Mummies and Daddies

For Fathers Day this year, I took my dad to the Detroit Science Center to see The Accidental Mummies of Guanajuato.
Sure, he drove… and paid… but it was my idea, so I’m still saying that I “took” him there.

The Accidental Mummies of Guanajuato is a traveling exhibition by The Detroit Science Center and The Accidental Mummies Touring Company LLC, along with Manuel Hernandez/Firma Culturato. The exhibition will begin touring nationally after its initial stint in Detroit. It features 36 accidental mummies from the Museo de las Momias de Guanajuato. While there is an entire museum in Mexico that is dedicated to their care, this is the first time that any of the mummies have ever been seen outside of Mexico. The exhibition opened in Detroit in October of 2009 and will begin touring before the end of 2010 until 2012.

The Detroit Science Center is directly across the street from the Detroit Institute of Arts. Every day, as I am leaving work and driving up John R, I am taunted by the creepy yet exciting posters and flags that hang around the science center. I have wanted to see this exhibition since I came back to Detroit in May!

After all of that hype, I was not disappointed.

I love mummies. I have loved mummies for as long as I can remember. As I kid, I had giant (taller than me, at the time) cardboard books about Egyptian mummies, books about the bog mummies, sarcophagus pencil cases, mummy activity books, King Tut masks, huge inflatable mummies, and I even made a canopic jar in art class (I was a weird kid but my parents supported my interests). So when the Guanajuato mummies came to town, I was ready!

I was told not to take pictures inside the exhibition, so being the respectful museum professional that I am, I urge you to go to http://accidentalmummies.com/photo-gallery.php and see the exhibition photos.  They're better than what I would get with my camera anyway.

My dad has been to lots of museums with me and has seen the great and the not-so-great exhibitions, but we were both floored by the first gallery and found the rest of the exhibition equally as impressive and enjoyable.

I was impressed by several things:

1.) The respect with which the mummies were displayed.  It's a tough thing to display deceased human beings.  It even sounds weird as I'm typing it... "display".  But the Science Center did a nice job with it.  They weren't on rotating platforms or set up to look like they were playing poker with each other.  The displays were simple, informational, and still engrossing.

2.) The design of the exhibition.  The first room, made to look like the cemetery in which they were found, was simply fantastic.  Being the nerd that I am, I thought to myself, "I bet the exhibits department had a ball fabricating this!"  The second room was the more simple, respectful display, and the third was made to look like a research lab-- complete with CT scanner and video of research methods and forensic facial reconstruction.  That was my dad's favorite part. 

3.) The interpretive texts.  Each panel was in English and Spanish and they were all well written.  They provided information that was easy to understand, and served as a valuable reference while we were in the exhibition.  Dad and I even went back to a few text panels in previous galleries to double check our facts.  It is unusual for me read every text panel in an exhibition, but it's also unusual for every text panel to be informative and useful.

I was also less-than-impressed with some others:

1.) Inventive histories.  This was a tricky one for me, and I'm still trying to decide what I think.  While the text panels about how accidental mummification occurs, Mexican history, etc., were very well done, I had an issue with some of the "stories" inside the cases with the mummies.  Many of the stories seemed to be fabricated with the intent of tying these mummies in with some middle school social studies.  A lame attempt to comply with the GLCEs and HSCEs.  I saw right through it.  These stories said things like, "This is a mummy of a woman who died in 1850.  Women often played music for Spanish settlers around that time.  This woman many have played music for Spanish settlers."  Really?  I mean... really?  This poor woman may have been the most talented chef in town and lived her entire life without touching a musical instrument... but because she is a woman, and the Science Center is desperate to hit those Social Studies GLCEs, suddenly she played guitar for Spanish settlers.  That irked me a little bit.

