Julianne,

There are many variables that go into determining an annual conservation
budget for a museum / historic site. If you have had a CAP survey then that
is an excellent starting point in terms of the overall assessment of the
collection, short-term through long-term priorities, and in formulating a
long-range conservation plan that addresses those needs. Without such an
assessment you are pretty much blind as to what needs to be done to ensure
the preservation of your collections. We conservators vastly prefer a
comprehensive preventive approach and good practices in storage and care so
as to *not* have to treat artworks and artifacts.

You also need to consider your exhibition schedule and how that may drive
the need for conservation. Also different conservation specialties have
different requirements and costs. The costs in conservation are usually
based on the needs of individual items and the cost of conserving a work of
oil on canvas will be very different from a map on parchment or a
photograph.

Also the costs of contract conservation are expensive (I know because I am
in private practice!) as opposed to getting it done in-house. I would
suggest checking with other museums and departments at  Penn State to see if
they have conservators / laboratories where treatment could be arranged.
This would reduce the need for shipping and also might be a different way of
looking at the budget where the funds are interdepartmental rather than
going to an outside vendor.

Some institutions I know simply have a set amount in the conservation budget
each year for contract work and then anything beyond that is either done on
a case-by-case basis or in the case of exhibitions there is a built-in
budget line for conservation.

I hope that this all made some sense.

Cheers!
Dave

David Harvey
Senior Conservator
Los Angeles, CA




On Fri, May 15, 2009 at 9:32 AM, Julianne Snider <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> I am working with our development office to set up an endowment
> specifically to cover care, conservation, and restoration needs of our art
> collection. The collection (more that 225 items) is comprised of oil
> paintings (77%), works on paper (21%), and three-dimensional work (2%). The
> majority of the collection was created in the first half of the 20th century
> by American artists.
>
> We do not have a conservator on staff, nor do we have space for a
> conservator to work. Work performed would have to be on a contract basis.
>
> We do have a good climate-controlled storage environment with art storage
> racks (for hanging works) and shelving for the works on paper, flat files,
> and three-dimensional pieces.
>
> Is there a formula for determining average annual budgets for conservation
> and restoration? Or, does anyone have an endowment earmarked for collections
> care? If so, is the monetary amount adequate for "routine" conservation and
> restoration on an annual basis?
>
> Thanks
>
> --
> Julianne Snider
> Assistant Director
> Earth and Mineral Sciences Museum & Art Gallery
> The Pennsylvania State University
> 116 Deike Bldg.
> University Park PA 16802
> 814-571-6317
>
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