July from Susan - Retirement book

 

Susan's envelope pairs nicely with my add-on for today - which was written while I was in Chicago. The colors coordinate and the stamps look like paintings hanging on a wall. The USPS did a nice job of adding a double cancel because they know how much I like the wavy lines.

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From time to time I post stories about my teaching as well as volunteering for events at the art museum that is in my back yard. Most of the people who work there have a background in art even if they are in jobs that are not directly related to making art. Many of the guards and custodians are artists who need a day job.

Connie, the person who does all of the graphic design work is someone I have known for 45+ years. She is tasked with the job of putting together a *book* for people who are retiring. The pages of the book are submitted by people who get the email that says: Please submit a page for a book to be presented to *whomever* - who is retiring in July....or whenever. The call for pages goes beyond fellow employees because there are so many people involved with the museum as patrons and volunteers.

Since our paths cross in a variety of ways, Connie often asks me if I have any good ideas for her current book assignment. In June, she asked me if I had any good ideas for a retirement book for Jay, the preparator. This is the job description of a preparator. 

The preparator performs all duties related to exhibition preparation; including but not limited to, installation, de-installation, packing, shipping, and receiving artwork and coordination of necessary staff and materials. Work includes but is not limited to exhibition design and construction.

I've been invited (hired) by Jay to work on some of the more complicated installations where they need many people to do tasks that are not difficult - just super tedious and non-art people might not feel like giving the proper attention to the job. Knowing behind the scenes people and hearing the insider stories about installations has been so much fun.

When Connie asked me if I had a good idea for a book for Jay's retirement - I immediately thought of all the crates I have seen when I have been to the inner sanctum of the museum.

I'll post photos of Jay's book tomorrow.