Who Knew?

My favorite kind of reporting is stories like this one by Niko Koppel in the Times, that tell you something you never knew and thereby make the world a little more interesting:

The guards at the Metropolitan Museum of Art are easy to ignore, and that is not totally by accident. Their blue uniforms, red clip-on ties and thick plastic identification cards do not distract the eye from the stunning works they are paid to protect.

A fair number of the guards are, it turns out, artists yearning for a little exposure themselves.

For artists who have to work “to support themselves other than from their work, the Met is a good place to start,” said Peter J. Hoffmeister, 24 who studied painting at the Fashion Institute of Technology and, upon graduating, started working nights at the museum.

A group of Met guards, including Mr. Hoffmeister, is stepping into the spotlight with a new art journal . . . and an accompanying art exhibit, which runs through Sunday at 25CPW a gallery at 62nd Street and Central Park West.

I will never look at museum guards the same way again.