Can anyone tell me if they have heard or known of "accidents" that have occurred when a patron set up an easel and copied in oil paint an exhibited painting in the museum's gallery?

   I am currently working on a policy for our museum that allows carefully selected artists or art students to set up easels and copy exhibited paintings (excluding borrowed works) in a liquid medium (oil, acrylic, or watercolor). What would help me out is any information regarding institutions' experiences with artists painting in museum's galleries, especially if they know of any accidents that have actually occured, such as paint splattering or solvent containers dropped, ect. If an accident occured that damaged the artworks or even furniture in the galleries how was this handled? Was the copyist fined the cost of conservation or cleaning? Was a copy permit revoked? What kind of rules/policies has your museum established to help minimize the great risks involved?

   Please, if you have any information, respond to me on or off the list,and any type of stories or experiences would be a great help.

Holly Chase
Assistant Registrar
Museum of Art, Brigham Young University
North Campus Drive
Provo, Utah 84602-1400

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