Twenty Years of Conservation
Improvements through CAP
National Museum of Mexican Art | CAP Year: 1991 |
Opened in 1987, the National Museum of Mexican Art (NMMA) in Chicago, Illinois is the nation’s leading and largest Latino arts organization. In 1991, during the early years of its existence, the NMMA participated in CAP, receiving a collections assessment from Barry Bauman and an architectural assessment from Joseph Hoerner.
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National Museum of Mexican Art Before CAP |
National Museum of Mexican Art After CAP |
The assessors helped to make the then Registrar/Permanent Collection Manager Rebecca Meyers’ goals for the NMMA more concrete. "I already knew of many of the improvements that needed to be made in collections management, but now I had expert opinions to cite, rather than just my own." Through a combination of state grants, an IMLS Conservation Project Support grant, and incorporating funding for storage into their institutional expansion budget, the NMMA was able to implement nearly all of the recommendations from their CAP report. These included: numbering, cataloging and logging all artifacts into an electronic database, budgeting for the staff to attend professional development meetings such as AAM’s Annual Meeting, purchasing flat files for works on paper, improving HVAC, formulating and periodically updating an emergency plan, forming an accessions committee, and starting a pest control program.
The museum continued to make positive strides throughout the 1990s and 2000s. In 1997, the NMMA became the first (and to date, only) Latino museum to achieve AAM Accreditation. On April 27, 2001, an expansion of the original museum building which tripled the NMMA’s facility was inaugurated. It included new exhibition galleries, new state-of-the-art climate controlled storage vaults, and a new HVAC system.
When asked what advice she would give to museums participating in CAP, Meyers replied, "Implement your recommendations, and use the CAP report as much as you can to secure funding. Even if you are aware of many of the improvements that need to be made in preservation, getting the professional’s voice can help your voice to be heard." Rebecca also urged her peers in other Latino museums to apply for CAP. "The NMMA wants to see more Latino museums become AAM accredited, and we recommend CAP as a first step on the road to becoming accredited."
Thanks to Rebecca D. Meyers, NMMA Permanent Collection Curator,
for her help with this article.
Photos courtesy of National Museum of Mexican Art
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