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From: "Ton Cremers" <[log in to unmask]>
To: "Museum Security Mailinglist" <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Thu, 19 Mar 1998 19:33:32 +0000
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Subject: MARCH 19, 1998, part II
Reply-to: "Museum Security Mailinglist" <[log in to unmask]>
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http://museum-security.org/

MARCH 19, 1998, part II
--------------------------------
CONTENTS:

- Using student guards (several messages)

- N.Y. street artists protest permits

- Thieves hit puppet theater -- again

- MUSEUM SECURITY Identification Technology

- re: Paintings Worth $20 Million Damaged In Dallas


----------------------------------------


Date sent:        18 Mar 1998 10:02:34 U
From: "Margaret Schroeder"
<[log in to unmask]>

        Reply to:   RE>Using student guards
Well, we're a University archaeology museum rather than art, but close
enough, I guess.....
As long as I've been here, we have used exclusively student guards
(graduate and undergraduate.)  I am told that back in the 1960s, a
University Police officer sat in the building's lobby in lieu of
guards wandering the galleries, but there are no records as to how
effective that was or wasn't.....
Using student guards has worked for us so far.  We especially try to
use students in this department, so that the guard force has a
personal interest in the collections they are guarding and
presenting...  And overnight shifts have worked out quite well for
people researching and writing papers, dissertations, etc.  They get a
lot of work done over the long hours of limited building acitvity....
There are problems, of course.  Students' primary interest in being
at our University is, of course, to get a University degree.  And
since this university offers no degrees in museology, or law
enforcement, or cultural property protection, it is difficult to
parlay work as a museum guard into course credit.  Having Egyptology
students guard Egyptian artifacts sounds good, but a lot of the
students would sooner sit in a corner reading the artifacts than have
to stand around guarding and answering questions about them.
Scheduling, as has been mentioned by at least one other person on the
network, is difficult.  During the museum's open hours, we use
two-hour shifts for maximum flexibility. (After-hours and supervisory
shifts run longer.) Even so, there is always at least one shift for
which NOBODY seems to be able to work - they are all in class, or lab,
or seminar, or study session..... And my predecessor reported that he
had one crop of student workers who were so reluctant to work
weekends, that he had to make working at least one weekend shift a
contigent of employment;  otherwise, Saturdays and Sundays would have
been impossible to fill....
Student typically disappear or become intermittant in attendance, en
masse, at predictable times (holidays, end of term-time,
mid-terms...).  Of course, almost everybody has trouble with people
disappearing at holiday times, not just universities....
Yes, it is true that student don't look "professional."  Our students
certainly don't wear uniforms.  We have them wear black and white,
and, if they like, we have an "official" museum secirty t-shirt (which
shows the Egyptian king Narmer smiting an enemy).  When I first came,
there were blazers for the students to wear over their street clothes,
but ill-fitting blazers worn over ratty jeans look really bad.....
Some people feel the lack of formal uniform looks friendlier, but,
admittedly, we do spend a fair amount of time adjudicating what is
proper attire.  (I had to send somebody wearing a "Shit Happens"
t-shirt home to change, for example...)
I realize that this does not sound very promising, but, all in all,
student guards HAVE worked out alright for us.  They represent a large
and readily available pool of workers for a museum with a teensy
little budget.  I know where to find them;  students seldom wander far
from the source of the books. We have a certain amount of control over
the workers by virtue of their student status.  (Nobody wants to
jeopardize getting his Ph.D. on account of an ugly incident involving
fondling the mummies...)

What other kinds of things would you like to know?

Margaret Schroeder
The Oriental Institute
University of Chicago
[log in to unmask]
(773) 702-9522

--------------------------------------
From:          Roger Wulff <[log in to unmask]>
Organization:  Museum Services International
To:            [log in to unmask]
Subject:       [Fwd: University Museums-Student Guards]

I am seeking information about university art museums who employ
students as guards. How does it work for you? Thanks.
Gail Kana Anderson
Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art/The University of Oklahoma
[log in to unmask]

----------------------------

From: [log in to unmask] (William Brackett)

Roger:  I have used students as guards at our museum.  They are
unreliable due to scheduling conflicts.  School comes first; which is
understandable. I have found that freshaman can not be counted on at
all and as a student progresses in grade level they become more
reliable but scheduling is still aproblem.  I have had good success
with graduate students as use them regularly.
 Security Coordiantor Snite Museum of Art University of Notre Dame


