[MSN] MOA Security Protects, Preserves

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      MOA Security Protects, Preserves

To protect artwork from being stolen, security guards are strategically 
placed on all floors of the Museum of Art and alarmed detectors are 
positioned near valuable paintings. Multiple cameras, moved around based 
on need, also keep watch over the museum's treasures.

But theft is not security's biggest worry; it's damage from patrons.

"We have had problems with groups and unintentional damage," said Randy 
O'Hara, security coordinator at the museum. "We had a group with crayons 
and they got too close to the artwork before the security could get to 
them."

O'Hara said no serious harm was caused to the painting at that time, but 
when there is a situation of intentional damage, the student guards will 
contact the university police.

"The biggest problem we have is people touching the artwork," said Emily 
Poulsen, registrar at the museum. "They are usually innocent people who 
don't realize the damage in touching a painting. We have finger prints 
on almost everything that we take down."

Poulsen really understands the lengthy process of setting up a new 
exhibit and sending one off when its run is over. After all, it's her 
job to oversee both activities.

The artwork arrives in crates that need to acclimatize for a time period 
ranging from a couple of days to two weeks. After the artwork is taken 
out of the crates, a detailed condition report is recorded. The report 
shows any damages made prior to arrival.

Each painting is insured for its fair market value. The museum gets each 
painting insured while it is in transit and during its stay at the museum.

"We are responsible for the work while it is here," Poulsen said. "If a 
work is damaged while it is here, then the museum is liable."

Poulsen said the museum has tried many tactics to encourage people to 
not touch. A small sign is located next to a handful of paintings 
reminding visitors "Please do not touch the artwork." At one point, 
metal bars were placed in front of valuable paintings, but they were 
taken down for safety reasons.

Recently, for the Paths to Impressionism exhibit, museum staff started 
putting sandpaper tape on the floor 18 inches in front of paintings to 
signify how far away a visitor should stand.

"We researched it and found that the tape is effective," Poulsen said. 
"It mentally keeps people at a distance away from the works of art. It 
also helps the guards so they can show people where they can stand."

The guards at the museum are an entire staff of students who are trained 
to be "eyes and ears." Their job is to circulate through the exhibits 
and to enforce the rules.

"Enforcing the rules is sometimes an awkward thing because the security 
guards have to tell visitors in a public space that they are doing 
something wrong," said Chris Wilson, marketing and communications 
manager at the museum. "We hope our visitors realize that when a 
security guard asks a person to step back from a painting that it's 
nothing personal. They are just trying to protect valuable works that 
many people have made great efforts to preserve in their current condition."

Security is an important part of the overall operation of the museum. 
Wilson said between the cameras installed throughout the museum and the 
security guards patrolling the galleries, the museum staff is confident 
the works are safe and well protected.

"Every time we host a traveling exhibition and every time we borrow a 
work from another institution we are evaluated on how well we care for 
the artworks that have been entrusted to us," Wilson said. "It is 
important to us to care for these artworks because these other places 
trust us to care for and safeguard them. If we don't do everything in 
our power to keep their works safe, we would find that nobody would want 
to lend works to us."

Museum security is an issue everywhere, and other art museums in Utah 
Valley and the Salt Lake area are implementing their own security measures.

Vern Swanson, director of the Springville Museum of Art, said there are 
two major problems when it comes to protecting the artwork at his 
museum: adult women and children.

"The women bang on the paintings with their handbags," Swanson said. 
"They back up into the painting and damage it. And none of them know it 
is happening."

In response to this problem, Swanson puts up rope in front of a handful 
of paintings and requires all people with backpacks and purses to carry 
them on their stomachs.

"We also don't allow children into the museum without an adult 
supervisor," Swanson said.

But even with adult supervisors present, Swanson said not a day goes by 
without seeing a group of young children playing hide-and-go-seek in the 
museum.

"We are the art Nazis," Swanson said. "The art is a living document to 
our cultural heritage, and it cannot take care of itself."

Bonnie Souliere, operations manager at the Utah Museum of Fine Arts at 
the University of Utah, agreed that patrons touching the paintings is a 
problem at that museum as well.

"People don't realize that they get too close to the painting," Souliere 
said. "Our staff is reminded to monitor their surroundings and to act if 
they see something."

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