The location of where they work is a secret they keep, even from old friends.

The artisans who operate out of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum’s storage facility on the West Side of Manhattan have long understood that it is part of their job to keep quiet about their place of employment, an off-site warehouse filled with much of the world’s finest art.

So now, even as they shelter at home and worry about possible furloughs or layoffs by a museum struggling without admission revenue, the workers who help maintain the collection and prepare it for display say they understand the commitment they have made.

“They feel a moral responsibility to protect this work,” said Andres Puerta of Local 30 of the International Union of Operating Engineers, which represents those workers. “They know the heavy weight of that responsibility.”

Their concerns are mirrored across the quiet streets of a shuttered world, as museums work to figure out how to contend with the possibility of enhanced security risks. Alarm systems and uniformed guards are still in place, of course, and the sale of museum-famous stolen art has never been easy.