2.) Dumb parents.  This is not the Science Center's fault, but when Dad and I were reaching the end of the exhibition, I suddenly heard a blood curdling scream from the entrance.  It was clearly a terrified child, discovering a mummy.  These accidental mummies became mummified because the cement of the mausoleum wicked the moisture out of their bodies.  When bodies dry out like this, the mouth often opens.  Thus, almost every mummy looked like it was screaming.  To a kid, that could be pretty intense.  I've already touched on my lifelong affection for mummies... but I'm not sure how I would have reacted to a "screaming" mummy when I was young.  It's tough to say.  I mean, I really liked mummies.  Anyway, perhaps the visitor services rep should have advised this parent that this exhibition is not for children, but I think it's really the parent's decision-- and this parent made the wrong one.

However, those two minor issues did not noticeably detract from my overall enjoyment of the exhibition.

When I was taking my first undergrad course in museum studies (Introduction to Museum Work), my advisor (and professor), Lynn Fauver told us, "Taking this course will ruin any museum visit you have from now on."  He seemed to think that knowing about museums would suck the enjoyment out of the visit.  I have now come to disagree.  I really liked Lynn.  He was a great and fair advisor, an enthralling lecturer and he was incredibly knowledgeable about the museum field.  But in this respect, I think he's full of it.

The more I learn about museum work, the more I am able to enjoy a museum visit on multiple levels.  I am excited to see the exhibition itself, but I am also excited to see how it was produced and what choices the museum staff made.  It's gotten to the point where I just want to know everything I can about how and why museums do what they do.  I am able to walk into an exhibition like The Accidental Mummies of Guanajuato and be awestruck by the mummies-- imagining their stories, thinking about the science of mummification, looking at their clothing, etc.-- while also checking the temperature and RH inside the cases, looking at the mounting hardware, lighting, layout, interpretive texts, and so on. 

I am honestly and truly interested in all aspects of an exhibition like that.  I may be alone on this, but knowing there is 44% RH inside of the mummy's case does not ruin the magic for me.  (Sidebar: Some mummies were displayed laying on their backs, while others were mounted upright.  Those laying down had 23-26 RH in the case, while the upright ones had 44-46 RH in their cases.  My theory is that those who were laying down were so fragile that not only could they not be mounted in an upright position, but that they also needed drier conditions.  Thoughts?)

So, if you like sausage and you respect the law, you shouldn't watch either one being made.  Instead, spend your day at a museum.  You'll like that better, I promise.

Mummies aren’t real and neither is Santa Claus!

Today was Art ‘n Action Camp for 5 – 8 year olds. Actually, camp goes all week long, but today was the first chance I had to sit in and watch. Tomorrow, I hope to observe the older kids (9 – 12) at Camp Art Exploration.

For as loud and ridiculous as this morning was, it turned out to be a lot of fun! I really like the methods that Miss LaVern and Miss Liz use to run their classroom. And it does run very much like a classroom. There is a certain amount of discipline necessary in a room with 11 5-8 year olds, but I think the idea is to keep the atmosphere fun and light, at which Liz and LaVern are highly skilled. I did have to laugh at one point, when a little boy wouldn’t stop rocking his stool back and forth (risking a head injury) Miss LaVern simply confiscated his stool and let him stand for the next few minutes. It seemed a little stern for “art camp” but I understand that if the instructors aren’t able to project some aura of authority, then chaos will ensue.

I came to camp a little late, so as I was arriving, the group was finishing up one project and getting ready to take a museum tour.

Back when I worked at the historical museum, I spent much of my usual day giving 4th graders an “orientation” (or snorientation… borientation… as we would sometimes call them) to the museum. The orientation included a recitation of the rules of the museum—though we weren’t supposed to call them “rules” so much as “guidelines”. Anyway, sometimes kids would listen intently… and other times I was practically peeling them off the walls while I ran through my 2 minute speech. It was not the most effective way to communicate museum behavior to the kids, but it was the most efficient. And on days when groups were coming in every 15 minutes… efficiency is next to godliness. I think I can still recite it in my sleep.

