BALTIMORE — Just over two years ago, the Baltimore Museum of Art (BMA) invited its security staff to participate in keep the art, an exhibition organized by guards. In early 2021, we were asked to attend a mandatory Zoom meeting without being informed of the agenda. As they started to roll out the concept, I remember texting my co-worker friend (out of view of my laptop camera) to see what she thought of the proposed project. “Would you do that?” I had my own reservations because I’m not really the type to do group projects. However, we both agreed that it sounded like a worthwhile undertaking. The institution may have its own priorities, but maybe we could make the show our own somehow.
Over the next year, the 17 guards who chose to participate in keep the art, worked on the different phases of the project: selection of objects and conservation reviews; design and installation of exhibitions; researching and writing wall texts and catalog entries; create public programs and receive media training. Each guest curator engaged in the process at the level they felt comfortable with.
The opening reception was exciting: we were tasted and dined and felt like kings and queens for a night, momentary celebrities of the art world. We were proud of our accomplishment and looked forward to its many phases of unfolding: public programs, gallery visits, media spots; chance encounters in the galleries, and explaining the concept of the exhibition to visitors who had not heard of the exhibition. A year later, it all feels like a dream – a dream worth repeating.
The huge media response was more than anyone at the museum expected. At the risk of sounding like a jaded celebrity, it even got a little tedious. All the major media outlets wanted to interview the guest curators of keep the art. Some of our team members were even flown to Los Angeles to appear on the Kelly Clarkson Show.
Not all of the media attention was brilliant. In her exam for Dilettante ArmySiân Evans recognizes how keep the art “makes the guards visible, as individuals”, while further comparing the spectacle with the concurrent labor organizing effort at the museum: “[W]What the BMA union proposes is to make their work visible, to make them visible as art workers, to support and strengthen all work that makes art possible. And write for Momus, X. Amy Zhang asks, “What kind of culture is there that people are excited about this project? What led us to respond with appreciation to this obviously symbolic gesture, and with such moral certainty? »
As with any exhibition, there were inevitable limits to the project. We were not allowed to choose works on paper, for example. Collages, drawings, photographs and prints are light sensitive and can only be displayed for a few weeks at a time. There were several rounds of object choices, and some of our early selections were declined for legal or logistical reasons, either relating to the estates of certain artists, or whether or not a given work was going to be loaned or scheduled to be cleaned during the show. run. After consulting the museum’s database, some of us selected works that hadn’t seen the light of day for years.
Other limits seemed a little superfluous. For example, we were told that we could possibly change the name of the show, or at least add a subtitle, like Keeping the art: essential work or whatever. It would make sense, in a way, as we would not keep the art for show, but rather conserve it. Conceptual clarity aside, the renaming business got complicated with too many ideas, and in the end we were told it was going to stay right keep the art.
We all started using “GTA” as an abbreviation for the show title in our emails and filenames etc. A few of us have understood the fact that GTA also means Grand Theft Auto, the popular video game. Since we couldn’t rename the show, we thought it might be fun to use the Grand Theft Auto our brand font. We even looked it up and learned that the video game font is called “Lower prices“, after his first appearance on the The price is right game show, and free for everyone to download and use. Although we made our case to the department heads overseeing the project, the idea was rejected as many thought it might get confusing due to its association with another aspect of visual culture. We tried to take a risk and were turned down.
If I have one major regret about this project, it may be that we missed an opportunity to showcase the idiosyncratic nature of such a unique exhibit. In other words, the inherent subjectivity of a show run by multiple sitters could have been showcased more. It could have been, for lack of a better word, more “punk”. The security team tends to be the most diverse department in an art museum. Guards have their own backgrounds, tastes and hobbies. Two of us went to art school; most of us didn’t. A few of us were in the military and even served overseas. We are artists, chefs, players, parents, filmmakers, poets, teachers and singers. The eclectic range of objects we have selected reflects the diversity of our own biographies. That’s what sets a show like this apart.
With the recent announcement that the Phoenix Art Museum (PhxArt) will be the second site of Guarding the Art, the fair has become national. Two of the guards who participated in GTA 1 have been hired to create a guide that will help our colleagues at PhxArt plan their vision for the show, which is slated to open in 2024. I’m curious to see how other institutions will move forward the project. Good luck to our fellow guards at PhxArt. can you take keep the art to the next level… Let your abnormal flags fly!
