When one visits an art gallery its exhibition and organization seem so flawless that we forget the hard work that goes into it. From the unpacking, the establishing what pieces go into the exhibition, and most importantly the order that the pieces are presented. Many traveling exhibitions have curators that set up the entire exhibition for the gallery but for this exhibit there was no set guidelines. Many questions arise because of this, what theme are we trying to portray? Are the pieces going to be set up by theme, style, or color? Which pieces complement each other?

            The first phase of this process is to unpack all of the artwork. We first make sure to properly unpack and keep all packing materials together for when the exhibition is taken down.  It is really interesting seeing how artist pack their work. Some could care less while others made it into a puzzle of artworks and foam. With some of the artists, you can even see how their style reflects their packing style. The next step is the condition report, an important part since we do not want to blamed for damages! How has the piece survived traveling? Does the piece have the hardware necessary to be hung up in the gallery? For every piece/artist the answers differ. Some artists are better at packing than the others; just as some artists are better at framing their work than the rest.  After we have completed the unpacking process, we rest the pieces against the all and group them by artists. And this is where it gets complicated.

            All the pieces have been laid out but how do you decide which pieces belong where? You run into various problems such as you find the proper spot but you’ve realized that the artists have too many pieces to fit there or it just isn’t a fit. For the continuity and progression of the exhibit, separating the artist’s works won’t be a good idea. Then you start moving around pieces. This process is a work out. Lifting pieces and moving them to the other side of the gallery to move them back to the other side. At the beginning you might have one or two ideas of where to place certain pieces but that is only two pieces. You start to question how you want this exhibit to be laid out. Should it be by style or by subject matter? Should it be pieces that complement each other, but which pieces do? Sometimes two pieces that are of drastically different styles work well together, and sometimes they do not. This is a long and tedious work. Constantly rearranging and moving the pieces until you get a sense of what works well. In the end, it just about your gut feeling and how you want the guests to experience the exhibit.

Hopefully many of you have seen our latest exhibit “The Figure” which also hosts a special appearance by our own Professor Jeremy Long of the Department of Art! And if you haven’t, go check it out! The exhibit is up till October 16^th!