Display Cases in Museum of Indian Arts & Culture | Zone Display Cases

The Museum of Indian Arts & Culture, first opened in 1997 covers the history of the indigenous cultures of the Southwest, with a focus on New Mexico. The exhibition was closed between January 2020 and June 2022 when it underwent an extensive renovation. The new exhibition space houses more than 600 objects within the museum's Amy Rose Bloch Wing. Exhibition cases from Zone Display Cases were used to house the pieces.

Project Challenge

New Mexico has a mild, arid, or semi-arid, continental climate, characterized by relatively large annual temperature and humidity fluctuations as well as a variable air quality index (AQI). In addition, the conservation team had some concerns about the intrusion of fine sand and dust particles that could seep into the museum and damage the collections.

Solution

• The solution to the effects of the atmospheric conditions on organic artifacts was to install airtight display cases from Zone Display Cases, providing a safe microclimate.
• To achieve this, all cases provided were built with strict material tolerances to meet a specific air exchange rate. Every different case type was tested for air leakage during fabrication.
• Material samples for each component that would be in contact with the art envelope were sent to the museum’s curatorial and conservation team for approval, along with an Oddy test report for each of these materials.