2024 PACCIN Preparators Conference - Looking Back/Moving Forward

“Looking Back/Moving Forward”
As we enter the mid-2020s, we would like to look at how our profession has changed after tumultuous start of the decade, and how we are planning for the future. While our last convention in 2022 looked at the adaptation in our industry propelled by the events of 2020, this year we focus on how those changes have become no longer reactive, but the new way of doing things.

Primary sponsors: Belger Cartage, Dietl International

Platinum sponsors (Marketplace vendors): Art Handler Network; Art Fit 3D; Atelier FAS; Bev/art; Cooke’s Crating; Maquette FAS; Masterpiece/Turtle; Takiya; US Art

Gold sponsors: Art Works of KC; Atelier-4; Bonsai FAS; Cross Museum Professionals; Methods & Materials; Tru Vue

Silver sponsors: Apice; ARTWORKS of San Diego; Artech; Arteria; MasterPak: Small Corp; Teton FAS

Evening Reception sponsors: IAS Fine Art Logistics; Art Works of Kansas City; Crozier
Student Scholarship Program
To help encourage a new generation of art handlers, we had four art students from the Kansas City Art Institute attend our conference. They have also received a one-year membership to PACCIN so they can stay connected with us in the future.

Brent Powell generously sponsored these students to attend the conference. He worked at the Nelsons-Atkins as Assistant Superintendent of Collections (1986-89), then became the Chief Preparator of Packing & Storage (1989-1999) and served two terms as PACCIN Board Chair, 1990-2000 and 2008-2014.
“PACCIN gave me the gift to meet and work with people from all over the world and help
bring the art handlers up and out of the basements. Credit to our professional skills is why
you are here at this great Museum attending this great conference with your colleagues in
the museum industry!” - Brent Powell

Conference Speakers & Topics

Thursday May 16

Joey Capadona (Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art, Eugene, OR)
Session: Integrating Technology into Exhibition Design – Or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Technology

Focusing on the use of technology in art and exhibitions, we will be looking at some of the
challenges that artworks with older or outdated tech can present and explore some innovative ways that current technology can be incorporated to create a more immersive experience for the viewer.

There will be a basic introduction to VR, Arduino micro-controllers and BrightSign digital players with examples of how we have integrated this technology into exhibitions with multi-channel video installations, interactive and touchscreen displays and discuss ways these technologies can be deployed throughout museum and gallery settings.


Joey Capadona is an installation artist with a BFA in Sculpture and is currently the Exhibition Designer and Head Preparator at the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art. Prior to his formal education in fine arts, he worked for a commercial design company where he honed his carpentry, welding, fabrication and design skills. As an artist, he understands that the viewers’ experience of an exhibition is as essential as the works being displayed, emphasizing this perspective with every installation. Some favorite installations include Tony Feher’s Extraordinary Ordinary, Jeff Koons’ Pluto and Proserpina, The Barbarini Tapestries: Woven Monuments of Baroque Rome, Ralf Steadman: A Retrospective, Isaac Julien’s Lessons of the Hour, and James Turrell’s Cape Hope.

Matthew Del Grosso (Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, MA)
Session: Adding Additive Manufacturing to Your Bag o’ Tricks: An Introduction to 3D Printing for
Preparation and Collections Care

The reliability, ease of use, range of materials, and relatively low entry level price of 3D printers on the market today makes having one (or more!) an excellent compliment to all other more common tools/processes we have traditionally used to creatively solve problems. Did you know that for the price of a bare power drill, you can purchase an excellent entry level 3D printer?!
This session will provide information on the two most common forms of 3D printers one might purchase for use in a museum setting, tips and resources for getting the most out of your 3D printer(s), information on the safety of materials in proximity to artworks, and example projects illustrating the versatility of a 3D printer in a variety of projects.


Matthew Del Grosso holds a BFA in Sculpture from the Massachusetts College of Art and Design, and a M.A. in Museum Studies from the Harvard Extension School. His museum career began in 2004 at the Peabody Essex Museum (PEM) in Salem, MA, as a Registration Project Assistant. Since then, he has gained experience as a Conservation Technician for a textile and upholstery conservator in private practice, Collection Manager at the PEM, Collection Care Associate at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, and is currently the Associate Preparator at the PEM, in addition to working privately on contract.

