Portland Art Museum

The Portland Art Museum will rehouse more than 1,000 Asian and Islamic works of art to better protect them and increase access for staff and visiting scholars. The museum will purchase and install custom storage cabinetry; develop a packing plan; move and place the works; and create condition reports, an inventory, and other documentation. New storage will extend the life of artifacts and better preserve fragile objects including scrolls, panel paintings, ceramics, and lacquerware that are now threatened by light, dust, potential earthquake damage, and small fluctuations in temperature and humidity. Reorganizing and consolidating the collection in the museum’s main vault will improve storage efficiency and make it easier to track and retrieve objects for study. The museum will share project results online and at professional conferences, including the Western Museums Association.