Reminder: Free Webinar Today @ 1PM in the Alliance for Response Webinar Series!

Just a follow-up reminder with the details Jessica Unger had shared in December.  Please try not to miss out on these free webinar series being offered by the Alliance for Response.  No need for preregistration.  You may enter the meeting by going to the site: https://meet98657813.adobeconnect.com/faic   There is another today,  from 1:00-2:30 PM today!

“Exercise Without Leaving Your Seat: Practicing the Incident Command System” January 19th, 1:00 – 2:30 PM

David Carmicheal, State Archivist, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

Joe Boney, Chief, Biloxi Fire Department

 You can practice the Incident Command System – or any other disaster response tool – through something as simple as a tabletop exercise. This webinar will introduce different ways of practicing emergency response, from simple orientations to full-scale exercises. It will also focus on how to plan and conduct your own successful tabletop exercise. Learn about how exercises relate to your disaster plan and how to evaluate your results.

“Crisis Communications” January 24, 2017

Mike Smith, Chair and Associate Professor of Communication, LaSalle University

Steve Pine, Senior Conservator for Decorative Arts, The Museum of Fine Arts Houston

 A successful emergency plan will address the essential issue of communications. How will your team communicate with each other as well as with outside parties, including volunteers, vendors, and the press? Learn about how to develop a communications strategy that is coordinated, quick, accurate, ongoing, and human. Get tips on how to create, test, and exercise your crisis communications plan.

“Best Practices for Seeking Funding” January 26, 2017

Ellen Gorham, Manager, Disaster Fundraising, American Red Cross National Headquarters

As a member of a cooperative disaster network, you know that passion and commitment fuel your involvement. But to move emergency preparedness forward in your community, you need more than passion and commitment; you need funding. Foundations, corporations, and government granting agencies are all potential sources of funding, but finding the right fit for a network project can be daunting. This webinar will provide research tips and tools to help participants find the prospects interested in funding your network activities, and how to build a plan that takes into consideration the cycle of “disaster giving.”

These are great opportunities. If you’re not able to attend in person, a recording of the webinar will be available on the YouTube channel of the American Institute for Conservation:https://www.youtube.com/user/aiconservation  (the AFR webinar playlist may be found here

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Handy Mold Guide to Download from CCAHA.org

A handy download from CCAHA and Penn Libraries.  Keep on hand and share:

mold-cultural-heritage-collections-original

Albany Museum of Art Hit Hard by Storm on January 2, 2017

Albany Museum of Art after January 2, 2017, storm.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The following is taken from a press release from the Georgia Museum of Art.

On the evening of Monday, January 2, serious storms with high wind hit the Albany, Georgia, area, leaving many households and businesses without power. Governor Nathan Deal declared Dougherty County and surrounding counties a disaster area on Thursday, January 5, and both the Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency officials and local Emergency Management Agencies continue to work to assess the full extent of the damages and to repair them. Due to this widespread severe weather system, the Albany Museum of Art’s building sustained severe damage and is closed to the public until further notice. High winds removed sections of the roof from the building, allowing rain into offices, galleries, and vaults on the second floor. The fact that it was open to the elements meant several inches of water on both the second and first floors, and the loss of power resulted in a lack of humidity controls. Museum director Paula Williams was on the scene early Tuesday morning despite many roads being impassable and having no power and some damage at her own home. She walked through her museum to make a quick assessment and immediately began making phone calls: to her staff, to her Board of Trustees, to her fine arts and building insurance companies, to lenders, to volunteers and to professionals in the field. The response and the offers of help were overwhelming. AXA ART, the museum’s fine art insurance company and its representatives responded quickly, getting a conservation team from Chicago’s Conservation Center on a plane to Georgia that Tuesday night. Since then, the conservators have been assessing damage to works of art in the museum’s collection and some that were on loan to exhibitions there. It will be some time before the extent of the damage and the time and cost to repair it are known. A similar process is occurring with representatives of the insurance company that covers the building, although so far it seems that it can be repaired. Objects in the collection that did not need conservation were on their way to off-site fine-art storage on Friday. Contractors have been hard at work adding a temporary fix to the roof, but that part of the building will need major work. Some parts of the building, including the Jane and Harry Willson Auditorium, on the first floor, remained secure and held art moved by staff and volunteers until professional art handlers could make their way to Albany. Generators to supply electricity and 24-hour security are in place until they are no longer needed. Work is underway to preserve not only the art in the museum’s collection but also the many documents associated with it, which were stored in the second-floor offices that were most affected by the damage to the roof. Countless individuals, organizations, institutions and more have offered their support, which museum staff members greatly appreciate. They are waiting for assessments to be completed before they can work out a full plan of how to proceed and what their needs will be, but they will be considerable. The museum does not have time at the moment to respond to all who have pledged assistance, but Williams says she is are very thankful for the community, statewide and regional response. If you would like to keep up with the Albany Museum of Art’s needs going forward, please sign up for its newsletter at http://bit.ly/albany-newsletter. ### Note to editors: The Georgia Museum of Art is sending out this statement to assist the Albany Museum of Art, which has a small staff and is focused on assessment and recovery rather than responding to news organizations.

Museum Information Partial support for the exhibitions and programs at the Georgia Museum of Art is provided by the Georgia Council for the Arts through the appropriations of the Georgia General Assembly. The Georgia Council for the Arts also receives support from its partner agency, the National Endowment for the Arts. Individuals, foundations, and corporations provide additional museum support through their gifts to the University of Georgia Foundation. The Georgia Museum of Art is located in the Performing and Visual Arts Complex on the East Campus of the University of Georgia. The address is 90 Carlton Street, University of Georgia, Athens, Ga. 30602-1502. For more information, including hours, see georgiamuseum.org or call 706.542.4662.

2017 Begins with Severe Flood Damage at Albany Museum of Art

The Albany Museum of Art suffered severe flood damage after Monday’s multiple storms tore through the area.  Approximately two-thirds of the roof was blown off the structure and there is severe damage.  Director Paula Williams is quoted in the two news article links below.  Please see the included links.  They are determined to preserve and protect the collections and rebuild:

WALB News 10 Video and Story

Albany Herald Article 01-03-2017