Art Handling training/seminars?

[Spavlides84]

Hey everyone, I am new to PACCIN but have been an art handler for a couple of years now. Everything i know however i basically learned on the job or just
from hanging/dealing with my own art over the years, and never really had "formal" training, if such a thing exists for Art Handling.
Although i know how to take down/hang/package/clean artwork like any professional worth his pay, i find i am still lacking in technical knowledge, knowing all the tools by their proper names,
and whatever other trade secrets senior handlers/preparators hand down to novices.
One way of fixing this would be to go through all the forum posts and make my own 'art handling manual' from notes on everything posted here. This would be of course pretty time consuming,
and i was wondering if anyone knew of other resources, whether an afternoon or continuing ed classes or what have you, that could teach handling technique, jargon, tools, etc?
I feel like these are things i would definitely have to know to become an expert at my job.
Thanks in advance for any and all suggestions.

-S

[T. Ashley McGrew]

Great post!
I have been told by a reliable source that at one time there was an undergraduate degree offered in Museum Preparation but I haven't encountered such a thing personally. Just like you, I have mostly learned what I know by paying attention to what other people were doing around me and by utilizing knowledge from other sources be it art school or working construction. There are written art handling guidelines out there and supposedly a new video, that if not already on the market, will be soon.

PACCIN does put together handling workshops usually in cooperation with regional museum associations or groups like the Western Region of the RCAAM. In addition, in the areas of crating and rigging there are usually annual courses offered at the Campbell Center (http://www.campbellcenter.org/) in Illinois. These are a great start but not really enough to realistically to reach enough people get the job done. At PACCIN our approach in the true spirit of the profession as a whole is that if it isn't getting done now we just need to find a way to make it happen as individuals. While we are an organization that represents a whole constituency of hands-on collections care professionals, the work we do is work that each of us takes on as individuals.This website is just one part of that. If you put your same question out on our list serve then you will probably get more input (I recommend joining by the way - by clicking on the list serve tab on the front page) but ultimately we have to do much of it by ourselves. We are working towards producing videos and such but in the meantime just sharing information as it comes up is the way to go. If you want to help develop aspects of this curriculum please contact me directly either with a message on the site here or at ashley@pacin.org (ashley@pacin.org). As the chair of publications committee I need a lot of help to keep things going forward on this website and on the list serve as well as potentially with instructional videos. Just because you are relatively new to the field don't think of that is a limitation. In fact you are probably in the best position to help some of us greybeards focus on what folks really want and need. Again, thanks for the great post! Glad you found us and welcome!
Ashley

[annsinfield]

Hello,

I'm starting to put together an art-handling manual, focused on training and procedures for our students and newer staff (and as a refresher for those of us who have been around a while). Does anyone have any examples of in-house art handling training materials that you would be willing to share?

Thank you,
Ann S.
----------------------------------
Ann Sinfield, Chief Registrar
Chazen Museum of Art, University of Wisconsin-Madison

[jlatane]

Hi Ann--email me at jlatane@thebroad.org and I will send you what I have.

Julia


Hello,

I'm starting to put together an art-handling manual, focused on training and procedures for our students and newer staff (and as a refresher for those of us who have been around a while). Does anyone have any examples of in-house art handling training materials that you would be willing to share?

Thank you,
Ann S.
----------------------------------
Ann Sinfield, Chief Registrar
Chazen Museum of Art, University of Wisconsin-Madison

[dhugdahl]

I also have a basic art handling training put together, I even have a Power Point! I would be happy to forward along what I have. My email is dhugdahl@jmkac.org.

Devon



Hello,

I'm starting to put together an art-handling manual, focused on training and procedures for our students and newer staff (and as a refresher for those of us who have been around a while). Does anyone have any examples of in-house art handling training materials that you would be willing to share?

Thank you,
Ann S.
----------------------------------
Ann Sinfield, Chief Registrar
Chazen Museum of Art, University of Wisconsin-Madison