Annual Meeting Looks to the Future
Heritage Preservation’s 2006 annual meeting on November 15 gave participants an opportunity to hear about changes in Washington that will affect collections care as well as ideas from the field about addressing findings of the Heritage Health Index. Held at the Smithsonian’s Donald W. Reynolds Center for American Art and Portraiture, the meeting attracted numerous government officials as well as Heritage Preservation members.
In opening the meeting, Heritage Preservation board chair Debbie Hess Norris talked about her special pride in the Heritage Health Index project, which she called “an important contribution to the nation.” She introduced Anne-Imelda Radice, Director of the Institute of Museum and Library Services, Heritage Preservation’s partner in the Heritage Health Index. Radice announced the agency’s “Connecting to Collections” initiative. To read the full text of Dr. Radice's remarks, click here.
James Reilly of the Image Permanence Institute talked about his organization’s work with environmental control for collections, which he described as the most urgent preservation need. He explained environmental metrics, which allow risk assessment and mitigation to be applied to conditions for collections, and talked about how some institutions are using them, as well as an experimental superefficient museum storage facility in Denmark. “If we care about collections,” he said, “it’s time to answer the Heritage Health Index’s call to action.” For the complete text of his remarks, click here.
Jessica Irons, Executive Director of the
National Humanities Alliance, and Shailagh
Murray, Congressional Reporter for The
Washington Post, spoke at the annual meeting
about the midterm elections' effects on
cultural activities.
Majorie Gowdy of the Ohr-O’Keefe Museum gave a slide presentation on recovery work along the Gulf Coast after Hurricane Katrina, “the type of disaster that all museums dread,” she noted. Ms. Gowdy encouraged museums to plan for disasters, train their staff how to respond, and set up a network with other institutions to work together in preparedness and recovery. She said that long-term issues include whether to move museums away from the coast and whether museums should teach as well as preserve.
Potential change as a result of the midterm elections was the subject of the Legislative Update, given by Shailagh Murray, National Political Correspondent, The Washington Post, and Jessica Irons, Executive Director, National Humanities Alliance. Murray discussed the wide range of pressures facing the Congress and how those pressures will be heightened with the change in leadership. Irons discussed key supporters of the humanities who will not be returning to Congress, especially Representative James Leach (R-IA) who founded and chaired the Congressional Humanities Caucus. Both Murray and Irons foresee intense pressure on agencies that support cultural heritage programs (and all discretionary programs) as Congress struggles to reduce the deficit while dealing with the financial consequences of the war in Iraq.
Alan Aiches of FEMA and James Reilly enjoy the
Lunder Conservation Center during the reception.
Larry Reger gave the President’s Report, in which he spoke about the recent Preserve America summit held in New Orleans. Heritage Preservation and the Federal Emergency Management Agency chaired a panel entitled “Dealing with the Unexpected.” Program reports followed, with the latest news on the Heritage Health Index, the Heritage Emergency National Task Force, and the Conservation Assessment Program. A brief business meeting, including the announcement of newly elected board members concluded the afternoon.
A reception at the Lunder Conservation Center gave meeting attendees a chance to see the newly installed visible storage areas and conservation labs.