CultureComment

This is an installment of a weekly interview series, on the Culture Comment blog. It’s called “Behind-the-Scenes.” Each week, we’ll discuss new facts and information about the people that make the Walters Art Museum tick. Now, let’s meet Jim Maza.

Gary Vikan: What do you do at the Walters?
Jim Maza: I’m the Chief Technology Officer (CTO)

GV: What does a CTO do?
JM: I’m responsible for all of the technology used in the museum. This includes all of the computers and software, phone system, audio/visual projectors, microphones, etc. used in the galleries as well as by the staff.

GV: Can you tell us about the technology used in the galleries?
JM: One of the ways we offer technology in the galleries is with audio tours. Any visitor can request a handheld audio device to take with them during their visit to the museum. The device is easy to use and it won’t interrupt other visitors. There are a variety of audio tours available on the devices, such as a tour of music and art, and it is easy to move from one tour to the next. Our upcoming special exhibition Treasures of Heaven, Saints, Relics and Devotion in Medieval Europe will feature an audio tour created by students from The John Hopkins University, in addition to our usual gallery tours.

GV: What about behind-the-scenes? Any interesting technology there?
JM: We have recently implemented a digital asset management system for use by the museum staff. This system makes it easier to store, retrieve and share the digital documents and images that have become such a big part of daily life at the museum.

GV: How did you get involved with Information Technology in the museum field?
JM: While working on a Masters degree in Art History, I found a job cataloguing information about the works of art into a database at the Detroit Institute of Arts. I soon discovered that I found the technology aspects of my job more interesting than the Art History program. I moved to upstate New York and spent two years earning an MBA degree with a dual major of Arts Administration and Information Technology at SUNY-Binghamton. I have worked IT positions for museums ever since I earned my MBA.

GV: What is the biggest challenge in your job?
JM: One of the biggest challenges is to make sure that whenever we use technology in an exhibition, that it enhances the experience for the visitor. It is easy to get caught up in the ‘cool factor’ of technology, but we want to be sure that we are not using a technology just because it is new or cool, but that it helps tell the story of the exhibition.
GV: What projects are you currently working on?
JM: I am currently working on teams for two upcoming exhibitions.

Reliquaries like this one will be available to view on screen in 3D

One exhibition will focus on religious objects from the medieval period. We are photographing some of the images in 3D at very high resolution. The visitor will be able rotate and zoom in on the images, which will let you see details that you would not be able to see otherwise. The other exhibition focuses on the Archimedes Palimpsest and tells the story of the amazing discovery of Archimedes lost works.

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Do you have a question you would like to ask? If so, let’s hear about it in the comments!

This is an installment of a weekly interview series, on the Culture Comment blog. It’s called “Behind-the-Scenes.” Each week, we’ll discuss new facts and information about the people that make the Walters Art Museum tick. Now, let’s meet Lindsey Anderson.

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Gary Vikan: What do you do at the Walters?
Lindsey Anderson: I am the David Hirschhorn Community Outreach Coordinator.

GV: What does a Community Outreach Coordinator do?
LA: As the Walters’ Community Outreach Coordinator, I wear many hats. I facilitate a number of partnerships and projects with arts and social service organizations in Baltimore. I manage two after-school programs at the museum: The Walters Art Museum Teen Arts Council and our after-school program for refugee youth. I coordinate community events at the museum, like our Day of the Dead Celebration in November, Chinese New Year in February, or our International Family Day every June. I also facilitate workshops at partner community sites in the city.

Overall, my job is to make sure that the resources of the Walters are meeting needs in the Baltimore community and that we are doing our best to ensure that we are serving all of the citizens of the city.

GV: What is the most interesting project you’ve worked on at the Walters?
LA: In 2008, the Walters hosted contemporary photographer Dawoud Bey and a group of 12 Baltimore teens to be guest curators for an exhibition entitled Portraits Re/Examined: A Dawoud Bey Project. Bey and the students worked with curators, educators, conservators, designers and marketers to curate their own exhibition in three weeks. The students determined everything from selecting the artworks for the exhibition, to deciding on wall color, to writing label text and recording audio components, to coming up with a title and marketing plan for the exhibition. It was a learning experience for everyone—the museum staff learned just as much as the students did, and the project made a huge impact on all involved.

GV: What is your favorite piece in the Walters’ collection and why?

LA: It’s impossible to pick one favorite, but one of my most favorite is an early Greek amphora, Amphora with Funerary Scenes. I love the bold, geometric patterns that fill every inch of the surface of the vase. I love that the mourning scene is so simple, yet powerful and emotional, and even now, 2,000 years later, we can empathize with the people depicted.

