The Metropolitan Museum of Art has the most talented staff in the world. And, since 1939, they have shared their work with each other through employee art shows. Exhibitions are usually held every other year but are private affairs. This year, the show is open to the public for the second time. ,Works of Art: Artists Working at the MetOpened at the famous museum earlier this week and will run until December 1. It employs 640 people, from guards and technicians to patrons, librarians and ticket takers. Here, seven of them tell us about their work.
armiya malak khalilSenior Security Officer (Security)
“Ushabti (An Alternative to the Afterlife),” 2024
Khalil grew up surrounded by sculpture in Egypt. “It’s everywhere,” the 45-year-old man said. “I studied classical painting, but I taught myself sculpture, imitating the ancient Egyptians.”
He came to America for the first time in 2006. He had no family, no friends, no connections, but he eventually found a community of Coptic Christians from Egypt living in Jersey City. “I started doing some wood carvings for the church there,” he said. “The priest let me use a corner of the basement for my art.”
He began working as a security guard at the Met in 2009 and continues to create sculptures inspired by his Egyptian heritage. He based the plasticine figurines in this show on Ushabti – statues that were buried next to the deceased to help them in the afterlife.
“There were about 401 in each grave, and I liked the idea of making my own grave from different materials,” said Khalil, who also has a gorgeous wooden statue, “Hope,” in another Met show, Said in “Flight into Egypt”. On view until February 17, 2025.
“This is the first time any of us Guardsmen are at a major exhibition,” he said. “He is very proud of me. It really has been so surreal, so divine.”
christopher faheyStoreroom One Specialist (Registrar Office)
“And of course, the decomposition of the lemon involves: A….B….C….”
As a storeroom specialist, Fahey gets the job of handling some of the world’s most precious art objects. “You’d be really surprised to see the art that people send through FedEx,” the 44-year-old said. “Really, really like old art!”
Fahey, who lives in Ridgewood, Queens, is a poet and mixed-media artist who uses found materials in his sculptures. He started with a piece of redwood he rescued from the trash at an old job. He has spent the last two years joining pieces of paper or weaving different threads or objects on it. “I have been making this kind of art for the last 10 years,” he said.
Helping to set up the staff art show is a highlight of her job. “It’s a beautiful thing,” he said. “We are all getting a lot from working here, but [the Met is] We are also getting a lot from the artists working here.”
Amanda Kramer, Operations Assistant, Group & Advance Sales (Visitor Experience)
“Allegory of Flowers – J. Pierpont Goldfinch,” 2024
Kramer was going through her late grandfather’s belongings when she noticed a plaque hanging in his studio that read, “Don’t let the bastards crush you.”
“I was like, I have to somehow incorporate this into my next part,” the 42-year-old said. She surrounded it with collaged paper flowers and birds that she had painted to symbolize hope and perseverance.
Kramer, who grew up and still lives in City Island, was close to her grandfather, a commercial artist who taught her calligraphy and watercolors. During a bad phase of his life, he said, his grandfather’s mantra “became a vehicle for me to rise above the negativity.” “It’s a tribute to him.”
He’s excited to exhibit it at the Met.
The exhibition is “an opportunity for those who work here to go beyond the transactional nature of [people can have with] Museum workers,” she said. “It gives us a chance to show visitors who really works here.”
love ablanCollection Photographer (Imaging)
“Enema,” 2024
Ablan’s aunt and godmother, Concepcion (or Lola Go-Go to her family members), almost cried when she saw her niece’s mixed-media photo portrait at the Met. There was a photo of her as a young girl – dressed in white at a piano recital – with her mother, Victoria, in a debutante gown in her native Philippines.
“The name of this piece is ‘Anima,’ and it’s Latin for feminine aspects, but also soul,” Ablan explained. “My godmother is the heart and her mother is the soul of my family.”
Ablan grew up in Jamaica, Queens, and her “fondest childhood memories” were at Lola’s house – eating, playing with her seven cousins, and listening to her godmother play the piano. Early in his career, Ablan traveled around the world to study art and work as an editorial photographer. But, two years ago a call came from the Meteorological Department. Now, she lives in Harlem.
“In this post-pandemic world, the only thing I really wanted was to be near my family again,” she said.
amanda rothschildBusiness Analyst (Technology)
“Sync,” 2020
For the past 12 years, the 32-year-old Harlem resident has been making photographs of sinks and drains.
“I really enjoy all the different textures and shapes,” said Rothschild, who began working at the Met in 2014, initially selling tickets. “It’s an everyday thing that people overlook.”
When looking for subjects, she looks for retro color palettes and interesting textures like rust or water damage. He based this particular work on a light blue sink he saw in the bathroom of a Greenpoint coffee shop. “Probably half the pictures on my phone are of sinks and drains in different places,” said Rothschild, who has been part of three previous employee art shows.
“My work is very technical – no one I’m working with is directly talking about art or working with art, and so it’s a cool opportunity,” she said. “It’s really cool to see what people do.”
Aleya LehmannAssistant Administrator (Photograph Conservation)
“Night and Day” 2013/2024
His pictures look like Whistler paintings – moody and mysterious. The 66-year-old artist takes equal care of them. She sews the clothes worn by her models, arranges props and settings, and spends a weekend experimenting with her subject. Long exposures produce haunting, evocative images.
Lehman has been painting and photographing for decades, but coming to the Met five years ago has influenced his art.
“There was [a Richard] Avedon had exhibited his frescoes here a few years ago and my desire to print them was aroused [my photos] Really big,” he said. For the show he took a work from 2013 and printed it on a long sheet of Japanese mulberry paper and blew it up.
“It’s a very special place,” he said of The Met. “You feel like you’re contributing to something, whether it’s something you do in your job, whether it’s something very elaborate, extraordinary, or something very day-to-day, you’re contributing to living history.” Giving, which is definitely a unique feeling.”
Solomon Azarev, maintainer, masonry (buildings)
“Solverado,” 2024
Azarev is the only member of the Met’s mason shop. “I don’t really consider myself an artist,” said the tattooed 44-year-old while posing with a battery-powered trunk based on a Chevy Silverado. “But after 20 years of being around masterpieces and creative things, I think it has worn off a bit,” he said, laughing.
It all started five years ago. At the time, Azarev was in the carpentry shop and decided his crew needed something more efficient than a flat dolly to transport their equipment. He built a mini jeep with compartments and drawers. “My co-workers fell in love with it and they forced me to include it in the show,” the Howell, NJ resident said. This is his third creation. “People get fun out of it, so I don’t mind seeing the smiles.”
