Intermittent Exhibits Specialist (Art) IS-1010-09
Smithsonian Institution, Washington, District of Columbia, United States
Position Details
Department:
National Museum of Asian Art
Location:
Washington, DC
Compensation:
$33.84 / hour
Application Deadline:
18 March 2026
Position Type:
Trust Fund
Appointment Type:
Temporary NTE 1 year
Schedule:
Intermittent
Duty Location:
Washington, DC
Position sensitivity and risk:
Non Sensitive/Low Risk
Open to all qualified applicants The National Museum of Asian Art (NMAA) is seeking a Temporary Intermittent Exhibit Specialist that is highly skilled in the fabrication, preparation and installation of a wide variety of museum-quality exhibition components including, but not limited to, casework, temporary walls, platforms, graphic panels, and interactive kiosks. This position is located in the Production Office of NMAA’s Exhibitions Department and reports to the Production Manager who will assign all tasks and projects.
Overview The Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art (NMAA) is committed to preserving, exhibiting, researching, and interpreting art in ways that deepen the public and scholarly understandings of Asia and the world. NMAA opened in 1923 as America’s first national art museum and the first Asian art museum in the United States. The museum now stewards one of the world’s most important collections of Asian art, with works dating from antiquity to the present, from China, Japan, Korea, South Asia, Southeast Asia, the pre‑Islamic Near East, and the Islamic world (inclusive of Central Asia, the Middle East, and North Africa). The museum also stewards an important collection of nineteenth‑ and early twentieth‑century American art. Today, NMAA is emerging as a leading national and global resource for understanding the arts, cultures, and societies of Asia, especially at their intersection with America. Guided by the belief that the future of art museums lies in collaboration, increased access, and transparency, NMAA is fostering new ways to engage with its audiences while maintaining its commitment to excellence. NMAA celebrated its centennial in 2023 and is determined to make the museum’s second century as accomplished as its first. The museum is building on its core strengths—the quality and depth of our collections, scholarship, and conservation—while embracing experimentation and new approaches to its work. The museum is transforming digitally, physically, and programmatically to draw in new audiences to celebrate, learn, and connect with Asian and American art and cultures, past and present. Located on the National Mall in Washington, DC, the museum is free and open 364 days a year. The Smithsonian, which is the world’s largest museum complex, welcomes twenty to thirty million visitors yearly. For more information about the National Museum of Asian Art, please visit asia.si.edu.
Duties and Responsibilities
Assist cabinetmakers with fabrication of casework, platforms, temporary walls, and other exhibition furniture.
Move and anchor casework and platforms to floors and walls.
Assist with maintaining tools/equipment and with receiving and organizing materials and supplies.
Prepare and install graphic text panels and labels, including cutting/trimming and mounting printed materials onto substrates.
Clean, install, and secure acrylic vitrines to casework.
Assist with moving existing casework and other exhibition components to storage areas both on site and at NMAA’s offsite storage facility.
Assist mount makers with fabric‑wrapping decks, blocks, and wedges, and other similar tasks.
Provide general support to exhibition teams (collections managers, conservators, curators, designers, production team, registrars) during object installations and deinstallations.
Assist the lighting team with basic tasks.
Perform other responsibilities of a similar nature.
Qualification Requirements Education and Experience:
To qualify for this position, applicants must possess relevant education and/or experience in fields related to the work, such as carpentry, woodworking, wood carving, fabrication, scenic construction, exhibit fabrication, industrial arts, or other closely related disciplines.
Advanced training beyond the high school level (e.g., vocational school, technical institute, or art institute) in one of the fields listed above is creditable as general experience on a month‑for‑month basis.
Experience working from shop drawings; ability to read and interpret exhibition floor plans and renderings, including 3D models.
Knowledge of materials (e.g., plywood, Medex/MDF, acrylic, PVC) and the processes and techniques used to fabricate exhibition components.
