Since then Smith has filled several positions, sometimes many at once, and because of her adaptability she is go-to person and manager of the large-scale projects the gallery produces.

When I ask her to tell me about how she approaches the huge projects she undertakes; moving & placing a group of Richard Serra works, participating in the installation of a Nancy Rubin at Lincoln Center, or a rigging a Damien Hirst “Virgin Mary” into the courtyard of the Lever House, she insists that, “it isn’t just me, it’s so many people.”

A large part of her task is to ensure the clear communication between the involved parties; the artists, engineers, architects, riggers, fabricators and transporters. She encourages the crews she works with to interface with the artists directly, however her involvement is often required to reconcile conceptual & practical concerns, which can sometimes be at odds. “It’s not really about micromanaging so much as getting together the people & things that are needed to make it happen…it requires a level playing field.”

The West 24th Street space she works out of was built with these large projects in mind. There is no basement, providing the floor with ample support for twenty-thousand-ton plus sculptures. In addition, it is not unusual for the gallery to completely remove an exterior wall in order to fit the artwork into the space. For example upcoming they are planning a show of Robert Therrien works that include larger than life sculptures of tables & chairs. “They come in on 10 foot pallets; our hallway is only 7 feet wide. So obviously we have to go through the wall.”

For the Serra shows (the gallery has held many) the works are brought into the city aboard double-drop flatbeds, one piece at a time, of course being mindful en-route of bridge and tunnel height & weight restrictions. Once the works are in the galleries, which is made possible by removing the walls, placement of the individual pieces is done by a pair of I-beam gantries that work in concert to allow the works to be placed gently, safely & precisely.

One thing Smith has learned is to always be attentive to “what is below you” especially in a city where everything grows vertically. Not only does the final position of the artwork need to be considered for this, but also every step along that path must support the weight of not just the work and the heavy equipment needed to safely move the work.

Smith tells me that from her perspective; “most people are clueless” regarding what goes into planning, moving and placing many of these works, but she feels this is the way it should be. “To an unknowing viewer it’s just like these several ton blocks grew out of the ground, and that’s like magic.”

Nicole Bouchard
Crozier Fine Art