#museuminternship

We’re five weeks into this internship and I’m really getting into the rhythm of the museum. I enjoy coming through the back entrance every morning, saying hi to the security personnel, and making my way to the registrar department where I will check my email and get straight to work on my projects. And while the day usually always starts out as planned, there always seems to be something unexpected that comes up that the registration department needs to take care of. I’ll plan on working on my data dictionary all day, but then the department will need to help other departments prepare object files for an upcoming exhibition, transfer object locations, authorize incoming objects, etc. It seems as though the registrar wears many hats in the museum and they must always be prepared to switch gears at a moment’s notice. 

While the events this week weren’t unexpected, there did seem to be a sense of chaos in our department. On Monday we had a scholar come in to review an object in our collection called the Book of Hours from the late 15th century. The scholar wanted to review areas of the book’s pages that had evidences of erased markings. The scholar used a blue light to see the erased markings although it wasn’t always clear what was originally written on the page. Since a certain page in the book has been on display in the museum for some time, the curatorial department decided to change the page to display so that previously shown page could rest. Below is a photo of the scholar visiting the museum’s conservation lab and a video of our associate registrar finding the page that will now be displayed. 

The curatorial department was also preparing for the quarterly Collections Committee Meeting that happened on Thursday. In a Collections Committee Meeting, new objects are presented to the committee for approval to accession into the museum’s collection (whether by gift, purchase, etc.). In order for the committee to approve the object in question, the curator needs to do research and come up with a justification for acquiring the piece. A justification can include the importance or rarity of the piece and how it will enhance the museum’s collection and mission. Since the registration department cares for the museum’s collection, the registrars work with the curators in creating and editing the temporary object record and making sure the tombstone information of the object is correct on the meeting’s agenda. I was fortunate enough to observe this meeting and learned a lot about the hard work that goes into preparing for the meeting and the process of accessioning an object into the collection. Below is a photo of our curator Seth presenting a collection of photographs to the committee.

That same day, I also had the opportunity to observe a Board of Trustees meeting. It was quite interesting to watch the meeting as I recalled our museum director, Erik Neil, discuss how a board is formed and what the board’s responsibilities are to the museum in an info session a few weeks prior. I was surprised to see how many people were on the board and how many items they needed to discuss throughout their meeting. The meeting was 1.5 hours long and they definitely did not let one minute go to waste! Some of the things they went over included reports on finance, development, collections, communications, future land plans, governance, and an update from the director. The meetings I attended on Thursday were very informative from a museum studies perspective as I learned a lot about how a mid-size museum operates and I’m glad that I was able to attend both!

While I’ve been chucking away at the data dictionary this week (which now has over 200 data elements I need to account for!), I was lucky enough to take a little break from it at the Glass Studio where my fellow interns and I learned how to make a paperweight! I won’t go into the details of how to make a paperweight, but I will say that it’s really fun and super HOT! Check out some photos of me making my paperweight below:

Well, that’s all for now museum lovers!

I’ve been out of town for most of the week driving my family’s car back to Chicago, so there isn’t much to report. Although this isn’t completely related to the Chrysler Museum, it is related to some artwork we have in our collection. Last week on my way to Chicago I took a detour to Pittsburgh and visited The Andy Warhol Museum for the first time. I had a wonderful time exploring all seven floors of the museum and learning about Warhol’s life and his experimentation with various art mediums. Unfortunately, the famed Marilyn Monroe piece was not on display but I did see so many other great works of his. Check out a few of my favorites below!

I have to say that my all-time favorite work was the screen test of Salvador Dali, which I took a 15 second clip of.

I’ve been catching up on a lot of work since my return to the museum yesterday. I feel as though the weeks are just flying by and I won’t be able to complete my intern projects! Lately my priority is working on filling out the data dictionary. There are 172 data elements that I need to specify how to properly enter the information into the TMS database. It’s meticulous work, but it needs to get done! 

Yesterday I helped Ali with a newly accessioned photograph by Greta Pratt. Part of a registrar’s job is to track all incoming and outgoing artwork into the building. Ali and I greeted Greta at the entrance and helped her bring the large photograph in for review before it officially gets accessioned by the museum. Pictured below is a photo of our curator, Seth, with the artist as they review the new photograph. 

And even though I was only in the office two days this week, I definitely made up the work today! This morning I assisted in doing condition reports for the watercolor exhibition that will soon be deinstalled. Objects that are put up for exhibitions whether they are part of the museum’s collection or loans from outside institutions need to be assessed for their current condition as they both enter and exit the museum/exhibition. This was a great way to practice my condition reporting skills! As registrars you need to check for any areas of concern for the object including any lifting or warping of material, foreign objects on the object or its support, discoloration, and any other type of damage that may have occurred before or during its time at the museum/exhibition. The documentation of this is essential for both liability and conservation purposes. You need to have great lighting (but if you’re in a pinch you can use your phone’s flashlight, which we did in the gallery) and a sharp eye (which comes with practice). I’ll be training on condition reporting more throughout the remainder of my internship (specifically with paintings), so I was thrilled to get a head start!

Lastly, I worked on a collection of ten photographs by Joe Maloney for an upcoming exhibition (a couple photos will be chosen for the show). I had to measure the dimensions, write up a description for the image, gather information about the inscriptions on the back of the photos, and do a condition report. This all took quite a bit of time as I wanted to make sure everything was accurate because I had to create object records for each photograph in our database, which the public would have access to. I really enjoyed this project because I haven’t had the chance to catalog important data elements in the database such as the description of the object. It may sound trivial, but a proper description of an object is critical in the event that a photograph of the object is lost and the only way to determine what the object looks like is by its written description.

