Planning for the Relocation of the Arizona History Museum's Collections

FAIN: PG-50530-09

ARIZONA Historical Society Southern Division (Tucson, AZ 85719-4840)
Laraine Daly Jones (Project Director: May 2008 to December 2010)

A preservation assessment, consultation, and staff training in preparation for relocating to a new building a collection of 27,000 objects dating from the Spanish Colonial period through the 20th-century, including mining tools, weapons, costumes and textiles, and furniture, as well as archives and 250,000 images.

This project is for consultation, assessment and a workshop by an Objects Conservator to help staff plan a move to a new building, of the library collections and 27,000 historical artifacts, including Spanish Colonial art, weapons and decorative silver, plus tools, saddles, tack, Indian baskets, clothing & textiles, and furniture, mainly from the 19th century. The conservator will focus on two levels of planning: 1) a holistic strategy for managing the safe move of all collections, and 2) techniques for packing and stabilizing discrete groups of museum artifacts, using appropriate storage and cushioning materials. The conservator will assess types of materials in the objects collection and help devise specific methods for packing them, showing the staff and a core group of volunteers in a videotaped workshop, how to stabilize vulnerable objects for transportation. Staff will create a written moving plan from the consultant's input.