Please Don't Touch the Art!: Security and Public Access in Art Museums

Kathy E. Zimon is a fine arts librarian (emerita) at the University of
Calgary. She is the author of Alberta Society of Artists: The First 70
Years and coeditor of Art Documentation Bulletin of the Art Libraries
Society of North America.

Despite its title, this book does not address security issues at public
access art museums in general. Rather, it examines the role of security
staff with respect to an exhibition at the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia
(AGNS).

The exhibition was a selection of works from the permanent collection
chosen by the Canadian Corps of Commissionaires. Organized under the
headings “Secure in the Gallery,” “Security in Practice,” and
“The Accessible Gallery,” 15 short essays, or “word portraits,”
discuss the relations between security staff and their employer (the
AGNS) and the gallery’s clientele. The essays consist mainly of
anecdotal observations, some based on experiences at the AGNS, others on
visits to a few other institutions (not all art museums) in the
Maritimes and New England.

As a tribute to the role of unsung security staff, the intent of both
the exhibition and this booklet is admirable, but the brief, rambling
text has no practical application, and offers only the blandest comments
on the relation between security and accessibility in art museums.