Behind the Scenes at the Met

8/13/2019 Behind the Scenes at the Met

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B E H I N D

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T H E M E T R O P O L I T A N M U S E U M O F A R TT H E M E T R O P O L I T A N M U S E U M O F A R Tmuseumkidsmuseumk id s



Sculpt ure being l i f ted b y crane onto th e

Roof Garden.

UUnlike many offices, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

is closed on Mondays. But that doesn’t mean it’s

closed to the people who work here—just to

the public. If you pass by the Museum on a Monday, you

may wonder what is going on in the building when no

visitors are allowed inside. Here’s what different staffmembershadtosayaboutwhat they dowhenthe building

is closed to the public.

Mo nd a y is t he b ig g est clea ning d a y f or us,

b e ca u se t h ere ’s n o b o dy in t h e g a lle rie s.

We d o w e ekly t a sks, such a s clea n in g t he f ro ntst eps. We use a po w e r spra ye r —like yo u’d f in d

in a ca r w a sh — tha t ’s po rt a ble . It uses w a t er

spra ye d a t h ig h pre ssure . It t a ke s f o ur pe ople

t o clea n t he st eps —w e ca n do a bo ut ha lf t he

st eps in a da y. It t akes a lo ng t ime b eca use

t he re’s a lo t o f st uf f like g um a n d spille d d rin ks.

It t a kes us t w o d a ys t o clea n t he ma rb le f lo o r in t he

Te mp le o f De nd ur in t h e Eg y pt ia n G a lle rie s, u sin g b ig a u t o ma t icscrub b ers. We h a ve t o cle a n t he Ast o r Co urt in t he Ch in ese G a lle rie s

d urin g t he d a y, b eca use w e use rig s —t he y’re a b o ut t hirt y f ee t hig h ,

a nd req uire t w o men a nd so meo ne

t o su pe rvise t h e m.

We a lso g et rea dy f or exhibition

open ing s on Mo nda ys by doing a

tho roug h clea ning . We sha mpoo

the ca rpets and dust a nd vacuumt he b a se bo a rd s. So me tim es w e

ha ve w orked unt il 4 AM to g et t he

restaurant carpets cleaned . We have

a b o ut e ig h t y-o ne pe ople w h o w o rk

in t his a rea .

One t ime w e ha d to clea n

a round some f a shion mo dels w ho

w ere do ing a shoo t o utside.Everyone w a nte d t o m a ke sure

tha t a rea w as clean !

Robert Williams,Assistant Buildings Manager,Section D, Cleaning Staff

Mr. Williams supervisesthe cleaning staff. Before he worked at the Museum, he

was in the Marines.

HerbChief

Mr. Mosk worked attwenty-sevethe movem

in and out

What happeWhat happe



I n som e

ways ,

Mondays

a re like

the o ther

weekdays

for us.

Ho w ever,

if w e ha ve

an enormous

pa int ing or piece o f

ar t to move into the

Museum w e w ould d o it

on a Mond a y. We ma ke

the a rra ng ements and

w ork w ith t he Buildings

depar tment and the

rig g ers (peo ple w ho

help mo ve la rge pieces

o f a rt w o rk a nd d o hea vy

lif t in g a n d lo a d in g w o rk

a round th e b uilding).Some pieces are so heavy

o r la rg e t ha t t hey ca nno t f it int o a n eleva t or, a nd ha ve t o b e ca rried up t he f ro nt

ste ps. One t ime, w e ha d t o o pen up t he pa rt of th e America n Wing courtya rd

t ha t f a ce s Ce nt ra l Pa rk a n d b rin g a b ro nze sculpt ure in t hro ug h t he re . Wit h

th e recent exhibitio n o f sculptures of Ellsw orth Kelly (in t he Iris a nd B. Gera ld

Ca nt or Ro of Ga rden), w e ha d t o use a cra ne t o lif t t hem o nt o t he ro of .

