Voces del Prado

From museum guard to member of the Art Handlers team

Manuel Montero Eugenia, Head of the Art Handling Staff, 1986-Up to date

I was a guard for about 2 years and 3 months. There was the chance to apply to be in other groups and now I’ve been on the Art Handlers team for 30 years. I have to say I’m really happy.
When I joined the Art Handlers it was headed by José María Adeba and there were two full-time people on the team: José López and Victoriano Moyo. There were two places to be filled which Ángel Campos and I got and then there were almost always one or two support people, normally ex-guards. My finest memories of my career date from that time. Every day I had a new challenge. I saw new works almost every. There was the challenge of taking on work that I hadn’t done before. I remember getting home and talking with real pride and enthusiasm about what I’d learned and seen that day. Group work is totally different to what I’d done before. Being a guard, although obviously you’re part of a team, is rather more solitary. Here in the Art Handlers team there are few individual tasks, almost all of them are group ones even if it’s only two people.