The Addison currently has 16,169 objects in its permanent collection. This is quite a bit more than the 600 we began with when the museum opened in 1931. At any one time we are able to put less than 1% of it on view on our gallery walls. The rest of it is kept in the museum’s highly-secured storage vaults as well as in storage space off site. As you can imagine, we’re running out of space.
When the Addison builds its new addition and renovates the existing building, we hope to solve that problem. Paintings are currently stored on movable screens (see right) and screen space is currently very tight. When we expand we will nearly double our screen space to accommodate our existing collections and provide some room for future acquisitions. Our works on paper, prints, and our extensive photography collections will be stored in file drawers on an expanded array of condensable storage systems. Our sculpture and decorative art collections, moved off site several years ago to expand staff office space within the museum, will finally be stored back in the Addison, also in condensable storage systems, with space to grow.
As the collections grow so should the museum in order to safely store and care for its artwork. Thankfully, our renovation and new addition will provide that which is most coveted by museums everywhere: space!
James M. Sousa
Associate Registrar for Collections and Archives
Friday, January 18, 2008
Storage Space, the Final Frontier
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1 comment:
Well, yes. This is a perfect example
of the situation many museums, and other repositories for art face. It is critical that collections are not
only acquired but a commitment to their preservation is mandatory. The Art Institute of Chicago's Ferguson Fund does an exemplary job of maintaining its widespread sculpture presence.
I will share this post with other art folks I know.
Thanks Blog ADDISON
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