Fashion Design Collection Preservation Assessment and Storage Improvement Program

FAIN: PG-50668-09

Phoenix Art Museum Endowment Fund (Phoenix, AZ 85004-1685)
Dennita Sewell (Project Director: May 2008 to December 2010)

Hiring a conservator to conduct a preservation assessment of the museum's 18th- to 21st-century Fashion Design Collection that includes American and European women's, men's, and children's clothing and accessories. The collection is used in exhibitions and in research on costumes, textile science and history, conservation, clothing design, pattern drafting and construction, and popular culture.

The Fashion Design Department at Phoenix Art Museum is engaged in an aggressive storage improvement program, and in critical need of a comprehensive preservation assessment and collection care review. A costume conservator will be hired to evaluate the Department's: 1) environmental preservation techniques and control systems; 2) overcrowding issues; 3) existing lighting system and current integrated pest management techniques; and 4) the Fashion Design Collection storage site, and other areas of the Museum as potential locations for long-term storage of the Collection. Outcomes of this assessment will provide recommendations for: 1) specific environmental controls to implement in the current Collection storage facility; 2) specific lighting, pest management techniques, and ways to alleviate damage by operating systems; 3) improvement of flat and hanging storage; and 4) long-range storage plan to accommodate future growth of the Collection including alternative storage locations.