TITLE: The Tooth Fairies

The Tooth Fairies is part of an ongoing project documenting unseen labor at the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA). As a student, I work as a facilities assistant for MICA’s facilities management department (FACMAN). Essentially, I am a handyman’s assistant. The job consists of painting walls various shades of beige, moving tables, and riding around in the work truck with handymen twice my age.

Another big part of the job is fixing up students’ dorms, readjusting the height of their beds, or replacing their stoves. After explaining this part of my job to one of my classmates, they responded with something along the lines of, “oh, that’s you guys! I put in work orders, and they get magically fixed while I’m not there, like a tooth fairy!”
While I thought this comment was funny and intended to be harmless, it still left a sting. While we may fix things when nobody is home, a falling tree still makes noise even if no one hears it; real people do lots of physical labor to keep the school running behind the scenes. This moment was a sad realization of the little recognition my coworkers get for their work at this school. There are members of the FACMAN staff that have committed 20+ years of their lives to MICA and still remain unnoticed.

I want The Tooth Fairies to highlight my coworkers: the work they do, the places they inhabit, and who they are. This project is about giving my coworkers the recognition they deserve and showing MICA the people who make up the foundation of the institution.

AUTHOR: Colin Klavins (United States)

Colin Scott Klavins is a photographer based in Baltimore, Maryland. His practice explores themes of identity and masculinity, often using boxing and its surrounding imagery as metaphor. Humor plays a key role in his work, allowing him to engage with serious or taboo subjects in a unique way, whether by poking fun at toxic masculinity or using it as a means of coping with more troubling themes. Recently, he has been working with 35mm film and focusing on socially engaged projects. Klavins is committed to a lifelong pursuit of creating art.