Curatorial Collections Intern

The City of Richmond is committed to be the most appealing, livable, well-managed community in Canada, a goal that is only made possible by developing our most valuable asset – our people. This is a great opportunity to join our team and shape our community. The City of Richmond offers competitive pay programs, comprehensive benefits and attractive incentives. If you are looking to make a difference, and to share our vision “to be the most appealing, livable, and well-managed community in Canada”, then please apply.

Overview:

This Young Canada Works (YCW) Curatorial Collections Intern position will work with the curatorial team to review, organize and document artefacts and records owned by the City of Richmond and located at Britannia Shipyards National Historic Site.

Richmond Museum and Heritage Services Collections team seeks a creative, energetic, positive and organized individual to work as a Curatorial Collections Intern. Under the supervision of the Curator of Collections and Assistant Curator, the Collections Intern will be responsible for creating reports, accessioning an industrial shipyards artefact collection, interviewing community members, inventorying, accessioning, practicing preventative conservation, making recommendations for deaccessioning and researching artefacts. 

This position is supported by the Young Canada Works (YCW) summer jobs program. 

The applicant must be a Canadian citizen, a permanent resident, or have been granted refugee status in Canada (non Canadians holding temporary work visas or awaiting permanent resident status are not eligible); be legally entitled to work in Canada (have a valid social insurance number); be between the ages of 16 and 30 years of age at the start of employment; be a college or university graduate (certificate, bachelor’s, master’s or doctorate).

Applicants must register in the YCW candidate inventory (http://young-canada-works.canada.ca/)

Note: Priority will be given to graduates that have not previously participated in YCW internship programs and that are unemployed or underemployed. Details: https://www.canada.ca/en/canadian-heritage/services/funding/young-canada-works/students-graduates/careers-heritage-graduates.html

Key Responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

• Review a large artefact collection focused mainly on ship building, canning and domestic life.
• Research the significance and relevance of objects to interpretation of the Site
• Assist in the development of a set of criteria for assessment of the collection
• Inventory and apply assessment criteria to the collection and document the process.
• Accession and photograph artefacts in the collection.
• Write reports, create, and execute plans. 
• Undertake general collections care activities as required.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

• Intermediate to advance skill with databases.
• Excellent writing skills.
• Strong interpersonal skills.
• Excellent organizational and planning skills.
• Ability to work independently.
• Demonstrated experience working with primary and secondary sources.

Qualifications and Experience:

• Graduate with a Bachelor of Arts in a related field (history, archaeology, anthropology).
• An interest in pursuing a career in the Museum & Heritage field or Archives.
• Certificate, Diploma or Masters in Museum or Archival Studies is an asset.
• Previous work or volunteer experience with artefact collections is an asset.
• Must meet the YCW eligibility requirements:  https://www.canada.ca/en/canadian-heritage/services/funding/young-canada-works/students-graduates/careers-heritage-graduates.html

 Working Conditions:

This position is based mainly out of the Britannia Shipyards, National Historic Site and the City’s artefact storage warehouses. Work is performed in an office environment as well as on-site outdoor environment which may require occasional exposure to adverse weather conditions and may require standing or walking for long periods. Routine light lifting and occasional heavy lifting is required.

Additional Information: