Shelburne Museum

The Shelburne Museum will hire a textile conservator to work with two staff conservators to stabilize and restore 37 of its floor covers in greatest need of conservation treatment, as identified through a previous IMLS-funded condition survey. The museum will also improve floor cover storage – replacing wooden poles with metal pipe to support the weight of large rolled rugs, and creating shelving for flat storage of 80 smaller rugs. The project will improve preservation of important textiles, make more rugs available for exhibition, and improve access and reduce handling for about one quarter of the collection in storage. The museum will share lessons learned with professionals through presentations and articles, and with the public through exhibitions at the museum and online.