Improving Climate Control to Preserve Collections of the George Walter Vincent Smith Art Museum

FAIN: PF-50208-11

Springfield Library and Museums Association (Springfield, MA 01103-1733)
Wendy Stayman (Project Director: December 2010 to November 2012)
Heather Haskell (Project Director: November 2012 to December 2012)

The purchase and installation of climate modification equipment in a 19th-century historic building that houses unique art of the collector George Walter Vincent Smith, including Japanese armor, Tiffany glass, Chinese cloisonné, Middle Eastern textiles and carpets, and 19th-century American paintings.

The Springfield Museums request funding for the installation of sustainable climate modification in the George Walter Vincent Smith Art Museum in Springfield, MA. The 1896 American Renaissance building houses a cross-cultural humanities collection of 6,000 objects that include Asian Decorative arts, Japanese Arms & Armor, American paintings and a plaster cast gallery. The goal of the proposed system is to add air-conditioning and ventilation to the Museum to create a stable environment for exhibition displays and the large collections storage area as well as a temperature appropriate to human comfort without compromising the structural and historical integrity of the building. Implementation of this project will enable the introduction of cooling and superior air filtration to the gallery areas - stabilizing the temperature, modifying relative humidity fluctuations, and improving the air quality. This will have a profound positive impact on the preservation of the Museum’s collections