Moving can be one of the most taxing events in life, but at the Milwaukee Public Museum, which is on the cusp of constructing a new building, the process is more methodical than stressful.
Although the new museum won’t be opening at least early 2027, MPM still has tens of thousands of items in storage – items everyday visitors typically don’t see – that must be readied for their move to the future museum or an off-site storage facility. MPM officials have said that the existing museum will remain open throughout the construction process, but have not given a specific date for when the existing museum will close to the public and if that date will fall before the new museum opens.
Kicking off that massive task, collections staff this month began carefully wrapping and packing the 23,000 items in MPM’s British ceramics collection.
On Tuesday morning, museum officials invited members of the media to watch as a pair of move technicians delicately pack plates and platters, saucers and teapots, and teacups and tureens – wrapping them in acid-free paper and tying them up with a shoelace-like non-adhesive cotton tape before placing them carefully into grid-like squares in giant grey crates.
Before being placed in the crate, each item’s barcode was scanned and entered into a database for tracking, which will allow staff or researchers to locate them in storage for decades to come. In the last five years MPM staff have transcribed and imported more than 144,000 handwritten object records into its collection management system.
“Packing and moving a museum isn’t as simple as moving in and out of a house, we have to make sure each item is identified, tracked, packed, and protected for its journey,” said Jackie Schweitzer, Chester Read Curator of History Collections at MPM
‘Crate expectations’
The first crate, dubbed “Crate Expectations,” is now full. It will stay at the existing museum until it is possible for it to move to the new museum site, or an off-site storage facility, staff said. MPM is still in the process of looking for an off-site storage facility, officials said.
On Tuesday, staff were packing “Crate No. 2, “Catherine the Crate.” The museum worked with Oconomowoc-based ORBIS Corp. to specially design the crates it needs.
“Crate No. 1 has about 500 objects and it weighs about 560 pounds, so it is hefty,” said Sara Podejko, MPM’s collections move project manager and registrar.
MPM officials expect to use 50-60 crates during the first round of packing. They chose to start with the ceramics because they are inorganic and can be in storage for an extended amount of time without jeopardizing their safety.
Although the museum itself is a nonprofit, its collections belong to Milwaukee County.
“The archival material we use to preserve and protect our collections items is inert, acid-free, and dye-free, so the original quality of those items is not compromised during the packing and moving process,” Podejko said. “Since this material is safe to use with many different objects, we’re able to reuse it through the entire packing process; an important element of our preparation which will allow us to be as sustainable as possible.”
That should help as museum staff prepare to pack and transfer more than 4 million objects to the new museum or off-site storage.
In a recent conversation with BizTimes Milwaukee, MPM officials said fundraising is on track for the $240 million project. A groundbreaking is planned for late spring.
