Improving National Music Museum's Storage Conditions
FAIN: PG-258407-18
University of South Dakota (Vermillion, SD 57069-2307)
Emanuele Marconi (Project Director: May 2017 to March 2021)
Purchasing preservation supplies and storage
furniture and rehousing a collection of 15,000 musical instruments and related
objects from both Western and non-Western cultures dating from the 16th
century through the present. The collection, which includes pre-1800
instruments by renowned European master instrument makers, including Antonio
Stradivari, and the Amati family, is used for teaching and research within the
university community, as well as for national and international exhibits.
The National Music Museum houses one of the world’s largest and most comprehensive collections of musical instruments and archival material (more than 15,000 objects from the 16th century to the present). The grant will allows us, with proper conservation materials on hand, to rehouse objects more professionally following current best practices and to make possible a dedicated workspace for objects that are transitioning between exhibition and storage or that are being pulled from storage for study and cataloging. This area (and these new materials) will allow us to elevate our standards and procedures for packing and unpacking.