the summer shift

This past Friday I went to the Brooklyn Museum of Art for a meeting with Sara Bone, a paper conservator on their staff. Besides getting to see a new museum, I also got to check off another borough! Anyways, I spent an hour talking with Sara and got to tour their lab space, as well as meet a few of the other conservators on staff, including objects and paintings conservators, as well as their framer. Their lab set up is very nice, with sections for each discipline, as well as a photography space, making it easy to move from one’s station to complete the needed documentation of an object.  

After speaking with Sara and others from the department, I spent the next few hours in the galleries. I have to say, this museum blew me away in terms of the work they have done and how they have chosen to display and curate their collection. Starting from the top floor and working my way down, I was able to see a good mix of modern and contemporary works in their collection, as well as temporary displays.  

Featured in the upper floor galleries, the museum has placed tablets in different areas of the gallery that allow you to select an artwork from the wall (they are hung in Salon style) and learn more about it. I suspect that this feature has been added to aid local schools and tours that visit the museum, of which I noticed several during the few hours I spent there. While walking around, I also noticed the strategic placement of chairs and seating areas for museum goers. I thought that it was not only a smart thing to do given the wide demographic of people I saw at the museum but also made their curating choices all the more interesting. For example, in one section they had a small set up of two comfy chairs (ones you may see in someone’s home/living room) in view of a wall of art. I felt like this curating choice made the art seem more friendly to the viewer. It held less of the intimidation of many fine art pieces and instead felt as though you had just been welcomed into someone’s home and were instead viewing their collection of art on the walls.  

The Brooklyn Museum shocked me in the sense that they highlighted the behind-the-scenes museum work of conservators even more than the MET did. At several points on every floor there was signage that read “The Conservators Eye.” These placards detailed the work done by conservators on the respective piece, but also the historical significance of the materials used, and some of the science behind aspects of degradation (YAY). Their signage about conservation work included everything from paintings and decorative arts to sculpture and contemporary pieces, showcasing the vast number of materials that the conservators work with, as well as highlighting the variety of objects in the collection.  

Unfortunately, the African (minus Egypt) collection is going under a massive gallery restructuring and was closed while I was there and will continue to be closed for the duration of my time in NYC (It does mean that there is the opportunity to go back to see it when it opens!!). But while I was exploring the Egyptian galleries towards the end of my day, I was shocked further by the Brooklyn Museum’s innovative way of protecting their Papyrus collection from light damage, as the material is sensitive to not only but also visible light, making it a challenging material to display for long periods of time. The Papyrus collection on display is spread through 4 gallery spaces, and each object is housed in its own display case either on a pedestal or mounted on the wall.  

The part of this installation that truly amazed me was that every piece was covered with a cloth that stated, “Extremely sensitive to light. Please lift curtain to view” Not only was the museum educating the public about the needs of different materials in a way that was accessible and easy to engage with, but they were also taking care of their collections and being responsible stewards of the collection in balancing the needs of sharing information with the public but also ensuring the longevity of delicate objects.  

Another way that they did this with the Papyrus collection was to use a strategically placed wall in the book of the dead exhibit to limit the objects’ exposure to residual light from other areas of the gallery. (See the images on Instagram)  

When exiting the museum for the day, I stopped by the gift shop (of course) and placed outside of the gift shop entrance is a vending machine full of small packages, with a small sign off to the side. Curious as to what it was doing here, I read the signage and learned that the vending machine was full of mystery packages that contained art from local artists!! I thought that this was an amazing idea, and while I did not purchase a mystery package on this trip, I am hoping to during my next visit to the museum! 

Alright, that’s all for now. Stay tuned for an adventure North to Hyde Park Mansions, and experiments with silver polishing!