Did you the see the article in the latest Nexus magazine featuring the museum and our work regarding collections care? Read the excerpt below, or view the whole article online here.
For Dennos Executive Director and Chief Curator Craig Hadley, the fact that 90 percent of nearly 3,000 works of art are out of public sight doesn’t mean they’re out of mind. Since 2019 he’s signifcantly stepped up the museum’s resources to care for and preserve paintings, prints, photos, sculptures and other works of art entrusted to its care.
“Part of our professional and ethical duty is to care for works of art according to the professional standards of the field,” Hadley said. “That’s what fundamentally sets a museum apart from a gallery.” Recent plans and improvements, paid for with more than $66,000 in grants from the Institute of Museum and Library Sciences and the National Endowment for the Humanities, include:
• Four new oversized painting storage racks.
• New equipment to monitor and maintain humidity, temperature and light exposure in the museum for optimal art preservation.
• Participation in the Museum Assessment Program administered by the American Alliance of Museums. Care of collections is one area of evaluation in the assessment, a first step toward museum accreditation.
• Participation in the national Conservation Assessment Program this year. Assessment includes recommendations for repairs and improvements.
Hadley has a five-year plan to reconfigure collection storage, which aligns with the timeline to seek AAM accreditation by 2025-26. Collections care tasks can overlap with exhibition and programming, too. Last year the Dennos’ signature Inuit print collection, for instance, was completely inventoried for the first time since Northwestern Michigan College began collecting them in the 1960s.
Images: Executive Director Craig Hadley vacuuming, Gheorghe Iliescu Calinesti, The Family. N.d., Wood, detail. 2000.3.6. From the collection of the Dennos Museum Center. Gift of the Lannan Foundation.
Before and after detail images of Mary Pitseolak, In the Night Sky. 1961, Stonecut on paper. 1995.5.197. From the collection of the Dennos Museum Center. Gift of the Inuit Art collection of Eskimo Art, Inc. Founded by Eugene B. Power in 1953.
NATIONAL WRITERS SERIES PRESENTS TWO AWARD-WINNING, GREAT LAKES-LOVING MICHIGAN AUTHORS TOGETHER FOR ONE NIGHT
On August 25th, two of Michigan’s greatest environmental authors—
Dave Dempsey and Jerry Dennis—will join together on stage to talk about protecting the Great Lakes, the threats our water supply are facing, the dangers of climate change to our natural surroundings, and other topics covered in their books
Great Lakes for Sale,
Up North in Michigan and
The Living Great Lakes.
Learn more about the event and get your tickets here. 