Thanks to a grant from the federal Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), the Museum of Northern Arizona in Flagstaff will rehouse its fluid-preserved collection of 11,000 specimens, including fish, amphibians, reptiles, mammals, and aquatic insects.
Included in the collection are threatened, endangered, and locally extirpated species. The Museum’s grant is for $42,746. A total of 194 applications were received by the institute and only 49 were funded.
Museum Director Robert Breunig stated, “We are all very excited about this award. IMLS conservation grants are very competitive within the Museum field. This is the first conservation grant the Museum has received since 1991 and it is indicative of MNA’s reemerging stature within the museum community, as a viable and professionally operated institution.”
MNA Collections Manager Elaine Hughes and Associate Collections Manager Janet Gillette welcome the IMLS award. It will contribute to the Museum’s ongoing preservation efforts, which include improving the storage environment.
Hughes adds, “This award recognizes an emergency preservation priority for the Museum. A number of specimens are unique and at risk of deteriorating due to environmental conditions within their present quarters.”
Renovation of the area where the fluid-preserved collection is stored will assure its safekeeping until it can be moved to the Collections Center, MNA’s new facility now in the planning stage and made possible by a $3 million donation last year.
The IMLS Conservation Project Support Grants fund a wide range of projects to help museums safeguard collections. Institute Director Robert Martin believes the grants “will ensure that the rich and diverse culture and history in America’s museums are available for a lifetime of learning for all and future generations.”