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  • 1.  How to Handle Personal Art in the Museum

    Posted 28 days ago
    Hi All,

    I am looking for some suggestions on how to catalog and manage when staff bring in art or the Education department has student art onsite for display in offices or transitional spaces across the Museum. Right now, I have been cataloging, tagging, and recording in the database, but the number of items is becoming overwhelming and cluttering up the database. We also have hands-on activity items that are identical to collection objects. How would you handle the various collections when they are in the same building as the art collection?

    Thanks!

    Elizabeth Spencer, (She/Her)
    Registrar, Collections
    Worcester Art Museum  |  worcesterart.org  |  508-793-4340
    55 Salisbury Street  |  Worcester, MA 01609
    d79e840e4d1942759b38f4e087d8a17a@worcesterart.org?anonymous&ep=pcard">Book time with Liz 
    https://www.worcesterart.org/




  • 2.  RE: How to Handle Personal Art in the Museum

    Posted 28 days ago

    Hello all,

     

    I'm also interested. I've "inherited" a few objects that are definitely not Permanent Collection but have been on-site since long before my time, here.

     

    Thanks,

     

    Jennifer Bullock (she/her)

    Assistant Curator and Registrar

    Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery logo with a hyperlink to the website


    101 Queen St. North
    Kitchener, ON N2H 6P7
    www.kwag.ca
    519-579-5860 x 230

    image013.png@01DAE8B3.2B17C8E0   image014.png@01DAE8B3.2B17C8E0   image015.png@01DAE8B3.2B17C8E0   image016.png@01DAE8B3.2B17C8E0

     




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  • 3.  RE: How to Handle Personal Art in the Museum

    Posted 27 days ago

    Hi - if the items are staying for a long time (ie no planned exit date), I would create a sub collection called LIVING collection or EDUCATION collection - if you have a collection field on your database that would be a simple way to record the basics (location, artist name) and tag them. OR you could have a stamp or other indication that they are tagged with that says 'EDUCATION' and they deal with them? If it is student art the students hold the copyright as creators so the Education team should also get some sort of sign off that the students are ok with whatever the art is being used for. I think carefully analysing what these items are used for and what exactly you need to track about them will give some important insights. If they are not EVER going to be accessioned into your permanent collection then having a LIVING or EDUCATION collection that is not accessioned (but still records donor information etc) is one way forward but the Education team should probably manage this themselves if that is possible? The database should be clear on what is actually accessioned into your permanent collection and what is a prop, or education related. I hope this helps! If you want to chat further and look at your database together for some ideas of how to track the items please send me a direct message.



    ------------------------------
    Dr. Laura Phillips
    Lecturer, Museum Studies Master of Arts
    School of Information and Library Studies
    The University of Oklahoma
    401 W. Brooks, Bizzell Library
    Norman, OK 73019
    laura.phillips@ou.edu

    I am grateful to be present on the homelands of the "Hasinais" Caddo Nation and "Kirikirʔi:s" Wichita & Affiliated Tribes. I acknowledge this territory also serves as a hunting ground, trade exchange point, and migration route for the Apache, Comanche, Kiowa and Osage nations. Today, 39 Indigenous Nations dwell in what is now the state of Oklahoma as a result of settler and colonial policies that were designed to assimilate and eradicate Indigenous peoples.
    ------------------------------

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  • 4.  RE: How to Handle Personal Art in the Museum

    Posted 27 days ago

    It's an interesting situation. Our Collections Management Policy goes into great detail about how we manage permanent collections, including artwork. It also includes a section about Education Collections that are designated as hands-on and, essentially, expendable and not governed by the CMP. The description of them places the onus for care and record keeping on Education Department. We do not record staff artwork hanging in offices in order to avoid confusion within the database. It is the responsibility of the artist/owner to keep track of their personal art. They are bringing it into the institution at their own risk.

     

    Ours is a medium-sized institution. Keeping track of these things, is not difficult. However, your question makes me think that a quick snapshot of these offices with personal artwork might be a good idea for the record. We will be undertaking regular emergency preparedness re-training and knowing what artwork gets priority will be important in an emergency!

     

    Thanks for bringing up the topic. I'll be curious about other responses.

     

    Ellen E. Endslow

    Director of Collections/Curator

    Chester County History Center

    225 N. High Street

    West Chester, PA  19380

    610-692-4066 x257

     

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  • 5.  RE: How to Handle Personal Art in the Museum

    Posted 26 days ago
    Our museum is in the process of cataloguing and inventorying following a fire. Many items are not numbered and we have been unable to link them to surviving documentation. Some are good examples of their type or era and have been set aside with hope that we may still discover some related records. We have started an Excel spreadsheet for these items in what we call our "Teaching Collection" so as not to clutter up our permanent collection database. We considered cataloguing them with a unique number, but decided to keep it simple. If documentation is found, they can easily be removed from the spreadsheet and accessioned.

    Ruth Hamilton
    History98520
    Aberdeen, WA

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