Replacement and Reconfiguration of Housing Furniture in Painting and Paper Vault
FAIN: PG-271759-20
Washington County Museum of Fine Arts (Hagerstown, MD 21740-6495)
Kay Palmateer (Project Director: January 2020 to March 2022)
The purchase of preservation supplies and furniture to improve the storage conditions in the Washington County Museum of Fine Arts’ Painting and Paper Vault (PPV), replacing poorly constructed cabinets with quality shelving and other materials for unframed works and objects and adding storage to underutilized areas. These measures would ensure that each object has adequate space to avoid potential damage, as well as allow for greater access and movement in the vault. The collection of over 6,800 objects includes American and European paintings, works on paper, textiles, glass, and sculptures. The project is based on several preceding assessments and aligns with the museum’s goal of ensuring the long term care of its collections.
Washington County Museum of Fine Arts is working to improve the storage conditions in its Painting and Paper Vault, focusing on preventive conservation of works on paper as well as other collection materials. This project will replace poorly constructed cabinets that are not configured for the Museum’s collections, add additional shelving units to house boxes containing unframed works on paper, add a bin unit to store larger framed works on paper, and reconfigure existing shelving to expand storage for larger boxes. Preventive conservation strategies include ensuring that each object has enough space so as not to be mechanically damaged in situ; is not chemically damaged by poor quality storage materials including rusting shelving, unsealed plywood, and unknown paints; and can be removed from storage without risk of damage.