Is this a great story or what?

Every once in a while, a little story comes across my radar that is just so sweet and good. And what with the Ukraine situation, and the general right wing nuttery, and he never ending covid, and the crapoid weather (sleeting on top of snow as I write this), I really and truly appreciate a little sotry coming across my radar that's just so sweet and good.

So here it is:

In late March, the Baltimore Museum of Art (BMA) will open an exibition, Guarding the Art which:

...will feature works from the BMA’s collection, across eras, genres, cultures, and mediums, selected by guest curators from the BMA’s Security department. As guest curators, the officers will collaborate with leadership and staff across the museum to select and reinterpret works. In addition, the team is working with renowned art historian and curator Dr. Lowery Stokes Sims, who is providing additional mentorship and professional development.

In response to the BLM movement, many organizations jumped in on becoming more diverse and inclusive, and, predictably, the outcome has often been more lipservice than anything meaningful to do with diversity and inclusion. But this program sounds like it has some chops.  

The Museum invited all 45 of its security guards to participate, and 17 of them decided to do so. 

The 17 officers who elected to participate are Traci Archable-Frederick, Jess Bither, Ben Bjork, Ricardo Castro, Melissa Clasing, Bret Click, Alex Dicken, Kellen Johnson, Michael Jones, Rob Kempton, Chris Koo, Alex Lei, Dominic Mallari, Dereck Mangus, Sara Ruark, Joan Smith, and Elise Tensley. The group reflects a broad range of backgrounds and interests with officers who are also artists, chefs, musicians, scholars, and writers.

The "guest curators" have been working with staff from throughout the Museum to pull this together - an opportunity for the guards to make a real contribution to their organization, while also learning about curation, design, education, conservation, and marketing. They're being guided/mentored by those with expertise in these arenas, but they're also making real decisions and doing "real stuff." Plus they're receiving some additional compensation for their efforts. 

Kellen Johnson is working his way through Towson University, where he studies vocal performance. Here's the patining that Kellen chose:

It's "Normandy Landscape", a 1928 work by Hale Woodruff, a Black artist. (Kellen is also Black.) I've never heard of Hale Woodruff, but now I have. And I really like his work. 

Kellen's passion for music informed his choice. "I asked myself, 'if these paintings could sing, what would they sound like?'" That one sang Mozart to him. "Made me think about walking along a row of trees on a darkish day." (Source: NPR)

Overall, the guards from sixth-century pre-Columbian sculpture, to a 1925 French door knocker, to a 2021 protest painting."

The protest painting ("Resist #2" by Mickalene Thomas), which includes an image of James Baldwin, was chosen by Traci Archable-Frederick. 

She wanted her choice to "address the ongoing protests and racial tensions in the U.S."... "Everything I want to say is in this piece," Archbale-Frederick says. And she quotes James Baldwin: "Not everything that is faced can be changed. But nothing can be changed until it is faced."

Elise Tensley, herself a painter, "wants museums to take women's art more seriously. (You go, Elise!) She chose "Winter's End" by Jane Frank from the museum's collection to showcase. She had never seen it in a gallery."

The job does have its benefits - you get to work in a serene, calm, and safe (mostly) environment - but I don't imagine museum guards are all that well-compensated. And the work is probably not all that stimulating or engaging. Not to mention that museum guards ar taken for granted 99.99% of the time, noticed only when they warn someone not to touch a painting.

With this program, the guards got to stretch their creative powers, their brains, their organizational skills, etc., in new ways. Talk about job enrichment. 

I love this idea, and hope that other museums take it up, as well. 

There are so many jobs that are considered "low-skilled." But they don't have to be. 

Here's to companies that try to make work more interesting and challenging, not just for the "hi-pos" (high potential employees) clambering up the corporate ladder, but for those who may not ever make it to the lowest rung. 

And here's to the Baltimore Museum of Art, and the 17 curating security guards. Congratulations!