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| First Person |
Outwitting Time
Lawrence L. Reger
08/01/06
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Two of my own favorite collections are in Lincoln, where I grew up.
As a student at the University of Nebraska, I had classes in Morrill Hall, in
the same building as the University of Nebraska State Museum. The western part
of the state has rich fossil fields, so archeologists everywhere—amateur and
professional—know about this natural history museum’s collections. The fossil
elephants are considered the best in the world.
Across campus is the Sheldon
Memorial Art Gallery, in a travertine jewel box of a building designed by Philip
Johnson. Every time I visit the Sheldon, the works of art feel like a group of
old and dear friends—especially the wonderful paintings by Marsden Hartley. The
photographer George Platt Lynes made some striking and evocative portraits of
the artist in his later years. A few years ago, I gave the museum a gelatin
silver print of one portrait, hoping to add something worthwhile to visitors’
experience with Hartley’s work.
| Objects are actually at risk because of the very structures and systems that are
supposed to protect them. |
Meaningful personal connections with art or
history or science are a powerful thing. That’s why Heritage Preservation
tackles critical issues that put collections at risk. Our program Save Outdoor
Sculpture! mobilized more than 7,000 volunteers to conduct an inventory of
33,000 pieces of outdoor sculpture across the U.S. The information they
collected—over half of the sculptures were found to be in need of immediate
attention—is now in a publicly accessible national database at the Smithsonian
American Art Museum. With the Federal Emergency Management Agency, we cosponsor
the Heritage Emergency Task Force. This group helps collecting institutions
respond to emergencies when they happen; but we also help them get prepared for
disasters and emergencies of all kinds.
Elemental Risks
The Heritage Health Index, which Heritage Preservation
developed in partnership with the federal Institute of Museum and Library
Services, confirms that we have a big job ahead of us. Most people assume that
collections are safe. But the Heritage Health Index Report tells us otherwise.
One-quarter of collecting institutions have no environmental controls, exposing
objects to three serious threats: fluctuations in temperature, light and
humidity. Millions of historic documents, photographs and other objects are kept
in areas where they are susceptible to flooding, overheating, light and insect
infestation. Many are crowded onto shelves or stored in containers that leach
acids and other chemicals.
Disasters—from broken water pipes to
hurricanes—show how vulnerable collections are to sudden catastrophic loss,
especially when there is no emergency plan in place. After Hurricane Katrina hit
Biloxi, Miss., a chimney was the only thing left standing from Pleasant Reed, a
19th-century historic house at the Ohr-O’Keefe Museum. The principal collection
was saved because the museum had an emergency plan and staff trained to carry it
out.
So what needs to happen next? Giamatti warned that “it is no small thing
to outwit time.” We are encouraging collecting institutions to use the Heritage
Health Index to make a strong case for more—and more stable—funding for
collections care. Seventy percent of them do not have a preservation line item
in their budgets, and 80 percent do not use endowment income for preservation
purposes. We also hope to inspire donors to learn more about preservation needs
and think about supporting solutions to pressing problems. Gifts for an improved
storage facility, the stabilization of a long-neglected group of film negatives
or professional services to cover the basics of emergency planning all have
lasting value.
We conducted the Heritage Health Index survey during one of
the great waves of museum building and expansion in U.S. history. But we found
out that we have a long way to go to provide safe facilities for collections,
not just in museums, but in libraries, historical societies and other collecting
institutions. It is important to realize that 30 years ago the situation was
much worse. With confidence that we have made great progress, we will continue
aspiring to outwit time.
Photograph courtesy Minneapolis Institute of Arts.
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