Seed murals

Patricia Smith-Hunt <patricia.smith-hunt [at] ucr__edu> writes

>Our library is interested in acquiring one or more murals and an
>insignia from the Tuskegee Airmen float which was part of the recent
>Pasadena Tournament of Roses parade. The murals are roughly 4 feet
>wide and 6 feet high. Both the murals and insignia are made of poppy
>seed glued onto canvas. Should we acquire these pieces we will
>probably be required to exhibit them for long periods of time. What
>is the best way to preserve these items and are there any special
>factors to consider when exhibiting them?

Poppies as a source of drying oil (used in many oil paintings) so
they are bound to shrink as they age. Depending on what they are
adhered with this shrinkage could reduce their adhesion to the
substrate and the work may shed seeds.  None of these issues are
insurmountable but this may be a resource hungry art work. I would
strongly advise preventative steps be taken, sloped display, not
completely vertical, low light with no UV, stable relative humidity
to reduce shrinkage, and loss. Low vibration on display,with
handling and in storage. Investigation of the adhesive used in
construction for later reference and good photographic
documentation. Interesting issue.


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 23:26
                Distributed: Wednesday, January 20, 2010
                       Message Id: cdl-23-26-008
                                  ***