From the SLAM Workshop: Mount maker utilizes creativity to construct support structures for art objects

The “From the SLAM Workshop” blog series highlights the behind-the-scenes work that enhances the visitor experience at the Saint Louis Art Museum. 

If Todd McClain does his job well, his work is nearly invisible. 

McClain is a mount maker, which means he designs and fabricates the support structures, typically made of metal, that hold art objects in place in a display. Part of the art preparation and installation department, McClain also works closely with members of the Museum’s design, conservation, and curatorial departments to determine the best ways to keep an object—think bowls, swords, fossils, books, kimonos, and jewelry—safe and as accessible to the visitor as possible. 

“Most visitors come to a museum to see and experience the art itself,” McClain said. “So that means being able to design and fabricate a mount that safely holds an object on a single post or hovering just off the back of the exhibit case. The whole point is to help make the art visible and available. Hopefully, when the exhibit opens, you just see the art and not any of the mount.” 

McClain has always had an interest in art; he studied studio art and art history before discovering that working with his hands was much more enjoyable to him than time spent researching or writing. Mount making, which still allows him to use some of his art history knowledge, is the best of both worlds. On the job in various museums and art-handling companies over the last 20 years, he learned metalworking and other useful fabrication skills. McClain has been at SLAM since September 2022. 

“The best part of my job now is that I get to work and collaborate with loads of smart people, be in a beautiful building filled with art, and work with my brain and hands to help to make available and visible those amazing objects that fascinated me as a kid,” he said. 

Every new mount-making project begins with conversations: the exhibition designer might want an object at a certain height or display angle; the curator might want to highlight how it relates to other works in an installation; and the conservator might want to point out a repair that needs to be avoided with the mount construction. McClain’s job is to take this information and build a safe and effective apparatus to showcase the object. 

First, he produces a drawing and proposal for how the mount will function. Next, a material is chosen—most mounts are made of brass, but sometimes steel, plexiglass, or mat board are better fits. The mounts are built on-site with a variety of tools and equipment, ranging from simple pliers to larger drills, welders, heat guns, and band saws. There’s also a good deal of creativity in the work done in McClain’s lab. While each mount is custom-made to a particular object, it is also hand-painted by McClain to seamlessly match the color, texture, or patterns of the art to make the mount “disappear.” 

Some mounts are simple and quite small, like metal posts that hold a coin in place in a display case. Others require a bit more ingenuity. SLAM’s fall ticketed exhibition, Narrative Wisdom and African Arts, will feature an egungun masquerade costume from the Museum’s permanent collection. Made by a Yoruba artist in the 20th century, the costume was meant to completely enclose a performer. It’s made of heavy fabric with cowrie shells and assorted beads and sequins. The top, which would sit above the performer’s head, features a wooden platform with a wooden dog figurine. Inside are multiple layers and panels of heavy fabric meant to create a fluid motion as the performer danced.  

McClain’s challenge was to construct a mount that showcased the movement of the costume while supporting the somewhat heavy and fragile components. The final design functions a bit like a hoop skirt to suggest the volume of a person inside. A central steel pipe will be affixed to the floor of the display case, and a small table is at the top of the pipe to support the entire costume. In the center is the hoop, which is a steel cage covered in thick foam, that clamps to the pipe. There are seven mat-board arms that curve around the inner costume to lift various panels of fabric, showcasing the movement of the costume.  

Narrative Wisdom is the largest exhibition of African art organized by the Saint Louis Art Museum. Featuring both historic and contemporary artworks, the exhibition opens October 19, 2024. It features an extensive array of media—and therefore, mounts—including sculpture in wood, ivory, and metal, as well as textiles, works on paper, photography, and paintings.