Bella Quijano (Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, Los Angeles, CA)
Quick Tip: Security, Efficiency, and Standardization: The Evolving Methods of Rehousing Works on Paper using Trays

Rehousing works on paper is generally a simple task but can become complicated when introducing friable mediums. Trays are a great way of rehousing works on paper made with pastel, graphite, gouache, charcoal, or watercolor. At The Lucas Museum, we have refined our tray system in a few ways: security, efficiency, and standardization. With this presentation, I hope to share with everyone this simplified and efficient method of housing. This presentation will cover how evolving rehousing techniques are a part of collections management. We can look back and see how our methods worked and did not work and can focus on moving forward with new techniques to better take care of our precious collections.


Bella Quijano is a Collections Management Technician for the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art in Los Angeles. She has an M.A. in Anthropology with an emphasis in Museum Studies from California State University, Chico. Prior to working at the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, Bella worked at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art as a Collections Management Technician for works on paper.

Natalie Wadle (Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture, Spokane, WA)
Session: Security, Efficiency, and Standardization: The Evolving Methods of Rehousing Works on Paper Using Trays

The Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture (MAC) has worked hard to comply with all repatriation requests and to comply with NAGPRA guidelines. These projects often involve multiple departments and relationships, built up over years of collaborative work. In 2023, the Tlingit/Haida Central Council, who the MAC had been working with to repatriate materials identified 10 years prior, reached out and requested that we expedite the return in advance of a cultural event in the fall. Working together the MAC and the Tlingit/Haida Central Council had meetings and worked collaboratively on a plan to pack and return the objects in a respectful and speedy manner. Pulling staff from curatorial, exhibitions, facilities, education, events, and leadership the MAC was able to get the objects packed, mailed and to host several Tlingit/Haida representatives for the packing and ceremonial return event. The speed of this project resulted in renewed relationships, rough guidelines for future repatriation projects and a more concise understanding of staff involvement.


Natalie Wadle is the exhibitions registrar at the Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture, having worked in museums for 10 years, focusing on collections and exhibitions work. She started her career in her hometown of Kodiak, Alaska at the Alutiiq Museum and has since worked for Denver Art Museum, the Peabody Essex Museum, and the Shawnee Tribe Cultural Center. Throughout her career she has worked with installing, packing, and registration, working with tribal materials as well as fine art, history, and textiles.


Scott Foulk (Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO)
Session: The Rodeo Rig - Large Vitrine Rigging

This presentation is about how we here at the Nelson-Atkins set up and execute the rigging and
placement of large acrylic vitrines over art that has been installed in free standing exhibition casework. I will introduce myself and talk briefly about the known history of the method and our success using it. I will outline the minimal equipment and number of people needed to facilitate the act. After this introduction to the topic, I will cue an entertaining pre-recorded video of myself and some members of my team performing the rig, lift and placement step by step. The audio component of the video will include some low background music and my narration in real time through the process and will include close- up detail shots as well as overalls for better understanding of exactly how it works. I will also provide written instructions with process detail diagrams or photographs in PDF format that everyone can access in addition to the video. When the video has run its course, I will then share a bit more about our experiences and open it up to the floor and address any questions the audience may have.

The “Rodeo Rig” is a non-invasive compression lift from a single pick point that can be accomplished using one cotton strap, two catch clips (easily fabricated) and a lifting machine (forklift, Big Joe). 4-5 trained staff required. One machine operator, two main riggers, and 1-2 support staff (blocks/spotters). With a well-trained crew this Bonnet set method is safe, expeditious, and easy to perform.


Scott Foulk is a Senior Preparator who has been with The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art for 12 years. A graduate of The Kansas City Art Institute with a degree in Fine Art (painting) Mr. Foulk maintains a regular multimedia/interdisciplinary studio practice that ranges from painting, sculpture, illustration, and writing to filmmaking, photography, music, and performance art. Currently working with three different groups of musicians he has spent the last two years composing and recording nearly 30 original songs scheduled for timed releases over the next 18 months via most streaming platforms. When he is not occupied with any number of artistic endeavors, he loves hanging out with his three daughters.


Anna Nelson and Austin Plann Curley (The Huntington Library, Art Museum and Botanical Gardens, San Marino, CA)
Session: Mountmaking for the Huntington Library’s Oldest Printed Book

In 2023, the Huntington Library exhibited its oldest printed book, volume 45 of the Scripture of the Great Flower Ornament of the Buddha, a Chinese Buddhist sutra printed with woodcuts in the year 1085 and bound as a concertina.

Displaying the full text required not only that the book be extended, but also tilted for visibility of both sides of the page. After much experimentation, we presented the sutra in a 22-foot-long case, tilted at a 45-degree angle in an accordion-like cradle made from clear sheets of cast PETG plastic.