GV: What projects are you currently working on?
LA: I am in the midst of finalizing details and writing lesson plans for all of my fall programs. I am working on program plans for our regular after-school programs, including the Teen Arts Council and our after-school program for refugee youth. I am finalizing details for the museum’s November 7 Day of the Dead celebration, including writing lesson plans for off-site community workshops and booking our performers, and I am also working on writing lesson plans for some community workshops we’ll be facilitating in conjunction with our upcoming fall special exhibition Walter Wick: Games, Gizmos and Toys in the Attic.

GV: When people ask you about your work, what do they most often want to know?
LA: What is Community Outreach exactly? So what exactly do you do? Hopefully after reading this, people will have a better idea!

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Do you have a question you would like to ask Lindsey? If so, let’s hear about it in the comments!

This is an installment of a weekly interview series, on the Culture Comment blog. It’s called “Behind-the-Scenes.” Each week, we’ll discuss new facts and information about the people that make the Walters Art Museum tick. Now, let’s meet Joan Elisabeth Reid.

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Gary Vikan: What is your position at the Walters?
Joan Elisabeth Reid: I’m the Chief Registrar.

GV: What does a registrar do?
JR: The registrar is responsible for collection management and collection documentation. This means that the registrar is responsible for the movement of art in and out of the museum. The registrar keeps an up-to-date inventory of every object in the collection as well as loans to the museum. The registrar is also responsible for insuring that the collection is either safely housed in storage or installed in the galleries. The registrar handles all the logistics of packing and shipping art to and from the museum as well as installing it. We ship and receive art from all over the world. The registrar also maintains documentation on all the art, increasingly in electronic form, for internal museum purposes and for dissemination on the web. We have a department of four registrars, one data entry assistant, and three art handlers to carry out these duties.

GV: How did you get the job of registrar?
JR: I received a B.A. in Art History and an M.A. in Italian Studies with a concentration on museum education. I then worked for a small museum as a curator, doing everything that a registrar does, so it was an easy transition from a job as curator to one as registrar.

GV: How did you get involved with the museum field?
JR: I actually started my career as an intern in museum education at the Baltimore Museum of Art and the Toledo Museum of Art. In additional to learning what museum education was all about, the internships gave me an opportunity to learn about the many different job opportunities in the museum field.

GV: What type of training do you need to be a registrar?
JR: Nowadays, most individuals wanting to be a registrar go to graduate school to get a Masters in Museum Studies. These programs incorporate internships into the course of studies so students have some experience when they begin to apply for jobs. When I started, one could train through a series of museum internships. A very few people are lucky enough to begin as volunteers and gain experience that way.

GV: What is the biggest challenge in your job?
JR: We sometimes have two to three (and sometimes four) travelling exhibitions on the road at any given time, in addition to the exhibition installations at the Walters and the care of the permanent collection. It’s a juggling act and good planning and organization are essential.

GV: What is the most interesting project you’ve worked on at the Walters?
JR: That’s a hard question, because there are so many interesting aspects of my job. I guess I would have to say that three projects stand out: taking an exhibition of Southeast Asian art to Hong Kong; going to Kiev, Ukraine to pack up an exhibition of beautiful Scythian gold objects; and going to St. Petersburg, Russia to pack up an exhibition of Russian avant-garde paintings to bring back to the Walters. I sometimes wonder what the artists who made these objects would have thought if they knew their art would one day fly around the world.

GV: What is your favorite piece in the Walters’ collection and why?
JR: There are so many pieces I love. One of the great pleasures of being a registrar is that you get to handle the art work as you move and install it. You really get to see it up close. Depending on what art I am moving or what exhibition I am working on, I have a new favorite all the time.

When I deinstalled the art in our Centre Street Building in preparation for its renovation and 2001 reopening, I handled one of the gold early medieval shroud crosses. It could have blown away, it was so light, and I had to be very careful I did not bend the thin gold or damage the beautiful, embossed design. It’s incredible to think that something like this has survived for 1,300 years, and now, it’s my responsibility to make sure it is safe.

In 2005, we opened our newly renovated Palazzo Building and in the Gentleman’s Study we installed a Flemish Rosary Pendant with the Crucifixion and Resurrection (61.132). It’s made of boxwood and measures only 1 15/16” in circumference. Every time I look at this piece, I can’t believe that any craftsperson could have carved such an intricate and minute scene. It’s just amazing.

GV: What project are you currently working on?
JR: I’m getting ready to go to San Diego to pack up our travelling exhibition, Heroes: Mortals and Myths in Ancient Greece. Then, I travel with it across country to New York where I will help install it at the Onassis Cultural Center. It will be on view in New York from October 5, 2010–January 3, 2011.

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Learn more about the exhibitions at the Walters Museum, on our web site.

Do you have a question you would like to ask Joan Elisabeth? If so, let’s hear about it in the comments!