Knowledge of and experience with the safe care and operation of tools, equipment, and machinery used in exhibition preparation.
Familiarity with standard safety protocols for workshop environments.
Ability to work independently when conditions are safe to do so.
Ability to work collaboratively and effectively with others.
Demonstrated ability to operate machinery, tools, and art installation equipment safely and appropriately.
Unpaid experience is creditable, provided the work done was of a quality level and demonstrated the ability required for the position.
Education completed outside the United States must be deemed equivalent to higher education programs of U.S. Institutions by an organization that specializes in the interpretation of foreign educational credentials. This documentation is the responsibility of the applicant and should be included as part of your application package.
Any false statement in your application may result in rejection of your application and may also result in termination after employment begins.
Join us in "Inspiring Generations through Knowledge and Discovery".
Resumes should include a description of your paid and non‑paid work experience that is related to this job; starting and ending dates of job (month and year); and average number of hours worked per week.
What To Expect Next: Once the vacancy announcement closes, a review of your resume will be compared against the qualification and experience requirements related to this job. After review of applicant resumes is complete, qualified candidates will be referred to the hiring manager.
Relocation expenses are not paid.
The Smithsonian Institution provides reasonable accommodation to applicants with disabilities where appropriate. Applicants requiring reasonable accommodation should contact nmaa-hr@si.edu. Determinations on requests for reasonable accommodation will be made on a case‑by‑case basis. To learn more, please review the Smithsonian’s Accommodation Procedures.
The Smithsonian Institution is an
Equal Opportunity Employer . To review The Smithsonian's EEO program information, please click the following: https://www.si.edu/oeo
Conditions of Employment
Pass Pre‑employment Background Check and Subsequent Background Investigation for position designated.
Complete a Probationary Period.
Maintain a Bank Account for Direct Deposit/Electronic Transfer.
The position is open to all candidates eligible to work in the United States. Proof of eligibility to work in U.S. is not required to apply.
Applicants must meet all qualification and eligibility requirements within 30 days of the closing date of this announcement.
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National Museum of Asian Art
Location:
Washington, DC
Compensation:
$33.84 / hour
Application Deadline:
18 March 2026
Position Type:
Trust Fund
Appointment Type:
Temporary NTE 1 year
Schedule:
Intermittent
Duty Location:
Washington, DC
Position sensitivity and risk:
Non Sensitive/Low Risk
Open to all qualified applicants The National Museum of Asian Art (NMAA) is seeking a Temporary Intermittent Exhibit Specialist that is highly skilled in the fabrication, preparation and installation of a wide variety of museum-quality exhibition components including, but not limited to, casework, temporary walls, platforms, graphic panels, and interactive kiosks. This position is located in the Production Office of NMAA’s Exhibitions Department and reports to the Production Manager who will assign all tasks and projects.
Overview The Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art (NMAA) is committed to preserving, exhibiting, researching, and interpreting art in ways that deepen the public and scholarly understandings of Asia and the world. NMAA opened in 1923 as America’s first national art museum and the first Asian art museum in the United States. The museum now stewards one of the world’s most important collections of Asian art, with works dating from antiquity to the present, from China, Japan, Korea, South Asia, Southeast Asia, the pre‑Islamic Near East, and the Islamic world (inclusive of Central Asia, the Middle East, and North Africa). The museum also stewards an important collection of nineteenth‑ and early twentieth‑century American art. Today, NMAA is emerging as a leading national and global resource for understanding the arts, cultures, and societies of Asia, especially at their intersection with America. Guided by the belief that the future of art museums lies in collaboration, increased access, and transparency, NMAA is fostering new ways to engage with its audiences while maintaining its commitment to excellence. NMAA celebrated its centennial in 2023 and is determined to make the museum’s second century as accomplished as its first. The museum is building on its core strengths—the quality and depth of our collections, scholarship, and conservation—while embracing experimentation and new approaches to its work. The museum is transforming digitally, physically, and programmatically to draw in new audiences to celebrate, learn, and connect with Asian and American art and cultures, past and present. Located on the National Mall in Washington, DC, the museum is free and open 364 days a year. The Smithsonian, which is the world’s largest museum complex, welcomes twenty to thirty million visitors yearly. For more information about the National Museum of Asian Art, please visit asia.si.edu.
