Interview with FAM Security guard, Pamela Lehane

“She amazes me with the color she picks out for the walls,..we got to see the paint job we haven’t seen any of the artwork yet and we think; really? Those are really dark colors but once you get the artwork on it, its gorgeous”. Pamela Lehane, security guard at the fitchburg art museum says how she is always impressed by curator, Mary Tinti’s choices of color. Many people don't realize it but the security at art museums see everything. They are the true eyes and ears of the museum, always watching and looking over the art. Pam has been with the museum now for 5 years, the longest of any security guard other then head guard Jim Landry. She gets to experience and take in all the artwork every time she goes to work. Her vision of the art and the shows are much different then those of people visiting the museum.

For the security guards at the Fitchburg art museum the way they perceive shows has more of an added bonus. These guards get to see how other people are reacting to the wonderful art in the Land Ho! exhibit. Pamela Lehane, a security guard at the museum said “everyone says the same thing… they think its really cool”. Lehane said that she is no art expert but she loves the new Land Ho! exhibition. Pamela said that she loves the colors that are being displayed in the show. She thinks that the colors are the thing that keep people memorized and entranced by the artworks. Lehane also stated that she always saw curator Tinti’s eye for color saying “ she's got a very good eye for color”.

Lehane said that people “didn’t understand it” when they first came in because of the comparison of the contemporary and the permanent art work. Once they saw how visually pleasing the mixture was, they began to love what they saw. She also said that some of the artwork done on paper some people thought they were quilts. The the textures of the artworks made people see them as being finely knitted quilts. The amazing work done by artists like Leila Daw and Michelle Lauriat made the art appear as though it was something completely different. Lehane has nothing but wonderful things to say about the show and believes that Land Ho! is “one of the most successful shows” that they've had at the museum.