Art handler
Also called art handlers, art preparator, art conservator
Art handlers are trained individuals who work directly with objects in museums and art galleries. They work in coordination with exhibition registrars, collection managers, conservator-restorers and curators, among others, to ensure that objects are safely handled and cared for. Often they are responsible for packing and unpacking art, installing and deinstalling art in exhibitions, and moving art around the museum and storage spaces.
What you'd do
Gallery, museum and library technicians · ILO- Mounting and preparing objects for display
- Designing and arranging exhibit furnishings, display cases and display areas
- Assisting in setting up lighting and display equipment
- Receiving, shipping, packing and unpacking exhibits
- Ordering new library materials and maintaining library records and circulation systems
- Cataloguing printed and recorded material
- Entering data into databases and editing computer records
- Operating audiovisual and reprographic equipment
- Searching and verifying bibliographic data
- Indoors
- A mix of sitting and standing
- Lots of contact with people, including the public
- Good freedom to decide
- Often more than 40 hours a week
- Deadlines now and then
- Some repetitive tasks
Will there be jobs?
Yes, good prospectsMany jobs will need filling by 2035.
Solid: measured. Dashed: forecast.
What does it pay?
About averagePay depends a lot on the country: from about €1,400 a month (Bulgaria) to €6,600 (Luxembourg), before tax.
Pick a country at the top of the page to see typical pay there, for people under 30, and compared with all jobs.
Among technicians and associate professionals in the EU, women earn 16% less per hour than men. Technicians and associate professionals · Eurostat
What do I need to study?
Usually post-secondary or a short degreePost-secondary training or a short degree in database and network design and administration is the usual route.
887 institutions in the EU offer ICT bachelor's degrees. Pick a country at the top of the page to see where to study and the official course finders.
Will AI change it?
In some tasksAI could take on part of some tasks, but none fully.
Average task score 0.37 on a scale from 0 (AI can't do it) to 1 (AI could do it fully).
See the score for each of the 9 tasks
Based on what AI could technically do when assessed in 2025. It is not a forecast for a future year, and not a forecast of job losses. Scores for gallery, museum and library technicians. Source: ILO (2025), adapted (credits).