Castle Museum Solutions Inc. is owned and operated by Benjamin Oakley and Sjoukje van der Laan. Together they created CMS in 2022 after moving near Kingston (ON) from Toronto in 2020.
Oakley holds a bachelor’s degree from OCADU, Toronto (2003). After graduating, over the next 20 years he worked with museums, and cultural institutions in Toronto such as, The Textile Museum of Canada, Power Plant Contemporary Art, The Gardiner Museum of Ceramic Art, University of Toronto Art Centre, The Art Gallery of Ontario, and Toronto Art Restoration Inc.(TARI). Oakley worked as an art installer and technician on exhibitions by artists such as Picasso, Warhol, Yayoi Kusama, Ai Weiwei, Frida Kahlo, Joseph Beuys, Basquiat, Anselm Kiefer, and Julian Schnabel to name a small few. Some notable projects include:
The de-installation and packing of the Gardiner Museum’s entire collection before their expansion in 2004 and the re-installation of their collection in 2006.
The packing, relocation and handling of artworks in the permanent collection of the Art Gallery of Ontario during its expansion in 2005 that reopened in 2008. (Oakley worked at the Art Gallery of Ontario for 15 years in the exhibition services and logistics department in both part-time and full-time positions).
Packing and crating of objects in the collection of the Agnes Etherington Art Centre leading up to the galleries closure before its 2024 expansion.
Van der Laan holds a MA and Professional Doctorate (PD. Res) in Art Conservation from the University of Amsterdam (2013) and a BA in Art History from the University of Groningen (2009). During her professional training, she specialized in the complex conservation methodology of modern and contemporary art. Over the years, she has worked for internationally renowned galleries, museums, artists, and curators. Sjoukje has a meticulous attention to detail and a strong scientific and artistic curiosity in understanding material behaviour and decay. Over the years, she has had the privilege to gain experience in the conservation studios of the Smithsonian/Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden (Washington, D.C.), the Municipal Museum of Contemporary Art (‘SMAK’, Ghent, Belgium), and for the Modern and Contemporary Art collation of the Dutch Government (‘RCE’, Amsterdam/Rijswijk, The Netherlands). Prior to coming to Canada in 2015, Sjoukje had a private conservation studio in The Netherlands, offering services in Contemporary Art Conservation. Since 2016, Sjoukje has worked for the Art Gallery of Ontario as Conservator Contemporary Art (part-time), as well as a private conservator for Toronto Art Restoration Inc. Since 2024, she also holds a teaching position as Adjunct Professor at the Art Conservation Master program at Queens University (Kingston, ON). Her specialization gives her a strong familiarity with the conservation of a wide variety of (modern) materials, kinetic art, electronic art, preventive conservation, and complex contemporary art installation.
CMS can be contacted @
info@castlemuseumsolutions.ca
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