10 minute read
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.
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Before the move.
So, what do we do now? It was the question none of us wanted to ask. A question none of us really had the answer to, but we knew we had to adapt, and so we did. Programs and exhibits went virtual. Departmental collaborations almost seemed easier to facilitate. Meetings continued via Zoom, Google Meet, and Microsoft Teams, but where did that leave Collections? Over the next few months, I took full advantage of my time to plan for the collection move.
As a smaller institution, our Collections department consists of three people: me, our Assistant Director, and our Curator. However, a project like this would require more than just three sets of hands and skills, so I started with a list of our needs and the individuals I would call upon to satisfy those needs. Very quickly this became an “all hands on deck” kind of project, requiring a rotating schedule of assistance from some incredibly special and talented people in our Education, Administration, and Visitor Services departments. But we were still in the planning phase, and we were still at home, and it was hard to envision putting this plan into practice.
To help ease my anxiety about staffing requirements, I began working on our goals and deadlines for the move. I must admit, this part of the planning was fun and exciting. For the first time, the Gaston County Museum would not only have the storage space to properly accommodate the collection, but we would also have workstations for collections staff, volunteers, and interns, and a research room to take research and donation appointments and hold large meetings. The potential was stimulating and kept me focused as the Zoom fatigue and quarantine blues began to set in. Despite all the fun I was having planning the layout of the space, selecting workstation supplies, and looking over shelving options, I still had moments where I second-guessed my ability to lead the collection move. Covid was not letting up, and while we researched every resource known to man on how to plan a collection move, the possibility of moving the collection seemed
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to get farther and farther away. Thankfully, the Gaston County Museum has an outstanding team made up of our museum guides, Curator, Administrative Assistant, Programs Manager, Programs Assistant, Director, and Assistant Director. Each of these individuals played a crucial role in the collection move, and it is with their help that we were able to succeed.
There was no room for doubt with a team as determined as the Gaston County Museum’s. When I was unsure about a decision, I had the support of my team to help me decide. When I grew apprehensive of deadlines and processes, I was reassured that this work was not in vain. And as the world slowly (and I mean slowly) began to open back up in 2021, and every day became a guessing game of what would happen next, their confidence in this move did not waiver. We found ourselves working on a staggered schedule to keep a small number of staff in the building at a time. This made getting back to cleaning and preparing for the move even tougher. And while the planning that had taken us through the remainder of the year was complete, we still found ourselves having to adapt to the new “normal.” Luckily, we kept our internship opportunities available, and once we got the OK to have interns and volunteers back in the building, we gained three talented individuals to assist us with the start of the move. We were able to divide them up by task: cleaning, rehousing, and packing. Cleaning was our first step in the process of preparation, to avoid moving anything moldy to our new storage location. Cleaning consisted of a few things including but not limited to; nitrile gloves, hog hair and bamboo brushes, 100% cotton rags and Q-tips, aprons, HEPA filtered vacuums, 70% isopropyl alcohol, and particulate respirators for personal protection. Once cleaning was complete, we replaced all tissue paper and boxes of the moldy objects. We rehoused most of the collection and added additional supports and mounts for packing using backing rod and stuffed stockinette purchased from Gaylord Archival. Packing was not so straightforward as we had to find industrialgrade bins and crates to hold and transport objects
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Preparing for the move.
between locations. We were able to find exactly what we needed at Walmart and with a crating company called Lend-a-Box out of Raleigh, NC. While everything up until this point had gone well, Covid continued to prove difficult to navigate, especially when it came to ordering supplies.
Collection moves require a number of materials for the before, during, and after but everything we needed seemed to be in short supply. On top of everything, the work we requested to have done in our new storage space had been delayed. Knowing a lot of these matters were out of our hands, we continued to push forward making do with what we had. When an opportunity came to order supplies, we jumped at it, and while waiting for certain improvements to be made to the new space, we kept planning and preparing. Over time we had the county Facilities Department and other contractors come in to install new floors and lighting, seal the windows, and replace the doors. An alarm system and cameras were also installed and furniture such as desks, chairs, organizers, and cabinets began to come in. It was pure chaos trying to coordinate orders between the museum and the new storage space, but we managed it with enormous success by establishing a system where some staff members would be stationed both onsite at the museum and offsite at the storage facility when orders arrived. We made sure to communicate days and times for drop-off with the companies we ordered from to ensure all orders were delivered at the right location and with someone available to receive them. For the larger, heavier object deliveries we made sure to have the muscle of the museum scheduled to help and communicated needs such as a lift and ramp with each company. Despite the plan we had in place, there were times when deliveries needed to be rescheduled because of miscommunication, lack of personnel, etc. but overall, we managed to get all furniture and shelving in the space and built before the move began. Once our new space was ready, and most of the packing and documenting was complete, there was only one thing left to do; begin the move.
It is no easy feat to move 20,000 artifacts. Add in the fact that it was June and mask mandates were in full effect, and you can imagine the rest. From nine in the morning until four in the afternoon my collections move crew, consisting of three interns, our Assistant Director, and myself, worked diligently, performing the same four duties on repeat: document, pack, transport, shelve. Despite the monotonous nature of the task, we kept sane by pacing ourselves and calling it a day when we saw fit. Each step of the process proved to be a rewarding learning experience for us and our interns. We discussed object handling and proper packing techniques. We rotated tasks so no one got stuck
After the move.
doing the same duty all summer long. They were able to provide useful suggestions and solutions to problems and, overall, were valuable members of our team. We could not have done this without them.
As September of 2021 rolled around, and we reached the tail-end of our collection move, it became apparent that the grand opening ceremony we planned for would not be happening due to another spike in Covid cases and variants eating through the population. This was a major blow to the staff. Dates were picked out, caterers were contacted, and invitation mock-ups were made. You could practically feel the excitement vibrating off us, and it felt like another setback. With these matters out of our control, we started to discuss options. After much discussion, it was decided that the celebration would have to wait, and we would commemorate this major accomplishment later. However, we did not let the state of the world stop us from meeting our goal of opening on October 1, 2021.
With final details and safety precautions in place, the Gaston County Museum officially opened its new Collections and Archives Facility, equipped to take research and donation appointments in our new research room, and provide volunteers and interns access to our database and collection storage via our processing room. The object collection room is spacious and cool, with a large worktable, storage closet, and more than enough room for expansion. The art and archives room are equal in size with a plethora of storage for art and flat files. We even ramped up security adding cameras in each of the rooms, including our workspaces, new doors and locks, and fobs to ensure admittance for those who work in the space. And while there are still some decorative elements to add, we are more than happy to welcome the public to our new and improved Collections and Archives Facility.
What is next for the Gaston County Museum of Art and History? It is my hope that with the interest generated throughout the county, we will finally be able to hold our grand opening to celebrate all our hard work and accomplishments! I also hope that with time we can host programs in our new space, as well as give tours to students and professionals, and offer workshops that focus on themes in collections management. As a museum, we use our collections to create an environment where people can explore topics both familiar and unfamiliar to them. In doing so, we build an environment that allows people to learn more about themselves and the world around them. I would like to think that is what we have done here at the Gaston County Museum, and I look forward to what the future will bring.
With Debut of Boyd Foundation Horticultural Center
