Establishing an Environmental Monitoring Program

FAIN: PG-51462-11

Museum of Russian Icons (Clinton, MA 01510-2903)
Tara Young (Project Director: May 2010 to January 2013)

Hiring a consultant to establish monitoring of environmental conditions and the purchase and installation of environmental monitoring equipment in a new exhibition and storage space for a collection of 400 Russian icons that date from the 15th century to the present. The collection of egg tempera paintings on wooden boards, which are used as objects of veneration in the Russian Orthodox tradition, is the largest of its kind in the United States.

The Museum will hire Museum and Collector Resource as a collections care consultant to: a) establish an environmental monitoring program for new storage, and new and reconfigured exhibit areas; b) complete the purchase and installation of appropriate equipment, and conduct a year of assessment; and c) orient staff in standard operating procedures for monitoring the collections environments. In early 2011 the Museum will double its size by expanding into a connected, renovated building. When the collection is reinstalled with this new configuration, many of the parameters for storage and display will change. This monitoring project will establish baseline data for the new arrangement while identifying microclimates and helping plan conditions management.