Collecting the Present: The Conservation and Storage of Contemporary Art at Traditional Fine Arts Museums

Collecting contemporary art presents any museum with problems regarding its care and storage. These difficulties are compounded at institutions for which the collection of contemporary art is not the museum's main objective. This paper will identify the major problems facing such institutions, address the legal concerns conservators and museum professionals face when conserving contemporary art, and track how such problems are being corrected at five American museums of a variety of sizes and geographical locations.