Protecting Public Art Collections

FAIN: PR-295945-24

Midwest Art Conservation Center, Inc. (Minneapolis, MN 55404-3506)
Colin D. Turner (Project Director: May 2023 to present)

A Tier II project to develop tools for remote risk assessment and emergency planning for public art collections.

The Midwest Art Conservation Center will support emergency preparedness in public art collections through the development of tools for remote risk assessment and emergency planning. This is a Tier 2 implementation application and follows the successful completion of a Tier 1 planning grant awarded by the NEH in 2021. This phase will apply a risk assessment protocol developed in phase 1 to artworks in the collections of five diverse partner organizations. It will develop a free toolkit for public art collections nationwide and provide training for a wider group of public art caretakers to independently perform similar remote risk assessments and develop emergency plans for their collections. This project will use existing and accessible GIS mapping technology to fill a void in emergency planning for cultural heritage; it will create a resource that can be adapted and used freely by public art collections nationwide, ultimately improving their sustainability and resilience.