The DMA considers direct care of its collection to be any investment or expenditure that enhances the life, usefulness, or quality of its collection objects. Investments or expenditures that ensure the longevity of the Museum's collection and thereby ensure that the objects will continue to be available to the public for years to come are considered direct care of the collection.
Direct care of the collection may include any of the following:
- Supplies
- Equipment
- Salary and benefits for staff (including curators, registrars, conservators, and preparators)
- Cost of contract conservators, when necessary
- Costs for shipping to/from a contract conservator’s lab or between DMA and off-site storage for examination or storage
- Curatorial and registrarial salaries and benefits
- Additional temporary staffing (for instance, for object research and project management)
- Expenditures involved with inspection of objects at off-site storage facilities
- Shipping and crating
- The DMA has eight storage vaults on its premises and also stores works off-site at a fine arts climate-controlled warehouse.
Lack of storage space is a common problem faced by most large institutions. In addition, contemporary works tend to be large and to require a correspondingly large storage footprint. Off-site storage is often necessary to keep the collection safe. The DMA considers the cost of off-site storage a necessary expense to ensure the longevity of its collection.
The DMA will periodically assess its storage vaults in order to determine if housing for any objects needs to be improved. The costs related to housing improvements are also considered direct care of the collection.
Any use of funds for direct care of the collection will first be recommended by the Museum’s Director to the DMA Committee on Collections. If the committee approves the proposed expenditure, its recommendation will be submitted to the DMA Board of Trustees for final approval.