Louise

I have 20 years extensive experience which includes working in public and private galleries as well as setting up a mobile gallery.

Since 2017 I have worked at the gallery within the art handling department. I love my job and feel privileged to work with colleagues who have such a wealth of knowledge and expertise, as well as a world-renowned and prestigious collection.

As art handling administrator I am the main point of contact for the department, receiving requests and enquiries from across the gallery. I manage all aspects of department activity across loans, exhibitions and acquisitions.

I am a central to the loan programme and work closely with several key departments including collection registrars, curatorial, conservation, framing and photography.

The process starts with the collection registrars and after the loan and has been approved they send us a case order. I check and process this order and send to our case makers; Kent Services. I ensure that the case arrives in good time for the work to be packed into it. Then when the work returns from loan, I coordinate with Kent Services to have the case collection as soon as possible.

In order, for that work to be ready for packing on the day it is arranged, it first needs to be taken off public display, moved to the conservation department for pre-loan checks and any work to be carried out. If there are changes to the frame to be made, such as glazing then the frame gets moved back and forth to the framing department.

I schedule all these removals, moves and packs as individual jobs into the art handling Outlook calendar. Each day I translated these tasks into TMS to create job sheets for the team to work from the following day. Throughout this whole process I update TMS when a work moves within the gallery, and when it goes on loan.

I also work on our exhibition programme which currently sits at approximately 8 openings per year. I support the senior technician and deputy assigned to the exhibition. I attend technical planning meetings and work closely with several key departments including exhibition registrars, Conservation, creative, buildings and security.

During the installation and deinstallation periods I monitor and track movements of all works – both gallery and loaned - and update TMS accordingly.

In addition to these substantial areas of work I also carry out a number of other tasks. This includes coordinating monthly security checks of works in store, organising regular salvage committee meetings and monitoring the department budget, as well as raising POs and processing supplier invoices. I also order supplies and stationery and manage the office systems and structures.

I am the GDPR Champion for our department and have implemented new systems and protocols in line with the legislation change in May 2018.

As I have completed aviation security training, I am permitted to access paintings in stores, as well as escorting gallery staff and external visiting professionals to these areas.

A day in the life…

There is no typical day but here is a flavour … receiving picture deliveries in the Sainsbury wing loading bay, attending a technical meeting about exhibition later in the year, checking plans sent from curators, placing case orders for loans from the collection across the world, updating picture movements on our database which goes live to the website, providing access to paintings in storage for staff and academic visitors and liaising with staff from other departments including conservation, curatorial, events, buildings and security, to name but a few …