Last Thursday, after nearly 15 years as a Georgia Museum of Art gallery guide, Teri Gunter worked her last shift.
As a gallery guide, Gunter spent the majority of her day among the art, probably more than any other museum position. The guides are responsible for monitoring guest interactions with art and keeping a count of incoming and outgoing traffic in each gallery. She jokes that her job was to “guard the art from the art lovers.”
She heard about the position when a friend encouraged her to apply, and after battling heart issues, the health insurance was appealing.
“I never liked art before I came here and I’ve gotten to like a bunch of it.”
Naturally, with all that time looking at the same art, some of it gets old –– but some of it never does. Gunter’s favorite work from the permanent collection is “The Old Mill(opens in new tab),” by Homer Dodge Martin.
“To me, it’s really beautiful,” she said. “I picture myself being in that painting and hearing the water and just listening. I love that sun and how it just pops.”
One of the highlights of the job for Gunter has been the people she’s met working, like her friend and fellow gallery guide Chevelyn Curtis.
“I loved working with Teri because she could make me laugh and I could do the same to her,” Curtis said. “I loved making her laugh because she would get embarrassed and turn red and that made me laugh even more. We actually got in trouble for talking too much in the galleries and so they kept us separated for a while. It still didn’t stop us from finding ways to talk, though.”
In her retirement, Gunter plans to rest, enjoy her pool and spend more time with her two grandchildren.
