Evaluating and Improving Light Levels at the Block Museum of Art

FAIN: PG-51014-10

Northwestern University (Evanston, IL 60208-0001)
David Alan Robertson (Project Director: May 2009 to September 2011)

Funding supports the purchase of environmental monitoring equipment recommended by a 2006 Conservation Assessment Program report. Northwestern University's Block Museum of Art features a large collection of works on paper including the architectural drawings of Marion Mahony Griffen and Walter Burley Griffen, prints and drawings from the 15th century to the present, and computer-generated works on paper.

The Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art seeks funding to purchase a UV monitor, humidity calibration kit, and IrDA serial port adapter (for uploading readings into the computer). Based on a recent Conservation Assessment Program (CAP) grant, the Block learned that higher than acceptable UV and visible light levels were measured in a gallery, work, and artwork storage space of the Museum; similar UV and light levels are suspected in our other galleries. Since the majority of the Museum's collection, as well as the artwork in exhibitions we host or organize, consists of works of art on paper and is sensitive to light, we will use the environmental monitoring equipment to track light readings during the grant period. Following a few months of data collection, we will conduct an ongoing evaluation of the readings to determine an action plan for the improvement of lighting conditions at the Block Museum.