Convergence Promotes Divergence and Defeat from Museum Staff

The 1,000-piece Jackson Pollack puzzle

Curators, registrars, preparators, communicators ­– all facets of museum operations must face failure, or the anxious threat of failure, at some point or another. Rarely, however, is a cataclysm so total as to affect and endanger the well being of every department. Tuesday, however, the first ripples foretelling a tidal wave rang through the museum offices, when Shawnya Harris declared what can only be the beginnings of disastrous surrender.

 “I’m putting this puzzle away,” she declared from the edge of the conference table in the middle of the workroom. An intern, startled from their work at the station nearby, ripped out their ear buds. Shawnya addressed them more resolutely, “I’m tired of this. This thing is driving me crazy.”

“This thing” is a partially complete 1,000-piece puzzle of Jackson Pollock’s 1952 painting Convergence. Though the collective museum staff usually makes short work of similarly sized puzzles during breaks and lunches, this particular tiger trap has lain in mocking defiance of progress for weeks.

The intern, sympathetic to Shawnya’s sentiments and having experienced firsthand the relief the small manual game brought amongst hours of conceptual, literary, logistical rigmarole, nodded and turned towards the puzzle in their swivel chair. “I don’t blame you. I mean, raccoons chew off their arms to get out of traps, I guess you have the right to do this.”

Shawnya, spirits lifted, accepted this was true, but made the amendment that she would not, in fact, put the entire puzzle away, just what had yet to be assembled in any form. Even so, she was afraid of those members of the staff who might misunderstand her actions.

“I can just hear everyone going crazy,” she said, shoveling loose pieces back into the box nevertheless. “‘Where did all the pieces go?!’”

Such an impression is not an exaggeration. One particular chief preparator, Todd Rivers, has a specific – and usually quite successful – method wherein he arranges loose pieces by shape, rather than color or shade, in order to expedite assembly. This method had been adopted as a matter of course by the time Convergence ruptured all conventions. Unfortunately, even this ingenuity would seem to have fallen before the monstrosity that is a 1,000-piece puzzle made from the hyper-repetitious drip technique of an abstract expressionist.

As of yet, the sting of Shawnya’s decision is still fresh. Assistant Editor Taylor Lear, shaking the box ominously upon discovery, let only a single glum word, “troublemaker,” escape her. 

Other staff members remain blissfully unaware of the consequences that their uncompromising position has forced. Others are disappointed; yet they admit the wisdom of the psychological defense deployed, even if the call was made without consultation. Overall, it is better for the health of the team in the long run, which some believe will be both seen and felt once there is some distance from the matter. Museums, of course, must think about both the past and the future, and never dwell too long on what they wish could have been.

One intern in particular had few feelings on the matter beyond the hope that the puzzle would be entirely given up on and replaced soon, as staff members have been visiting the workroom less frequently lately and the intern misses the comfort of having real people close by, as well as the little joy of having conversations to listen in on while they pretend to listen to music.

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Penske McCormack

Intern, Department of Communications

Georgia Museum of Art Staff Works Together on a Very Good Puzzle

In any office environment, it is easy to get lost in your screens and pages for eight hours each day, chatting only with those in your immediate vicinity. This pattern has recently been broken at the Georgia Museum of Art thanks to 2,000 pieces of cardboard.

The Very Good Puzzle Company is an Athens business that specializes in creating puzzles from artists and journalists whose work they find interesting or compelling. Michael Lachowski, who received their first two puzzles as a gift from co-owner Brian Dixon, brought them to the museum for the staff to enjoy. The two puzzles both feature works by Lou Kregel (“Chrysanthemums” and “Five Star Day”), and while the finished products are beautiful, the construction is anything but effortless.

Staff members and volunteers work on the second puzzle from The Very Good Puzzle Company

Putting together these puzzles has become a refreshing break from the routine for staff members and volunteers at the museum. Shawnya Harris, Paula Arscott and Ashlyn Davis all shared their thoughts on this communal activity, stating that it helps them de-stress from hectic workdays and feel a sense of accomplishment as the picture from the box starts to become clearer.

“[The staff has] bonded over the puzzles,” Arscott stated. She explained that she has had the opportunity to talk to people with whom she doesn’t normally interact on a day-to-day basis. Harris and Davis quickly expressed similar sentiments. Davis, who is a relatively new intern at the museum, stated that she has met a lot more of the staff because of the puzzles.

