While museums have an important role is displaying artifacts and explaining them to the general public, museums also have a role in preserving and restoring artifacts as well. Secret Life of an Artifact is a display at the Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture in Spokane, Washington which shows how museums strive to conserve and explain the artifacts in their collections.
According to one display:
“Preservation is at the heart of museum work. The material world is in a constant state of decay, and museums are in the business of slowing it down. Understanding an artifact’s material composition, we can anticipate potential threats—whether environmental, biological, chemical, or physical.”
The items displayed above shown the impact that light can cause: colors can shift and even disappear. Light also creates a chemical change in materials and weakens natural fibers.
Baby’s and Children’s Shoes
One of the displays, shown below, is of baby’s shoes—different styles as well as different states of preservation.
Local Items
One of the roles of many museums is to preserve and display items reflecting local history, including item once used and/or owned by prominent local individuals.
The American Indian hand drum shown above was acquired by collector Chappie Dunning from Willie Andrews of the Spokan Tribe. The animal skin covering the drum can dry out quickly, which leaves the hide taut and vulnerable to splitting.
The trumpet shown above once belonged to Spokane resident Wally Hagin who became a mortician.
Shown above is Zippy, the famous pet chimpanzee who appeared on the Howdy Doody TV shown from 1948 to 1960. With regard to preservation, the rubber hands, ears, face can deteriorate and their surfaces become sticky to the touch.
The dress shown above was owned by Esther Ross who began working for the federal recognition of her tribe, the Stillaguamish, in 1926. In 1975 she finally achieved her goal. The dress was preserved by Dr. Robert H. Ruby, her biographer.
The beaded moccasins shown above were made by Clara Moore, a member of the Confederated tribes of the Colville Reservation. Extremes of heat and humidity can impact the beads in what curators call “glass disease.”
The beaded bag shown above is from the Spokan Tribe. Over time, the threads which attach the beads to the bag can break and beads can be lost.
The Alice Niemeier Hat Collection
Hats were once essential to a woman’s outfit. In 2007, Alice Niemeier gave her collection of hats—all of which she had worn during the era of the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s—to the Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture. In receiving a gift like this, the Museum staff photographs each item and make an electronic record of it.
