by Keri Burson
Daily Lobo
After being closed for nine months, UNM's Art Museum re-opened its doors earlier this month after finishing extensive renovations on its environmental control system, display areas and storage facilities.
The new heating, ventilation and air conditioning system will control the museum's humidity and temperature levels and filter out the air's harmful dust particles. The system was partially funded by a $365,408 grant given to the museum by the National Endowment for the Humanities.
The University matched the funds produced by the grant and the cost for the renovation project totaled more than $750,000, said Linda Bahm, interim director for the museum.
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
Before the new system installation, the museum shared the same system as Popejoy Hall, which does not control humidity levels. Bahm said inconsistent humidity levels can cause photos to curl and uncurl leaving cracks and breaks. These unstable conditions limited the artwork the museum was able to display.
"Before the system was installed the museum was forced to keep many important works in boxes because they were too fragile for the fluctuating conditions," Bahm said. "We are now able to display more of these works."
The new system includes an air filtration system that stabilizes the air's humidity levels. Each department within the Museum has a monitoring system reporting to a central computer, which responds to each area's humidity needs.
The museum's Exhibits Curator Lee Savary said the new system does more than make the museum a safer place for artwork; it also makes the museum physically more comfortable.
"Thirty or 40 people were in the Van Deren Coke Gallery during the opening and it was actually comfortable," Savary said. "It wasn't like that before. That was a magical moment for me."
Bahm added that prior to the new system, temperatures in the crowded gallery could reach between 80 and 90 degrees.
During the renovation, all artwork was moved to the National Hispanic Cultural Center Museum's storage facility.
"Moving the art was a major undertaking in and of itself," Savary said. "We have one of the largest print and photography collections in the nation."
The museum also made several other renovations including expanding its greeting area, knocking down walls to allow more space and installing semi-permanent walls to hide doors permitting the museum to use its space more effectively.
The museum's storage areas also had to be renovated to make room for all of the new system's equipment.
"We were busting at the seams in terms of storage," Savary said. The new system occupies one-third of the museum's previous storage area. "We had just as much work to fit back in. We had to be more efficient," he added.
A higher ceiling and a new lighting system were installed in the Van Deren Coke Gallery. Bahm said.
"This is safer for the artwork in terms of UV emissions," Bahm said.
She added that the museum's staff would eventually like to install similar lighting systems throughout the museum.
"We are very excited and pleased about what we were able to do in conjunction to the other renovations," Bahm said. "We were able to take care of things we were never able to take care of before."
The entire renovation process took more than a year. Savary said planning initially began in October 2001, but construction did not start until May 2002.
"We have an extraordinary staff of intelligent people who work well together," Bahm said. "That's why this was a success."