Some fabrication issues were solved with old-school methods – a pair of dividers proved surprisingly essential for replicating the fold pattern of the pages in the support. A structural facsimile of the sutra allowed us to test design ideas without handling the original, though its limits as a stand-in became apparent in later stages of fabrication. We will also discuss PETG as an alternative to acrylic. This project was innovative for us and required us to rethink our use of familiar materials – PETG, acrylic, VHB, and Mylar clips – in new combinations and on a much larger scale.


Anna Nelson (she/her) is an Exhibition Preparator at The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens in San Marino California, where she specializes in preparing and installing works on paper. She is an alumni of The Broad’s Diversity Apprenticeship Program, and enjoys working as an on-call preparator at various museums and galleries in Los Angeles. Anna is also a printmaker and sculpture artist, interested in local ecology and sustainable economics.


Austin Plann Curley (he/him) is a Book Conservator at The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens in San Marino California. His responsibilities include preservation issues related to exhibitions and loans, as well as conservation treatment of books and bound manuscripts. Before starting at the Huntington Austin worked as a book conservator at the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington D.C. His work at the Folger supported First Folio! The Book that Gave us Shakespeare, a U.S. tour of Shakespeare’s First Folio with exhibitions in all 50 states and 3 territories.


Rebeka Pech Moguel and Jake Ludemann (
Session: Lighting Design for the Non-Lighting Designer (or “You Pet the Cat, You Own the Cat”)

In this session, we will present a straightforward, no-nonsense approach to exhibition lighting. Unpacking the process used to light Niki de Saint Phalle: Rebellion and Joy as a case study, we will review the steps that our lighting design team uses to move quickly from rough-in to final adjustments. We will also talk about building a relationship with your track light systems – learning what different lenses, lamps, and accessories do, as well as next steps for advanced practitioners.



Rebeka Pech Moguel works at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art as the Manager of Lighting Design. She obtained her BFA from the Kansas City Art Institute in 2016 and in 2023, she received a Graduate Certificate in Architectural Lighting Design from University of Colorado Boulder. During her time at NAMA, Rebeka has been involved in many lighting projects including the transition to LED illuminators for the museum’s fiber optic systems. Currently she is leading the second round of LED upgrades for the galleries.


Jake Ludemann is the Director of Infrastructure and Gallery Construction at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. He graduated with a BFA from KCAI and in 2021 he received his MBA from UMKC. In various roles, Jake has kept the lights on and adjusted in permanent and featured exhibition galleries at NAMA for 12 years. Highlights include completion of the museums first LED selection and renovation in 2015, and design and installation of NAMA’s first IOT LED system in 2017.


Bob Crozier (ARTFiT Technologies, New York, NY)
Session: ARTFiT 3D

Societal changes over the past several years – both precipitated and accelerated by the pandemic – have forced everyone to adopt and integrate more technological tools into our lives and our business workflows. This is particularly true of our industry, which has tended to lag in such things. Artfit was founded to bring the digital design and automated manufacturing techniques leveraged to success in other verticals to the packing of fine art.
Artfit has discovered a way to marry a modestly priced 3D scanner and CNC machine hardware package with knowledge-based engineering and a SaaS platform to design and mill cross-linked polyethylene foam into contour cavities and brace pack inserts for the safest possible transport of high-value objects. Not only is this a safer packing system, but also a partially remote solution that can reduce the time the object is in transit. Furthermore, the replacement of physical trial-and-error with computer-aided design will drive operating efficiencies, and when combined with the durability of the materials will lead to the use of less consumables.


Bob Crozier founded Crozier Fine Arts in 1976 with four employees and grew it into one of the world's largest fine art storage and logistics providers.

Bob sold the business - including significant facilities assets - to Iron Mountain (NYSE: IRM) in late 2015. Crozier continues to lead the industry in delivering global full lifecycle services including the packing, crating, transport, international shipping and storage of fine art, antiques and objects of cultural significance.

ARTFiT 3D Technologies – his latest venture – is an innovative system for the packing and long-term storage of three-dimensional objects.


Michael Terzano (Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, CA)

Session: Labor Unions in Museums

Many museums have unionized over the last 5 years; our goal for this presentation is to share information on what that means for museum workers. We will discuss salary comparisons, union contracts, and outline the entire process from organizing to getting a contract.
Michael Terzano is a Preparator at UCLA's Hammer Museum in Los Angeles, California. He has worked in crate shops, as a truck driver and was the Assistant Preparator at the Corcoran Gallery of Art before relocating to Los Angeles. From 2017 to 2019 he helped his union UPTE-CWA bargain a 5-year contract with the University of California. The agreement, which runs through the fall of 2024, provided total raises of 29% to 32%. Other victories include protections on parking and healthcare rates, daily overtime pay, and equity raises for many job titles across the university system.



