Sustainable Preservation Plan for Works on Paper in the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University

FAIN: PF-266727-19

Cornell University (Ithaca, NY 14850-2820)
Nancy E. Green (Project Director: January 2019 to October 2022)

A planning project to identify solutions to excessive light exposure, insufficient storage space, and inadequate climate control within the print storage and study room of the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art. The project’s interdisciplinary planning team would include outside consultants with expertise in paper conservation, preservation environments, and the building’s unique architecture, designed by I. M. Pei.

The Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art (HFJ) at Cornell University requests a $50,000 National Endowment for the Humanities Sustaining Cultural Heritage Collections Planning Grant to assemble an interdisciplinary team of curators, conservators, building experts, and architects to identify ways to improve the sustainable preservation of more than 23,000 prints, drawings, watercolors, portfolios, and artists’ books in its collection. Works on paper comprise the largest portion of HFJ’s permanent collection holdings and, due to its scope and breadth, is the one most frequently used for teaching, but is also its most vulnerable collection. Objectives include studying existing lighting design and climate of the print room; identifying passive measures that could be implemented to increase the safety of the collection; assessing the collection’s variety to address individual storage needs; and investigating state-of-the-art storage methods within the restrictions of the current space.