Page 14 - hartmuseumtimeline19581988

ART: County Takes Steps to Preserve Collection

uperv sors for 368,000 n next hor ·e, Fr tz, nt 25 h birthd y rug twice ye r. But that reg men
year' budget to pay for a profes- party, el off a dlscu ion about is too h r h on the valuable rug ,
1onal staff and uppl e . A imlla1· vhether another anim I m the Buchel concluded, and cleaning
rcque l for money, however, w p cturc should b de ·er b d should be llm te lo every five to 10
turned down n 1986. mule or a hor . years-and then only if nece ary.
up rv or Ike Antonovich, avajo rug re c ttered n h dvi ed the group to top
who uppor r vitalizing the mu- almost every room. ll I du t ng th urr c or painting
um, made hf own p tch la l y ar largest collcct1on or vajo rug and lo curtail poll hlng of the
to r ise funds for the Harl mu cum. outside Hearst C ll , Phillip llverware.
He pproached, among other , Hol- note. 'l'he pract ce of dlspl ylng Indian
lywood cowboy Roy Roger and The care of the 67 rug Illustrate clothing on hange al o wa h lt-
Gene Autry, a well a the J. Paul one or the ubller reason for ed; the weight or the leather had
Getty Museum. But aJI he got was curator lo take over the museum' ca ed rips along some seams. One
an off r from Autry lo howcase rein . The Friend or Hart and the or the damaged Items, a Sioux dre
some or Hart's po e ions In Au- park department have kept the decorated with elks' teeth and
try's planned Western museum in museum clean, but Buchel, in her Intricate beadwork, now lies on a
Griffith Park. r port, sugge that they went couch in a bedroom once shared by
The volunteer housekeepers I
Meanwhile, the Friends of Hart overboard. Hart's two 190-pound Great Dane .
Volunteer Support Group Museum have been raising funds
Th Friends or Harl Park u - and searching for museum tour planned to dry-clean the Nava o
um, group of supporter who have guides. The group wa able to
worried about the facility for years, match a 2,500 donation from Aet-
elicvc that it I on the verge or na L fe & Casualty to finance an
rena1 nee. ll was the Friends Inventory of the museum' hold-
who rais d the money lo hire ings-a necessary fir l step toward
con ultant Buchel to assess the documenting and pre erving the
condition of lhe Hart collection, collection.
and the group has pressed county Time-Consuming Inventory
official to devote more attention
and r ource to the museum. The Inventory is a grueling,
"It's not the bright, busy place it tedious exercise th l began la l
u cd to be. But I have gre t hop s month nd, Child ays, will requlr
we'll be able to turn the corn r and t le ta year to complet .
et it hap d up," Id Jim Y pie of So far, voluntee conducting the
Newh 11, the group' pr Id nt. Inv ntory h ve not m de It out or
A fl t step, 223,000 in county th villa' dining room. They ar
and tale money has be n nve l d mea urlng each cry tat goblet, all
n recent month in phy lcaJ Im- the llv rw re and china, the rug
prov men at the vllla, the r nch nd · ach sUck or f urnlture that
nd bunkhou e , which wer f a- Hart bought all al once betore he
tured in Hart' W tern potbo I . moved here In 1928. The measure-
urity larm h ve b en in- ments and descrlpt on or ach Item
talled, nd clim te control devic ar jotted In a book. and very
h ve b en dded to protect the article Is numbered In India Ink.
building 'cont n . lnor challeng h ve roken
Th mu um al might g t b ck ome or the monotony. A lock d
it curatorial staff. cabinet ent Phillip hunting
M um of Natural History off - through a box of the mans on'
cial , who would I ke lo h v th k ys. (Th cabinet contained a
facll ty relurned to th ir juri die- number or empty sacks.)
t on, have a ked the Bo rd or A photograph of Hart's favorite