More responses from Steve: RE: Only one week to Close the Gallery This is totally unfair! What we are talking about here is a one-time, major improvement to your gallery display systems. You should petition for adequate time to install and prepare the walls properly. Thereafter, one week between normal shows should be adequate to take down one display and put up another, since you will have little to no maintenance on your new walls. RE: Out-Gassing of Walls Covered with Canvas and Painted Only the plywood primer might present a problem. The Elmers, or Tightbond thinned with water should present no reactive vapors, although humidity might be up for a few days. Winter or living in the desert will help. The canvas could be primed with gesso prior to painting with latex... However: I am not an expert on this and would strongly advise talking to the conserv- ators and preparators at the Smithsonian or your nearest major museum (Anyone out there?) They must have addressed the problem of painting galleries by now RE Outgassing from Walls Covered by Carpet-Like Fabric This could be more of an issue. Ours was installed by commercial carpet layers using an industrial cement trowelled or rolled onto the walls. This was done the year before I arrived at the museum. I'm sure the stuff was volaile and smelly and migraines etc. Again, get specific information from your installer, then check with conservators who know all the organic chemistry. RE Marks on the Walls First: Supervise your subordinates! Yo do have my profound understanding of the problem: I train 3-5 new college work/study students every semester, and am continuously amazed at how fast I can move to avert these events. Second: One clever alternative which I use all the time is to have a variety of scraps of mat board with the velcro dots on the back. These can be placed on the walls wherever one needs, shifted, used in pairs, marked on with colored pencil, discarded, replaced easily. I have an assortment of 2x32" pieces, some shorter, and some "L" shaped. I mark on them centerlines, the space between frames, whatever. I think all this is fun. ============================================================ Stephen B. Ringle, Registrar [log in to unmask] University of Maine Museum of Art 5712 Carnegie Hall, Room 109 vox: 207-581-3257 Orono, Maine 04469-5712 fax: 207-581-3083 ============================================================