The Re-housing and Return of the Louisiana State Museum's Collections

A team led by conservators from Williamstown Art Conservation Center prepared and moved collections from the Louisiana State Museum that had previously been evacuated to an off-site storage facility following Hurricane Katrina. From December 2007 through June 2008, team members documented, assessed, stabilized, and packed a wide variety of collections objects. These included musical instruments, records, archives from the Louisiana History Center, decorative arts, and science and technology artifacts. Housings that served for both transport and storage were made to reduce handling where possible. Modular systems including rolling carts and trays sized to be compatible with the storage shelving were implemented for efficiency. Cost-effective commercially available materials made of archivally sound materials were used where appropriate. Over 200,000 objects in all were moved into the improved storage areas.