The Exhibition has Opened!!!

by Jasmine Rippy 

We are all on display now just like some of CAM's art collection since the doors finally opened to the public. It has been a busy first week filed with anxiety, first times, tons of amazing art and a lot of hard work! 

Most of the week I have been on a learning curve just figuring out how to do stuff and how not to do stuff, especially while handling artwork. I have learned to slow down considerably while working and I am feeling as though I am getting better at just being aware of the artwork and myself. It is unbelievable how much one touch from even a gloved hand can affect an object, let alone the possibilities when moving it to and from the collection vault. So far, we have moved mostly paintings, all varying in size from 15-20 feet to three feet, both tall and wide. 

We also went to Graphicstudio this week to pick up a piece that was getting a little face lift.  We had the opportunity to look on as they worked the piece and we were given a mini-tour of the atelier, while Peter was checking out some of the other works. We had a chance to see the printing presses and even some studio rats at work. Again, like CAM, this place is totally underrated; the works dripping from their walls is but a whisper of what they do (and have done) there. It, too, is a treasure to Tampa.

At the end of the day, we looked on as the images are loaded to the database and assigned their accession numbers so they can later be attached to their data files. I know this is just a peek into the non-physical side to museum work, as I am sure after all of the photographs have been taken we will soon begin cataloguing them.  This will allow us get to know the computer database, Embark, quite well.