But I liked the way Miss Liz prepared the campers for their gallery visit. While they were seated at their tables, she said that we would be going into the museum and asked, “What are some things you think might be important in the museum?” Immediately, the kids came up with “Don’t run and scream!”, “Stay with the group”, and “Don’t touch anything”. For the record, these were the three things that I spent 2 minutes explaining every day at the historical museum. These exact 3 things. But the kids came up with them right off the bat. It was great. And because they came up with them on their own and Liz wrote them on the board, they seemed to remember them pretty well. I should have timed how long it took the campers to come up with those rules. I bet it was less than 2 minutes.

While I observed this, I took a moment of silence to reflect on all of the snorientations happening at the historical museum today. I still have good friends working there, and I know they appreciate a well presented orientation.

Speaking of the historical museum; I can remember some of the most frequently asked questions I heard over my 2.5 year tenure there…

1.) Where’s the bathroom?
2.) How do I pay for parking?
3.) Do you have dinosaurs?

Well, #3 reared its ugly head again today! After the list of rules, the next comment was, “Are we going to see dinosaurs??” To which Liz said, “There aren’t any dinosaurs… but we have mummies… and mummies are… umm… old… like dinosaurs… kind of.” Nice recovery Miss Liz.

So of course, our second stop (after petting Artie) was the Egyptian exhibition. I heard a kid yell “Mummies aren’t real and neither is Santa Claus!” before he stopped dead in front of the case with the mummy. “Is there a person in there??”, he asked me. I pointed to the accompanying X-ray, which clearly shows the skeleton within the wrappings, and he was awestruck. I managed to impress an 8 year old, and I felt SO cool. Though I’m not sure there was much I could do about his opinion of St. Nick.

When we got back to the studio, I was then able to observe the kids do a project from start to finish. It was really interesting and I liked the way LaVern presented the project.

The kids would be making family photo albums. But the books were really cool—they were made of all kinds of paper and cut into crazy shapes and stuff. LaVern showed the kids a few examples of books that others had made, including some by herself and Liz. After which she said, “You don’t have to do what Miss Liz and I do. You probably have other ideas, but we are here to help you.”

Miss LaVern

I had mentioned before that these workshops provide structure with room for creativity, and I think LaVern’s comment really exemplified the teaching philosophy of the DIA art studio. By the time camp was over for the day, photo albums were taking the shapes of sharks, stars, and rocket ships of all colors, sizes and arrangements. Yet they were all still photo albums. Perfect.

Making memory boxes

For this age range, attention span is always an issue. To combat this, each segment of camp is only about 15 or 20 minutes. A 15 minute museum tour, followed by a 20 minute snack time / run around the lawn, then 20 minutes to finish yesterday’s project and another 15 or 20 to get started on the photo albums, and so on. It keeps the kids from getting burnt out on any one project, and also—kids work fast. They don’t usually take much time to sit and consider their project. If you put paper and scissors in their hands, they are cutting immediately. 20 minutes is often all they need to complete a project.

Havin' a great time at art camp

(Photos can also be found at diaartstudio.wordpress.com)

Camp Art ‘n Action is just another example of all the things the DIA is doing right. The kids were having a great time, they were being creative and making some really neat stuff. How much more can you ask for from a 3 hour art camp? I used to do art classes after school at a community center (every Wednesday, I believe) for several years and I remember loving it. But there is such a benefit to doing these kinds of classes IN the museum! It adds another dimension of enjoyment and education to the class.

Well, that and the kids get to be messy and look at mummies. I call that a win.

Ranked

During today’s All Staff meeting, Graham was asked a question about how the DIA ranks, nationally. It has often been said that the DIA is one of the top 6 museums in the country.

I have always thought this was an odd phrase—that we aren’t quite in the top five, but we’re better than museums 7-10, so saying we were in the “top ten” didn’t do us enough justice.

