For the last four or five years, the Bronx Council on the Arts (BCA) has conducted a unique job training program where nearly 90 individuals have trained as professional art handlers.
Created by BCA President Bill Aguado, the art handlers training program teaches able bodied men and women the professional skills to pack, ship and un-pack expensive art treasures for museums, galleries and private collections. This job-training goes beyond the usual resume builder but connects practical work skills with a career in the arts.
“There was a desperate need for qualified art handlers to work in museums,” said Aguado. “Art handlers put up exhibits, take down exhibits, ship artwork, crate it or box it, build dry wall. They do condition reporting.”
The training program lasts for about 10 weeks with a six-week internship. An art handler can make as little as minimum wage to upwards of $12 to $40 an hour. And Aguado said that most interns have been hired by sponsoring museums and galleries.
“We’ve had a lot of success stories,” said Aguado. “The reason we don’t continually train is that I don’t want to saturate the market and I want to be particuliar about who we select.”
Applicants who’ve had drug problems or a criminal record, Aguado said, will be immediately disqualified because an art handler can work with millions of dollars in valuable artwork.
“When we place people,” said Aguado, “they (museum directors) are amazed that our people are better than some long-time professionals.”
Besides training and job placement, BCA’s art handlers program creates a more level playing field in the art world. Aguado said that Latinos and African Americans benefit from museums and art institutions, while giving patronage, and at the same time people of color should also share in jobs and any other economic opportunities.
“I want to make sure that we can become part of the process,” said Aguado, “so that once they (art handlers) get a good job, have a career and have respect.”
The Bronx Council on the Arts administers several grant programs for art and educational instituations and individual artists. BCA runs a cultural and sight-seeing trolley and they run the Bronx Writer’s Center. Aguado worked a long time, he said, to create the art handlers program, which he feels is not only positive for the arts but for the business of the arts as well.
“If the arts can’t impact people’s lives,” said Aguando, “then they have no business supporting us. The economic impact of the arts in New York City is $13 billion, and what are the residuals for our people in the Bronx? If I’m going to build audiences of the future, and if I want museums to be more responsive to people of color, then I have to create employment opportunities.”
