July 15, 2023

Cleaning in Museums

Introduction to Museum Cleaning

By Helen Alten

An Imaginary Case:

While strolling through the gallery, a volunteer notices a layer of dust scattered over the objects in an 18^th century decorative arts gallery. She knows everyone is busy and decides to tidy up. It is just a little job, and after all, she knows how to clean house, been doing it for years! When she is done, all is spick and span.

She dusts and polishes the furniture. She vacuums the rugs, even damp mops. She polishes the silver, scrubs away some old stains on the carpet. What she doesn’t know is that by polishing the furniture she has damaged the finish, the vacuum has sucked up not only dirt, but fragile fibers in the rug as well, the damp mop brushed a sofa leg and caused the original finish to swell and bubble.

Polishing the silver removed the original patina and exposed the fresh surface to more severe corrosion than before. And, that nasty stain. Well, it so happened that it was important evidence about the carpet’s original use.

Now, I’d like to point out that the preceding anecdote was entirely fictional. I made it up to illustrate just what can happen. Sure, we all know how to clean a house. But cleaning museum collections – even museums themselves – is a different matter. Housecleaning materials and techniques often aren’t compatible with museum collections. And it’s painfully easy to damage a collection item or scrub away or suck up important information about it.

Most common cleaning methods aim to make a room or object look clean. But when it comes to preservation, the primary goal of cleaning is preventing damage. Museum cleaning must be considered a holistic activity that covers every aspect of the institution. No one person is responsible for all of the tasks. Building operations or maintenance should take care of the building, but they need to know specific information such as whether certain cleaning solutions are damaging the collection and what they should not clean without special training.

Cleaning collections is irreversible.

Cleaning museum collections is not as easy as it might seem. To begin with, you must know what to clean – and what not to clean. Aggressive or improper cleaning causes irreversible damage.

Just to make it more complicated, dust and pollution from the modern environment also cause irreversible damage. Yet the public expects cleanliness. A clean, dust-free, airy gallery is more attractive than a dingy one with an inch of dust on the sculpture and cobwebs hanging from the corners of the paintings.

Museum Cleaning Basics is designed to help you solve this dilemma.

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To learn more join Elizabeth Burton for MS217 Museum Cleaning Basics beginning August 7, 2023.

Helen Alten lives in Haines, Alaska. Prior to coming to Haines she founded Northern States Conservation Center and Museum Classes. She is an objects conservator with a desire to bring about change through museums, improving our communities and the patrimony we leave to our off-spring.

Elizabeth Burton has worked in paintings conservation since 2013 and has conducted environmental analysis and has designed and implemented climate control measures for museums since 2017. Elizabeth studied Art History as an undergraduate at UCLA and received her Master of Arts in Preventive Conservation from Northumbria University. Elizabeth’s graduate dissertation focused on budget-friendly collections care for small museums.

Elizabeth is also the co-founder of Los Angeles-based mental health and arts non-profit 501(c)(3) organization The Perception Project. Elizabeth currently serves on the organization’s board while working for a conservation firm in Los Angeles and for her own business as a paintings and preventive conservator and consultant for private clients, as well as for museums such as the Julian Pioneer Museum, the Pleasant Valley Historical Society Museum, and the La Jolla Map and Atlas Museum. 

Photo: Navy Lab Conserves Artifacts for Museum Exhibit

Early Bird Discounts Available for Full Length Courses

An Early Bird Discount is available for anyone who signs up for a full length course from museumclasses.org 30 days prior to the start of that course. 

Sign up for a full length course up to 30 days prior to its start and save $100.00!

For our course list or to sign up: http://www.collectioncare.org/course-list

To take advantage of this discount, you must enter coupon code EARLYBIRD at checkout at collectioncare.org

Earlybird Discount Deadline for September Courses is August 5, 2023

Featured Course:Museum Storage Techniques

Is your collection stacked, packed and stressed? Museum Storage Techniques has the solution. The course builds on its sister course, Museum Facilities and Furniture, which looks at the bigger storage environment.. The Museum Storage Techniques course emphasizes the needs of individual objects and collection groupings. Guidelines for specific materials are provided. Participants learn about storage materials and mounts and the most effective use of trays, drawers, shelves and cabinets.

