In the wake of Hurricane Sandy, our thoughts are with those affected during this difficult time and we at AIC would like to provide as much support as we can. 
On Sunday, November 4, speakers from the American Institute for Conservation Collections Emergency Response Team (AIC-CERT) and Museum of Modern Art’s conservation staff conducted an introductory workshop to relay helpful information to the many artists and galleries whose works were affected by Hurricane Sandy. They provided suggestions and answered questions on how to safely handle damaged paintings, drawings, books, sculptures, and other artistic and cultural materials. Resources, including the PowerPoint presentation from the workshop, are available on the MoMA website’s Recovery page . MoMA has also issued Immediate Response for Collections, a document offering step-by-step guidelines for dealing with artworks damaged by flooding, and we will continue to lend knowledge and support to those caring for collections affected by the storm.
The Alliance for Response is a national program on cultural heritage and disaster management. The New York City branch of this organization strives to connect emergency responders with representatives of the cultural heritage community throughout the 5 boroughs. Our goal is to strengthen mitigation and response capabilities through training exercises, development of local planning efforts and improved dialogue and partnerships.
In order to do this, we invite you or your institution to become an Alliance for Response New York member. As a member, you will receive information via email on response seminars and activities, as well as emergency alerts. As you receive information from us, we encourage you to work with your institution to disseminate that information as you see fit. We also hope that you will encourage other cultural institutions to join as well, no matter how large or small. For now, if you wish to become an Alliance for Response NYC member, please email Tina March directly at tina.march@brooklynmuseum.org and provide your name, title, institution affiliation, contact information including mailing address, email and phone number.
In addition, due to the devastating effects of hurricane Sandy on the NYC arts community, we are asking conservators of all specialties in the NYC area to contact us if they would like to be connected with institutions and individuals in need of assistance. Please note this in your email along with your area of expertise.
Also, for those of you who may unfortunately have suffered damage to your property as a result of Hurricane Sandy, Alexandra Darraby of the Art Law Firm (ALF) would like to offer pro bono services to AIC members from any practice area or committee for handling storm damage-related issues including communications with clients, adjusters and brokers, what to sign or not sign, preservation and documentation of potential evidence before and after claim, loss or “salvage”, inventory assessments and other related issues. Please email info@artlawfirm.com if you feel this would be helpful to you.