So me time s m y d a y st a rt s a s e a rly a s 5:30 AM. Sh ipm en ts ca n a rrive

on ca rg o pla nes in t he middle o f t he nig ht, a nd I ha ve to be here w henthe artw ork arrives. Once a piece is unpacked and checked for condit ion ,

it becomes the responsibility of one of the Museum’s seventeen curato ria l

d ep a rt me nt s. We h a nd le b et w e en f ive a n d t e n sh ipm en t s a d a y st a rt in g

a t 8:00 AM, a n d so me tim es n ot e nd in g un til la t e a t n ig h t . La rg e spe cia l

e xh ib it io ns a re e spe cia lly d em a nd in g , a s w e a lso h a ve t o ma ke h ot el

reservat ions and provide money for da ily expenses to couriers accompanying

each shipment.

The unpa cking is do ne in t he Reg ist rar’s st o rero o m —t ha t ’s t he first sto pw hen a rtw ork from o th er institut ion s a rrives here, and th e la st stop f or a rt-

w ork lea ving th e Museum t o g o t o o th er pla ces. Every piece o f a rt t ha t

lea ves here is a ccom pa nied by som eo ne from th e Museum. Once w e sent

tw o pa intings to the Pushkin Museum in Russia . Some one flew w ith th em t o

Helsinki, Finla nd, a nd th en w ent on a tw ent y-ho ur truck ride to th e m useum.

I like th e cha lleng e of my job , the ne g ot ia ting, th e inte ra ction w ith

diffe rent pe op le, a nd t he t ravel. There’s a lw a ys som et hing n ew .

Chris Gift os arranging the f low ers in the Great Hall.

Moskowitz,f Registrar

owitz, who hasthe Museum for

en years, oversees

ent of all artworkt of the building.

ArMs.

for hDepartshe al work

fo

ns on Mondaysns on Mondays



Peo ple love t he idea of fresh f low ers. Some people

com e in just t o see the f low ers—the y don ’t even

g o t o th e rest o f th e Museum. Lila Acheson Wa lla ce,

w ho g a ve t he g if t tha t pays fo r the f low ers in 1970,

w a nte d t o say to visito rs, “ We’re expecting you —

w elcome.” Some people d on’ t real ize t he f low ers

a re rea l.

Eve ry Mo nd a y a t 7 AM, f o ur g a rd en ers co me in .

They po ur o ut a ll t he w a t er f ro m t he va ses in t he Grea t

Ha ll a n d put in f re sh w a t e r. Th en t he y w a it f o r t he f lo w e rs

t o co me in f ro m t he 28t h St ree t f lo w e r ma rket b et w e en 9 a n d 10 AM. Th e

f lo w e rs co m e f ro m a ll o ve r t h e w o rld — Ho lla n d , Fra n ce , Pu ert o Rico a n d

Haw a ii, f o r example . The ga rdeners separa te the f low ers in to f ive bund les—

o ne f or ea ch o f t he urn s, a nd o ne f or t he In fo rma t io n Desk. Th en I climb up

t he la d de rs a n d a rra n g e t hem. It t a ke s me f our o r f ive h ours. I like it b eca use

I ca n b e lef t a lo ne t o crea te w h at I w a nt t o crea te .

Evening event s a re of te n he ld o n Mo nd a ys. They can b e f o r 500 to

1000 people. I ta ke o ff my dung a rees and put o n my b la ck tie a tt ire f or

those . I o rchest ra te the events, w hich means I’m in charge o f everyth ing ! We

choo se th e f low ers, select t he men u, a nd even select t he pla tes a nd t a ble-

clot hs. We ha ve ha d ma ny fa mo us peo ple here —preside nt s a nd f irst lad ies,

th e Emperor o f Ja pa n, even celeb rities like Sting a nd Whitney Housto n a ndMad on na . When presiden ts at te nd a n event, everyon e, even t he g uests,

ha ve to g o t hroug h meta l det ecto rs.

My f a vo rit e pa rt o f m y jo b is p ut t in g o n t he e ve nt — but n ot pullin g it d o w n !

Mond a y is a big da y for moving w orks of a rt so t ha t

pho to g ra phy, con serva tion, a nd g a llery cha ng es ca n

be d one. We do it o n Monda ys so w e do n’t ha ve toclose a g a llery or int era ct w ith th e pub lic, w hich could

enda ng er a w ork. Here’s how w e ta ke dow n paint ing s:

We hold the f ra me w ith our ba re hands and w e prop

up th e pa int ing a g a inst t he w a ll so it d oesn’t slide.

