Setting Up Work Spaces

Post by: Kay Palmateer

            Collections Technical Assistant

Our inventory includes not only locating each object and noting its location but figuring out what the object actually - is it glass or plastic?  a punch bowl or planter? We also check its condition and note details for future comparison; make sure it is correctly numbered; and take photos of each object, artists’ signatures, condition issues and other interesting details.

These activities require space and this museum isn’t any roomier than most other museums.  Lauren found an under-utilized corner between the stairs and elevator where good (but not particularly useful) stuff had been stashed.  After it was cleared, this space became our work station and photo studio. After nearly tripping everyone who walked by on the extension cords that were plugged in about 30 feet away, we called in the electrician to install more power outlets and a network connection so we could plug in BEHIND the table and work directly on the computer.

Inventory Setup

We started our inventory with small decorative objects like china, paperweights and travel souvenirs. With an 8-foot folding table and a 4’ x 8’ sheet of medium grey Formica hung as a backdrop, we created a clean, seamless, neutral backdrop for what we hoped would be great photos. We are using a Canon DSLR camera and 2 photo lamps. And gradually, as we have learned to tweak the lights and camera settings, the photos have improved a lot.

Inventory Setup in the Painting Vault

We put together a different setup for inventory of framed art. We began doing the painting inventory in the same area, but though it was nearby, we soon realized we didn’t need to move the art. We have since moved into the painting vault and utilize one of the painting storage racks. We have more space to work and adjust the lights and camera. We also have room for our computer and computer desk so one person examines while the other records the information into the database.

The next phase will be unframed works of art on paper.  It will be a different setup and a new learning curve. 



Gearing Up For The Inventory

Post by: Lauren Ippolito

              Assistant Collections and Exhibitions Manager

In September and October 2011, necessary supplies were purchased to help kick-start the collections inventory project. One of our most used and favorite purchases by far is the Canon digital SLR camera. As we are photographing every object in the collection, we are enhancing our collection documentation, and as a result, many of these photographs will be included in the creation of an online database, which will greatly broaden the scope of public access to the WCMFA’s collections. 

Additional photography equipment was needed for the collections inventory project including a tripod, lighting equipment, and a copy stand. Our photography equipment and areas to photograph objects must conform to wide array of objects in the WCMFA collection from miniature portraits on ivory to large bronze sculptures. 

 

A new laptop and mobile laptop cart were also initial purchases that are critical to the collections inventory project. Using the laptop on the mobile cart, we have the freedom to inventory throughout the museum’s galleries and storage areas. In the photo below, there is a fun USB light attachment that our summer intern brought in so that we can easily type in inventory data while photographing objects in lower light levels.

American Art

Post by: Jennifer Chapmane Smith
              Collections and Exhibitions Manager

One of the greatest strengths of the WCMFA is the amazing American art collection. Part of the collections inventory is making works of art more accessible to the public – through exhibitions, online access, scholarly research, and much more - especially the great works of American art in the collection.

Two paintings that have been inventoried and show the breadth of the WCMFA’s collection are the portraits by Joshua Johnson (American, 1795-1830) - Portrait of Susanna Amos Yoe and Daughter Mary Elizabeth Yoe, 1809, and Portrait of Benjamin Franklin Yoe and Son Benjamin Franklin Yoe Jr., 1809. Johnson was a portrait painter in Baltimore in the late 1700 and early 1800s. He is identified in city directories as “a free householder of colour.” A son of a white man and a black slave, Johnson’s father, George Johnson, purchased his son and immediately freed him, according to manumission records. Johnson was a primarily self taught artist whose style is somewhat flat, but who attracted many commissions in and around Baltimore.

The arrangement of the sitters suggests that the portraits were hung in the family home: father and son on the right and mother and daughter on the left, so that the parents look toward each other, protecting the children in the middle.  The flowers the children hold, a dark red rose and pink roses, are symbols of love and affection. The Yoe family moved to Hagerstown in 1810 from Baltimore. Benjamin Franklin Yoe Jr., born in 1804, later became an attorney in Hagerstown and a member of the House of Delegates representing Washington County, Maryland. Mary Elizabeth Yoe, born in 1806, married George Fechtig, a Hagerstown merchant, in 1823.

These wonderful portraits are currently on view in the museum’s Mason Gallery. High quality photographs and information garnered from the inventory process, followed by online access, will keep these paintings accessible even when they come off view.          

The Beginning, Part 2

Post by: Rebecca Massie Lane
              Director, Washington County Museum of Fine Arts

Late in the day on Wednesday, August 24, 2011, NOAA was predicting a direct hit on Hagerstown.  As fate would have it, the work on replacement of the museum’s roof had reached a perilous point over one of the most important collections galleries in the museum, the Schreiber Gallery, where the Renaissance and Baroque paintings and sculpture are exhibited. The roofer advised me that he would be installing “bunker” cloth over the entire affected roof area.  That was enough to convince me that the museum should take emergency preparedness measures.  I closed the museum for four days to allow for the arrival and aftermath of the hurricane. The staff met to plan emergency measures in the event of curatorial emergencies.  Emergency supplies were set up.  The next two days were devoted to careful, laborious de-installation and relocation of the works of art in the affected gallery. 

Fortunately, the hurricane veered to the East and Washington County, Maryland was spared and the Washington County Museum of Fine Arts was unaffected. But while the works of art were available for examination, the curatorial staff conducted a first sample population inventory, baseline condition reporting, upgrading of hanging hardware and photography of the collection.  In addition, the museum’s conservator, who had been alerted of the emergency, scheduled a site visit for the days following the hurricane and she was able to conduct assessments of the front, back and frames of each painting.  In addition, curatorial staff were able to complete light cleaning and dusting of the paintings before they were reinstalled.  Through the emergency, we were able to gain better knowledge of large, heavy paintings that had been part of a long-term installation, and to begin the inventory with this collection.

The Beginning

Post by: Rebecca Massie Lane

                 Director, Washington County Museum of Fine Arts

It was a happy day last July when Julianna Albowicz from Senator Mikulski’s office phoned me with “embargoed” news that the museum had been awarded a competitive three-year grant from the federal Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), in the amount of $144,578.00 to conduct a collections inventory project of its significant holdings of American Art and its supporting collections of European, Asian, and African Art totaling some 7000 works. This inventory will allow the museum to provide better access to its collections for citizens of the region, artists, area collectors, community educators, students and scholars.  The project will include collections planning, collections security and safety, database conversation, photography, documentation, and ultimately on-line access to collections.  

The Washington County Museum of Fine Arts was selected from among 481 applicants across our nation for this prestigious, highly competitive, grant award. National grants such as the Museums for America grant are sea-changing opportunities for deserving institutions. Our museum’s success was due, in part, to our recent participation in two Museum Assessment Programs through the American Association of Museums.   The grant provides the opportunity to better serve our community by enhancing the Museum’s capacity to reach its audiences with complete and accurate information on our important art collection.

A few weeks later, we learned that our grant had received the additional honor of being named a “model” grant to be placed on the IMLS website as an aide to future grant seekers.

IMLS Director Susan Hildreth described the IMLS-Museums for America grants as ones that support museums through “investments in high-priority, high value activities that benefit communities throughout the U.S.  These museums, small and large, will help to educate and inspire the public for years to come.”

http://www.imls.gov/applicants/sample_applications.aspx

The museum curatorial staff quickly mobilized to muster the resources for the inventory to begin, including ordering inventory equipment and supplies and hiring the grant funded Collections Technical Assistant.  Then Hurricane Irene became a threat.....

 

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