Jerry Smith (Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, Los Angeles, CA)
Quick Tip: When AI Handles the Art


Friday May 17

Dale Benson (The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX)
Session: Do Ho Suh’s Portal – 17 Years from Conception to Installation

Having worked in museums the past 33 years, I’ve encountered many challenging installs. None, however, compare to a project I managed in collaboration with artist Do Ho Suh. The project began in 2006 as he began early discussions with the museum’s former director regarding a potential commission to be installed in the new Korean gallery. From concept to realization, it was a 9 year journey before he would finally see the completed sculpture while visiting the casting facility. The museum installation wouldn’t happen until 8 years later in the fall of 2023. It would ultimately surpass everyone’s expectations in regards to time, process, and result. Intertwining the artist’s concept with state of the art technology and technical casting and install hurdles, it smashed the record time I’ve spent on any one project.

Drawing inspiration from an existing brick and mortar gate located at the Suh’s family home in Seoul, Korea, laser scanners captured 3D information to recreate positives so that molds could be made for the final casts. It was an important transitional period for Do Ho during this project as he moved away from soft, malleable materials such cloth and paper to solid acrylic. It became clear early on that the size and weight would prohibit it from being installed in the museum’s Korean gallery doorway, thus the additional time after completion before a proper location in the museum’s new 2020 Nancy and Rich Kinder expansion building was identified.

When I arrived at the MFAH in 2010, early casting prototypes had already begun. Once actual to-scale raw castings were available, I began lengthy discussions with engineers concerning size, weight, handling issues, assemblage procedures, etc. Weighing in at 12,360 lbs, the 6 piece highly polished acrylic casting posed several challenges as an installer. Numerous trips were made between Houston and the Colorado casting facility to discuss assemblage. There are no mechanical attachments, only 4 “dogbone” connectors for stabilization. With zero tolerance between polished sections, traditional rigging and strapping was not an option for portions of the assemblage. I had to redirect my attention to non-traditional art handling equipment, which proved to be the crucial piece of the puzzle in a successful installation of Do Ho Suh’s Portal.


Dale Benson has been working in museums since receiving his MFA from the University of Kansas in 1991. He is currently managing the Preparations Department at The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston where he has been for 14 years. Previously, he worked 2 years at the Aspen Art Museum in Colorado and 16 years at The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City. Campus expansions with new art buildings seem to follow Dale. Notable involvements include the Nelson-Atkins’ 165,000 sq ft Bloch Building expansion which opened its doors in 2007. In the fall of 2020, Dale and his team installed MFAH’s new 237,000 sq ft Nancy and Rich Kinder building featuring three atriums, 15 galleries, eight sight-specific art commissions, and two underground art immersive pedestrian tunnels. The new building increased the museum’s overall campus exhibition space by 75 percent.


Michael Price (Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA)
Quick Tip: Wall of Sound - Installing with Yoshitomo Nara during COVID

Just a short speech about installing the Nara retrospective during the start of Covid, and also me writing a blog about part of the installation


Michael Price has been a professional art preparator for over 25 years and is currently a Senior Art Preparator at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art for the last 8 years. Over the years, Michael has gained experience handling and installing a wide variety of artwork and artifacts, from standard 2-D paintings and prints, to muti-ton sculptures, to artifacts that are centuries old. In addition to providing leadership for teams during installations and working with artists, he is also the forklift trainer and heavy equipment operator for his department and also works closely with paper conservation to develop and make book cradles for display. Michael is a lifelong artist that grew up on the east coast and earned his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Painting and Printmaking with an Art History minor at Virginia Commonwealth University, in Richmond, Va. He transferred his passion for artmaking into his first art preparator position at the Cleveland Center for Contemporary Art (now MOCA, Cleveland). After moving to Los Angeles, he kept working freelance at various institutions around Los Angeles, including the Museum of Contemporary Art, LA, the Hammer Museum, the Santa Monica Museum of Art and other galleries and museums in the LA area. When not working, he is a big fan of music and collecting records.


Iona Woolmington (Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, IL)
Session: All Plops and No Drops! Lessons from a Collections Storage Move

This 5 minute presentation will cover strategies, lessons & opportunities from the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago’s recent move of their 5,000-object collection. We’ll discuss the opportunities we were able to plan for (e.g. 10-year collection growth), setbacks (who knew that modest little crate in the corner weighed over 10,000 pounds?) and our “wish-we-had list” (cold storage! A quarantine room?!) Special attention will be given to the opportunities in energy efficiency and to reassessing material usage, in honor of the 2024 conference’s overall theme.



