Staff Training and the Purchase of Monitoring Equipment and Storage Materials to Preserve Art Collections

FAIN: PG-51695-12

Nicolaysen Art Museum and Discovery Center (Casper, WY 82601-2815)
Ingrid Burnett (Project Director: May 2011 to January 2013)
Lisa Fujita (Project Director: January 2013 to October 2013)

The purchase of preservation supplies to rehouse paintings, drawings, rugs and hides, and three-dimensional art, part of the museum's permanent collection of Western art and special collections relating to two 20th-century Wyoming artists, Conrad Schwiering and Carl Link. The grant would also support purchase of environmental monitoring equipment and training for the museum staff on its use.

The proposed grant will fund the purchase of preservation materials based on recommendations from the conservator, Victoria Montana Ryan, who performed the museum's CAP assessment in July 2009. Secondly, Ms. Ryan would conduct a workshop on the use of environmental monitoring equipment for Nicolaysen Museum staff, volunteers, and interns, as well as area museum staff. The CAP assessment and an earlier collections assessment completed by conservator Carmen Bria on May 2, 2008 form the basis of the request for materials that would be supported by this grant. Therefore, the items listed in this grant proposal fall into two categories: 1) preservation materials for the museum's permanent collection, and environmental monitoring equipment for the galleries not covered by the Museum's HVAC system, and 2) a workshop on the best practice for the use of environmental monitoring equipment.