Curatorial & Museum Collections Member- Saint-Gaudens National Historical Park

Summary

American Conservation Experience, a nonprofit Conservation Corps, in partnership with the National Park Service (NPS), is seeking ONE Curatorial & Museum Collections Member to contribute to cultural resource/curatorial/museum projects alongside NPS Staff.

For more information about ACE, please visit our website.

 

Start Date: 1/4/2027

End Date: 12/31/2027

*a 52-week commitment is required*

 

Location Details/Description: Saint-Gaudens National Historical Park (Cornish, NH)

About the park: Saint-Gaudens NHP, New Hampshire's only national park, consists of 190 acres including the home (Aspet), gardens, and studios of Augustus Saint-Gaudens (1848-1907). As one of America's foremost sculptors, he is best known for his public monuments, including the Sherman and Farragut monuments in New York City, the Shaw Memorial in Boston, MA, the Standing and Seated Lincoln Memorials in Chicago, IL, as well as the 1907 ten and twenty-dollar gold coins, and over 100 portrait reliefs. Aspet was his summer residence from 1885-1897, and his permanent home from 1900 until his death in 1907. In partnership with the Saint-Gaudens Memorial, the site promotes the arts through exhibitions, special events, and programs as a living tribute to the sculptor. Located in Cornish, New Hampshire, the site is one of only two national parks dedicated to a visual artist. There are two hiking trails that explore the park's natural areas. For more information about Saint-Gaudens NHP, visit www.nps.gov/saga.

About the area: The position is duty-stationed at Saint-Gaudens National Historical Park (SAGA) in Cornish, New Hampshire, which is a rural area. Having a personal vehicle is strongly encouraged and highly recommended for commuting and to access groceries and other needs on your days off. Public transportation and ride share are not available or dependable.

Staff at SAGA live in the surrounding communities in both New Hampshire and Vermont. The nearest community to Cornish is Windsor, Vermont, three miles away. Windsor has a population of approximately 3,500 and amenities such as a hospital, churches, restaurants, stores, transportation, etc. Larger nearby communities include Lebanon, NH (11 miles north) and Claremont, NH (10 miles south). Lebanon and Claremont both have all standard services and amenities. Hanover, NH, home of Dartmouth College, is a college town just north of Lebanon with a variety of amenities. Temperatures in the area range from -10 F to +40 F in the winter and +50 F to +95 F in the summer. Precipitation is approximately 35 inches annually. The climate includes four distinct seasons, with mild summers and winters, both with countless opportunities for outdoor activities. Boston is 2.5 hours from Cornish, while Montreal, Quebec, is just over 3 hours away. New York City is approximately 5 hours away and can also be reached by Amtrak or luxury coach bus service.

Position Overview:

The Member's typical or routine duties will be hands-on in nature. This position is active and experiential, so that the team member gains a better understanding of the National Park Service generally, and the NPS Museum Management Program specifically. You will be expected to work in various environments, including typical office workstation settings in modern climate-controlled facilities, outdoors across seasons in typical New England weather throughout the park campus, as well as spending periods of time in historical and other non-climate-controlled structures to complete your assigned tasks or duties throughout the year.

During the park operating season of Memorial Day through October 31, the member will often be working in the historic core of the park, encountering curious visitors throughout the course of their regular curatorial duties. As a Member of the Cultural Resources team, Members are expected to interact with visitors, providing a positive and memorable experience at the park while completing their assigned curatorial duties. Opportunities to assist with special events, other conservation fields (such natural resources), and shadowing different work groups and on-site contractors within the park are encouraged, when they are offered and as the park operational needs and Member's schedule allows.   

With a focus or concentration in the area of museum collections management, the essential duties may include: 

• Learn proper museum object handling techniques and basic methods for object care, including basic bronze preventive conservation and care, and object movement and installation which may require the operation of government owned vehicles.  

• Perform routine museum housekeeping of historic structures and exhibition spaces, including daily, weekly, monthly, or annual cleaning and preventative maintenance.

• Perform routine environmental monitoring and integrated pest management (IPM).  

• Contribute content to digital platforms (social media, website, etc.) about collections care, museum objects, and/or park history.  

• Assist with inventorying a vast fine art and history collection, featuring sculptural works in bronze and plaster, oil and watercolor paintings, prints, photographs, postcards and other ephemera, books, textiles, medals, coins, decorative arts, and ceramics.  

• Perform basic/cursory/routine research in response to outside inquiries to the park or operational needs. Please note that this position by nature does not generally include or focus heavily on independent academic or traditional curatorial-type research.

• Develop interpretation skills, including interpersonal communication with visitors having a wide range of backgrounds, and interpretation of cultural artifacts and associated stories through research, tours, and/or exhibit or social media creation. 

