Steve’s office is a living, breathing area of the museum. It fills, it empties, repeat. New items coming into the collection gather here. Sometimes old items have been retrieved for some new purpose. Letters, packages, convention bags, magazines, favorites and more can be found here.
The office is a particular focus this month. It is a fascinating place that is both mostly unnavigable and full of treasures.It has been cleaned, rearranged, filled and cleaned over and over. Later, after the boxes have been in storage for many years, they are retrieved as we look for some specific piece that Steve remembers was on his desk. Looking for something in the museum usually starts with “The last time I saw that piece was three years ago…”. And then, like an archeologist clearing off layers of dirt, you look for the boxes that were packed three years ago. The more we’ve done this the more the layers get mixed up, but we get a little more organized with labeling and sorting.
When I first arrived in 2006 the office had a line of putty-colored file drawers, a wall of bookcases, an empty wall and a desk area. On my list of areas to clean, it took more than a year for the office to move to the top.
In 2011 we rearranged the office and took away the file cabinets. We installed some drawers from Ikea with the intention that they be filled by Steve over time and then I would come and take the items away to be cataloged (did not happen). We painted one of the walls the same color as the new art gallery and hung many pictures and awards including Steve’s retirement gift from Lucasfilm – a Star Wars birthday poster signed by George Lucas. We rotated the bookcases from one wall to another. And under the cabinets by the window I found the biggest black widow spider I had ever seen.
Today the cycle continues and with each pass we get a little more organized.