In the wake of New York City's most devastating natural disaster to date, many of the city's landmark institutions are stepping up to provide relief for members of their communities. The art world is no different, as the Museum of Modern Art is demonstrating this weekend.
The major art house announced that they will hold a free public presentation on conserving damaged art and cultural materials this Sunday, featuring speakers from the American Institute for Conservation Collections Emergency Response Team as well as MoMA itself. They will make their expertise available to the numerous galleries and artists who have had their livelihoods interrupted by the flooding of Hurricane Sandy, presenting information on the safe handling of paintings, drawings, books, sculptures and other archival works. MoMA has also issued "Immediate Response for Collections", a set of step-by-step measures art owners can take to preserve their work, including a list of suppliers and emergency services that are on the ready.
"These bags contain thousands of artist books - big blow for our tiny non profit." -Adam O'Reilley, Printed Matter
A number of New York's well-known art organizations have suffered greatly in the aftermath of the city's unprecedented storm. Printed Matter, a non-profit art publishing group located in Chelsea, lost thousands of pieces in its inventory, as shown in the image above. "We lost a shocking amount of materials," stated AA Bronson, artist and former director of Printed Matter, in an email to The Huffington Post. "And of course even the damp that will remain will continue to damage the books over the next months."
Watch the video posted here by Now This News for more information on the damage Hurricane Sandy wrought on New York's art world.
