WORKING -- Robert Laurie

-- Story by Mathis Winkler

HE IS

Guarding the masters

AN OBVIOUS JOB CHOICE

An artist, Laurie was looking for a job in the art world in 1991 when

he came across work as an installer at the Newport Harbor Museum of Art.

He hung paintings and helped set up sculptures for exhibitions. But

because he had to bridge long breaks between shows, Laurie, now 53, also

began working as a security guard at the museum.

A few years later, when the museum became the Orange County Museum of

Art, he was offered a full-time position as a security guard, “which I

gladly agreed to, having three children at the time to feed,” he said.

FRIENDLY DETERRENT

Starting his job at about 10 a.m., Laurie opens the doors, checks the

galleries for any trash and gets the museum ready for students, who visit

the exhibitions almost every day.

At 11 a.m., the doors open for regular visitors, and Laurie and his

colleagues begin their five to 10 miles of rounds through the building.

“We don’t need any extra exercise,” he said, adding that one tour

through the galleries takes him about a minute and a half.

Because his main job is to protect the artwork from damage, Laurie

said, he has to walk a fine line between intruding on a person’s museum

experience and ensuring that paintings and sculptures remain safe.

“Most people don’t touch the art out of maliciousness,” he said,

sitting on a bench in the museum’s entry hall and taking occasional sips

from a cup of black coffee. “They want to feel the texture. They’re just

inquisitive.”

Most times, he can only remind visitors to refrain from touching art

after the fact. Only once was he forced to ask someone to leave the

museum after the person had been “inquisitive” for the third time.

“We’re trying not to interfere with a person’s museum experience,”

Laurie said. “As long as they’re not too close.”

WHEN QUIET, IT’S ART STUDY TIME

Laurie can see how his job could bore some people.

“If you didn’t have an interest in art, yes, you could be bored,” he

said. Personally, he said he enjoys slow periods during the day because

it gives him time to study the exhibitions himself.

Although he knows he’d have to quit his job before the museum could

ever hang his own work, looking at what’s placed in the galleries gives

him an idea of what will fly.

“I see what is accepted by people to go into a museum,” he said. “I

know that that is influencing me [in my own art], by being in the

presence of it.”

SLICK AND CLEAN LINES

Laurie tends to favor contemporary artists such as Tony DeLap, whose

sculptures, paintings and drawings are on display at the museum.

“I like very clean lines, representatives of California’s slick side,”

he said.

But asked about a piece of art in the museum that fascinated him,

Laurie walked into Chris Burden’s installation, “A Tale of Two Cities.”

It took six people two weeks to set up the miniature reconstruction of

two city-states at war, Laurie said, adding that it contains more than

5,000 figures and buildings spread over 2 1/2 tons of sand and stone.

“I like the complexity of gathering it all together,” Laurie said.

“Coming up with something that is cohesive and makes a statement -- let

alone just the fun of it.”

NO PLANS TO LEAVE

Laurie said his job at the museum keeps him where he feels at home.

“Everybody who comes through these doors is interested in art, and

wants to talk about art,” he said. “I find that this really keeps me

involved in the world of art.”