Report 9: 2018

Management of the State Art Collection

Artworks are at risk of damage or loss due to insufficient storage and conservation, and poor recordkeeping

An ongoing shortage of storage space limits access to and safe keeping of artworks

AGWA does not have enough storage space to hold the current collection, or a plan to address future storage challenges. It is using temporary areas to store some artworks, increasing risk of damage and impeding staff and public access to artworks.

The lack of storage is an issue faced by other galleries in Australia, and AGWA has been aware of its own lack of suitable storage for at least 6 years. AGWA:

  • identified in 2012 that its 5,281m2 of stores were congested, and that it needed an additional 5,000m2 to meet storage needs through to 2032
  • in 2017 received an internal audit report that identified the shortage as a high risk.

Obtaining artworks without careful consideration of how they will be stored poses the risk that they will not be stored appropriately. It also means the quality of storage for works already in the Collection may be compromised under an increasingly stressed storage system. AGWA’s Risk Register identifies that a lack of space can lead to inappropriate storage, and poor preservation conditions. We acknowledge that growing the collection is a core objective for AGWA. However, AGWA must balance this with its responsibility to preserve the collection.

To increase its storage capacity, AGWA rented off-site storage from 2012 to 2014. However, this was cancelled due to the rental cost. In order to accommodate the returning artworks, AGWA converted a 358m2 gallery area to storage space but this is now full.

We saw examples of AGWA having used best practice shelving and storage solutions (Figure 1). However, we also saw many examples of overcrowded storage areas and artworks being stored in aisles and walkways (Figure 2). This was particularly so in 2 of AGWA’s major storage areas. We also observed buckets and drip sheets in place to capture leaking water in another storage area.

Figure 1 and 2 - Storage of artworks

Figure 3 - Artworks stored in the aisle

Temporary storage places artworks at risk of damage and loss of value. We observed that AGWA had taken steps to prevent damage and loss of value to artworks in temporary storage, such as using wedges to lift items off the floor (Figure 3). While helpful, these efforts do not offer artworks the same protection as storing to industry standards.

AGWA’s processes require storage to be considered as part of all proposals to purchase or accept an artwork for the Collection. Verbal discussions on storage are held during the acquisition process. But, these considerations are not documented in proposals presented to the board, or minutes of board decisions. Between 1 July 2014 and 30 June 2017, AGWA gained 473 artworks despite already crowded stores. We reviewed a small sample (9) of acquisition proposals from this period. None of the proposals considered storage.

AGWA has not removed any artworks from the Collection in the past 3 years. While its policy for the removal of works is based on international best practice, it does not take into account AGWA’s storage issues. Currently, an artwork can only be removed if it is heavily damaged, found to be a forgery or doesn’t contribute meaningfully to the Collection.

Some artworks are at risk of deterioration because AGWA is not delivering timely conservation treatments

AGWA does not have a plan to deliver all needed conservation treatments, to limit artwork deterioration and loss of value. Over $17 million in artworks need treatment, with the majority identified more than 4 years ago. Unstable artworks are at highest risk, as they are likely to deteriorate and lose value without treatment.

The records database shows approximately 4.4% (785) of artworks need conservation treatment. Nearly 40% of these, valued at $8.8 million, were listed more than 7 years ago (Figure 4). The database shows 163 artworks, valued at almost $4.4 million, are identified as unstable. Of these, 34 (valued at around $1 million) have needed treatment for between 3 and 7 years, and a further 99 (valued at around $2.6 million) for more than 7 years.

Figure 4 - Number and value of artworks aaiting treatment

Currently, conservation work is done almost exclusively on artworks selected for display. This approach cannot effectively meet the conservation needs of the wider Collection, as most works are not displayed. At the time of writing, only about 2.4% of the Collection was on display, but AGWA’s internal target is 5% each year. AGWA informed us that it did not meet this target in 2016-17 as a lighting refit reduced display space.

AGWA has acknowledged the need for a plan to ensure all artworks receive care. Since 2014-15, its operating plans have included the development of annual conservation plans, however, these have not been done.

No stocktakes and poor recordkeeping means that AGWA cannot be certain of the condition or location of artworks

AGWA has not systematically confirmed the location of artworks since 2010, and does not have good controls around the management of its database and paper records. If processes are not improved artworks, records and corporate knowledge may be lost.

Stocktakes are not done

AGWA cannot be certain of the condition or location of artworks in the records database as it has not conducted a stocktake since 2010, even though:

  • Treasury Instruction 406 requires the verification of assets at least once every 3 years
  • AGWA listed regular stocktakes as actions in its 2015-16 and 2016-17 operational plans
  • this issue was raised in its 2017 internal audit.

The last stocktake, completed in 2010, took 5 years to finish as each artwork had to be physically sighted. The work was done by 2 staff members working 1 day a week. This process is inefficient and limits AGWA’s ability to periodically confirm the location and condition of artworks.

In 2012, AGWA explored a technological solution, using a scanning system that integrated with the database. While AGWA approved the purchase of this system, quoted at $34,850, the system was not adopted due to implementation costs of $15,147. Adoption of such a system would allow stocktakes to be completed in weeks rather than years.

Recordkeeping processes are poor, leading to missing information

We found that individual records were incomplete, increasing the risk of lost asset records and corporate knowledge. We reviewed data for the 600 works added to the database between 2014 and 2017 and found that only 28% of mandatory fields were always completed. Generally, the other fields were missing only small amounts of data. However, details on the funding source were missing for 49% of the artworks, which means AGWA would need to consult paper files to track information. The incomplete data is likely due to a lack of standardised processes for data input.

Fields that contain important information, such as artwork location and condition, are not mandatory. Of the 600 artworks added to the database since 2014, we found 10 did not have a location recorded, and 235 did not have a condition report. Making these fields mandatory would increase AGWA’s understanding of the Collection.

In addition to the database, we found inconsistencies in the contents of the paper artist file records. AGWA keeps considerable historical and purchasing information in artist files, and inconsistent filing could lead to the loss of important information. While purchasing processes require proposals, approvals and conservation reports to be kept, there is no guidance on which other documents should be stored in artist files. We reviewed a small number (12) of recent files and found that while proposals were kept for all, some approvals and conservation reports were missing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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