Staging an art show both a complex and detailed task
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Artist Lori Hornell installs her artwork "Wired" in the 100th Annual Exhibition of the Associated Artists of Pittsburgh in the Carnegie Museum of Art.
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Art handlers are the museum world's magicians, making exhibitions appear and disappear, carefully hanging art and displaying sculpture with precision. Like trusted scouts, they come fully prepared with useful tools, including tape measures, hammers, levels, screw guns, hooks and nails.
A tape measure reveals the dimensions of a painting or sculpture and those measurements sometimes dictate how and where a piece is displayed, said Chris Craychee, head art handler at Carnegie Museum of Art.
"We're trying to help realize the visions of very picky people. They know they want it to look a certain way. They know what they don't want," said Mr. Craychee, a lanky, 36-year-old man with expressive brown eyes and a bachelor's degree in art from Carnegie-Mellon University.
This year, as members of the Associated Artists of Pittsburgh began delivering their work for the organization's 100th annual exhibition, Mr. Craychee found that "dimensions were not always that accurate. They were off just enough to make a case not work."
He measured all of the three-dimensional works to match them with appropriate display cases, known as vitrines. The show also was challenging because Mr. Craychee and his seven-member team had to display nearly 100 artworks that jurors Donald Miller and Al Miner chose from more than 600 submissions.
Using maps of galleries, art handlers strive to hang artwork in a consistent manner so that the center of each piece is 61 inches from the floor. They also serve as the curator's eyes and ears, solving problems at the last minute.
"We're hanging a show and whoops, there are three more items to hang. We have to find a way to fit that in," Mr. Craychee said.
Sometimes, that last-minute item can be the jurors' statement, which sets the tone for the exhibition and often reveals a philosophical approach.
"Once you move one piece, it affects other pieces. Every other piece has to move down and we have to patch holes," Mr. Craychee said.
That's why hanging an art show is a bit like working on a jigsaw puzzle.
"It's a lot easier to build the puzzle when you have all the pieces and the time to do it," Mr. Craychee said.
First Published August 1, 2010 12:00 am
