Guarding the art

Available for over a year

Baltimore Museum of Art is hosting a bold and ground-breaking exhibition curated entirely by 17 members of its security staff. Broadcaster and art expert Alvin Hall goes behind the scenes to meet some of the guards working on the show, as they begin to install the pieces in the gallery. It has been more than a year-long process, assisted by the museum's chief curator Asma Naeem and mentor Dr Lowery Stokes Sims. Their choices for the show are deeply personal and reflect not only their rich knowledge of art, bur their wide range of interests and concerns outside of museum security work, including poetry, opera, mythology, and social justice. The guards also offer their perspectives and insights on the museum's collections, explain their relationship to the pieces they watch over 24 hours a day, and what they have learned through their daily interactions with visitors. Presenter: Alvin Hall Producer: Victoria Ferran A Just Radio production for the BBC World Service (Photo: Man Pointing sculpture in the Baltimore Museum of Art. Credit: Jeffrey Greenberg/Universal Images Group/Getty Images)