Disaster Preparedness and Recovery

FAIN: PG-50821-10

Ursinus College (Collegeville, PA 19426-2509)
Julie M. Choma (Project Director: May 2009 to November 2011)

Hiring a preservation consultant to conduct an assessment of collections and develop a disaster preparedness plan. The museum's art collections include 19th- and 20th-century American landscapes, portraits, genre paintings, and watercolors; works on paper; Pennsylvania German fraktur; and outdoor sculpture. They are used in public programming and in art and art history classes.

Emergency Preparedness is a vital tool for all cultural institutions with permanent collection holdings. Disasters may occur at any time regardless of an institution's physical surroundings, and preparation is essential to recovering the cultural and historical collections such institutions are entrusted to protect. The Berman Museum of Art continues to maintain the permanent collection's integrity and longevity through preparation, preservation and stewardship. Scheduled to open in Fall, 2010, the Museum's new expansion will move an estimated 30% of the permanent collection from its current non-public storage area, to new public spaces and galleries. Museum staff will be faced with a substantially expanded facility, including several new permanent collection rooms, public areas and storage spaces. With a new and expanded facility, comes the additional need for a renewed vulnerability assessment and sequentially new Disaster Preparedness Plan.