Ninepipes Museum benefits from preservation grant

The Ninepipes Museum of Early Montana made good use of a $6,500 grant awarded by the Foundation for Montana History this year. This grant funded new vertical shelving for the museum’s stored art collection, humidifiers to stabilize humidity levels during winter months, an upright freezer to ensure new collections entering the museum are pest-free, and archival supplies to safely store collections.

All of these essential projects stemmed a preservation assessment that began in 2019 when the

museum was awarded funds from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

“Each year, Ninepipes Museum applies for grants from various sources to help complete projects identified in the preservation assessment,” notes collections curator Amy Webster. “All of this is possible because of that one grant which led to other grants that support our efforts to keep our collections in line with professional standards of care.”

Executive director Jo Cheff says preserving its collection is central to Ninepipes’ mission.  

“We want the next generation to be able to learn from the history we are sharing, so we take preservation seriously,” she said.

Ninepipes Museum also hosts interns every year from the Historic Preservation program at Salish Kootenai College, so the grants give them valuable work opportunities and

experiences in the museum field.

“In this way it isn’t just the museum that benefits, but the whole community,” said Cheff. The museum closes for the season Dec. 10.