Learn how to take care of your collectibles at museum workshop

Nearly every home is a bit of a museum.

There's the photo album or a collection of this or that.

A free public workshop Tuesday evening at the Nevada State Museum will give people tips on how to take care of their personal museums.

Paintings conservator Victoria Montana Ryan from the Arts Conservation Center at the University of Denver will discuss the proper techniques and available materials to extend the life of your collections.

"She's going to use examples like silver and quilts," said Sue Ann Monteleone, the museum's registrar. "She will give basic information about caring for collections. She is an expert on paintings so she can give pointers on portraits."

The special museum lecture starts at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday. Use the north entrance off the museum plaza.

Ryan will be giving similar, though more advanced, workshops Wednesday and Thursday for museum staffs from throughout Northern Nevada. Representatives from the Nevada Museum of Art, the National Automobile Museum, the Nevada State Railroad Museum, the Nevada Historical Society, the Churchill County Museum and the Carson Valley Museum will be at the Nevada State Museum to hear Ryan.

All employees at the Nevada State Museum - from curators to security and maintenance workers - are invited to sit in on Ryan's talks, which deal with basics like the right way to handle objects to more advanced topics.

Even the curating staff expects to learn a lot from Ryan, especially more recent techniques in the museum industry. Monteleone said many of the museum's curators haven't done course work in five years.

"Most of the curating staff has some training in this but we would all like to brush up in what's current in conservation issues," Monteleone said. "Our support staff - maintenance, clerical, security - have never gotten to go to a class. Everything that happens in a museum affects the collection. When you mop the floor, it adds humidity."

What: Lecture on how to care for your home collection

When: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday

Where: Nevada State Museum, 600 N. Carson St., use north entrance

Cost: free