(upbeat percussion music)
- [Ray Cusie] I've been with the museum over 18 years.
And I started out in security, went up to design,
and worked in several other departments.
Now I work public education, working
on audio-visual equipment.
Making video tapes of our installations and galleries.
(upbeat percussion music)
Visitors are, it's hard to talk about visitors.
Because you're doing things for the visitors,
but you're not really mingling with the visitors.
Everything you do, is to prepare the works
for the visitors to see.
(crowd chatter)
(upbeat percussion music)
Well, a lot of people come up here,
and they look at the impressionist paintings,
and they don't know what they're looking at.
Because it takes a lot of looking to know.
But they're groping for something.
They want to see what it's all about.
And they really look intensely,
but they can't find it, because you don't find it
on a visit or two.
You have to search around.
And you hear a lot of people say,
and they always, a few people laugh at the comment:
"Well, I know what I like."
Which isn't a funny comment, because they're
absolutely right.
And people do know what they like.
(upbeat percussion music)
The museum, it doesn't seem like it has an end.
It just continues.
If you would start let's say at the south wing,
and walk directly to the north wing,
in a straight line, would be a four block walk.
Four city block walk.
It would be interesting to know,
just how many doors
are in the museum.
How many steps would the museum have?
If you would put all the museum steps together,
how high can you go?
I think you could look down on the Empire State Building,
for sure.
There must be over 800 people working in this museum.
You have elevator mechanics.
You have carpenters.
You have painters,
steamfitters, plumbers,
restorers, designers,
roofers, tinsmiths,
everything is in the building.
And these are a lot of people that you never see.
(upbeat percussion music)
Many times I work with fellas in the conservation department
or department of assistance from various departments
in the building, who are setting up displays,
or removing works of art.
Everybody had a job to do.
You have one person making the display case.
You have the department assistant
handling the art.
You have conservation making clips,
and whatever it takes to hold down the art,
so it doesn't get knocked over while it's on display.
Then you have the cleaners come to clean the glass,
and the area around it.
And then sometimes the gardener comes,
and if it's needed, he'll put a plant nearby
to enhance the art.
And then finally, security department sends a man over
to watch it.
(upbeat percussion music).
Most of the time from 12 to 1,
it depends on what type of schedule I'm following
for that day, and what type of programs are going on,
I'll occupy my time, and relieve a lot of my tensions,
with an hours worth of exercise.
So, this relaxes me, and it also benefits me physically.
(upbeat percussion music)
(Music)
I was into fencing for a while.
And naturally the Arms and Armor department,
I would say, spontaneously, well this is my favorite place.
The new sections in the museum that's being added onto,
we just got the Lehman Collection open,
and now we're going to show them,
we have to put them in a bar.
This is additional education that I see in the future
for myself.
It also might mean, who knows, I might even take up
a new sport.
When I'm outside the museum, I'm a different person.
When I'm in the museum, I'm very much more relaxed.
I sort of know what the situations are there.
(upbeat percussion music)
♪ Hey, oh oh oh oh oh oh yeah, oh yeah, oh ♪
♪ Hey, oh oh yeah, oh yeah, oma oma bo ♪
♪ Hey yeah, hey ba ♪
♪ Oh oh oh oh oh oh oh, oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh ♪
♪ Ah ah nah da da ah da, yeah a day ♪
♪ Nah day nay ♪
♪ Ay ay ay ay ay ay oh ♪
♪ Oh am a sah ma quay, oh ma sam a quey oh ma sam a quey ♪
♪ Oh yeah oh yeah ♪