HoustonChronicle.com: In Katrina's wake, museums also suffe

[Walter Henry <whenry@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

In Katrina's wake, museums also suffer
Patricia C. Johnson
HoustonChronicle.com
Sept. 9, 2005, 12:47PM

"Most works of art are fragile in the best of conditions. In the aftermath of a hurricane, they're endangered.

"The Southeastern Museums Conference (www.semcdirect.net) is shaping up as a centralized referral site for supplies, volunteers and contributions. The group is assessing needs and identifying storage spaces, freezer facilities and triage areas."

"The problem so far is that phone service and e-mail systems are still down, so we don't know what is needed," said conference president Richard Waterhouse. He could not provide figures, but added that the group has been offered "an extraordinary amount of volunteers, of time and money."

"The conference is working with the American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works (AIC), which is organizing volunteer conservators to help institutions assess the condition of their collections and work to reverse damage."