When w e’re rea dy to t a ke it out of t he fra me, w e put the

paint ing on t he f loor and la y it f a ce do w n on either ca rpet-

co vered b lo cks o r pa ds. We use a screw driver to unscrew t he

frame . Then w e ta ke the pa inting t o t he Phot og raphy Stud io, Con serva tion,or w herever it ’s need ed. When t hey’re do ne, w e refra me t he pa int ing a nd

ha ng it ba ck up o n copper w ires.

When w e w ork, w e’re a lmost a lw a ys in a pyra mid shape w ith one person

up in a rig (kind of like a big bo x t ha t’s cran ked up b y a pulley, on w hee ls),

a nd on e person o n ea ch side . The pe rso n in the rig lift s t he w ires, a nd th e

tw o o th er people lif t th e pa int ing . There a re a lot of decision s to be ma de.

We need to f ig ure out ho w hig h to h a ng the pa int ing s, decide w ha t w eig ht

TheresaKing-Dickinson,

t Handler/Technician. Dickinson is responsibleanging paintings in thement ofEuropeanPaintings;lso oversees all the paper- related to that positionr the department. Shehas worked here for

fourteen years.

Chris Giftos,Manager,

Special Events

Mr. Giftos has worked at theMuseum for twenty-eight years.He is in charge of coordinatingall the special events, such as

dinners and parties, as wellas arranging the bouquets

of flowers in theGreat Hall.

hen the Museuhen the Museu



w ire to use , w ha t ha rdw a re . There a re

a lot of logistics.

We a lso m ove a lot of things

a round , and unpa ck w orks of a rt fo r

new exhibitions. I kno w so ma ny

thing s tha t a re g oing on. I g et t o see

so m a ny t hin g s t ha t m ost p eo ple n eve r

see, and I g et t o m eet so m a ny people.

One time w e met Pa ul McCa rtney w hile

w e w ere w orking , and there w ere

pa int ing s a nd to ols everyw here. We

t h o ug h t w e ’d m iss h im b e ca u se w e

w e re in t h e m id d le o f a b ig p ro je ct .

Luckily, w e w ere w orking in o ne o f

the g a lleries, and the person w ho w a s

g iving him t he t our int roduced him

to us. He w a s very gra ciou s a nd sa id,

“ So you’re the f ine people w ho d o

this! ” It w a s nice b eca use mo st people

never think of w ho do es this.

The Museum has

nine hund red

volunte ers w ho

w o rk in a ll

departments,

from Curat oria l

to Educa tion. Out

of tho se, a bo ut three hund red a nd sixty peo ple g iveto urs, to bo th children a nd a dults. My job is to see t ha t

the prog ram runs smo oth ly. The Volunt eer Orga niza t ion is

th irty years old, a nd the structure is set. I de a l w ith issues tha t need to be

resolved , like chang ing the na me o f a to ur or discussing a new to ur.

On Mo n da y s t h ere is vo lu nt e er t ra in in g . Th ere ’s t ra in in g f o r n ew

volunteers, a nd on g oing t raining fo r everyone . Tha t m ea ns lea rning a bo ut

objects in t he co llection (so they can be d iscussed during tours). The peo ple

do ing th e tra ining a re eithe r curat ors (peo ple w ho t a ke ca re of t he o bjects)or ed ucat ors. There ma y be a ssig nment s or resea rch pa pers or present a tions

for th e volunteers, but no one is to ld w ha t ob jects to use. Befo re you “ g o

to the f loo r” a nd lead to urs, you ma y have tra ining fo r a year.

The t raining is do ne in th e a ud ito rium, w here w e liste n t o lectu res,

a nd in t he g a lleries, w here w e o bserve a nd discuss the w orks of a rt .

All t he pre pa ra t io n is w o rt h it , b eca u se d o in g t he t o urs is g re a t. If w e

f ind o ne child w h o w a n ts t o co me ba ck, w e ha ve d one o ur jo b fo r t ha t d ay.

Cleaning t he w indow s out side the M useum.

Janice Barnard,Chairman,

Volunteer Organization

Mrs. Barnard overseesthe Volunteer Organization,hich means making sure thateverything runs smoothly.She gavehigh school tours

for ten years before

becomingChairman.

is closed?is closed?



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Behind the Scenes at the Met