Members will be assigned 4-8 hours per week to support the Visitor Services staff in a front-line capacity during the operating season. They will be included in pre-season training presented by Visitor Services during the two weeks prior to the park opening. Visitor Services work may include interpretation of the park's resources in a docent capacity, staffing a visitor contact station (kiosk), and by nature will include regular, frequent interaction with the public and collaboration with visitor services staff and volunteers. You may be asked to compile or create information about park-related subjects for online publication and/or presentation for internal or public audiences.

All Members will work on a project relating to the park's mission and interpretive themes, using the park's museum collections and other resources. Members in the past have created a poster- or panel-type exhibition, to be installed in the Little Studio, hands-on activities for the general public during regular or special events, developing a public presentation, or contributing to baseline museum documents as assigned by the curator. Members will learn and apply the process of exhibit development, including research, writing, object selection, and installation planning, design, and layout of their product. The Member may not see the final finished product installed or implemented during their term, however they will be updated when their exhibit is scheduled to go on view at the park. This project is in addition to the regular and assigned duties as listed above.

The Member can expect to connect with a cohort of other emerging professionals at SAGA and its co-managed unit, Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park. On a weekly basis during the operating season, they are expected to participate in regular meetings for community building with their peers, networking, and professional development.

This is not an exhaustive, prioritized, or guaranteed list of the Member's work. Additional, unique opportunities such as hands-on workshops, rehousing, packing and labeling of museum objects for transportation or storage, and assistance with co-managed Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller NHP often arise during the course of the internship, but are based on available resources and previously scheduled work for a given year.

This individual placement is meant to facilitate professional development and promotes exposure to land management agencies and networking with professionals. This could include gaining experience in different conservation fields and shadowing different work groups.

Schedule:

Mon-Fri, 7:00 am – 3:30 pm, excluding Federal holidays. Telework is subject to approval under current NPS policy.

 

Position Benefits

Living Allowance: The ACE Member is expected to contribute ~40 hours/week and will receive a living allowance of $750/week (pre-tax) to offset the costs of food and incidental expenses, dispersed bi-weekly.

Public Land Corps Hiring Authority: Members serving under this agreement may be eligible for a federal hiring authority upon completion of their term of service and 640 hours of service. If the duration of a PLC-eligible term is not long enough for Members to accrue 640 hours of service (~16 weeks), the total hours served at the completion of the term may be eligible to be combined with hours accrued from another PLC-eligible term to meet the 640 hours requirement. PLC projects also include specific eligibility requirements such as age and citizenship. Please contact ACE staff with questions about eligibility, or view general eligibility information on our website.

Housing: Housing is the responsibility of the member and not provided by ACE or the NPS. ACE members will have access to up to (NTE) $12,000 (up to $1,000 month (taxed) for 12 months, in reimbursable funds each month) to be used for eligible housing expenses.

Relocation Allowance: ACE members will have access to up to (NTE) $1,000 (taxed) to be used for eligible relocation expenses. Further details regarding distribution of these funds will be provided during the interview process.

Training/Professional Development Allowance: ACE members will have access to up to (NTE) $1,000 in reimbursable funds to be used for eligible training and professional development expenses. Further details regarding distribution of these funds will be provided during the interview process.

Provided Training/Orientation: ACE members will receive position specific training and an orientation outlining ACE policies and procedures, clear guidance on prohibited activities, and networks for support. Specific training provided by the National Park Service may include: site orientation; formal and informal interpretation best practices and techniques; historical overview of the park; museum housekeeping; museum object handling, cataloging, rehousing, and packing; environmental monitoring, integrated pest management, and light monitoring; NPS automated cataloging system (TMS - The Museum System platform); and other unique opportunities that arise as part of park and museum operations.

Qualifications

Required:

• Detail-oriented, with a deep interest in learning or a passion for museum collections management and care, is a must!
• Members must be a U.S. citizen or a Permanent Resident.
• Willing and able to represent ACE and the partner organization in a professional, positive, and enthusiastic manner.
• Ability to be both self-directed/work alone, and be a positive, contributing Member of a group.
• Basic computer skills, including familiarity with Windows-based platforms (Excel, PowerPoint, Word, etc.).
• Excellent organizational, research, communication, and writing skills
• Curiosity about, and enthusiasm for, actively working with museum collections.
• A valid driver's license and an insurable driving record (documentation to be provided upon request). Members must be 21+ to drive due to ACE's insurance and liability requirements.
• Willing to undergo, and must pass, the required criminal history checks.
• Ability to pass government required background screening for Personal Identification Verification (PIV) card authorization, including information about previous residences, education, positions, and fingerprinting.
• Ability to perform the essential duties of the position with or without reasonable accommodation.
• ACE Members will need to complete bi-weekly timesheets, beginning of term feedback forms, end of term evaluations and for longer terms, a mid-term evaluation.
• Member may not participate in any prohibited activities as listed in the Member Service Agreement.
• To learn more about eligibility requirements, please visit the ACE website.