To me, it indicated that we were the 6th best museum in the country, on a list of what I imagined to be 100 or so museums.

Not surprisingly, I was wrong.

The DIA is classified as a “universal museum” because our collection spans all space and time. There are 6 “top” universal museums in the country and they are: The Met, The Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, The Art Institute of Chicago, The Cleveland Museum of Art, The Philadelphia Museum of Art, and of course, The Detroit Institute of Arts.

Other museums like The MoMA or the National Gallery are excluded because they are not universal.

These 6 universal museums are not usually ranked, but when they are, it’s on a bias. If you like Impressionist art, then Chicago is #1… but if you like European Art, then the DIA is probably #1, and so on.

Thus, the clout in this phrase is really that we are among the six (as there are only six) best universal museums in the country.

I suppose one could liken it to being a “Big Ten” school—there isn’t School #1 or School #2—they’re all just in the Big Ten.

Actually, that might be a terrible reference. Once football or basketball season takes off, they are very clearly ranked.

Maybe it’s more like American Idol, once contestants reach the top 12 or top 5. Within that group, no one is individually ranked, but they are each one of the 12 best singers in the country.

I wonder if Simon Cowell has ever been to the DIA…

All Staff Meeting

Today I had to be at the museum before 9:00.  I kind of hate being anywhere before 9:00 but it turned out to be well worth the trouble.  It was the All Staff Meeting!

More than 100 DIA employees gathered in the auditorium (which I had never seen before, but is very nice!) to hear the Director and various other managers discuss projects and initiatives within the museum.  I asked how often All Staff Meetings occur and was told that they try to have them quarterly, but that's not always the case.  Either way, I was pleased to be present for this one.


Perimeter Heating Project: Elliott, Museum Operations

We are now in Phase II of the perimeter heating project (I must have missed Phase I), which involved closing a number of galleries on the second floor for repairs to the heating system. Last winter, some galleries with exterior walls had NO heat beyond the forced air system (I don't know enough about heating and cooling to tell you why we need more than forced air heat, but apparently we do). Fortunately, last winter was mild enough that there were few to no complaints from visitors, and of course, the artwork was unharmed.

Elliott, from Operations, attempted to list the second floor galleries that would be closing but admitted to not knowing the official gallery numbers. At this point, he asked for some “audience participation”, saying that he would tell us what is in each gallery, and someone in the audience should yell out the gallery number. It went something like this:

“It’s that gallery with the painting on the ceiling…”
“W 234!”
“It’s got that piece of furniture with all the inlaid stone… umm… it also has The Wedding Dance…”
“W 230!!” “BINGO!!
Ok, nobody yelled out “Bingo”, but I think it would have been appropriate.

After Gallery Number Bingo, Director Graham Beal talked about some stuff that was not on the agenda, but proved to be pretty interesting.


New AAMD Environmental Standards: Graham Beal, Director

The AAMD has decided to relax its environmental standards for galleries. The gold standard for relative humidity levels in the galleries was generally between 40% to 50%. Yet, for various reasons, the range of acceptable RH has been expanded to 40% to 60%.

 I did some quick Internet research and it seems like most museums were already doing this anyway. But now the AAMD is making this the official standard, which really only changes one thing; loans. As Graham explained it, some museums were having trouble acquiring loans because when they would submit a facilities report, their hygrothermograph output would read 56% or something that the loaning institution would find unacceptable. Graham even told stories of institutions submitting a blank hygrothermograph output sheet with a ruled pencil line drawn through the whole thing at 45%. In other words, some museums, desperate for loans, would forge their RH reports. Seriously?

The other benefits of this greater flexibility are that it saves the museum some money, reduces energy consumption and carbon footprints, and generally streamlines the loan process (so people can stop lying!).

