New York Storage Study Cites HHI Findings
The recently released The State of Storage: A Study on Fine Art Storage in the New York State Region reinforces the findings of the Heritage Health Index. The Exhibition Alliance (TEA), a New York State nonprofit organization that organizes traveling exhibitions and offers climate controlled fine art storage, conducted The State of Storage in early 2005. This study of exhibiting institutions in upstate New York concluded that 30% need additional storage, which parallels the Heritage Health Index statistic that 32% of all U.S. collecting institutions have an urgent need for additional onsite storage. The Heritage Health Index also reported that 59% of institutions have less than 80% of their collections stored adequately (large enough to accommodate current collections with safe access to them and appropriate storage furniture).
The quality of collections storage was also included in The State of Storage. For example, the study estimates that 32% of on-site and 40% of off-site storage space used by upstate New York institutions lack environmental controls. These figures are not surprising considering that the Heritage Health Index found that 26% of institutions nationwide lack controls to mitigate damage from temperature, relative humidity, and light in all areas where collections are held—not just storage. The New York study also found that 41% of on-site storage facilities and 49% of off-site storage do not have fire suppression systems. The State of Storage data is troubling in light of just how many upstate New York collections are currently in storage; 80% of paintings, 79% of works on paper/documents, 72% of photographs, and 56% of textiles are some examples.
In The State of Storage report, TEA concludes that affordable solutions for both on-site and centralized off-site storage are needed and they are investigating how to address these issues for their region. The survey also revealed that 60% of respondents wanted information on proper storage techniques, and they have developed a DVD set, Best Practices in Fine Art Storage, Vol. 1 with presentations and demonstrations from registrars and conservators at some of New York’s finest exhibiting institutions.
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