Preferred:

• Competitive applicants for this position can hold or be pursuing a degree in museum collections management, museum studies, public history, cultural resource management, or a related field, and/or have relevant experience in subject areas such as art history, exhibit design, cataloging, and material culture.
• Knowledge and interest in the areas of best practices in museum collections management, current trends in museum interpretation, art history, and American history.
• Ability and willingness to adapt to operational needs, learn new skills, work hands-on with a variety of materials, and work in a variety of non-controlled and sometimes physically demanding environments with the museum collection to perform routine cleaning and pest monitoring duties. You will be working with museum pests, dirt, and dust.
• Experience or interest in public speaking and communicating with/writing for the general public.

Physical Demands, Work Environment, and Working Conditions:

Physical Demands: This is a fast-paced and often active position. This position frequently shifts from active to sedentary on a daily basis.

• Ability to traverse uneven and/or unpaved exterior areas throughout the park grounds, as collections objects and associated materials are located in numerous modern and historic buildings and settings across 190 acres of parkland.
• Regular duties require frequent walking/hiking, carrying, reaching with arms and hands on flat surfaces or while on ladders, sitting, standing, using hands to feel or handle.
• Manual dexterity required for use of various tools beyond computer keyboard/mouse including other office equipment and specialized museum collections handling tools or equipment.
• Duties will require work outdoors and/or in un-heated/un-air-conditioned historical structures throughout the year; environments may include temperature extremes, uneven floors, frequent stair climbing and walking, accessing crawl spaces (expect to bend, crouch, kneel, or stoop), and traversing uneven/unpaved grounds.
• Work may include contact with dust, dirt, pollen, and grime, and/or the use of approved solutions and chemicals, using provided training and PPE as needed.
• While performing regular duties, Member may encounter a variety of live or dead plants, animals, and insects, and their droppings, and may include mice, bats, spiders, and stinging or biting insects.

• Vision Requirements: Requires close, distance, peripheral and depth perception vision as well as the ability to focus.
• Weight Lifted or Force Exerted: The museum collection consists of heavy fine art sculptures and other associated equipment made of metal, bronze, wood, plaster, which may not include specific hand-holds or well-defined grip points. The Member will frequently move up to 35 pounds unassisted. The ability to move additional weight with or without assistance.

• Environmental: Some museum collections objects are exhibited or stored in non-climate-controlled historic structures, where extremes of hot/humid and cold/dry conditions may vary depending on the season. Personal workspace is located in an office environment, where conditions are generally typical; indoor air quality is good, and temperature is generally controlled. During the operating season of Memorial Day through October 31, the incumbent will often be working in the historic core of the park, encountering curious visitors from the general public throughout the course of their regular duties.

• Noise Environment: Moderate noise such as in a business office with equipment and light traffic.
• Travel: This position does not require unique travel.

Environmental Conditions/Hazards: The ACE Member(s) may encounter environmental conditions/hazards including extreme heat or cold, uneven terrain, non-climate controlled historic buildings, structures or landscapes, biting insects, and potentially dangerous wildlife. The Member is expected to conduct duties in a safe and orderly manner so as not to endanger self, fellow staff/Members or resources. Member(s) will be provided with appropriate training and PPE as needed or required.

Vehicle and Equipment Use/Safety: If a vehicle is required for the accomplishment of the duties, one will be provided by the NPS or ACE. Any tools required for the accomplishment of the duties will be provided by the NPS. Use of personal protective equipment (PPE), typically provided by the NPS, will be mandatory for any activity that requires it. Strict adherence to the NPS and ACE equipment training, certification and safety protocols is required.

To Apply: Please submit your resume, a cover letter demonstrating your interest and experience, and contact information for three professional/academic references to ACE's online application page for this position on our website. Early consideration will be given as applications are received. This position may close at any time. If you have any questions regarding this position please feel free to contact ACE EPIC NPS Eastern Program Manager, Molly Nash.

If you meet at least 70 percent of the qualifications, we want to hear from you!

ACE participates in E-Verify and will provide the federal government with your Form I-9 information when you are enrolled in a program to confirm that you are authorized to work in the U.S.

EEO: Employment or Service with ACE is based upon ability, qualifications, attitude, and job-related factors. Every qualified employee, member, or applicant has the same opportunity for recruitment, hire, training, transfer, promotion, compensation, demotion, termination, benefits, employee activities, and general treatment without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, creed, national origin, pregnancy, ancestry, citizenship status, genetic information, veteran or military status, physical or mental disability, sexual orientation, medical condition, marital or parental status, political affiliation, ethnicity, hair texture or style, arrest record, caste, hereditary status, endogamy, or any other classification protected by applicable local, state, or federal law.