enriches our community with the experience of art through education, collections, exhibitions, and preservation. Located on the Mississippi River in Downtown Davenport, the Figge is the premier art exhibition and education facility between Chicago and Des Moines. Its 110,000 square foot landmark glass building, designed by British architect David Chipperfield, is home to one of the Midwest’s finest art collections and to the Grant Wood Archive, and combines collection and exhibition galleries, education studios, an auditorium, a café, and a bustling lobby. The Figge presents over 20 rotating exhibitions of historical and contemporary art each year as well as art classes, educational programs, special events, and outreach sessions that inspire and attract regional, national, and international audiences of all ages. The Figge has a professional staff of 30, with an annual budget of $3.6 million.
The Figge is proud to be an equal opportunity employer and welcomes all to apply. We aim to attract and retain talented people from all backgrounds. We are committed to a diverse, inclusive, equitable, accessible, and safe environment and value varied ideas, perspectives, insights, skills, and experiences within our workplace.
To Apply:
Please send a resume to [email protected]. Please indicate “Gallery Host” in the subject line. We encourage interested candidates to apply as soon as possible. A review of applications will begin immediately and will continue until the position is filled. All applications will be kept confidential.