Duties and Responsibilities
Assist cabinetmakers with fabrication of casework, platforms, temporary walls, and other exhibition furniture.
Move and anchor casework and platforms to floors and walls.
Assist with maintaining tools/equipment and with receiving and organizing materials and supplies.
Prepare and install graphic text panels and labels, including cutting/trimming and mounting printed materials onto substrates.
Clean, install, and secure acrylic vitrines to casework.
Assist with moving existing casework and other exhibition components to storage areas both on site and at NMAA’s offsite storage facility.
Assist mount makers with fabric‑wrapping decks, blocks, and wedges, and other similar tasks.
Provide general support to exhibition teams (collections managers, conservators, curators, designers, production team, registrars) during object installations and deinstallations.
Assist the lighting team with basic tasks.
Perform other responsibilities of a similar nature.
Qualification Requirements Education and Experience:
To qualify for this position, applicants must possess relevant education and/or experience in fields related to the work, such as carpentry, woodworking, wood carving, fabrication, scenic construction, exhibit fabrication, industrial arts, or other closely related disciplines.
Advanced training beyond the high school level (e.g., vocational school, technical institute, or art institute) in one of the fields listed above is creditable as general experience on a month‑for‑month basis.
Experience working from shop drawings; ability to read and interpret exhibition floor plans and renderings, including 3D models.
Knowledge of materials (e.g., plywood, Medex/MDF, acrylic, PVC) and the processes and techniques used to fabricate exhibition components.
Knowledge of and experience with the safe care and operation of tools, equipment, and machinery used in exhibition preparation.
Familiarity with standard safety protocols for workshop environments.
Ability to work independently when conditions are safe to do so.
Ability to work collaboratively and effectively with others.
Demonstrated ability to operate machinery, tools, and art installation equipment safely and appropriately.
Unpaid experience is creditable, provided the work done was of a quality level and demonstrated the ability required for the position.
Education completed outside the United States must be deemed equivalent to higher education programs of U.S. Institutions by an organization that specializes in the interpretation of foreign educational credentials. This documentation is the responsibility of the applicant and should be included as part of your application package.
Any false statement in your application may result in rejection of your application and may also result in termination after employment begins.
Join us in "Inspiring Generations through Knowledge and Discovery".
Resumes should include a description of your paid and non‑paid work experience that is related to this job; starting and ending dates of job (month and year); and average number of hours worked per week.
What To Expect Next: Once the vacancy announcement closes, a review of your resume will be compared against the qualification and experience requirements related to this job. After review of applicant resumes is complete, qualified candidates will be referred to the hiring manager.
Relocation expenses are not paid.
The Smithsonian Institution provides reasonable accommodation to applicants with disabilities where appropriate. Applicants requiring reasonable accommodation should contact nmaa-hr@si.edu. Determinations on requests for reasonable accommodation will be made on a case‑by‑case basis. To learn more, please review the Smithsonian’s Accommodation Procedures.
The Smithsonian Institution is an
Equal Opportunity Employer . To review The Smithsonian's EEO program information, please click the following: https://www.si.edu/oeo
Conditions of Employment
Pass Pre‑employment Background Check and Subsequent Background Investigation for position designated.
Complete a Probationary Period.
Maintain a Bank Account for Direct Deposit/Electronic Transfer.
The position is open to all candidates eligible to work in the United States. Proof of eligibility to work in U.S. is not required to apply.
Applicants must meet all qualification and eligibility requirements within 30 days of the closing date of this announcement.
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