Basket Storage Upgrade and Conservation Project

FAIN: PG-50116-07

Montclair Art Museum (Montclair, NJ 07042-1582)
Renee Powley (Project Director: May 2006 to March 2009)

The purchase of shelving for the storage of American Indian baskets and consultation with a conservator who will examine selected baskets and conduct an on-site preservation workshop for the museum's staff. The collection dates from the mid-1800s to the present and includes household, ceremonial, and early tourist trade baskets with key examples from California and the Southwest.

The museum's "Basket Storage Upgrade and Conservation Project," with goals to: 1) maximize and increase the museum's current space in its storage vault for its collection of baskets; 2) train staff to properly care for baskets in its collection; and 3) begin to address conservation priorities for baskets, will enable the museum to more thoroughly care for, present and interpret its collection of more than 340 American Indian baskets that inform our humanities programs and help more than 60,000 annual visitors to understand the cultural and artistic traditions of American Indian peoples. To occur from May 2007 to December 2007, this project will enable the Montclair Art Museum to purchase additional storage shelving units and to hire a professional consultant to both conduct a one-day training for staff on the proper archival handling and housing techniques for baskets, and to examine and develop comprehensive treatment proposals for future stabilization of five collection baskets in critical need of preservation.