Another week down and more registration experiences had! Monday was by far the most interesting day I had this week since so many unexpected things happened. I thought I would be working on my intern projects as usual, and while I was able to make some strides on my work throughout the day I was also able to assist the registration department in some exciting tasks. 

Before I get in to that I would like to proudly announce that I entered the final dimensions of the 362 Bruce Davidson photos into the TMS database. Woohoo! It’s a small victory but one that I will gladly take as it feels like it’s been hanging over my head for the past couple months. I started out by helping our registrar, Melanie, enter the dimensions into TMS as she was measuring the photos and calling out the numbers to me (while I was still a volunteer). Not long after, I was able to take the measurements of the photos along side Melanie so we could tackle the project faster. I must admit, however, I was not as quick in measuring the photos at first. I wanted to make sure I had the exact dimensions right and kept on double checking my work, which probably slowed the process down a bit. It was definitely a learning moment for me because from then on I learned to just be confident in my measurements and move on to the next photo. Just before I started the internship, I was given the opportunity to work on measuring the photos and entering them into TMS solo. It felt so wonderful knowing the registration department trusted me to handle the photos properly and take the measurements accurately. And a couple of solo sessions later the project is finally complete! I know that I probably shouldn’t be so excited about completing the data on a batch of objects since that is precisely part of a registrar’s job, but I think in this instance it’s a little more special to me because of the progress I made as an aspiring registrar/collections manager. I started out with just observing our registrar take the measurements and entering them into the database for her to doing the entire process on my own! I love how much I am growing as a registrar here at the Chrysler! 

Now on to the other fun things that happened this week! On Monday the registration team helped the art handlers de-install the Nick Cave piece entitled “Soundsuit” in order to give the artwork a rest (especially since it contains textiles) and to display other objects in our collection. It was my first time de-installing a piece and handling an object that was not a photograph, so it was an interesting experience. Some things I observed in the process: wearing gloves is crucial so the natural oils on your hands don’t contaminate the object, strategize how to dismantle the object and make a clear path so it’s easy to transport, and having extra hands and sets of eyes are always helpful (as long as they are trained in object handling and know what to look out for). I’ve learned these things from my collections management class but it was very cool seeing it all in action! 

Later that day, our associate registrar, Ali, had to open a safe in our storage to retrieve a coin that needed conservation work. Security is certainly crucial when dealing with museum objects and the registrar plays an important role in the process, so it was great learning about the Chrysler’s security procedures for this task. The coin we pulled out from storage was a 1838 copper token from the Anti-Slavery Society with an inscription that reads: “AM I NOT A WOMAN AND A SISTER”. 

At the end of the day, a UC Berkeley Egyptologist that visited the museum last week came back to take detailed photos of the sarcophogi that we have in our collection. The photos he took that day will be used to create 3D models of the sarcophogi for research purposes. Ali and I assisted and monitored the Egyptologist while he was photographing the objects. I’ve learned that as a registrar you not only have to coordinate with those who wish to see an object up close for academic purposes, but to also monitor them while they do it for the protection of the object. I didn’t realize that this was part of a registrar’s job, but it definitely makes sense! Museums are all about providing education and access to the public when it comes to their collection, so allowing a researcher to come and analyze an object certainly fits the bill. 

How can it only be Week 2 of this internship and I’ve already learned so much?! My days at the Chrysler have been filled with many exciting things and I’m understanding more and more about how a museum operates and how the registration departments takes part in its success. I’ve sat in on meetings focused on preparations for upcoming exhibitions (one for glass and the other for a photographs) and I’ve learned that the registration team is an integral part of the planning process. Registrars assist curators in the planning of exhibitions in a number of ways: gathering information for the desired objects within the collection, providing insight for the details of an incoming exhibition (i.e. packing and transportation, copyrights, etc.), and offering suggestions about the care of the objects before they are put on display. This week I was involved with the latter. 

I helped Ali, the associate registrar and my supervisor, find the storage location of 73 photographs that will potentially be used for an upcoming exhibition and made sure the photographs were in good condition and at least matted if not framed. We took measurements of the matted photos so they can be outfitted for frames, documented our notes, and sent the suggestions to the curator  (who will be involved in deciding if they will use the photo) and the art handlers (who will be matting the photos and properly placing them in the frames). I really enjoy this aspect of collections management/registration because I get to work with objects in person and receive the object-handling experience I need to do this job well. 

Another project I started on this week was the handbook (which I will now refer to as the data dictionary) for standardizing object record data in the database system. I went through the TMS database and began gathering information regarding the data fields that are typically used for cataloging an object. Fields such as “title”, “date”, “culture”, “object description”, etc. need standards by which a staff member can easily understand how to fill out the data element. I will be using museum cataloging standards along with the department’s preferences to create a data dictionary that staff members can refer to when necessary. It’s quite a process, but well worth it!

We also took our first intern field trip yesterday to the Muscarelle Museum of Art in Williamsburg, VA to learn about their community efforts in educating the public about art. Our group also had the opportunity to take part in a community art project for the Director of Engagement and Distinguished Artist in Residence of the Muscarelle Museum, Steve Prince. We were given pieces of wood and had to create our own design related to the concept of “1619-2019″ (when the first African slaves arrived in Virginia to today). We used the woodcut relief process to create our designs, which will then be pieced together with other community members’ work so that it can be printed on a large steam roller. It was such a cool experience and I’m glad I was able to participate in this meaningful work! 

And last but not least, I FINALLY finished taking measurements for the 362 Bruce Davidson photos we acquired recently. I started this task a couple months ago (when I was a volunteer for the Chrysler) and completed the project yesterday after the field trip. Now I just need to enter the last batch of dimensions into our TMS database! 

Until next time, museum lovers!