Diane Hart: Senior Museum Registrar for Collections and Exhibitions, oversees and ensures project workflow; supervises registrarial and art handling staff; promotes communication between both departments and supervises the Associate Registrar in daily management of the project. Diane has 29 years of museum registration experience.
1. How did you get into this line of work? How did you find yourself at WCMA specifically?
I was finishing up a Master's Degree in Art History and did an internship with a historic house museum assisting the Director with collections projects specifically cataloging objects. I loved being able to work directly with the objects and decided that I'd like to be a Registrar in a museum and to look for a position in a fine art museum. My first job was Assistant Registrar at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts and then I was the Associate Registrar at the Yale University Art Gallery and on to Senior Museum Registrar at WCMA.
2. Do you have a favorite art piece at WCMA, set of pieces, style?
My favorite has to be our great Edward Hopper painting, Morning in a City.
3. Are there any times that stand out to you as specifically memorable when you were working with the art?
The most memorable exhibition that I managed here was Prendergast in Italy, which opened here and traveled to the Peggy Guggenheim Museum in Venice, Italy and the Houston Museum of Fine Arts in 2009-2010. I traveled with that show and rode in an open boat with the crated artwork on the Grand Canal. A once in a lifetime work experience to be sure. The other memorable part of this work is working with wonderful colleagues from all over the US and abroad.
4. As you go through your day and work with the art, is there something that is usually on your mind?
How lucky I am to be working in this museum with such a great teaching collection and such interesting programming and exhibitions. Also, how important the work of the Registrar is to the functioning of the museum.
1. How did you get into this line of work? How did you find yourself
I practice art myself and have a passion for the care and preservation of cultural heritage. Artwork is just another form of cultural expression and is an integral narrative in our civilization, which has driven my interest in a career in art preservation. I studied fine art for my undergrad at Hampshire College, Amherst MA and continued on to post graduate studies in Object Conservation at the University of Lincoln, Lincoln, UK. I happily found myself at WCMA after returning home to Vermont and working at local art collections in the area while pursuing a profession in collections care. WCMA had influenced my love of art as a child growing up in Bennington and I was excited to see that through a grant, the Henry Luce Foundation was supporting a two year Collections Management Assistant position in the Registrars department. I am fond of WCMA because it's collection reflects the national and global connections of the college with other communities and its increasing interest in broadening these connections. There are also some really old paintings that reflect the college's New England roots.
2. Do you have a favorite art piece at WCMA, set of pieces, style?
I am continuously adding works of art to my list of favorite pieces at WCMA!
Two pieces that come to mind are:
William Trost Richards, American; 1833-1905
Cornish Coast (?), ca/ 1878
Williams College Museum of Art
I love how small this painting is! It is also on a very old and thin artist's board which was fascinating to examine. Every time I come across this painting or an image of this painting it makes me stop and spend a moment. I also find something new about it each time, look at the bright blue near the rocks in the foreground!
George Inness, American; 1825-1894
Spirit of the Night, 1891
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. William H. Barnewall, Class of 1924
Need I explain? The light in this is incredible and the title says it all.
3. Are there any times that stand out to you as specifically memorable
when you were working with the art?
In my current position I preform hundreds of condition reports to record the stability of the artwork in WCMA's collection. I would say that a memorable moment for me was a week last winter where I had an examination lamp set up in our digitial studio to examine a large pile of prints and drawings. The light outside was dark and it seemed like buckets of snow was coming down. Each artwork transported me into another space with a humbling, timeless, and meditative influence.
4. As you go through your day and work with the art, is there something that is usually on your mind?
I feel very enriched to be able to work with art throughout the day. Although my primary responsibilities are to observe the art through a technical lens, thinking about condition issues and storage requirements, it is hard not to feel a great appreciation and respect for the personal perspective and skill it embodies.
1. How did you get into this line of work? How did you find yourself at WCMA specifically?
I went to art school and majored in fine art. I grew up in the Berkshires and couldn't think of a better place to be.
2. Do you have a favorite art piece at WCMA, set of pieces, style?
One of my favorite paintings is Matta's "Rain". I tend to gravitate towards the surrealists.
3. Are there any times that stand out to you as specifically memorable when you were working with the art?
I was originally hired to do an complete inventory of the collection. I have spent much of my time in storage and in buildings around campus tracking artworks down. It's very rewarding to find things that haven't been seen in a long time.
4. As you go through your day and work with the art, is there something that is usually on your mind?
I am always mindful of the fact that my job is to make sure these artworks are appreciated by future generations. I'm just a care taker.
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