Couriers

Kate Woollett <katew [at] artgallery__wa__gov__au> writes

>Here at the Art Gallery of Western Australia conservation staff are
>currently reviewing procedures for couriering works of art
>interstate and overseas.  We are interested in what policies other
>institutions have instigated, what training couriers receive and
>which staff members travel with the works (i.e. is it always a
>conservator?).  We would like to hear from other institutions as we
>are trying to establish what is the current practice out there in
>the real world.

In the past we have discussed the same issue and have incorporated
the following brief statement into our Stewardship Policy and
Procedure document: "The chief conservator will make recommendations
concerning the need for a courier to accompany the artifact during
shipping."

This allows for decisions to be made for each loan individually.
This is particularly important because our collections are large and
diverse. In general couriers are chosen by assessing the following
criteria:

    Historical significance/ insurance value of the artifact
    Fragility and/or anticipated difficulty moving the artifact
    Staff expertise in handling the particular type of artifact
    Staff availability

We have fairly large pool of staff with expertise in handling
various types of artifacts. At times couriers have consisted of
Conservators, Conservation Technicians, Exhibition Staff, Curators,
Collection Managers, Loan Coordinators (Assistant Registrar) or
Collection Managers. Conservators generally review their specific
handling concerns with couriers prior to the transport of artifacts.
All of our staff are trained to handle collections by Conservators
or Collection managers.

Mary M. Fahey
Head of Preservation/Chief Conservator
Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village at The Henry Ford
20900 Oakwood Blvd
Dearborn, Michigan 48124
U.S.A.
313-982-6072


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 17:39
                Distributed: Wednesday, October 29, 2003
                       Message Id: cdl-17-39-006
                                  ***