By Marissa
Condie, UC Santa Barbara, Conservation Scientist Intern
Montecito,
California was recently the center of two major natural disasters over the
course of a few weeks. The Thomas Fire covered Santa Barbara and Ventura
Counties in ash and smoke. Close on the fire’s heels, a mudslide filled
commercial and residential buildings with boulders, mud, and debris. 1,000’s of
home were impacted and 100’s damaged badly or obliterated by the boulders being
pushed by the mudslides. Without minimizing the apocalyptic conditions that
resulted and the impact on personal lives and the community, this article deals
with professional services response for saving, protecting and restoring
collectibles, artwork and family history items.
Fine Art
Conservation Laboratories (FACL), is located only a mile or so from the site of
the mudslides. Calls came in almost
immediately… “I currently do not have access to my home, but I know there is
damaged artwork…..my family and I escaped, and we brought one painting with
us…..my home is four feet deep in mud, can my artwork be saved?” At FACL the
art conservators are not only equipped to answer these questions, but
immediately began to respond to Montecito’s crisis by doing what they do best,
saving art.See the short video at the
end of this article.
One homeowner
that contacted FACL to assist with their disaster response had received a
double hit. First, smoke from the Thomas Fire heavily damaged their home. Then,
the mudslide left a three-foot mudline throughout the first floor of their
home. Smoke, generally, heavily acidifies all paper and fabric materials in the
house including framed prints (that appear sealed) hanging on the wall. This
chemical process, that if not treated, can begin to yellow the paper perceptively
within the year. The ever-present odor of a wildfire also seeps into the canvas
works of art and the wooden frames.
In the “mud
zone,” many of these pieces were splattered with mud. Luckily, some of the
artwork hanging on the walls was physically untouched by mud, but, as the mud
below it started to dry, the drastic swing in humidity began wrinkling the
paper and growing mold. In their overwhelming situation, these homeowners took
the best step they could have taken and called the conservators at FACL. In the
hands of these experts, all of these issues, paper acidity, odor, and
wrinkling, are completely treatable. When the rebuilding process is complete,
this family’s artwork will be ready to return to the walls of their home.
Another home that
contacted the conservators at FACL were also affected by fire and water, but in
a peculiar way. The family evacuated for an extended period of time due to the
Thomas fire. While they were away, a breeze through a kitchen window knocked
over a cutting board, which knocked a potted plant over plugging the drain in
the sink, which caused the kitchen water faucet to turn on. It blasted water,
at full pressure, for the rest of the evacuation. Besides finding extensive
smoke damage upon their return, the family found that their house had
experienced a massive flood. The artwork in the home needed special attention,
which the conservators at FACL were able to provide including interfacing with
the insurance claims adjuster, packing up and storing the artwork during
renovation, clean-up of the artwork and redelivery with the care these types of
items require.
In the photo on
the right: the fire created a pyroclastic cloud over the areas of Ventura and
Santa Barbara. Ash fell on residents for 3-4 weeks
Art conservators
are able to use their expertise to guide and aid a community’s disaster
response. The timing and nature of a natural disaster can never be predicted,
as the Montecito community experienced. Even within this sobering fact, here are 3 tip precautions that can be
taken to ease the extent of damage to artwork during a natural disaster:
1.
Make sure that a treasured piece of artwork is hung on a wall, or
safely stored off the ground at all times. Piled in a corner is a bad idea. In
a flood or mudslide, this simple act can make all the difference.
2.
Keep copies of all legal documents and policies in another
location. While you may think you can get a copy of your policy from your
agent, if the disaster is community wide, there may be a backlog of activity
that will keep you from getting the speedy response you desire.
3.
The longer the art waits, uncleaned, the more damage is occurring.
This leads to a third suggestion, which is to contact a professional art
conservator as soon as possible after a natural disaster. An art conservator
can help you differentiate, also, for your disaster response company, what can
be hit by a mop and what requires special handling and attention.
Questions?
Call Fine Art Conservation Laboratories at 805 564 3438 faclartdoc@gmail.comScott M. Haskins,
Virginia Panizzon, Oriana Montemurro - Art Conservators. Andrew Jacobs,
Disaster Response Services Coordinator
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