Tate Modern opened in May 2000. Initial projections were for the museum to receive 2 million visitors annually; in fact just over two years after opening, in July 2002, it had welcomed its 10 millionth visitor. This level of human traffic through a building brings with it concomitant amounts of dirt and dusty material and much of this was being deposited within Tate Modern's display spaces.
With Tate conservators already working to capacity to service rotating displays at four Tate sites, loans to other institutions, an active acquisitions programme and the ongoing examination and treatment of works in Tate's collection, it soon became difficult for them to carry out the increased amount of routine cleaning of works of art on display at Tate Modern. The solution was to establish a dedicated maintenance team of Gallery Assistants, trained by conservators and art handlers to maintain the highest standards of display presentation. This would include routine tasks such as dusting frames, cleaning plinths and plinth covers, touching up gallery walls and checking for and reporting any areas of concern to curators and conservators.
Soon after Tate Modern opened, the Gallery Assistants Maintenance Group was established. As well as serving a practical purpose and ensuring that the works of art on display at Tate Modern received due care and attention, the creation of the group brought with it a number of other benefits for Tate staff:
Training for the Gallery Assistants Maintenance Group took place over a four-week period in the summer of 2001. Each week a different aspect of caring for the collection was covered, with training, demonstrations and practical supervision being carried out by conservators:
Initially, the activity of the Group was restricted to Tate collection works only; later, loans to the collection and to temporary exhibitions were included in the Group's maintenance programme. Unframed paintings were still allocated to conservators for cleaning, and unglazed frames were only to be cleaned by the Gallery Assistants Group when a paintings conservator was present. Good communication between conservators and the Maintenance Group was essential to the smooth running of the programme, so that any concerns could be reported and dealt with.
The formation of the Gallery Assistant Maintenance Group at Tate Modern to carry out routine display maintenance required the collaboration of many different groups, both at Tate Modern and more widely within Tate as a whole. In addition to keeping the displays in good order, lines of communication have been established that greatly benefit conservation's role in contributing to the smooth operation of Tate Modern.
It is hoped that where conservators in other institutions face similar challenges with regard to high levels of display maintenance, the model presented here might provide both a prompt to assess the need for such a group and practical assistance, if Tate's example is used as a precedent.
Tim Green, Paintings Conservator
February 2007
