J.CAC VOLUME 43 (2018)

How Preventive Conservation Can Inform a Collections Move: Rehousing the Canadian and European Furniture Collections at the Royal Ontario Museum

Greg Kelley, Melissa Maltby

In 2015, the Royal Ontario Museum undertook the challenge of a large-scale, two-year move of over 26,000 artifacts from temporary storage in the McLaughlin Planetarium to a purpose-renovated facility. Moving such vast and varied collections presented many unique logistical and organizational challenges. An innovative approach to designing the storage facility from the ground up by using 3-D modelling software to pre-visualize the various layouts is described. Designs, materials and rationales for dust covers, custom pallets, moving crates and storage mounts are also discussed. This paper focuses on part of the project – the systematic process of moving and storing over 500 pieces of furniture and wooden objects – as an illustration of how conservation can inform a large collections move.

Download: JCAC43 Kelley & Maltby