A Preparator's Life, Part II: Wegman

(More from Assistant Preparator, Will Fugman, installing William Wegman: Funney/Strange in our galleries)

So, the last time you heard from us was almost a year ago, during our preparations for the Frank Stella, Louise Lawler, and Shiny exhibitions. I thought this would be a good time to give you another peek behind the scenes, in the middle of the installation of our Fall exhibit from William Wegman, entitled Funney/Strange. Most of you are probably familiar with some of William Wegman's work, but you might not be aware of the many directions his work has taken throughout his career. This show includes a little bit of everything….quite a bit, actually.

Right now, we're in the process of laying out all of the work, and finding the perfect place for each piece. This time around, the exhibition takes up all four gallery spaces, so there's a lot of moving things throughout the building. The best part of the job is the moment when we open all of the crates, and see the work in person. It's like having a really nice birthday every three months.

We all become very familiar with the pieces in the show before hand, however, there's obviously a big difference between seeing it on a piece of paper and pulling the actual object out of a giant box. Likewise, we layout a floor plan for the show as much as possible before hand, but things change a bit once the actual work is occupying the gallery. The walls are currently lined with a ton of pieces, in various mediums, inching their way to their final destination. In some areas, hanging of the artwork has just started, and some of it's up on the wall already. Everything's been going very smooth so far, and I think everyone will enjoy the final outcome. Then we get to relax for a minute, and begin to work on the next round of exhibitions.