Safe storage for collections is one of the primary goals of preventive care for collecting institutions, and individuals charged with collections care and cultural institutions often face challenges in designing storage and support systems for individual items or collections. There are few tasks more concrete and practical than devising a storage mount that preserves an object while making efficient use of an institution’s human, financial and material resources. Constructing a successful storage solution requires numerous choices regarding materials, techniques, time and skill.
In May 2014, FAIC, with funding from the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, launched STASH (Storage Techniques for Art, Science and History collections), a web-based resource to share well-designed storage solutions. The site contains the original entries from the printed text, Storage of Natural History Collections: Ideas and Practical Solutions, originally published by the Society for the Preservation of Natural History Collections (SPNHC), and has begun receiving new submissions, including storage projects that were presented last year at the first STASH Flash session as part of AIC’s 42nd Annual Meeting. The website project is interdisciplinary and the site’s editorial board is composed of representatives from a range of allied organizations
The 2015 session will utilize a lightening round or “Tips” session format as well as guided, audience participatory discussion. Selected short presentations will be given in a format that closely aligns with web site entries, allowing presentations to be easily reformatted for online submission after the conference. Presentations will be followed by small group discussions where individuals from different specialties have the opportunity to talk about the presentations, modifications, materials choice as well as creative ways to carry out these projects. The focus of the 2014 presentations was sustainable projects. In 2015 it is hoped that projects will span the range of specialty groups within AIC and will focus on practical ways translate preservation theory into practice.