What Goes on Inside Getty’s Vaults?

Franziska Bunse places a black-and-white photograph under a camera in the Getty Research Institute (GRI)’s conservation labs. The Getty graduate intern is hard at work, documenting objects from a photograph collection spanning prints and negatives from the 19th and 20th centuries.

“Being so close to an object offers such a unique, intimate moment between an artwork and yourself,” says Bunse, who is a trained paintings conservator with a focus on preventive conservation. “I love that practical aspect of being a conservator and working to protect artworks.”

Bunse documented the condition of the photograph as part of her yearlong internship with the Getty Conservation Institute (GCI)’s Collections and Science departments, which respectively work to advance the conservation of movable heritage (a broad category that includes everything from delicate photos on paper to metal or stone sculpture) and carry out scientific research to advance conservation practice. One of her main tasks took her inside the GRI’s vaults as part of a project to rethink how archives can be stored more sustainably.

Collections like those in the vaults are typically kept in nearly static conditions that fall within a narrow temperature and relative humidity range. This one-size-fits-all approach is often not the most environmentally or financially sustainable, and the GCI’s Managing Collection Environments (MCE) Initiative is exploring ways to change that. MCE has traditionally focused on museum collections comprised of artworks, but recently saw an opportunity to expand its purview to archives, just as the GRI was exploring ways to manage its collections more sustainably. Bunse joined a team of scientists, conservators, and facilities and sustainability experts from across Getty to implement new storage conditions in a GRI vault that houses photographs and photographic materials as part of these efforts.

Over the course of a year, the team is testing wider temperature ranges and humidity levels that are efficient, adaptable, and ultimately more sustainable. “The hope is that this new management model will be implemented in other vaults at the GRI and tailored to the needs of each one in a way that widens those storage-condition parameters to save more energy,” Bunse says.

She was initially drawn to the internship because it aligned with her interests and background in preventive conservation. This subfield of the discipline involves taking action to stop damage to collections and objects before it occurs. Before coming to Getty, Bunse was a scientific assistant at the Rathgen Research Laboratory (the oldest conservation science lab in the world) and wrote a master’s thesis on the preventive conservation of contemporary paintings. “When I learned there is research in sustainability efforts focused on cultural heritage, I absolutely wanted to be a part of that,” she says.

Inside the Vault

The black-and-white photograph is stored in one of over 11,000 enclosures in the vault, some of which have the capacity to hold hundreds of prints and negatives. The team selected a handful of these enclosures to use as test cases for the pilot project, carefully picking sections that represent the breadth of objects in the GRI’s photo collections. Among these are rare and more vulnerable works like paper negatives—an early form of negatives where paper was coated with silver salts before being exposed to light to make an image—chosen to explore how different objects respond to varying conditions.

To support the GRI’s ongoing work with these collections, the team provided her with hands-on training to create detailed condition reports for each object. She carefully photographed and measured them and assessed any conservation concerns, and consulted the Getty team in order to be aware of any preexisting vulnerabilities. She also learned how to conduct color analyses to gain a fuller understanding of the “before” condition of these works. Following the conclusion of the test phase next year, the team will assess how the new storage conditions might have affected the artworks based on these reports and information collected with electronic data loggers in each enclosure.

Bunse was familiar with similar studies focused on singular objects, but nothing at this scale. “I hope this can inspire archives in different places to rethink their climate conditions and consider adapting more sustainable solutions that help cut down on energy usage and expenses while providing safe storage for the objects,” she says.

Building Bridges at Getty and Beyond

In addition to assessing each artwork’s condition, Bunse had regular meetings with the project team to discuss any necessary adaptations to the climate strategies. She also supported a sustainable management workshop at Getty for conservators, curators, and facilities specialists from the Americas. “This is such a collaborative project where so many different entities across Getty are working together,” Bunse says. “I really learned the importance of communication and having the support of different groups. Sustainability work is not something you can do alone.”

This collaborative culture extended across Getty’s campus and within her intern cohort, which included 34 participants from 12 countries. She says the networks and friendships she’s formed will last far beyond the internship term. “It’s a big privilege to be surrounded by so many experts,” she recounts. “What I liked at Getty is that it is not only welcomed but actively encouraged to reach out to different departments.”

Bunse was also able to expand her network on her study trip, during which she visited conservation labs at museums along the East Coast and in Canada to see different techniques, materials, and approaches used by other institutions. In addition to getting to know other conservators, she learned more about topics she had discussed with her colleagues back at Getty, including community-focused conservation that centers local groups and Indigenous peoples in decision-making related to cultural heritage objects. “Being able to explore different cities and their cultures through a conservation lens was incredibly inspiring,” she recalls. “My experiences reaffirmed that my dream would be to find a role that mixes this hands-on approach with a research environment.”

She’s found that mix in her new role as a junior conservator at the Stichting Restauratie Atelier Limburg (SRAL) in the Netherlands, where she’ll work with canvas paintings, panel paintings, and gilt leather. “Engaging with a wide range of materials and learning about their specific preservation needs through this internship prepared me for the diverse conservation projects at SRAL,” she says. “I’ve also had the opportunity to delve further into sustainability in conservation and heritage science. It’s a topic that is close to my heart, and I want to continue focusing on that wherever I go.”