Client: Art Museums of Colonial Williamsburg

Location: Virginia, USA

Colonial Williamsburg is 301-acres of engaging living history and the world’s largest U.S. history museum.

Originally founded as the capital of the Virginia Colony in the late 1700s, Williamsburg was the hub of life for the colony and the largest British settlement in the New World. During the American Revolution, Williamsburg was poignantly a center of political activity, and following the Declaration of Independence in 1776, Williamsburg sadly fell into slow decay when the capital was moved to Richmond.

In the 1920s a champion in the form of an Episcopal priest and historian had a vision to restore and preserve the dying Williamsburg. The Reverand William Archer Rutherfoord Goodwin became known as “the Father of Colonial Williamsburg” when he piqued John D. Rockefeller’s interest in his dream of restoring the old capital. Diligence and financial generosity paid off and the bones of the Colonial Williamsburg we enjoy today were laid.

Restorations have continued in the convening years and more recently, The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation celebrated the opening of the expanded and upgraded Art Museums. The Art Museum’s houses two world-class museums — the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Museum and the DeWitt Wallace Decorative Arts Museum.

Now open for visitors, the impeccably appointed and highly curated collection was deliciously inviting – perhaps a bit too much. It’s here the Art Museum’s visitors enjoy the beautiful displays, but they also want to “touch”. They were reaching in and placing the carefully curated collection at risk.

At this time, Absolute heard from James Armbruster, Museum Design Manager. The Art Museum’s needed a full suite of protective help. Once Absolutes products were installed, James commented:
 
“We’ve been having issues with our visitors getting too close and sometimes touching the works in all of our paintings galleries. We decided to line the walls with barriers and cord as a visual/psychological deterrent to help protect the collection. We have done the same with our decorative arts galleries by using platforms and your 14 inch posts and cord. So far, there have been fewer touching incidents.

We hope to continue specifying only Absolute barrier products whenever the need arises. We love the engineering, the sleek, clean lines, the easy installation, and their effectiveness.”