The Grand Reopening of the Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts

The Conservation Center often assists museums, institutions, foundations, and non-profit organizations with conserving and caring for their collections. In addition to comprehensive conservation services, The Center's team assists with long-term preservation planning, digitization of archives and historical documents, creation of custom displays, packing and transportation, and long-term storage of collections. Over the past two years, The Center has worked with the Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts (AMFA) on several conservation projects while their building underwent an expansion and renovation campaign, partnering with renowned architecture firm Studio Gang to design their new facility.

The museum’s roots can be traced back to 1914 with the establishment of Little Rock’s Fine Arts Club. The first facility was built in downtown Little Rock's MacArthur Park under the Works Progress Administration in 1937. Through the coming decades, the building underwent eight expansions. Then, in 2016, a transformative campaign was undertaken by AMFA to reinvent its space with Studio Gang, with whom we had the honor of working on the design of The Center's conservation laboratory in 2012. According to Jeanne Gang, founding principal of Studio Gang, “The project was about establishing a bold new identity for the museum while also reorganizing its different programs to allow even more people to connect with the arts—not only through its galleries but its gathering spaces and landscape, too. As a beloved institution in Little Rock, we wanted to build on its existing positive qualities, from its physical structures (which we renewed and reused) to its strong sense of community.”

AMFA showcases a diverse collection of artworks, including works on paper and contemporary craft and notable holdings by artists from Arkansas, the American South region, and the United States. This diversity was top of mind and informed which items would be conserved. Brian J. Lang, Chief Curator and Windgate Foundation Curator of Contemporary Craft, shared his perspective on this: “In the months (and years) during the construction project, and amidst the global pandemic, museum curators in collaboration with the collections team—registrars, preparators, and the exhibition designer—began to think about what story we wanted to tell when we reopened to the public. We wanted to ensure the work on view in the galleries reflected our diverse communities as well as the growth of the museum since we opened in 1937. The collection numbers approximately 14,000 objects and represents nearly 8 centuries of artistic production. Additionally, ours is an international collection, which distinguishes us from other museums throughout the state. With a collection focus on drawings and contemporary craft, the museum contains notable paintings, as well, many of which had not been shown previously due to their need for conservation and/or new framing. We partnered with The Conservation Center to develop a course of action and timeline, which allowed us to receive the conserved works in time for our grand reopening in April. At the opening, one of the most rewarding outcomes was hearing a variety of responses from guests, such as ‘did we always have this work,’ ‘is this a new frame,’ to ‘did this painting always look this way’?”

Museums care for their art continuously, incorporating various preventative measures into their daily operations. However, during the construction of their new facility, AMFA had the opportunity to examine and treat items from their collection comprehensively en masse. Brian J. Lang, Chief Curator and Windgate Foundation Curator of Contemporary Craft, commented on the benefit this provided: “It was a tremendous opportunity to be able to address these needs with the museum closed. It allowed collections staff the comfort of knowing the works were safely offsite during the construction project, minimized unnecessary handling, and ensure the works looked their best at reopening.” This process began in 2021 when our team assisted with conserving works from their collection in our laboratory. The Center treated over 70 works of art for the museum, including original gilt frames, antique and contemporary paintings, works on paper, unique sculptures, and design objects. The pieces include works by prominent international artists as well as important Arkansas-based artists, a focus of AMFA’s collection. In addition to conservation treatments, The Center's Custom Framing and Fabrications department placed numerous artworks in new archival framing packages to prepare them for display in the new facility.

José Bedia (Havana, Cuba, 1959 - ), *Naufragio Interior (Interior Shipwreck)*, 1991, china ink on bark paper (amate), 47 1/2 × 95 in., Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts Foundation Collection: Purchase, Tabriz Fund. 1991.032. After paper conservation and custom framing.

Associate Conservation Framer, Suz Evans, shares the intricate process of hinging Holding onto these fragments, all these years (The Protectors), 2021, by Antonius-Tín Bui (New York, New York, 1992 - ), a 100 7/8 × 43 3/8 inch hand-cut paper, marker, graphite, and ink artwork.

Antonius-Tín Bui (New York, New York, 1992 - ), *Holding onto these fragments, all these years (The Protectors)*, 2021, hand-cut paper, marker, graphite, and ink, 100 7/8 × 43 3/8 in., Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts Foundation Collection: Purchase. 2022.012.

"This is a very large cut paperwork that we float mounted onto an archival board faced with cotton rag mat board and hinged with hidden Japanese tissue V-hinges and wheat starch paste. It took about a week of hinging sections of the work, waiting for a little while, assessing where the paper needed more hinges, and then hinging more. Monitoring the behavior of the paper and determining its needs to ensure it was properly mounted was an interesting challenge, and we lost count of the hinges towards the end of the process." The final results are stunning.

After framing: *Antonius Bui (New York, New York, 1992 - ), Holding onto these fragments, all these years (The Protectors), 202*1, hand-cut paper, marker, graphite, and ink, 100 7/8 × 43 3/8 in., Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts Foundation Collection: Purchase. 2022.012.

Museums are crucial as cultural stewards - acquiring, preserving, and displaying artworks and artifacts. When museum visitors relish viewing the artwork, they also enjoy the efforts of registrars, collection managers, designers, and conservators who work to ensure the proper care of items so they may be safely displayed for the public. On April 22, 2023, AMFA celebrated its grand reopening after nearly four years of renovations, welcoming the community to experience fine art, free-of-charge to all. It is an honor to partner with museums such as the Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts in the care of their collections.