CONSERVATION

In 2016, the museum was awarded an IMLS grant to purchase and install new painting racks in the Education Vault and Conservation Laboratory, which enabled the documentation and rehousing of 130 paintings that had been stored in an off-site storage facility. In a span of four weeks in 2017, the collections staff successfully examined, stabilized, wrapped, and moved the paintings to an environmentally controlled storage area on The Ringling campus and performed emergency conservation treatment on 43 of the paintings. The staff also supervised other conservation projects that focused on treatment of the Ca’ d’Zan terra cotta, as well as 21 historic iron loggia lanterns, and 9 stone parapet sculptures at the Museum of Art. Condition surveys were completed for 75 outdoor stone and bronze sculptures in the Museum Courtyard, as well as for 60 Japanese prints (43 of these were conserved) and 12 watercolors (11 conserved). Treatment proposals were prepared for 90 paintings and 3D objects slated for Reinstallation in galleries 16, 17, and 18.

To remain current on the trends of best practices, the collections staff hosted workshops organized by the Florida Association of Museums and were collaborative partners for the Florida Historical Society annual conference. Staff shared their expertise with respect to collections management and historic preservation with fellow colleagues. They have also participated on committees or served as board members in the following organizations pertaining to collections management, conservation, and exhibitions: the Preparation, Art handling, Collections Care, Information Network (PACCIN), American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works (AIC), the American Alliance of Museums (AAM) and the American Association for State and Local History (AASLH).

Staff continues to explore new ways to use technology. During the fiscal year, the collections department established a partnership with the University of South Florida's Institute for Digital Exploration (IDEx) to encourage collection accessibility and to energize scholarly research through the use of 3D printing and object scanning. This technology will be used to research the museum’s Cypriot collection.