Today I offer a true “behind the scenes” look at our museum world. Welcome to our workroom. A small, but vital area that sometimes looks as if a tornado blew through it and other times it looks so pristine that you would swear we probably don’t do any actual work here. The ambiance of this area depends on who is using it at the time, whether we are expecting a visit from a donor or researcher, and which projects are underway.
This is the place objects moving in, out and around the museum make a stop during their journeys. Shelving and closets house new artifacts, incoming and outgoing loans, and artifacts being moved on and off display. Items we are trying to identify or research will also find a temporary home here. The length of time an object will stay in the workroom ranges from a few minutes, a few weeks, months, or as long as a year (or more), depending on what needs to be done. It could take just a few minutes to replace an identification tag that was removed before exhibition and a year to complete the extensive paperwork and processing for a donation consisting of hundreds of items.
One of our curators may request that we pull a group of objects out of storage and bring them to the workroom so they can be considered for an exhibit. Seeing all the objects together in one place is an important part of evaluating their visual impact and to ensure that displays won’t look too empty or too crowded. This also makes it easier for our exhibit design team to measure artifacts so they can fit custom designed hangers and mounts to the pieces.
The workroom is used for framing prints and paintings too. The tables are all on wheels so they can be pushed together to accommodate large artwork. Framing supplies stored here include security hardware to lock frames to the gallery walls, foil tape that is used to prevent any insects or moisture from getting through the back of a frame and metal framing points to hold everything together. And after the framing is completed, metal grids on the walls provide a perfect place to safely hang the pieces until they move elsewhere. We also remove the frames from art that needs to be sent down to our Photography department in order to fulfill requests for publication quality digital images and reproductions.
我们工作室的背面包含一个小区域，用于拍摄包含桌子，彩色背景纸和磁性墙的工件。墙上的磁漆使我们能够使用微小但非常强的磁铁将纸质物品固定在适当的位置。这使摄影更容易，并最大程度地减少对物体的任何损害。
As you can see in the photos, we have a collection of wooden crates down each side of the workroom right now. The majority of them are waiting for the end of our latest exhibit, Fragile Waters. When the show closes in September, each photograph will be carefully wrapped and placed in the crates according to a master list and then the crates will be shipped to the next venue. At any time, there may be a crate or two stored in the workroom, but we don’t normally have this many at one time. The number and sizes of these crates meant we had to sacrifice some floor space for a few months.
Stuffed into boxes all around the room and on large racks are the supplies we use to pack, ship and store our artifacts. Large blocks of foam, tissue papers, plastics and even that old standby—bubble wrap. There are boxes underneath the tables to hold even the smallest pieces of these materials. What can’t be used to pack a uniform in a large archival box for storage might come in handy when boxing a coin or a dish.
The boxes of foam aren’t a pretty sight, but we have to get creative when we are packing an item for travel. A boat cannot be boxed to protect it from harm, but it can be covered with blankets and stretch wrap. A box of duck decoys can be individually wrapped in foam. A figurehead can be enclosed in a Tyvek cover sewn by the staff member who can work a sewing machine.
几个用于艺术品的垃圾箱，几个用于平坦物体的宽橱柜，防火的安全性，可用于少量的溶剂和清洁剂，可变的速度真空吸尘器用于工件，以及我们的工作室。
Hope you have enjoyed this peek into our workroom. Stay tuned for more behind the scenes peeks.
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