McMullen Museum of Art chief curator Stoney Conley (left) and freelance installer Vinnie Marasa unpack track lighting and mount art work for Accommodations of Desire: Surrealist Works on Paper from the Collection of Julien Levy, which will be at the museum through March 24.

Hang-up

Stoney Conley:

“It takes three people two weeks to install the art work for a show. For this exhibit, we hung 115 drawings, collages, prints, watercolors, and photographs by 62 Surrealist artists, including Salvador Dali, Marcel Duchamp, and Man Ray. The exhibition design and wall color should be something that enhances the exhibition and isn’t the first thing visitors notice. For this show, there’s a gradual transition in the wall color from a near-white to a near-black that reflects the use of color in the original Levy gallery in New York City, which had a very modernist sensibility. Works on paper are extremely sensitive to light, so we also have to adjust all the lighting to the right level, 10 foot-candles.”