-------

N.Y. street artists protest permits
Metropolitan Museum's entrance is site of contention
By Ellen Wulfhorst / Reuter

NEW YORK -- The sidewalk in front of New York's Metropolitan Museum
of Art has long been the site of a makeshift gallery by street
artists displaying their work. Now the paintings and photographs have
been replaced by protest signs and barricades. A band of artists is
campaigning against a new city policy requiring them to have permits
to sell their work outside the museum. They have printed leaflets,
hoisted signs and are asking museum visitors to sign petitions on
their behalf. Protest organizer Robert Lederman, a painter and
printmaker, sees the permit issue as a battle for free speech. "The
public has a First Amendment right to view art on the street as an
alternative to the narrow selection in galleries and museums," he
said outside the museum. "They want control over creativity and
expression. It's elitism." The city's Department of Parks and
Recreation, which oversees the museum property on the edge of Central
Park along an elegant stretch of Fifth Avenue, sees the permits as a
way of imposing some order on the crowded sidewalk. "The site in
front of the Metropolitan Museum of Art is an excellent place for
visual artists to demonstrate their wares," department spokesman
Craig Konieczko said. "In fact, it's so popular that to balance
interests between park users, artists and passers-by, we have
instituted the permit system." The department has required artist
permits elsewhere in the city since 1995, and this month it expanded
the policy to include the space in front of the Metropolitan Museum.
Now 24 permits will be issued in a monthly lottery. Each permit costs
$25. The painters, sculptors, photographers and printmakers -- who
call themselves A.R.T.I.S.T. for Artists: Response to Illegal State
Tactics -- want nothing of it. Only a handful have applied for
permits. Since the policy's implementation, 44 summonses for illegal
vending have been issued and the artists' work confiscated. The
artists will settle for nothing less than an abolition of the permit
system, said Lederman, who attributes the crackdown to Mayor Rudolph
Giuliani's new campaign against urban ills such as reckless drivers,
noise and jaywalking. The Parks Department says it is standing firm.
"There's nothing more to negotiate. We don't feel as though there is
any problem with our policy as far as infringing on their First
Amendment rights," Konieczko said. "We're regulating a commercial
activity." Museum officials have tried to stay above the fray, noting
that the museum has no power over the property. The museum is issuing
a statement to visitors saying it believes in free artistic
expression and acknowledges the right of the Parks Department to
regulate the space.

Legal arguments
Here is how New York artists who sell wares outside the Metropolitan
Museum of Art and the Parks Department that oversees the land present
their cases: * The artists cite a 1996 federal appeals court ruling
that licensing artists violated their freedom of speech. * The Parks
Department maintains that parkland is different from public city
streets and that the department has a right to control the commercial
activity on its property.

Copyright 1998, The Detroit News

--------

Thieves hit puppet theater -- again
By Michael Clancy The Arizona Republic March 18, 1998

Mr. Creepy, Ms. Crawly and Miss Woolly have been stolen from the Great
Arizona Puppet Theater.
The burglary of the puppets from the camper on a truck owned by
puppeteer Richard Hardy is the fourth in a series of robberies that
has set the theater back in its efforts to open its new home near
Margaret T. Hance Park in Phoenix.
Creepy, an Arizona ridge-nosed rattlesnake; Crawly, a desert
tortoise; and Woolly, a Sanborn's long-nose bat, were three of the
four stars of Creepy, Crawly, Wild and Woolly, a show about
endangered species that was performed regularly at the Phoenix Zoo.
Mr. Wild, a bald eagle puppet, was in the cab of the truck and was
not taken.
Nancy Smith, one of the theater's founders, said that of all the
materials taken -- mostly office and construction equipment -- the
theft of the puppets is the hardest to take.
"The puppets take a long time to build," she said, adding that they
were constructed of Styrofoam, papier-mache and wood and would be of
no value to a thief.
The 3-foot-long snake has a movable mouth and tongue, and a tail that
rattles. The bat has wings that flap and fold, while the tortoise
features a retractable head and movable mouth. The tortoise used to
sing, "If you love me, leave me alone, don't take me home from the
desert."
Smith said the burglaries from the building at 302 W. Latham St. in
Phoenix started several months ago. Twice, sound gear and construction
equipment, including a full scaffolding, were taken.
"So we moved everything out," she said, except for some office
equipment, left there for the convenience of an employee who lives
nearby. Employees also began manning the building 24 hours a day.
But on March 6, the office equipment was taken during a 3 1/2-hour
period in which nobody was on duty. Subsequently, last Friday, the
puppets and some other production materials were taken from the
vehicle while Hardy was inside the building.
Smith said the loss from the latest two robberies equaled about
$4,000. She didn't have an estimate for the first two thefts. The
stolen items were insured, Smith said, but the insurance deductibles
are high.
The troupe purchased the historic building, built in 1929, in spring
1996. Plans to move in by fall proved too optimistic as fund-raising
fell short.
Renovations are expected to run about $500,000 on top of the $130,000
purchase price for the building. Smith said the company has put more
than $300,000 into the project already. She said an additional
$30,000-plus is needed to open for business.
The theater, which performed for years in an old church campus near
Seventh Street and Osborn Road, is performing at Town and Country
Shopping Center. Its shows play to an estimated 40,000 children a
year, a number that Smith said was limited by the small space at the
Seventh Street location.
As for the series of burglaries, Smith remains philosophical.
"I feel like I'm continually pushing a giant boulder up just one more
hill," she said.

