In a message dated 7/19/05 4:58:58 AM Eastern Daylight Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
> I have given my antique lace collection to The Manor House Museum in > Bury St.Edmunds, Suffolk,England. Why this museum? > Because they have a very good textile collection of costumes etc.;They > have a display from these collections that changes at least twice a > year; if any textiles need repair -darning, beading and so forth- they > can call upon highly skilled needlewomen who do the repairs as a labour > of love taking all the time that is neccesary. I have also deposited my > mother's 1928 French wedding dress with them. > Togther with the lace has gone my library of lace history, lace > journals(which gets updated) and identification. This decision was > taken a) because we are moving into a smaller house and b) to make sure > they where they could be of use across East Anglia and c) to relieve > our children of the problems of disposing of a collection/library of > which they had little knowledge. > I hope this contribution to the discussion will inspire others to follow > the same path. > > Sheila in a still sunny but cooler Sawbridgeworth > Dear Sheila, Yours is a lovely path to follow. However, in the U.S. such a contribution is likely to be put away in improper storage conditions and never or rarely see the light of day. The smaller museums do not have adequate funding, and our government does not distribute so much money that they can manage museums properly. The large museums are responding to the problem with questionable marketing strategies of considerable magnitude. Some, like the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, are leasing collections to places like the Bellagio in Las Vegas, instead of the long-established practice of loaning between well-established museums! They deassession (send art to auction) without thought to future interests. ETC! (It gets worse - lots of individual manipulations.) This information is from a full-page article "What Price Love? Museums Sell Out" in the Sunday, July 17, 2005, New York Times Arts & Leisure section about these "abuses" of traditional museum practices and the intentions of donors. I have even heard of lace guilds selling books (I hope the donors knew that was the intent when they were accepted). One local guild that I belong to has said in a newsletter that they are planning to sell a centerpiece Lace Day exhibit garment in their collection. I don't know the terms of the original donation, but do think future members of the local guild would benefit from studying such a garment. It is my hope that more guilds will establish a collections committee and written policy. I am still searching for an American solution to housing my collection, about which I wrote to Arachne a couple years ago. Very few answers came (less than 10 as I recall, and 2/3 of those were from overseas). I've become more alarmed since the story of the American Textile History Museum's financial problems became public earlier this year - because that is a large ideal facility, with conservation lab, library, educational programs for children, etc. University collections exist, but are difficult for many to visit and study. Great for students and a few scholars, but not accessible to large numbers of viewers. Without viewers, and reviews, interest cannot be generated to support large lace exhibits - or any lace exhibits. There is always money for presenting large motorcycle "shows" in major museums... Jeri Ames in Maine USA Lace & Embroidery Resource Center - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