By watching the puzzle construction in action, it is clear that this is a great shared experience. As each piece is put into its proper place, exclamations and congratulations are not far behind, and strategies are discussed with thoughtful consideration.

Is it better to complete the edges of the puzzle first? Do you look for each piece primarily by color or shape? Is it acceptable to work on the puzzle instead of going out to lunch? These questions have all been debated within the course of the last few weeks, but the answers are less important than the unanticipated amount of fun the staff has had putting these images together piece by piece. Conversations that would seem absurd two weeks ago – “I’m looking for two prongs in blue with just a smudge of black.” – are now uttered without a second thought.

If you would like to purchase these puzzles to try them for yourself, you may purchase them at Avid Bookshop or the Very Good Puzzle website.

Inside Look: Life of a GMOA Registrar

As spectators admire a perfectly placed work of art in the museum's galleries, they often do not think about the tedious and strategic process of shipping, handling, tracking, inspecting and installing that work.

Truth is, every one of the 10,000 works in the museum's collection has been through this meticulous, nerve-wracking process, which is skillfully and patiently coordinated by the museum's team of registrars. The registrars are an invaluable part of the museum, working behind the scenes to rotate works in and out of the galleries seamlessly, without damaging or losing track of a single one.

While some works easily fit into shipping crates, others present our registrars with a bit more of a challenge. Whether dealing with extreme fragility, enormity or odd shapes and forms, the registrars are responsible for flawlessly and efficiently moving the items across the world for our viewing pleasure.

The museum's head registrar, Tricia Miller, took the time to give me an inside look at the exciting and somewhat hectic job of registration at an art museum.

Elizabeth Poland: What exactly does a registrar of an art museum do?

Tricia Miller: A registrar for an art museum is the information and logistics specialist for the care, preservation and management of works of art in the museum, whether in the permanent collection or on loan to the museum. There are three main areas of management for a registrar:

Collections management

Overseeing the care and preservation of the works of art in the museum, from proper storage and handling to proper display. Registrars oversee and manage the environmental conditions to which works of art are exposed in order to best preserve them for future generations.

Exhibition management

Overseeing the logistics for securing and planning for all current and future exhibitions. Museum staff work on exhibitions 1-2 years in advance and the registrars manage the logistical details such as reviewing and securing loan agreements and exhibition contracts and negotiating insurance, packing and crating, and shipping for all incoming temporary exhibitions.

Information management

Overseeing the organization of and access to information about the works of art in the collection and the temporary exhibitions. The registrars office creates and maintains a research file, called a curatorial file, for each object in the museum’s collection of over 10,000 objects. We also create and maintain a file for every temporary exhibition that has been on display at the museum from 1946 to the present. The registrars office also maintains a collections database which tracks all information associated with works of art in the collection.

EP: What is the most challenging part of your job?

TM: Managing multiple and sometimes varied tasks. In one week it is possible that I will work with UGA Legal Affairs on negotiating a contract or loan agreement, discuss the restoration of a work of art with a contract conservator, talk with HVAC engineers about the temperature and humidity in the building, use a pallet jack to move a heavy object in storage, work on data entry in the collections database, meet a truck driver who is delivering a work of art and examine the condition of a 17th-century Dutch etching.

EP: What is the most rewarding part of your job?

TM: Hands-on, intimate work with the objects. When an object comes into or goes out of the museum, a registrar conducts a condition report, which is a very close examination of the object to record its condition at the time of its arrival or departure. Registrars are some of the few people in the museum who are trained and authorized to handle the works of art, so we often have the privilege of being in close contact with important works of art.

EP: What was the most interesting work you saw moved?

TM: One of the more interesting things I’ve watched being moved is a 19th-century copy of an ancient sculpture at the Uffizi Palace called "Wrestlers." It is a marble sculpture on a marble base measuring over 6 feet tall. We hired fine arts moving specialists to coordinate disassembling, palletizing and moving this large, heavy sculpture with riggers.

EP: What advice would you give to a prospective art museum registrar?

TM: Museum studies programs will give you a good basic understanding of how museums operate and then volunteer in a registrars department at a museum. Registrars can always use help with the wide variety of tasks they manage.