Copyright 1998, The Arizona Republic

------

From:             "MICROTRACE INC." <[log in to unmask]>
To:               <[log in to unmask]>
Subject:          MUSEUM SECURITY Identification Technology

I would like to inform all list subscribers of a possible means to
authenticate or positively identify museum ownership of sculptures,
paintings or other works of art for museum security.  This can be done
by an easy hand brush application of microscopic identification
particles. The particles are microscopic "fingerprints" that can
identify who, what, when, where.  Each customer has their unique
identification particle code sequence that is certified and registered
on our central database and uniquely identifies that customer. That
code sequence is never used again for any other purpose.  These
identification particles are currently being used by businesses,
individuals, governmental agencies and others to prevent
counterfeiting, theft, piracy, diversion, gray marketing, false
liability or warranty claims and terrorism by providing positive
identification or authentication to products or property.
For this application the identification particles are shipped to the
customer in a glass "picasso" cosmetic with a brush cap applicator.
This allows the customer to choose a clear carrier material that is
acceptable for their specific application.  The identification
material is applied by hand with a small brush "dot" (approximately
1/8th inch radius.)  This method insures total control over the
delicate application of the identification particles to the valuable
items.  Multiple covert markings are to be applied to each piece.
When an object's ownership or authentication is in question the
investigator simply looks for the unique identification marks.  The
identification marks can be easily found with an optional
fluorescent response or can be made to be covert without. The
identification particle code sequence is "read" and identified using
a standard hand held microscope of at least 100X power.  Positive
identification can easily be done without harming the object.  For
further information on how this technology can help in the area of
museum security visit http://www.microtaggant.com

-------


From:          "MR. JOHN SANTILLI" <[log in to unmask]>
To:            [log in to unmask]
Subject:       re: Paintings Worth $20 Million Damaged In Dallas

Tom,

I have been reading most of these mailings and I commend your
efforts and those efforts of all who have contributed to this cause.
It is easy to see that the problem is enormous and is growing
worldwide. In my assessment (as a novice), I calculate that
ignorance, greed and vengeance (in that sequence) are the most
significant contributors to this ongoing and accelerating tragedy.
Ignorance is visible on many levels in many different Areas of
concern.  As it is said, "Security is everyone's responsibility, and
therefore no one is exempt".  It is also said that prevention is the
highest priority. As I read about the estimated $20,000,000. loss
though vandalism, I could see that this tragedy was without a doubt,
preventable.  I would only hope that everyone could learn from this
and commence protection of these treasures to the degree necessary to
preclude recurrence of this type (and many others) of selfish and
inconsiderate behavior. It is the direct responsibility of the staff
that is entrusted with these treasures to either begin protecting them
in the appropriate manner or to give up this privilege. I am sure that
the damage could have been much more severe and the restoration costs
will be very high.  In my opinion, a painting of this value deserves
a protective housing sufficient to prevent this type of behavior.  It
should be "contracted" in that manner by those who would lend, lease,
afford the showing in any other way.  It should be written into the
performance expectations of those in the decision process.  It should
be an clause in the insurance policy(s). Automated security when used
with appropriate facilities and safeguards can be very cost
effective.  So therefore, I say no excuse for this ignorant neglect
is excusable. With this, and with consideration given to this growing
world wide problem, I leave you as.....

Very Respectfully,
a sympathetic security enthusiast

------------------------------------


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