Implementing Sustainable Collections Storage

FAIN: PF-230300-15

Rochester Museum and Science Center (Rochester, NY 14607-2101)
George McIntosh (Project Director: December 2014 to March 2021)

An implementation project to consolidate ethnology, painting, historic textile, and industrial history collections documenting the history and culture of the Western New York region in two renovated storage areas of the museum’s main building basement area and promote greater energy and curatorial efficiency.

The Rochester Museum & Science Center (RMSC) seeks $350,000 in funding to implement sustainable storage solutions for its ethnology, painting, household textile, and industrial history collections. Building on recent collections stewardship improvement initiatives, RMSC staff worked with expert consultants on a 2013 NEH planning grant to identify at-risk humanities collections, establish their storage requirements, and develop a phased plan to upgrade storage conditions for long-term preservation and sustainability. Additional funding from NEH will enable us to implement the first phase of storage renovation and reorganization for high-risk/high-use humanities collections to ensure their availability for research, exhibits, and programs to current and future stakeholders. This important project will allow RMSC to meet its mission as steward of the community’s most comprehensive humanities collection and advance humanistic knowledge at our institution and beyond.