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Surveys indicate that 72 percent of U.S. museum artworks reside in storage facilities. Experts argue that keeping many of these works in storage is not advancing the museums' missions and, additionally, that maintaining artworks in storage is costly. This study investigates four questions: (1) what factors explain the large proportion of museum artworks in storage? (2) What are the options for reducing storage and/or increasing the utilization of stored artworks? (3) What are the constraints and opportunities associated with the different options? And (4) what policies contribute to current levels of collection storage and utilization, and what policies would encourage change? In answering the second question, the study explores several strategies, including reducing the size of a collection, increasing exhibition space for displaying the collection, sharing the collection with other institutions, and increasing access to objects in the collection. The author concludes with a discussion of policy issues for the museum industry to address in order to improve collection utilization in art museums.
Table of Contents
Chapter One
Introduction
Chapter Two
Research approach and methods
Chapter Three
Why do museums have so much in storage?
Chapter Four
A framework for examining options for reducing storage levels and/or increasing the utilization of stored artworks
Chapter Five
The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco: The institution, its collection, and an examination of its collection storage
Chapter Six
Understanding the forces behind collection growth
Chapter Seven
Observations on enhancing collection utilization
Chapter Eight
What key issues must art museums address if they are to improve collection utilization?
Appendix A
Additional notes on collection data in the case study
Appendix B
COLLECTION GROWTH VERSUS GROWTH IN EXHIBITION SPACE
Appendix C
Statistical profile of U.S. Art museums
Research conducted by
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