Apparently it has been suggested for a while that most works of art will not sustain damage from incremental RH fluctuations, and can thus withstand a greater range. My peers that watched “The Rape of Europa” with me last semester can attest that many works of art that hung out in caves, barns, and other locations without climate control for the duration of WWII were returned to the museums without much (or any) damage. I am not suggesting that galleries be converted to reflect the barn environment in the name of reducing our carbon footprint, but I can certainly see the merit to allowing RH to reach 60% +/- 3.

Graham also noted that it is extremely difficult to retain a consistent RH % in the Midwest (especially in those dry winter months). So this change in the standards will end up saving the DIA quite a bit of money. In the winter the DIA will heat the museum less, thus reducing the need to add humidity to the air; and in the summer we will cool the museum less, thus reducing the need to remove humidity from the air.

During this briefing, a representative from the conservation or registration department stood up and assured the crowd that the collections were not being put at risk in any way by this change and that there simply won’t be much difference to the state collections.

To prove that I’m not making these numbers up, here are some articles I found about the change:

http://blog.conservation-us.org/blogpost.cfm?threadid=2227&catid=175
http://www.artdaily.org/index.asp?int_sec=2&int_new=38716
http://www.theartnewspaper.com/articles/Climate-control-time-to-change-the-settings/20913
http://www.theartnewspaper.com/articles/Revising-the-gold-standard-of-environmental-control%20/20549

And if any of my information is way off base, I certainly hope that my newest reader, Dixie, will set me straight.


Millage Campaign: Annmarie, Executive Vice President

I mentioned before that the DIA plans to launch a millage campaign in an effort to establish a more stable source of funding for the museum and that the initial poll results for the campaign were overwhelmingly positive.

Today, Annmarie presented a more detailed account of the poll results, which I found very interesting. I was asked not to share the details of the results, but I will discuss one thing that struck me about the poll and that was how many people reported a very positive image of the DIA. In one question, people were asked “Who goes to the DIA” and the common response was “Everyone”. I found this to be so encouraging. In a previous post, I said myself that I recognize museums (art museums, in particular) as having to struggle with that public perception of elitism. I think this just speaks to how many things the DIA is doing RIGHT. There are a lot of words that describe the City of Detroit (resilient, soulful, diverse, historic…) but I don’t think “elite” is one of them. Which is why I was so struck by the apparent perception of the DIA as being the people’s museum—a place where everyone goes. I think that this is a perception that most (all?) museums strive for and I am just so happy to see the community embrace the DIA as their own, just as I have for so many years.

But then again, I claimed ownership of Lake St. Clair when I was in preschool so I’m not sure I’m the best barometer of the community’s investment.  I get attached easily.

"I think we've got something here..."

That's what Larry said when he saw everyone's reaction to our sample repro of Watson and the Shark.

People were coming from all over the third floor to check it out.  Even Graham Beal stopped in for a moment to take it in.  I'm beginning to gather that he is a man of few words, but he looked impressed.

People were doing double-takes as they walked past the conference room and saw a framed replica of Watson, just sitting on the table.  The real painting is not on display at the moment, so several people thought we toted it up to the third floor for the afternoon.  That's how convincing it is.

Sharing this sample with the rest of the staff did a lot for our cause.  It really seemed to get everyone excited about the project and it may have even converted a few skeptics.

My iPhone photo doesn't quite do it justice, but what we have here is a very high quality reproduction of one of the DIA's most well-known paintings.

I was so excited, I couldn't even wait for Larry to get out of the frame.  Hi Larry.

5 Weeks in Review

At a little past the halfway point of my internship, I thought I would give a rundown of the projects with which I’m engaged.

1. AAMD Mapping

Project Summary:  I am compiling data about the DIA's outreach efforts or "partners", to be sent to the AAMD and turned into a map.  Partners can include schools, churches, colleges / universities, businesses, community / cultural organizations, senior groups, libraries, and youth groups.  Each partner will be represented by a colored dot on the map.  Maps zoom in and out to include multiple or individual states, counties, cities, or congressional districts.  Maps like this will be useful in millage and other funding campaigns to illustrate the museum's reach.

