inexplicable things

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Metropolitan Museum Still Humongous
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Carol Gardens
06/22/09

In reply to Metropolitan Museum Still Humongous
If they were to give up the "suggested" donation, then they city would no longer provide 10 percent or so of their budget. I suspect they have crunched the numbers.
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i'm a bottle
06/22/09

In reply to Metropolitan Museum Still Humongous
Hamilton, you don't have a clue.
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i'm a bottle
06/22/09

@i'm a bottle: ...about museums.
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shostakobitch
06/22/09

In reply to Metropolitan Museum Still Humongous
the met employs an army of men in highly reflective garb who stand extremely still. are they human? put a dollar in the hat and find out!
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Baroness
06/22/09

In reply to Metropolitan Museum Still Humongous
The thing about "200 art history experts" is that they're incredibly specialized into their fields and disciplines. Basically take the art of every civilization known to man, subdivide that into 200 other specialties within each area, subdivide that further into mediums and countries, and eras.. they could easily have 5,000 experts on call.

Oh, and match each expert with a corresponding restorer and conservationist.

The skills of an expert on Roman frescoes are not transferable to the skills of an expert on medieval Flemish tapestries, say. Your question actually makes me realize what a boggling amount of profesionals they must contract with and employ, and that's just on the curatorial side. But it's worth every penny, the Met is a world-class museum, the first-rate cultural institution that NYC- and America- deserves.
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BookishLookish
06/22/09

@Baroness: Agreed, 'Ness. Every job at the Met should be sacred, as far as I am concerned. This is our CULTURE, and the preservation of the past for the future, for Christ's sake.
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i'm a bottle
06/22/09

@BookishLookish: Hamilton Nolan should stick to reading his Ayn Rand.
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ginger rant
06/22/09

In reply to Metropolitan Museum Still Humongous
Oh, and the person who picks the colors for those bendy metal thingies you wear on your lapel after you're admitted to the museum--I hope that person didn't get the ax.
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uncivilly obedient
06/22/09

In reply to Metropolitan Museum Still Humongous
I too would like to know what all those people are doing there. I was at the museum the other week and had to wait on line for 40 minutes to get my "M" button.

At least there was an important painting on display then. It was Michelangelo's first painting. Of course he didn't sign his name on it but I guess they have other ways of proving that he was it's artist.
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i'm a bottle
06/22/09

@uncivily obedient: You can simply talk your way in with the security guards.
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Kid Twist
06/22/09

In reply to Metropolitan Museum Still Humongous
The Crain's story says a lot of these people were working at 15 retail outlets that the museum has shuttered. So it's about more than laying off low-paid shlubs; it's about saving all the costs of operating those stores, also.
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RollsRoyceRevenge
06/22/09

In reply to Metropolitan Museum Still Humongous
The Metropolitan Museum has well over 2 million objects in its collection and offices/stores/independent contractors/advisors all over the world. It is one of the largest art museums on the planet and the largest single-building collection in the Western Hemisphere serving hundreds of millions of visitors a year.

A staff of approximately 3,000 is rather modest, given the organizational scope.
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Bedheadjc
06/22/09

@RollsRoyceRevenge: Whoa, whoa, whoa...the Met has hundreds of millions of people go through its doors a year?

You can't include virtual people from the internets.

Do we have a real number for meatspace visitors?
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i'm a bottle
06/22/09

@RollsRoyceRevenge: We forget that the actual collections the Met owns are in the archives, not on display. They are just the tip of the iceberg.
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RollsRoyceRevenge
06/23/09

@Bedheadjc: You think that any institution of the Met's scope is limited in response to people actually visiting the building? They receive countless requests via e-mail, phone and mail for information, collaborate with numerous classes at every level worldwide and interact with other institutions via loans, lectures and intercultural programming. Yes, the audience is hundreds of millions--and all the above activities need specific support.
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Nice Beaver
06/22/09

In reply to Metropolitan Museum Still Humongous
I think you're forgetting the painters and sculptors, HamNo. Have you seen how much shit is in the Met? Somebody has to make it.
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Kid Twist
06/22/09

In reply to Metropolitan Museum Still Humongous
I hope they didn't let go of Mr. Met.
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rockandhardPL
06/22/09

@Kid Twist:I will bite: who is Mr. Met?
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misslinda
06/22/09

@rockandhardPL: Guy with a baseball for a head.
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Kid Twist
06/22/09

@rockandhardPL: [newyork.mets.mlb.com]
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Richard Lawson
06/22/09

In reply to Metropolitan Museum Still Humongous
Hamilton, obviously many of the employees are paid to spend time painting all the nice pictures they've got hanging up everywhere.
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Nice Beaver
06/22/09

@Richard Lawson: Dang you, fast man.
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powermouse
06/22/09

In reply to Metropolitan Museum Still Humongous
some other jobs at the Met: there's like a dozen libraries, support staff for the cafeterias: cooks, servers, cashiers, there's an education department, and obviously there are people that have to organize this whole deal, so HR, infrastructure, finance, etc. it's huge. and there are WAY more than 100 security guards. don't forget that what they have on display is probably a tenth of what the museum owns, so there is conservation & security for all that. not to mention an IT department. etc. etc.
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thatsrealbutter
06/22/09

@powermouse: lawyers too. gotta have rights to all that stuff and make sure contracts for loans, etc are kept.
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City_Dater
06/22/09

@thatsrealbutter:

Not to mention Development, which is huge in a high-profile NFP institution of this size, what with planning and running a lot of special events and wrangling touchy rich people.
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misslinda
06/22/09

@City_Dater: Designers to create the non-permanent exhibits and construction crews etc. to build them. Lets see, what else...coat check people. Lighting designers. Yup, that's everyone.
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powermouse
06/22/09

@misslinda: ticketing, elevator guys, groundskeepers, web developers, not to mention the publishing departmment that makes all those maps & brochures, plus the nifty art books they have for sale.
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HiredGoons
06/22/09

@powermouse: Anna Wintour.
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HiredGoons
06/22/09

In reply to Metropolitan Museum Still Humongous
Art Restorers and Preservationists are a huge part of the staff.

I'm assuming they have a lot of people all over the world on their payroll as well, who may set foot in the physical museum once or twice a year.

Curators and their assistants.

For a major institution like the Met, it doesn't seem that high, really.
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i'm a bottle
06/22/09

@HiredGoons: 2,200 people to cateogorize, preserve, sell, buy, hang, appraise, take down, photograph, guard, move, display, study and explain scores of thousands of sculptures, paintings, vases, glasses, boxes, mosaics, triptychs, coins, minatures, manuscripts, castles, icons, chairs, and tapestries sounds about right.
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Krashstar
06/22/09

@i'm a bottle: And don't forget about cleaning the floors, polishing the brass, paying the bills, changing the lightbulbs, and washing a LOT of windows.

Not to mention promoting the place, renting it out for parties, coordinating large and boisterous school groups, managing a cafeteria, running a retail outlet, and supporting an IT department.

And god only knows what's involved when it comes to insurance. Also, the steady stream of legal bills for fending off charges of tomb raiding are probably higher that yours and mine combined.
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JacquesPaysan
05/11/09

In reply to Montauk Monster Washes Up Again
All I have to say is that it was DELICIOUS with a little applesauce and shaved jicama.
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jasonelias
05/11/09

In reply to Montauk Monster Washes Up Again
Don't be creeped out looking at him, it's where KFC gets its new grilled "chicken."
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