Iona Woolmington (she/her) is the Collections Preparator at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago.


Marcel Ariza and Ambrose Trataris (Art Handlxrs - https://www.arthandlxrs.com)
Session: Handle With Care with Art Handlxrs

Being an art handlxr is based on the act of caring - for an artwork, the artist’s intention, the needs of the institution, the upkeep of the space, and the experience of an audience. Why is this intentional care not an integral part of our labor practices? How can we create work environments that foster inclusivity and access to work for folx from a diverse range of experiences?

This presentation will explore the future of art handling when we center the importance of care, coalition building, and diversity in the arts. Featuring the co-founders of Art Handlxrs* Marcel Pardo Ariza and Ambrose Trataris, we will discuss individual and collective efforts to improve the working conditions and sustainability of the industry with a specific focus on BIPOC, queer, non-binary and trans people, and women in the professional arts industry as preparators, art handlxrs, technicians, fabricators, and other industry support roles. Join us in envisioning a more caring future.


Marcel Pardo Ariza (they/them) is a trans visual artist, curator, and art worker that explores the relationship of representation, intergenerational kinship, and queerness through constructed photographs, site-specific installations, and public programming. Their work is invested in creating long term interdisciplinary collaborations and opportunities that are non-hierarchical, decentralized, and equitable.

Ambrose Trataris (he/they) is a trans conceptual artist and Drag performer that explores the semiotic and social boundaries meant to govern our identity, sense of worth, and communal relations. He is dedicated to creating partnerships with institutions to develop lasting changes for racial and social equity.


Christopher Chiavetta (Crozier Fine Arts, Arlington, TX)
Quick Tip: Making a Modular Slat Crate

Ptolemy III, a Jean Arp plaster, arrived at the Crozier warehouse (Arlington, Texas) damaged in 2023. The top half of the sculpture was braced and could not move; the bottom sank into the foam and caused the cast to separate at the seam. A local conservator repaired it, but a permanent base that could also be used for stable transport was needed. Crozier employed a design previously used for another plaster, Rodin’s Age of Bronze. This presentation will discuss the differences between the Rodin and Arp crates, the assembly of the slat crate using four uprights at each corner, fabrication of the modular crate, and other materials and processes, including aesthetic choices. We will conclude by briefly describing rigging, crating, and transporting Ptolemy III to the site for exhibition and eventual storage.


Christopher Chiavetta is a Senior Art Transportation Specialist at Crozier in Arlington, Texas. Chiavetta received his MFA in Interdisciplinary Visual Arts from Iowa State University in 2021 and moved to Denton, Texas in 2022 where he joined Displays Fine Art Services (now Crozier).


Joshua Crockett (Crozier Fine Arts, Arlington, TX)
Quick Tip: Foam Scraps and Sonotubes

The purpose of this presentation is to demonstrate techniques to utilize scrap materials to more sustainably pack delicate textile artifacts. While scrap materials can sometimes be difficult to work with when precision is needed, they can be utilized to their fullest potential with a few extra steps. Foam scraps especially can be so irregular and inconsistent, but they can be useful if the effort is made to square the edges first. This presentation will detail how to make the most of scrap foam, carboard, and regular cardboard boxes to create a simple but effective package for delicate textiles wrapped on sonotubes. The box shown in the presentation secures the sonotube in place and floats it inside the box so that nothing makes contact with textile to put any pressure against it that could crease, wrinkle, or otherwise deform the artifact.


Joshua Crockett is a lead art handler at Crozier Fine Arts in Texas, formerly known as Displays Fine Art Services. He has worked as an art handler for about two and a half years and interned at a museum before that. Joshua enjoys rigging jobs and operating equipment on jobsites. He has a level 1 rigging certification from American Crane and Safety. Joshua is also a visual artist and woodworker. He graduated with his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Studio Art from The University of Texas at Tyler in 2021.


