Hi there!

Finally, something I can talk about with some authority! ;)
Having come from the background of public history (historical societies) -
archives - records management, here's my suggestions...

If your office does  not want to keep the portraits for extended periods of
time, please contact the local historical society (city, county, state).
Especially if the subject was active in the local area.

As for the documentation on the portraits, I would keep that as permanent
(or however long you keep the portraits). For one thing, it provides the
provenance of the portrait. For another, it allows whoever cares for the
portrait (you or wherever you donate the portrait) to assign a value to the
portrait & therefore obtain the proper amount of insurance on it. Wherever
the paintings go, I strongly suggest the documentation of the portrait
should go with it (or at least the major information).

Should you decide to keep the portraits, there are many sites on the
internet that can point you in the right direction for how to care for
them. CoOL (conservation on-line website) <http://palimpsest.stanford.edu/>
is an excellent place to start, as is the American Institute for
Conservation of Historical and Artistic Works <http://aic.stanford.edu/>.
Wilhelm research website (can't think of the address off the top of my
head, but a Google search should bring it up) will provide info. on
lighting recommendations. Light Impressions company
<www.lightimpressionsdirect.com> sells archival supplies related to artwork
(photos mostly, but also other hanging artwork).

Best wishes!
Bridgette

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Bridgette A. Kelly, Archivist
United Church of Christ
700 Prospect Avenue
Cleveland, OH  44115
(p) 216-736-2106  (f) 216-736-2203
(Toll free phone) 1-866-UCC-UCC4 (822-8224) x2106
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