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Interested in improving or learning more about proper storage for your collections? This course will shed light on this important part of museum collections management. Join Laura Elliff Cruz for MS203 Museum Storage Techniques starting August 7, 2023

August 2023 Courses

MS 203: Museum Storage Techniques

August 7 to September 1, 2023  

Instructor: Laura Elliff Cruz

Description:

Is your collection stacked, packed and stressed? Museum Storage Techniques has the solution. The course builds on its sister course, Museum Facilities and Furniture, which looks at the bigger storage environment.. The Museum Storage Techniques course emphasizes the needs of individual objects and collection groupings. Guidelines for specific materials are provided. Participants learn about storage materials and mounts and the most effective use of trays, drawers, shelves and cabinets.

MS217: Museum Cleaning Basics

August 7 to September 15, 2023  

Instructor: Elizabeth Burton

Description:

Cobwebs in the gallery, dust on the dinosaur skeleton, mice in storage - a dirty museum results in poor visitor experience and poor collections preservation. In a museum, cleanliness really is next to godliness. Museum Cleaning Basics explores everything you need to know about cleaning your collections. Participants learn when to clean - and when not to clean. They also learn how to make those decisions. Topics range from basic housekeeping to specific techniques for specific objects. You will learn why cleaning is important and how to prevent damage when cleaning. We will look at specific techniques that minimize damage while getting the work done. And we will discuss when to call in a specialist, such as a conservator. Students will create a housekeeping manual for their institution.

MS109: Museum Management

August 7 to September 8, 2023  

Instructor: Samantha Hunt-Duran

Description:

Sound business practices are critical for a museum to fulfill its mission. Sounds like vegetables, right? Museum management is complex. A museum exists to preserve collections and educate, but it is also an institution that must employ sound business practices while being accountable to the public as a non-profit organization. Instructor Sue Near teaches participants how to administer a successful museum efficiently and effectively. Participants will engage in discussions about the changing cultural climate and its effect on museum operations.

September 2023 Courses

MS 108: Fundamentals of Museum Volunteer Programs

September 4 to 29, 2023  

Instructor: Karin Hostetter

Description:

Volunteers are essential for most non-profit institutions. But good volunteers aren't born -- they are made. Even though they don't get paychecks, it takes time and money to have effective volunteers. Fundamentals of Museum Volunteer Programs teaches the basics of a strong volunteer program. Topics include recruiting, training and rewarding volunteers, as well as preparing staff. Instruction continues through firing and liabilities. Participants will end up with sound foundational knowledge for starting a new or strengthening an existing volunteer program based on a nine-step process.

MS227: Care of Paintings

September 4 to October 14, 2023

Instructor: Elizabeth Burton

Description:

Caring for paintings requires some knowledge of the component structure of paintings and the reaction of those components to both natural and man-made environments. This course looks at the painting structure, the effects of damaging environments, and proposes simple steps for basic care. Topics include the structure of paintings, proper condition reporting with standard damage vocabulary, and basic care and handling including environments, storage, and transport. The course is intended to help those entrusted with the care of paintings in any environment.

MS 268: Creating Interpretive Gallery Tours

September 4 to 29, 2023  

Instructor: John Veverka

Description:

There is more to a guided tour than information – you also need inspiration. This course will help curators teach and coach their docents and volunteers to create interpretive stories and experiences that will help make their presentations “come to life” for their visitors.

This training course will help curators help prepare their docents for tours that:

1. Have an interpretive theme.

2. Have accomplishable objectives.

3. Has about 7 tour stops, each of which illustrate the main interpretive theme.

4. Use interpretive communications structure for each stop (provoke, relate and reveal).

5. Use the techniques of tangibles and intangibles in their presentation.

6. Encourage the use of multiple senses to relate to visitors.

7. Have a provocative introduction and then ending conclusion summary for the tour.

8. Have as much "inspiration" as "information".

9. Leave the visitors asking for more (when's your next tour?).

MS303: Found in Collections: Orphans, Old Loans and Abandoned Property

September 4 to 29, 2023   

Instructor: Sarah Kapellusch

Description:

Every museum has a few stray items. Some lost tags long ago. Others turn up as surprises during inventories. A few are all that remain from long-ago exhibits. While you'll want to keep some, others may be deteriorating. Even worse, some pose significant hazards for staff and the rest of the collection. All raise legal and professional questions. How do you deal with objects that have no records? Or loans from unidentified or deceased lenders? Found in the Collection addresses how to identify abandoned objects and old loans. It further covers the application of state laws and rules for identifying owners or establishing ownership.

Conferences and Meetings

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