The Metropolitan Museum of Art houses one of the world’s largest and most comprehensive collections of works of art from antiquities to modern and contemporary material. Their preservation is a responsibility shared by the many individuals employed at the Museum who oversee and have direct contact with the collection on a daily basis. The Care and Handing of Art Objects—first published in the 1940s and continually updated—offers a guide to the best practices in handling and preserving works of art while on display, in storage and in transit. It explains many of the fundamental principles of conservation that underlie these methods. One of its goals is to make the complexities of caring for a collection readily accessible. The first part offers basic guidelines for the preservation of the diverse types of materials and art objects found in the Met. Each chapter addresses the physical characteristics specific to the particular category, and the environmental, handling and housing factors to which one should be alert to prevent damage and ensure their preservation. Written by experts in the respective specialty, it addresses the Museum’s vast holdings summarizing the most critical preservation issues, many of which are amplified by photographs. As the table of contents makes evident these range from paintings on canvas and works on paper and photographs to furniture and objects made of stone, wood and metals to arms and armor, upholstery, ethnographic materials and many others. Part II succinctly describes factors that affect the collection as a whole: among them, current environmental standards for temperature, relative humidity, light exposure, storage and art in transit. Based on Museum protocols it addresses emergency preparedness and response, and integrated pest management. For easy reference, it includes charts on storage and display conditions, on factors contributing to deterioration, and a glossary of conservation terms, principles, and housing materials referenced in the individual chapters. Drawing upon the knowledge of conservators, scientists, and curators from many different departments, as well as technicians and engineers whose expertise crosses boundaries of culture, chronology, medium and condition, The Care and Handing of Art Objects is primarily directed to staff at the Met. It is, no less, an invaluable resource for students, collectors, small museums, museum study programs, art dealers, and members of the public who want to enhance their understanding of how works of art are safeguarded and the role environment, handling and materials play in making this possible.

A successfully managed project is a carefully planned and organized effort. A critical and essential skill for any art service manager is project management—the ability to organize resources--labor, budgets, materials-- and handle constraints so that a project’s goals are successfully accomplished. Fine Art Movement and Storage: Project Management for the Visual Arts is a practical handbook for developing and managing multi-faceted projects from the project manager’s point of view, including estate moves, exhibition planning for preparators, storage setup, planning and maintenance, storage movement and planning, collection relocations, traveling exhibitions, art fairs, and the prioritizing of overlapping projects. It covers complex and advanced project management issues such as: Identifying your stake holders and foreseeing potential stake holder conflicts, Identifying the project’s goals and parameters, Outlining goals for initial and follow-up site visits, Guidelines for conducting a site visit, Planning for art and material staging, Estimating and quoting time, labor, and materials, Understanding and estimating hard and soft costs in your budget, Planning for contingencies, Developing budgets and timelines, Scheduling overlapping tasks, Creating daily goal sheets and project punch lists, Training and staffing your crew, Assigning crew leaders, Delegating project responsibilities, Managing quality control and industry standards, Understanding project completion, post completion, and follow up, and Managing multiple projects. Over 50 graphics help to make this a book you’ll use every day. Every art institution, art service company and individual that manages projects or anticipates a project will need and want to have access to this book as a resource, as a reference and as a training tool.

Collection Care: An Illustrated Handbook for the Care and Handling of Cultural Objects provides a solid overview of basic collection care procedures and policies. The topics covered address the decision making criteria and risk assessment solutions involved in the best practices for handling art and artifacts. Technical subjects will cover proven techniques, materials, equipment and address problem solving assessment and current solutions. The comprehensive overview of staff responsibilities, relationships and training will bring the book to a conclusion of addressing the unison of all professionals responsible for proper handling and caring for collections. Highlights include: This book provides both visual and narrative descriptions of current best practices for caring for collection objects. Emphasis is placed on risk assessment in the decision-making process with proven, accepted technical methods and materials. Detailed coverage of technical methods and methodologies for principles of proper handling, transport, and storage or two and three dimensional objects. Chapters will cover the institutional structure for managing, hiring, training both full and part time staff responsible for safely handling and caring of collection objects. 100 photographs, figures, and charts provide overall directions for collection care, preventive maintenance, and proper handling of objects.

In urban art museums throughout the United States, the trend of using off-site facilities for maintaining collections is growing in response to a number of factors: limited space in urban settings; a desire on the museum's behalf to privilege public and educational spaces; and a general boom in the museum field, resulting in growing staff, capital expansions, and prolific collecting practices. Because art museums are charged with the long-term care and preservation of collections, an examination of the issues surrounding off-site facilities is important to the continued stewardship of art objects. In this master's project, I examine the process by which fine art museums in the United States select off-site collections storage facilities. By focusing my research on trends within current accession practices, I outline how museums can more accurately plan for space needs as their art collections expand in both number and scale. Based on an analysis of published literature and interviews conducted with museum professionals and art service companies nation-wide, I offer a set of guidelines and resources for art museums seeking to expand storage to an off-site facility. The goal of this project is to provide information to museum professionals that will assist with the long-term care and preservation of art collections off-site.