Staff at museums and galleries across the country say they are running out of space<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At the Homer Watson House & Gallery in Kitchener, Ont., which highlights the work of the accomplished Canadian artist, the collection of paintings continues to grow<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe receive about five to 10 pieces a year. They\u2019re not all Homer paintings,\u201d said Cathy Masterson, director and curator at the gallery. \u201cIn Canada, most museums will say they\u2019ve got about three per cent of their collection on exhibit. And I would say we\u2019re in that ballpark.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Here\u2019s where things get tricky, as the population ages and families no longer have a need for certain artwork, they look to donate it. But the amount of space to store everything is shrinking<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe\u2019re probably at 80 per cent capacity. It is something that we\u2019re talking about with our partners to see if there are places like shared storage, or is there something else we can do?\u201d said Masterson<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The answer is \u2013 only to a certain extent. Galleries and museums want to be able to monitor the majority of their pieces on-site to ensure everything is stored in a safe climate, protected from dust and out of direct sunlight<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At the Fashion History Museum in Cambridge, Ont., storage is even more limited<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe are at 99 per cent capacity right now in terms of collection storage,\u201d said Jonathan Walford, co-founder and curator at the museum<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fashion pieces can\u2019t just be squished together either. They need to breathe<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The museum has seen a surge since the pandemic of people wanting to purge and donate items<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now, Walford is having to turn down offers<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cUnless it\u2019s designed by Chanel or worn by Princess Diana, I really don\u2019t have room for more wedding dresses at this point,\u201d he said<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With most storage space now accounted for, museums and galleries are being forced to narrow their mandates as they rotate exhibits<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Still, it doesn\u2019t provide a solution for what they already have in their possession<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMuseums are kind of like icebergs,\u201d said Walford. \u201cThe galleries are only one-tenth of what you see, and it\u2019s all that under-the-water stuff you need to be able to keep the museum running properly.\u201d<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Staff at museums and galleries across the country say they are running out of space At the Homer Watson House & Gallery in Kitchener, Ont., which highlights the work of the accomplished Canadian artist, the collection of paintings continues to grow \u201cWe receive about five to 10 pieces a year. They\u2019re not all Homer paintings,\u201d […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":33288,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":{"format":"standard"},"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"jnews_post_split":[],"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[48],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\n