My experiences working in a museum
I am a Gallery Associate at a mid-level sized art museum in the midwest, and I'm on here to vent about my position and how our floor staff is treated.
People on our team are othered by those in higher positions. They are even told to avoid talking to us because we are unionized. When walking through the museum, most act like we don't exist and aren't worth talking to.
We are paid significantly lower than other comparable positions in the state.
We are often snubbed at any chance for career advancement or upward mobility even when we have staff on our team that has advanced degrees. I know nepotism is a common problem in this field, but its disheartening to see qualified individuals who have already given years of their life to this place be shot down constantly.
Some people have been sexually or verbally harassed or even stalked by visitors. The museum will remove us from the floor rather than the visitor. Our managers will often gaslight or accuse us of lying or exaggerating. They went as far as to put people who have been harassed the most into remedial training.
Our team has an incredibly high turnover rate with a team consistenting mostly of part-time employees. Most people don't work here longer than a year because of the hostile work environment or being forced out by management for small insignificant reasons.
Racism, misogyny, homophobia, and transphobia are rampant. We aren't considered for people-facing events that celebrate identity to represent the museum, like most recently the local Pride parade. Docents will often make racist remarks to our black staff members with little to no consequences. Female-presenting and queer staff are often targeted by upper management and even immediate supervisors. They are constantly snapped at or yelled at for no good reason.
We were recently exposed to toxic fumes consistently for about a month, and we were the team that was affected the most. The museum still didn't close. Visitors complained about it. We had a lot of people get sick and have to go home early on more than one occasion. These fumes had the potential to be cancer-causing and affect reproductive capabilities.
I know some of these problems are unique to my museum. Some of them aren't. This isn't even half of the problems here. This position has made me rethink any future career or education related to this field. I know that there are better institutions who genuinely care about their mission, their art, and their employees, I am just disappointed that I don't work for one.