ppearances can be deceiving.

Behind an unmarked door in a nondescript Brooklyn warehouse, dozens of employees design custom-built crates for museum-quality artwork. Sculptures, wrapped in foam and padding, lie on large worktables, waiting to be placed into a crate and shipped to museum, gallery or studio.

John (not his real name) oversees the transportation of each work. (For security purposes, no names, addresses or specifics regarding the business, artists or museums can be disclosed.) "It's sort of the marines of the art business," says John. "We haul enormously huge objects up and down stairways; it's our job to get the art where it has to go damage-free, regardless of wind or rain. And you have to know your materials."

When a gallery or museum decides to show a new work of art, they call professional art handlers to make the move. Usually accompanied by a registrar or courier, the handlers figure out the best way to get a work of art safely from one place to another. Registrars are in charge of insuring the work for its safe arrival, but handlers are the men and women who are physically responsible. "To be an art handler you need a strong stomach, nerves of steel and the coordination of a ballet dancer," says John.

"It's our job to get the art where it has to go damage-free."
        —John, art trucking supervisor

Once, an artist created a piece that was too large to fit out the door. John and his crew ended up tearing down an entire wall. Another time, while hauling 500-pound stone sculptures up an ancient freight elevator, the crew barely managed to get the pieces off before the elevator went up in flames. "A lot of the artists' lofts are not up to code," John adds. Improvisation is key.

New York's highways create other obstacles for art handlers. "New York City's highways are hell on trucks," says John. Sometimes I have a piece 500 to 1,000 years old and I'm going down the Van Wyck Expressway, trying to avoid potholes on the way to the airport." The trucks are specially designed with climate-controlled cargo areas and padding so that the crate will arrive at its destination safely.

How does John handle the stress of transporting priceless works of art throughout New York City? No problem, he says, "I have eyes on the back of my head."

Next: The Art Handling of P.S. 1 Museum

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