Purchase Materials and Consultation on Techniques for Rehousing the Museum's Textile Collection

FAIN: PG-50040-07

Vermont Ski Museum (Stowe, VT 05672)
Meredith M. Scott (Project Director: May 2006 to August 2008)

Hiring a consultant to assess the museum's clothing collection and to demonstrate to staff and volunteers appropriate handling techniques. The museum would also purchase and install storage racks and preservation equipment and materials. The clothing collection includes boots, gloves, hats, sweaters, coats, and blankets. The museum is the repository of uniforms of the 10th Mountain Division.

The Vermont Ski Museum seeks an NEH Preservation Assistance Grant for Smaller Institutions to purchase materials to make safer, more effective supports for the museum's collection of clothing and accessories and to bring conservator Lori van Handel to the museum for a day and a half to assess the collection and to train volunteers on proper handling techniques for textiles and how to make storage mounts. The project will engage volunteers with a different skill set in museum work and improve accessiblity to and safety of the collection for researchers and for exhibits. With grant funds, the museum will purchase clothing racks and preservation materials to make padded hangers for all costumes and to improve storage of boxed accessories. Currently, most of the clothing--jackets, pants, suits, Olympic and military uniforms--is hanging, but the racks are so full that items are folded and abraded. The accessories, housed in archival boxes but without stuffing, also suffer from overcrowding and folding.