Museums, Do you Copy?: Standards on the Care and Handling of Facsimiles Exhibited in Museums

This project aims to analyze the current practices of the care and handling of facsimiles in museums in the United States. Once exhibited in the museum, facsimiles become part of the history of the museum. However, my research reveals that facsimiles are often mistreated because they are categorized as facsimiles, unattributed, or are not part of the museum's collection. With this project, I present guidelines to the museum collections management and registration field on proper care and handling methods for facsimiles exhibited in the United States so that museums may avoid mistreating what was once exhibited in their galleries, and give the attention that facsimiles deserve as they serve a didactic purpose, and represent the artists’ intention and integrity of the original.