Meghan,

I know several institutions who have used metal fencing to construct affordable art storage racks. This sort of arrangement works very well for framed art. I think it’s been discussed on the listsev in the past so you might want to search the archives J

Erin O’Malley

Exhibit designer

Hello All,

My institution is currently planning out a storage area for our collection of 500+ paintings.  We are a small not for profit museum so we are building the racks with volunteer labor and are looking to do it cheaply enough without endangering the collection.

The volunteer is planning on building with oriented strand board (OSB), however I looked it up and found that it emits low levels of formaldehyde.  The wood has already been ordered unfortunately. 

My question is:  is there anything the wood can be coated with to nullify any dangers? What are the effects of formaldehyde on paintings? Does anyone have any other relevant info? Are we better off just canceling the order and getting a different kind of wood?  What kind is the safest?

Thanks!

Meghan Molloy

Curator at CCHS

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