Artists on Staff: Preparator Laura Garner Hine
He who works with his hands is a laborer.
He who works with his hands and his mind is a craftsman.
He who works with his hands and his head and his heart is an artist.
— St. Francis of Assisi
Art and creating have always been my first language. Since childhood, it has been my strongest sense, my inner compass and North star. For as long as I can remember, I have always had a passion for all things odd, strange, old, beautiful, and insignificant (well, depending on whose perspective). I love the visual arts and always have. My deep-rooted appreciation and passion for the arts has found its voice through numerous media, but the one that resonates with me the most is paint — oil paint in all its excitable tangibility, from its long history to today’s modern applications.
I was raised in the city of Columbia, South Carolina. I attended the University of South Carolina and graduated with a B.F.A. in studio art with a focus in painting, as well as a minor in art history. During my time there, I had the opportunity to study abroad in Groningen, the Netherlands, a fascinating hub of art and history in its own right. Upon completing my undergraduate studies, I left to pursue a master’s degree in arts, culture, and media at the Rijksuniversiteit Groningen. It was during this time of my academic career that I saw a humble flyer in the library that would unknowingly alter the course of my life. The flyer was for a lecture and tour of a fine arts conservation lab in the southern Dutch city of Maastricht. Within minutes of attending, I quickly understood that this field was the marriage of all the things that made my heart sing and set my curious mind ablaze: fine art, history, process, methodology, materials, and science. Shortly thereafter, I left my studies in the Netherlands and moved to Florence, Italy, where I completed a master’s program in the conservation of easel paintings as well as gilded frames with Accademia Riaci.
After having lived and studied in Europe for nearly five years, it was time to return to the States. In 2014, I found myself back in Columbia and immediately began to look for work in the field of cultural heritage and historic preservation. I am fortunate to have found work and to have worked alongside the few art conservators who operate their own private practices here in the city. The continued education and experience they afforded me is something I will forever be deeply grateful for and humbled by. Over the course of my journey, I have been given the gift of some pretty phenomenal mentors. It was one of those very mentors who hired me to assist in the renovation of the collection galleries at the Columbia Museum of Art.
From 2017 until 2019, I served as an assistant preparator and had the incredibly inspiring experience of working alongside the curatorial team. From safely transporting all the works on view from the galleries to the vaults, to installing and de-installing exhibitions in the temporary gallery spaces, to restoring a number of frames in the collection, to handling Jackson Pollock’s massive Mural, to executing a Sol LeWitt wall drawing installation alongside two of my favorite colleagues, it was a fecund and prodigious two years that, again, would alter the course of my life.
Fast-forward to 2025, and I now work as a full-time preparator with the CMA. Cinderella sang, ‘A dream is a wish your heart makes,’ and I can say with the utmost certainty that I am working in a dream role, with some really amazing people, that makes me wish for hardly anything and makes my heart sing on a regular basis. I am blessed, grateful, and lucky. Hard work had a little something to do with it, as well. And perseverance!
Some say it may not be best to bring work home with you, but I do! Being surrounded by constant inspiration and imagery at the museum, I try to harness that the best way I know how, by creating in my studio. I continue to paint in my free time, predominantly in oils. Gold leaf is never too far from my work bench, either. Lately my work has taken a more playful turn, thanks in large part to the influence of my 4-year-old daughter. Collages and mixed-media assemblages are a collaborative effort. I love collecting found objects with her and seeing the wonder of the world through her eyes. Watching her delight in the process of creating almost feels like I’ve come full circle, but not completely. More so, it’s that I know I will always be curious and always scratching at the surface of inspiration, trying to dive into the depths of what makes me feel human.
I have many other loves in my life as well. My family and friends are a fierce foremost. Also, our four fur babies, cups of tea, languages, books, anything antique, history (especially the artistically inclined), fresh canvas, brushes, and tubes of paint, goat cheese, raw pigment, gnocchi with truffle, porchetta paninis, the opera, playing ukulele, orange marmalade, duck eggs… and good tools!
I am 36 years old, and I am blessed to have lived such a rich and beautiful life, but it is only just the beginning! To quote Picasso, "It takes a long time to become young."
