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PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Ellen Nigro, Assistant Paintings Conservator at Brooklyn Museum
1:25:05
ยท
3 min
Ellen Nigro, Assistant Paintings Conservator at the Brooklyn Museum and member of UAW Local 2110, testifies against the planned layoffs at the museum. She emphasizes the critical role of conservators in preserving the museum's collection and argues that the layoffs would negatively impact the museum's ability to care for its artworks and serve the community.
- Nigro highlights her specialized education and experience in art conservation, including a master's degree and international fellowships.
- She argues that the museum cannot afford to lose core workers with expertise and institutional knowledge.
- Nigro calls on the city council to halt the layoffs and insist that the museum bargain in good faith with the unions.
Ellen Nigro
1:25:05
Hello?
1:25:05
Is it okay?
1:25:06
Yes.
1:25:06
Hello.
1:25:08
Thank you for having me here today, madam chair.
1:25:12
My name is Ellen Nigro, and I am the assistant paintings conservator at the Brooklyn Museum.
1:25:19
I'm a member of the UAW Local twenty one ten and a resident of Brooklyn, specifically District 35.
1:25:26
I have worked in the museum's conservation department for over five years, and the Brooklyn Museum plans to lay me off.
1:25:34
As one of two paintings conservators at the museum, I'm charged with the preservation and restoration of the museum's painting collection of over 6,000 works.
1:25:43
I clean the works of art and repair them if they're damaged and create policies and enact preventive measures to ensure the physical longevity of the collection.
1:25:53
My job and the jobs of all the conservators at the museum is critical to ensuring that this 200 year old institution's collection lasts for two hundred more years.
1:26:06
The conservation department itself is over 90 years old, one of the oldest institutional labs in the city, and I am proud to be in the long line of conservators who care for this precious resource.
1:26:20
Conservators are a key part of an ecosystem of core museum workers that directly care for the art.
1:26:26
We collaborate with curators, registrars, art handlers, exhibition designers, and collections managers to ensure the artworks are stored, exhibited, loaned, documented, and moved as safely as possible.
1:26:38
The con conservators have highly specialized knowledge in art materials, chemistry, and art history.
1:26:44
We also have the fine craft skills and the fine craft skills to execute detailed treatments on priceless artworks.
1:26:53
This knowledge and skill is acquired through years of formal education and hands on training.
1:26:59
For example, in my case, I have a bachelor of arts in art conservation and art history and a three year master's of science in art conservation with a specialization in paintings.
1:27:11
My advanced hands on training was completed during a Fulbright year in The Netherlands, a postmaster's fellowship at the University of Cambridge in The UK, and a fellowship at the Brooklyn Museum.
1:27:23
The museum cannot afford to cut its core museum workers whose expertise, institutional knowledge, and established rapport allows the collection to be cared for and exhibited in the most efficient and effective manner.
1:27:37
I am building my career here starting first as the fellow in 2019 and then moving into the assistant conservator role in 2021 where I hoped to grow my career well beyond March of twenty twenty five.
1:27:50
My skills and knowledge and and that of my colleagues are a precious and growing resource that would be lost in layoffs.
1:27:59
I choose to work for the Brooklyn Museum because of its commitment to being a community resource and a space for all.
1:28:06
I take pride in the fact that I get to serve the community in which I live.
1:28:11
But what I do not take pride in is management's poor decision making, lip service to its workers, and blatant disregard for two union contracts.
1:28:20
Management's choice to lay me and my colleagues off is in direct opposition to its commitment to its community.
1:28:27
Not only would it be harder for the museum to make its art accessible with fewer workers, the layoffs would also strip away the livelihoods of people in the very community that they supposedly are committed to.
1:28:42
And for all of these reasons, I am here today to call on city council to insist the Brooklyn Museum immediately halt the layoffs and to bargain with the UAW and DC thirty seven in good faith.
1:28:53
Thank you.