Ben Bridgers (North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh, NC)
Session: Cloud Chamber for the Trees and Sky Restoration Project

With seventeen years of use and environmental exposure, environmental artist, Chis Drury’s interactive “Cloud Chamber for the Trees and Sky” was in desperate need of repair. Portions of the yellow pine octagonal roof were showing severe signs of natural deterioration and rot. After numerous patches and repairs over the years, the decision needed to be made whether to dismantle and deaccession the sculpture entirely or undergo a significant restoration of the saddle notched log roof. After thorough consultation with the artist and the conservation department at the NCMA, it was decided to move forward with the reconstruction of the roof. The consensus was to rebuild the roof with naturally rot-resistant black locust, which is a tree native to the region. Having an extensive background in timber frame construction and preservation carpentry, Ben Bridgers, NCMA’s Manager of Park Collection, took on the task of dismantling the original roof and all wooden elements of the sculpture and rebuilding it with new timbers with the assistance of Corey Riley, Objects Conservator, and Hyder Mahbooba, construction assistant. The massive undertaking was successful and has insured the longevity of the Cloud Chamber for the Trees and Sky. Many Drury Cloud Chambers have been dismantled over the years due to the deterioration of their organic construction materials. Taking advantage of the knowledgeable staff at NCMA who equally shared a passion and appreciation for preserving this work of art, we are proud to say that as a team we pooled our resources and successfully completed this project in-house. As one of the most visited and inquired about artworks in the museum park, we are thrilled that our Cloud Chamber will remain on view for decades to come.



Ben Bridgers is the Manager of Park Collection and Exhibitions for the North Carolina Museum of Art. With more than 20 years of collections care experience, he currently oversees the installation, maintenance, and preventative conservation for all outdoor sculpture in the museum’s 164 acre sculpture park. Prior to full time work in collections care, Ben worked in art education and preservation carpentry - focusing on early 19th century architecture and monument restoration. Holding a BFA from Barton College and an MFA from the University of Georgia’s Lamar Dodd School of Art, he has maintained a practice as a painter for more than 30 years and currently works out of his home studio in Durham, North Carolina

Jorge Valenzuela (Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, AR)
Session: Maintaining Outdoor Sculpture - and Other Demons

One important part of Crystal Bridges is the amount of outdoor sculpture - the campus encompasses 120 acres and 5 miles of trails. On these trails maintaining artwork can be a bit challenging. In the winter of 2023 one of our sculptures got damaged in a weather-related event. Tony Tasset – Deer was impacted by weather conditions producing cracks on the fiberglass on the legs and a 12” gash on the face of the artwork. What next?!? This is why I want to give this presentation. Many questions arise: what is next? Do we need a conservator? Do we need registration? Do we need to contact the artist? Does this fall into a preparator job? Do we need to outsource help? Where to start? This unknown path preparators sometimes take is what makes our profession demanding yet stimulating, but you all of you know this already. Coming back to the subject -how we save the Deer?!
The objective was to answer all these questions and more importantly figure out what kind of approach to take on this project and succeed with the lowest amount of risk.

It is important to understand that in today's world to be a preparator is not anymore, the person to hang art on the wall and point a light on it. These days, preparators rely on knowledge and experience obtained with training, certifications, and challenge the institution (Museums) to invest in resources. Investing in resources helps with retention of staff and research to promote the use of materials for the conservation and preservation of artifacts.

At the same time of this event, I was doing a Project Manager certification, and this incident was (perfect) to apply my new skills. My presentation will show all these details and the success of the repair. but you all of you know this already. Coming back to the subject -how we save the Deer?!


I am currently the Senior Preparator of the Collection at Crystal Bridges. I have been working on various projects dedicated to maintaining the artworks at the museum for the past 2 ½ years.
I have been working in the field for 15 years. I graduated from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, MA in 2005. From 2016 – 2021, I was the Lead Preparator at the Museum of Fine Arts in St. Petersburg, Florida.
Museums have made a profound impact on my life as I collaborate with artists, curators, and registrars; each piece gives me an opportunity to gain experience with something new. Each day at work, I confront a new challenge - the lighting of the artwork, the placement, the handling, and the drafting of the project.

Ian Mullen (UOVO, San Francisco, CA)
Session: Benefits and Applications of Riser Brackets for Large Scale Sculpture Installation

The evolution of large scale installation methods has been rapidly progressing in recent years, due in part to the scale of contemporary work, constraints of ever more challenging installation sites, and the increasing fluidity of large scale collections. This last point is perhaps the most relevant factor for coming up with more creative solutions that allow for not only secure installation, but also safe and efficient removal. In the past, the idea of large scale sculptural installation was considered to be a more permanent situation. However, the needs of collectors and institutions are increasingly reliant on more versatile solutions. This is where the idea of an intermediary “riser bracket” becomes quite handy. In certain situations, they allow for more stability during installation, more security throughout the life of the installation, and more efficiency during the process of de-installation/removal. They are also reusable, they allow for engineering tests if needed, and can provide for a far more pleasing aesthetic with regard to seamlessly incorporating the work into the landscape. Riser Brackets are by no means the only, or even best way to install large scale sculpture, but throughout this presentation I would like to highlight the benefits and applications that I have found useful in my experience over the years.


