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Gift-Wrapping the Art Gallery
February 2003
by Jennifer Kaylin Anyone who has ever packed up a home knows why moving is one of life’s most stressful experiences. There are the tough decisions about what stays and what goes, the treasured family heirlooms to swathe in bubble wrap, and the tidal waves of cartons and newspapers that threaten to bury you alive. Throw in roughly 90,000 irreplaceable pieces of art, a tight budget, and an even tighter deadline, and you get some idea of what workers at the Yale University Art Gallery are going through as they pack the museum’s collection so the 50-year-old building can be renovated.
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One gallery looks like a cross between a forensics lab and a department store gift-wrapping center.
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But far from viewing the task as crushingly stressful, administrators see it as a rare opportunity. “Yes, it’s a lot of work,” says Carol DeNatale, manager of collections and technology, “but there are tremendous benefits. It’s providing us with a chance to clean house, get our records in order, and conduct a full inventory of what we’ve got.” DeNatale says the move is an all-hands-on-deck effort with virtually everyone on staff pitching in. Employees have been divided into five-person packing teams: one conservator, two documentation specialists, and two packers. Together they photograph, tag, and label the items; log the information into a new computer database; and pack the pieces. “Yesterday I packed an object that was made in 600 B.C.E.,” says packer Daniece Mathison. Using a technique called “cavity packing,” she carves a nest in thick foam and tucks the object in. Mathison estimates it takes her about 45 minutes to wrap each item. She and the other members of Pack Team B are stationed in a former gallery on the fourth floor of the museum. The room, which once housed a collection of prints and drawings, now looks like a cross between a forensics lab and a department store gift-wrapping center. A shelved cart, similar to what you might see in a bakery, is filled with delicate figurines. A cushioned examining table stands against one wall next to an industrial-sized roll of packing foam. Stacks of cartons and several computers line other walls. “It’s pretty innovative. A lot of what we’re doing here is being done for the first time,” says DeNatale, who traveled around the country to gather tips from other institutions in the midst of similar efforts. The end result, she says, is a system that will save space and money and protect the artwork during multiple moves. The packing, which started in January 2002, must be completed by June. DeNatale says the bulk of the collection will remain in storage for the next eight years, until the ambitious three-phase museum renovation project is done. But the museum will stay open the whole time.  |
