Happy New Year -
I am currently working on an environmental improvements project for an historic
building that contains numerous paintings in a range of media, primarily from
the 19th and 20th centuries. The paintings are large; few are glazed and/or
have backboards. Regular visual inspections of the paintings indicate very
strong response to the environmental conditions inside the building to which
they are exposed. We are monitoring the space conditions and they are falling
outside acceptable ranges for paintings with respect to relative humidity
levels in winter and extreme fluctuations year-round.
While we are planning limited building envelope and HVAC systems improvements,
the overall comportment of the building, which has extremely strong stack
effect, will not allow us to provide environmental conditions that meet the
needs of the paintings. We have long advocated for a program to place the
paintings inside of microclimate enclosures. I am seeking general cost
information from colleagues who have placed paintings inside of microclimate
enclosures, especially those where the frames have been modified to accept an
assemblage of glazing, backboard, possible buffering materials such as
Art-Sorb(tm) sheets, and a moisture-vapor barrier.
The general information I am looking for includes:
* Dimensions of the painting(s) placed in the microclimate enclosure
* Cost of materials
* Staff time
I am hoping to use this information to provide a general cost per square foot
from which I can extrapolate the overall cost of the project. I can make
currency and metric conversions if you are located outside of the US.
Any assistance you can provide will be greatly appreciated. Thank you in
advance.
Wendy Claire Jessup
Conservator
Wendy Jessup and Associates, Inc.
Care of Cultural Property
933 N. Kenmore Street, Suite 323
Arlington, VA 22201
(703) 522-2801
www.collectioncare.com
Art is not an adornment to society. It is not a luxury. It is the purpose of
society. It becomes our legacy. It is also, however, our teacher; it helps us
consider that which is around us and what we want to be. It makes demands on us
that in turn lead us to place demands on ourselves and those with whom we live
and work. David Rothkopf, Foreign Policy, 2/22/2017
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