Department / Staff Collaboration:  Trickled down to Sandra from Graham Beal (Director).  Data has come from Lisa Rezin (Group Sales) and Jenny Angell (Student Tours).  I was told to meet with lots of other people, but Lisa and Jenny have proved to be biggest wealth of information.

Status:  I am making data compilations for Fiscal Years 08-09 and 09-10.  Each set of data has 4 components: Group Sales, School Tours, In-Classroom Visits, and Speakers Bureau.  08-09 has 3 of 4 and 09-10 has 2 of 4.  I am hoping to have all of the data entered by next week.

Favorite Elements:  Data entry can be mind numbing, but it's interesting to see (even before the map has been created) the areas that utilize the DIA the most.  I have been surprised by some of the results, so far.  Though, I am delighted about how many DPS visits the DIA has had in the last two fiscal years.

Challenges:  I had a lot of dead-end meetings before finding the people who had the information I needed.  Also, many (400+) schools on one list were without zip codes, so I had to look up each individual zip code for every school on that list.  That was less than riveting.  And data entry can be mind numbing.

Academic / Professional Relevance:  I have improved my skills with Microsoft Excel ten fold.  Other than that, I have found it interesting to see which programs touch people in different parts of Michigan (and beyond).  Mostly, this project has given me some insight into the kinds of groups a museum may cater to.  I also learned just how many commercial and corporate involvements museums have.  I think I was a bit naive to that before I saw all of the groups from the last two years and saw what a large percent of groups were corporate events.


2. Program Synopsis

Project Summary: Expanding the existing “Program Matrix” into a format that is more accessible and usable to new hires, development officers, grant writers, donors, and those wishing to learn more about the programs at the DIA. Each program is to be summarized into a one-page document that expresses the value of each program to the community and why these programs should continue to be supported.  At this point, I understand this to be a mostly internal document—in other words, while it will be distributed to donors and such, they will not be in card racks or generally available to the public.

Department / Staff Collaboration: Assigned by Sandra. Guidance from Jennifer Czajkowski (Education – Learning & Interpretation) and David Cherry (Grant Writer). My main resource is the Programs Matrix, compiled by Jennifer Czajkowski, Matt Frye (Marketing), and other staff involved in the Program Audit that took place before my arrival.

Status: 8 Synopsis sheets are complete. I hope to have 7 more done by July 9.

My Favorite Elements: Researching the programs gives me a more in-depth understanding of the programs at the museum. Making the case for their overall value and worthiness of funding allows me to think more critically about the program and what elements of the program are most important and relevant to the museum’s constituency.  I like looking at programs that I've never seen before and saying, "Is this any good?  And why?"  This also gives me an excuse to sit in on school tours and other programs (I love watching programs!) in order to form an opinion.  Spoiler alert: They're usually great.

Challenges: No such document has ever been created, beyond the Programs Matrix, thus I have very little to work with in terms of research material. A lot of my information comes from http://www.dia.org/ or even Google. When attempting to communicate the value of a program (many of which I have never seen), I often turn to websites like yelp.com for “customer reviews” to see what visitors are saying about the programs.  I feel awkward bothering people (without a formal survey in my hand) and asking them for their opinions about a program, so I haven't done much of that.

Academic / Professional Relevance:  I think that being able to so closely examine the educational and public programs run by the DIA will provide me a great deal of insight when I am looking to design future programs.  This analysis has also taught me to ask questions of the programs like, "What need is this fulfilling?".  Programs are great, but unless they are filling an educational gap, or answering a call from the community, they are difficult to justify to funders and others outside of the museum.


3. 125th Anniversary

Project Summary:  (I think we might now be calling it "Art on the Move").  Based on a 2007 London project called "The Grand Tour", the purpose of this project is to place "fully submersible" reproductions of the DIA's masterpieces in surprising locations around the greater metro Detroit area.  The reproductions are weatherproof and will be mounted outside, in an effort to bring the DIA's collection to people who might not otherwise see it.