Ian Mullen is an Art Handler, specializing in rigging and large scale installation, currently living and working in the San Francisco Bay Area. He started in the industry back in 2004 with the Brooklyn based company Transart/Mobius. After a short stint in the city, he found his way to San Francisco, landing a job in the crate shop at Shipart International. He continued on at Shipart until 2022, when they merged with NYC based company UOVO. Ian’s current role is Head of Rigging for UOVO San Francisco, providing training and guidance for rigging-based projects across the organization and their various national markets.


Daniel Wheeler (Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA)
Session: Making a Panorama: The Installation of Judy Baca’s “Great Wall” at LACMA

This 30-minute PowerPoint presentation will begin with a brief history of the project and its origins, social impact, and cultural importance. I will then touch on the history of the panorama and its benefits and use for our exhibition. Next, I will discuss the planning process and our collaboration with Judy Baca’s SPARC studio. I will then move to the design of the functioning vertical tube and track system to accommodate 120’ of canvas to be rolled back and forth during the 8-month painting process. Finally, I will walk the audience through the entire Installation process, from the gallery prep to the final installation of the panorama. After completing the PowerPoint, I will open up for 10 minutes of questions.


Daniel Wheeler is a Senior Art Preparator at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and has served on API’s divisional sustainability committee since its inception in 2020. Daniel’s responsibilities include preparing for and leading crews of preparators on various installations or deinstallations to support the department’s rigorous exhibition schedule. In addition, Daniel collects and maintains all pertinent installation information and is often tasked with complicated fabrication projects. Daniel studied Sequential Art and Animation at the Savannah College of Art and Design. Upon moving to LA, he began working in Special Make-up Effects and Production within the film industry. Eventually, Daniel transitioned into a career in Art Preparation, developing his installation and archival skills working for several of LA’s art shipping companies and ultimately taking those skills to museums, notably The Hammer Museum, The Guggenheim Hermitage, and currently LACMA, where he has worked for the past 15 years.


Emma Goos (Denver Art Museum, Denver, CO)
Quick Tip: Gender-Based Microaggressions: 10 Questions to Spark Awareness

Expressing a desire for gender equity is one thing; confronting the cognitive dissonance between theory and practice is another. Elucidating gender-based microaggressions requires bringing awareness to, and challenging, our deeply ingrained cultural beliefs and expectations.

This presentation will offer 10 guiding questions for preparators to ask themselves while interacting and collaborating with female/women/womxn colleagues with the goal of increasing awareness of gender-based microaggressions in the preparation field. The audience will walk away from this presentation with a printable PDF version of the infographic, allowing wider syndication among the field.


Emma Goos (they/she) is an Associate Preparator at the Denver Art Museum. They were born and raised in Aurora, Colorado, and studied Liberal Arts at St. John’s College in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where they began their career as a Conservation Intern with the Museum of International Folk Art. Over the last 13 years, they have worked as an art handler in museums, galleries, private art handling companies, freelance, and both public and private nonprofit community organizations. She enjoys knitting and watching Star Trek with her husband Adam and cats Rando and Kali.


Bryan Cooke (Cooke’s Crating, Los Angeles, CA)
Session: The Wooden Crate: A Wasteful Relic or Ecologically Useful?

There has been a focus on reusable crates as a way of protecting the environment. But is this really true? There are advantages for shipping art in reusable crates. But there are also compelling arguments for using the “old fashioned wooden crate.” This session endeavors to explain both sides - to help us make the best decisions when shipping paintings.


Bryan has an MFA from USC. He was a Gallery Preparator for the University. He has been moving art for nearly 50 years, starting as a crater and later a Semi-driver transporting art around the US.

Bryan established Cookes Crating in 1975. Today Cookes Crating is a full-service art mover with 40 employees. Services include Crating, deliveries and installation, sculpture rigging, 100,000 square feet of art storage, and international shipping services.

In the Autumn of 2023, Cookes Crating was named by ART NEWS as one of the World’s best art moving companies.

Bryan has always been a strong supporter of Preparators & Registrar’s causes. He was a member of RCWR and RCAAM from their inceptions. He was also one of the founders of PACCIN, served on its steering committee for many years and instrumental in helping PACCIN gain independence from the American Alliance of Museums by providing advice and financial assistance.

