The Gaston County Museum Collection Move Markecia Koulesser, Collections Manager, Gaston County Museum of Art and History, Dallas, North Carolina In October of 2019, the Gaston County Museum of Art and History in Dallas, NC took on one of its largest projects to date; preparing for a collection move of over 20,000 artifacts. A few months prior the Museum suffered an unforeseen temperature spike, causing mold growth throughout the collection. From this occurrence, it became clear that the collection needed some attention. Soon after we began discussing the collection’s needs, and it was decided that a new storage space would not only eliminate further temperature spikes but would allow for more growth and better accommodations for the public. With this, we decided to move the collection from the museum to an offsite location just a few miles away. It was my first time working as a Collections Manager and I had my work cut out for me. We began the endeavor with a thorough inventory of the museum’s collection. Sorting, cleaning, and rehousing every basket, portrait, and doll, we labored for months in preparation for packing. Just as we were becoming comfortable in our new daily routine, our lives were upended and shifted by the Covid-19 pandemic. News of the virus’ spread became the news of shutdowns, which quickly turned into a nationwide quarantine. Like many, we found ourselves completely shut down by March of 2020. Before the move.
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