Exhibit Artifact Management
To improve collections care and management through proper storage.
To improve collections care and management through proper storage.
$5,846,000 in fiscal year 2020 and $7,004,000 in fiscal year 2021 are for statewide historic and cultural grants to local, county, regional, or other historical or cultural organizations or for activities to preserve significant historic and cultural resources. Money must be distributed through a competitive grant process. The Minnesota Historical Society must administer the money using established grant mechanisms, with assistance from the advisory committee created under Laws 2009, chapter 172, article 4, section 2, subdivision 4, paragraph (b), item (ii).
Available upon request. Contact, grants@mnhs.org
We feel that we met our short-term goal of removing the artifacts from the Old Town exhibit. As stated in the Changes to Original Workplan, we were able to remove the artifacts much quicker than expected (December 2021). As our indicator stated it was 1,100 artifacts, it was actually closer to 1,500 artifacts and an additional unknown number at this point of program items (non-accessioned artifacts). For the most part, our artifacts were in the database and made the project run smoothly.
Our intermediate goal was to have the items in temporary storage in a controlled environment by the time construction begins. While Old Town was already demolished, we have nearly 80% of the collection already in storage. The remaining items will be in storage by March, well-before the June construction begins. Part of the delay in this part of the project is the need for our organization to move a number of items from storage (overstock book publications, old exhibit cases, etc.) into new storage areas to clear space for the artifacts. These items will remain in storage that provides temperature control.
The long-term impact was that we would have a better understanding of our collection and have the artifacts stored properly. While the artifacts are still needing to be placed in storage, we already have a better understanding of what the artifacts are that were in Old Town. We found an umber of issues with numbering, or non-numbered artifacts, and we were able to fix those issues in our database. This gives us a much better understanding of our collection and fixed errors that could have had major implications if they were not discovered years from now.
Available upon request, grants@mnhs.org