He also served for 9 years on the ICEFAT - International Convention of Exhibition and Fine Art Transporters Steering Committee and helped with reorganizing ICEFAT into becoming a trade organization.

Bryan established the new Registrars organization, ARCS, by writing its business plan and constitutional outline, and inviting key Registrars to establish a founding committee. He coined the name: “Association of Registrars and Collections Specialists.”

Bryan is also an author. His 375-page book “Art Can Kill” was recently awarded: “Best Art Book of the Year in Los Angeles. “




T. Ashley McGrew (Cantor Center for Visual Arts)
Session: Thirty-three years of Art Transit: The Profession Before, Since, and a View Looking Forward

Art in Transit - the workshop and related publications took place in 1991 and has supported a generation of professionals in their work protecting cultural materials ever since. More recently the importance of preserving the planet has become an essential element in all of the work that each of us must do in any field. Where are these two objectives potentially in conflict and where are they naturally aligned? Expertise already exists that is not being tapped in addressing these challenges.
In 2014 in coordination with AIC’s 42 annual meeting “Conscientious Conservation: Sustainable Choices in Collection Care” PACCIN presented a ¾ day workshop titled “Packing systems: Reuse and Repurposing”. The workshop outlined relatively new methods and materials along with other much older established practices that we felt should be considered.
Notice the choice not to use the terms “Sustainable” or “Recycling” in the title. The appealing notion of recycling was then, and remains, more of an aspiration than a reality. We didn’t realize though that in 2014 plastic recycling was at its peak, reaching 9.5%. Today it is between 5 and 6%.

Another PACIN workshop and resulting publication “Soft Packing: Methods and Materials for the Packing and Transport of Art and Artifacts” from 20 years ago, is now more potentially relevant than ever. Shipping objects without the use of crates, it instead heavily utilizes one of the few materials that is a recycling success story - corrugated cardboard - which is recycled at a rate of 93.6%!

The methods are extremely dependent on the human factor which is where solutions to ending climate change are really to be found. Informed choices in policies and education will make the difference.
I will also cover: How the use of “reusable crates” is a two-edged sword.
How do you provide 40% of the function required for safe shipment using no material at all?

And finally why a “new foam" is not going to get the job done.


Ashley is PACCIN’s longest continually serving volunteer, starting in 2003 when he was invited to join the steering committee. As the first subcommittee chair for PACCIN, he was educated by professional peers while managing Publications which meant moderating the Website, Forum and Listserv from 2008 to 2017. He is currently a member of two PACCIN subcommittees and is the organization’s liaison to AIC.

His background reflects a cross-section of the varied roles that make up the PACCIN community. Working thirty seven years as a hands-on art handler, freelance crate builder, preparator, collections manager, art services worker, project manager, independent consultant, and expert witness has resulted in a broad and varied perspective.

His work history starts as a preparator and self-taught crate builder at a small university museum who attended a regional AIT workshop in Dallas in 1992 before relocating to become the head crate designer and packer in the NYC offices of first FAE and then ARTEX (the largest and most sophisticated companies in the country at the time).


He worked for Smithsonian’s NMAI moving 800,000 objects from the Bronx to Suitland MD before moving on to be a lead Preparator for installation at the Getty Center in Los Angeles from 2004 to 2009. He worked briefly for SAI before moving on to his current position at the Cantor Art Center at Stanford.

Matthew Driggs (Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA)

Session: Small Changes Think Tank (S.C.o.T.T)

Before the 1920's, packages were bound together using adhesive and paper. Today, the use of brown polypropylene plastic packing tape in the art handling industry is ubiquitous. Preparators worldwide have used a mountain of this plastic tape for decades, and none of it can be recycled. The question should be asked, why not use modern paper-packaging tapes for slipcases and boxes? They are readily available, can be recycled with the box, and you do not have to add adhesives like our forefathers.

SCoTT asks other art handlers, do you have a small idea that could improve our industry? Incomplete thoughts and 'idea-sparks' are welcome and wanted in this forum. Your idea can turn (plastic) mountains into molehills.


Matt has twenty-five years of experience as a preparator in museums and galleries in Los Angeles and Orange County, CA. Formerly Mr. Driggs was the Chief Preparator and Exhibition Designer at the University of Southern California Fisher Museum, Co-Director of Edward Giardina Contemporary Art Gallery, and Curator at RAID Projects. Additionally, he was an adjunct professor of Art for seven years in New York City and Southern California. Currently, Mr. Driggs is Exhibitions Manager for Art Preparations & Installations at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, where he has been since 2014.