James Arthur Gielow began working for the San Diego Museum of Art in 2004 as the Lead Carpenter in the Exhibitions and Collections department. He quickly advanced to Head Preparator, leading the museum’s crew of Museum Assistants. During this period, he created the in-house mount making program, still in use today, and became the museum’s Senior Mount Maker. His role then increased once again as Associate Registrar/Senior Mount Maker.
For over a decade and a half, James specialized in custom seismic display mounts for all the 3D objects in the museum’s collection as well as caring for all the conservation and maintenance needs for the sculptures, professional object photography for the digital archive and catalogue reproductions, administrator to the museum’s collection database and much more. In 2016, James branched out even further to include art restoration and quarterly sculpture maintenance services to help preserve and safeguard outdoor sculptures around the San Diego area. These quarterly cleaning, waxing, and condition-reporting methods are essential to the longevity of these priceless objects.
For the last 13 years, James has been working for private clients and other institutions during his nights and weekends, providing all the above to the greater San Diego area and beyond. In 2019, James resigned from the museum to pursue Spark & Anvil full-time and is now available to receive new clients.
