In June, the Boothbay Region Historical Society was selected to participate in the Collections Assessment for Preservation (CAP) program for 2023, one of only 44 institutions in the United States to receive this distinction. The CAP program, which is administered by the Foundation for Advancement in Conservation in Washington, D.C., in cooperation with the Institute of Museum and Library Services, helps small- and medium-sized museums to improve the care of their collections by providing support for a general conservation assessment of the museum’s collections and building.

On Oct. 16 and 17, a team of museum professionals from the CAP program will conduct a two-day site visit at the Society to survey the building and its collections. The Society presently faces a number of challenges in properly displaying and preserving its collections. Space is tight, and improvements to the building are needed to allow better access to the public and better care of the Society’s collections. Following the site visit, the CAP assessors will issue a report intended to provide the foundation for developing a strategic plan encompassing not just the building and its collections but a long-term vision for the Society.

Barbara Moore, the collections assessor, holds degrees from the University of London and Brown University and has served as a conservator with the Pitt Rivers Museum, University of Oxford; the Arizona State Museum, University of Arizona; the Peabody Museum of Natural History, Yale University; and the Strong Museum, Rochester, New York.

Margaret Gaertner, the building assessor, has devoted her career to the preservation of significant historic structures. She holds bachelor of fine arts degree in environmental design from the Parson School of Design in New York City and a master’s degree in historic preservation from the University of Pennsylvania.

Most objects inevitably deteriorate over time, but it is possible to greatly slow the rate of deterioration, and to keep artifacts in good condition for decades or centuries through what is referred to as Preventive Conservation. Thus, in conjunction with the site visit Ms. Moore will present a program explaining how to apply preventive conservation methods to preserve museum objects – and your own family treasures at home – in good condition for the long term.

The program will be held at the Society, 72 Oak Street, on Tuesday, Oct. 17 at 2 p.m. and is open to the public.