Long Term Storage for Large Functional Objects: Vehicles

One of the most basic ways we can care for our museum collections is by making sure that their long-term storage is as safe as it can be for the materials in our care. Vehicles and other wheeled machinery were made to function. Keeping them for the long term in a museum storage or exhibit environment can actually cause further deterioration if the proper steps for preservation aren’t taken.

This webinar will introduce several examples of wheeled functional vehicles and work through the decision-making process of practical solutions for long-term storage, also called “mothballing”. At the end of the webinar, attendees should feel informed and confident in planning a vehicle long-term storage project. Attendees are invited to share examples of specific vehicle long-term storage challenges they face and to share their approach to this problem.

Presenter

Paul Storch has been in the museum collections and conservation field since 1978 and has worked in natural history and history museums in various parts of the USA, including the Deep South, Northeast, and Upper Midwest. He has run three conservation labs, and from 2009-mid 2020 was the collections and exhibits manager for the historic sites network at the Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul. He left institutional museum employment in August 2020 to pursue his full-time free-lance practice in objects treatments and museum risk assessment consultations. Experience in dealing with the treatment and preventative conservation of large functional objects was gained at several museums over the years and has resulted in publications and presentations. Storch has a Masters Degree in Anthropology and Conservation from The George Washington University and is a Professional Associate of The American Institute for Conservation.

Handouts

C2C Care Presentation Long Term Storage for Large Functional Objects

C2C Care Resources Long Term Storage for Large Functional Objects

Recording November 14, 2021
Duration 1 hour 32 minutes