Department / Staff Collaboration:  Larry Baranski (Public Programs) is heading this project, and I am working closely with Michelle Hauske (Public Programs / Registration) to secure locations for the "paintings".

Status:  The sample is complete!  And it looks incredible.  Other than that, I would say the project is about 40% complete.  There is much work to be done and I doubt I will see any of the paintings installed before I leave.

Favorite Elements: Finding connections between the art and the community.  There is something of a tongue-in-cheek element to this project that I absolutely love.  The committee has attempted to match the theme of the artworks to their prospective locations.  For example, I already discussed Syria by the Sea at the old train station, but there are others, such as Watson and the Shark on the Nautical Mile or The Fruit Vendor in the Eastern Market.  I think it's going to look like the paintings escaped from the DIA and went home.

Challenges:  Lots of hoops, lots of delays, little time, little money.  Every time one thing gets settled, five more issues pop up.  Of all things, we actually have to get insured for this project... in case one of the paintings falls off the wall and hurts someone.  Little things like that take some of the initial excitement out of the project.

Academic / Professional Relevance: I've learned quite a lot about the DIA's collection.  I have also been in meetings with donors and witnessed the relationship between the funder and the museum.  As frustrating as it can be, I also see the value in experiencing the bureaucracy that can sometimes slow a project down.  It is encouraging to see the rest of the committee meet these challenges with grace and enthusiasm.  Overall, it has been extremely educational to watch a program like being realized.

Registration and Conservation

You know you’re in the Registrar’s office when there are nomenclature books and #2 pencils everywhere you look.

The Registration department in the DIA was pretty boring. It looks much like the third floor—grey, with cubicles… but more filing cabinets. I’m sure they keep all of the really interesting stuff hidden.

Today, I worked mostly on the 125th Anniversary project. Michelle (a registration intern and part-time Public Programs staffer) and I took an extended tour of the museum, choosing and eliminating artworks to be reproduced and placed around the greater metro Detroit area. I’ve really enjoyed working on this project. Most of the businesses have been enthusiastic about participating—which is a good start—and it’s been fun to discuss the paintings and why they should go where. It’s also been interesting to be in on planning the assembly and installation (selecting the materials and installation hardware, etc.).  I don’t know much about that kind of thing, which I think is why it’s been so fascinating.

Michelle knows a lot more about art than I do (which isn’t difficult) so I enjoyed touring the galleries with her this afternoon and hearing her thoughts about which paintings are most important, which best represent our collection and why some paintings are better suited for certain areas than others. I can’t wait to audit Intro to Art History next semester… I’ve been faking my way though art museums for far too long.

Michelle also had some other keen insights for me, and answered a few questions I had about the museum. For example, some paintings are under glass, while others are not. I studied these paintings a while, and could not find a pattern. One Renoir is covered, while others are not, etc. Michelle says that this is handled by the Conservation department (not Registration, as I had guessed) and those paintings with glass over them are the paintings most likely to be touched (the Van Goghs!) and those needing extra protection (Degas’ pastels). I was satisfied with that answer for the most part—but I find it hard to believe that the Caravaggios don’t warrant a glass covering.

Yet all of this led me to another question: How many museums have a separate Conservation department?

I had previously thought that a lot of the conservation is handled by the registrar. I have to imagine that in a larger museum, like the DIA, that separate departments are more typical. But I am also wondering if it is more common for museums that have older collections. Perhaps a museum of contemporary art has less need for conservation tactics? Is it that a Caravaggio needs more upkeep and care than a Warhol (at least for the moment)?

I sent an email to University of Florida professor and past Registrar, Dixie Nielson for her opinion. She wrote the book on registration, so I’ll be interested to hear her insights.

Literally.