Preparator

Preparator

 

Position Summary

• Posted on: May 6, 2025

• Closing on: Open until filled

• Location: Toronto, ON
  Employment Type: Casual, part-time

• Remote/Onsite: Onsite

  Level: Staff

• Report to: Exhibitions Manager

• Start date: June 2025

• Base Hourly Rate: $31.00 per hour, plus 4% vacation pay and 4.5% pay in lieu of benefits

• Benefits: Attractions Ontario Benefits and Toronto Attractions Council Benefits

   

The Preparator will support and work closely with the Exhibition Manager and Production Lead & Exhibition Designer on all aspects of exhibition installation. MOCA is a non-collecting institution that focuses on new artwork commissions that transform the museum space with loans from other institutions and galleries. The position will be on a casual, part-time basis, dependent on exhibition needs and timelines.

 

The Preparator must have availability throughout September and the first half of October 2025.

 

Key Responsibilities:

• Support Exhibition Manager and Production Lead & Exhibition Designer in all areas of exhibition installation

• Assist with unpacking/packing artworks and installations at the highest possible museum standards

• Assist with audio-visual installation

• Assist with gallery maintenance and lighting 

• Assist with construction, in-house fabrication and build aspects related to exhibition preparation

• Other duties as assigned

   

Skills, Knowledge and Expertise: Must-haves

• Minimum two years of experience with exhibition installation at a museum, gallery or cultural institution

• Knowledge of museum standards for exhibition installation 

• Understanding of art handling and fabrication to ensure safe and efficient installation 

• Ability to physically lift/move artworks 

• Understanding of installation methods, including technical knowledge with regard to the display of audio-visual works 

• Experience with power tools and power tool safety 

• Ability to work effectively under pressure 

• High attention to detail and the ability to follow detailed instructions

   

Skills, Knowledge and Expertise: Nice-to-haves

• Knowledge of gallery and artwork lighting

• Experience in wall construction and painting; experience in crate-building, mount-making, framing, and cabinet making

• Excellent organizational and time-management skills 

• Open attitude and enthusiasm for problem-solving; good communication

• Must be willing and capable to work on a flexible schedule

• Working At Heights and Elevated Platform training are preferred 

Application Instructions

Apply through the MOCA careers website: https://careers.moca.ca

Please apply with a resume and cover letter (personal summary). Due to limited resources, only those selected for an interview will be contacted.

 

Equity and Diversity

MOCA Toronto advocates equal opportunity for all employees and applicants for employment and is committed to diversity in the workplace.

MOCA Toronto is committed to ensuring that MOCA Toronto is an inclusive space where community members are treated with respect and dignity. MOCA Toronto encourages applications from everyone, including but not limited to women, indigenous peoples, visible minorities, people with disabilities and persons of all sexual orientations and gender identities.  

 

About The Museum of Contemporary Art

 

Vision

The Museum of Contemporary Art Toronto is at the heart of the art ecosystem. MOCA will be ambitiously inclusive, interdisciplinary, and internationally renowned through our work with artists. A place for everyone to explore that provokes ideas and discussion and challenges the current cultural moment.

 

Mission

Artists, relationships, and experimentation are at the centre of everything we do. MOCA Toronto presents rotating exhibitions and programmes that prioritize twenty-first-century artistic production, primarily through commissioning new work. We foster active dialogue, participation and celebrate complexity; in order to serve as an inclusive cultural hub in this hyper-diverse city and world.

 

Values

• Equity, inclusion, and access

• Artist-centered, interdisciplinary and process-oriented

• Critical conversations and transformative work at our core

• Reciprocal and relationship-based

• Locally rooted and globally connected

• Courage and Responsibility

   

Brief History

MOCA is a twenty-year-old institution that has experienced numerous iterations over the years. However, two main aspects have remained constant: 

 

The institution has served as an important gathering space in Toronto and Canada for artists to experiment, celebrate complexity, and offer thought-provoking responses to the current cultural moment MOCA has been and is constantly evolving and expanding with our times.

In September 2018, MOCA moved into the Auto BLDG, a purpose-designed home in a former industrial space at the heart of a new neighbourhood in The Lower Junction.