Lecturer gives inside look at curator's lifestyle

A basketball game ending minutes before and a crowd trickling in late because of traffic set the stage for the Burke Lecture Series presentation of Julien Chapuis, curator at The Cloisters of The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.\nChapuis' lecture, "Handle with Care: A Curator's Work" was held in conjunction with the annual Friends of Art Benefit Dinner Saturday evening in Bloomington.\nAt the School of Fine Arts Auditorium, former professor Molly Faries introduced the man she mentored through an IU doctoral degree in art history. \n"The type of work we were doing then has become the new art histories," she said, referring to extensive research on 15th century art Chapuis and other colleagues undertook in Europe.\nChapuis began the lecture by discussing his career.\nThe day Chapuis sent in the final draft of his award-winning dissertation, "Underdrawing in Paintings of the Stefan Lochner Group," he heard about the job at The Met. He said he underwent five interviews, one of which lasted six hours, and endured a seven-month waiting period before the museum offered him the job. He remembers he found out a few days before Thanksgiving.\nChapuis said Faries' teaching prepared him most for his current career, teaching him to look at art in a focused, sustained way and make deductions based on facts.\n"I have the great privilege of looking forward to going to work every morning," Chapuis said. \nHe spoke about some of the more unusual duties of being a curator and said that before he left Bloomington, he had no idea what his line of work would involve.\nClimate control, horticultural work, building renovation and animal relations are among the euphemisms Chapuis may now list on his resumé. \n"Luckily, moths prefer newer wool to older wool," he said. "So they usually eat the restorations first and leave the original tapestries alone."\nHe also showed a slide photograph of a wild turkey he found roaming the grounds at The Cloisters one day. \nBecause of the unique gardens scattered among the galleries, The Met faces the challenge of running an open-air museum every year from April to October. During the winter months, a special glass barrier keeps out the cold and allows for a stable and humid environment, Chapuis said.\nContinuing student Angela Duckwall attended the lecture with her husband. She plans to pursue a graduate degree in museum work and appreciated Chapuis' history of The Cloisters and information about future renovations.\nThe slide that drew the most laughter from the audience showed a stained glass image of a woman whose hands were extended in dismay next to a photograph of a clunky, yellow jackhammer.\n"Heavy construction and delicate works of art do not always work well together," Chapuis said. \nBesides counseling the marriage of construction and creation, Chapuis said he also undertakes more traditional responsibilities as curator, such as acquiring objects and researching historical artists and sculpture techniques. \nJunior Julie Euber and sophomore Meg Hathaway said they loved hearing about the building and the architecture of The Cloisters. \n"I've never been to New York before," Euber said. "It was nice to know such a beautiful place even exists"