Collections Sustainable Storage Initiative

FAIN: PF-50362-13

Worcester Art Museum (Worcester, MA 01609-3123)
Rita Albertson (Project Director: December 2012 to March 2016)

Planning for sustainable storage solutions and upgrading of climate control systems to improve preservation of and access to an encyclopedic collection of 35,000 works of art that span the world's cultures, with highlights in ancient art of the Mediterranean and the Americas, American and European painting, Asian art, decorative arts, and works on paper.

The Worcester Art Museum is seeking a Planning Grant to develop its Collections Sustainable Storage Initiative (CSSI), an updated comprehensive Report and Master Plan of its collections storage spaces, environmental control and safety systems. A multi-disciplinary team is assembled to perform this work including consulting architects and engineers. As part of this effort the Museum will also implement the environmental data logging and analysis recommended by team consultant Image Permanence Institute (IPI). The planning goal is to develop ecologically sound, efficient, and sustainable guidelines supporting the Museum's collections storage spaces, storage furniture systems, environmental monitoring and control systems, as well as safety and protection systems. The CSSI Report will then form the basis for rethinking the existing connections between storage and permanent collections, and guide the way to more efficient and sustainable collections preservation.