Hit hard by powerful storm, Albany Museum declared ‘total loss’

Jan. 03--ALBANY -- Albany Museum of Art Executive Director Paula Williams stood in the flooded second floor of the museum and knew it was only a matter of time before the water made its way to the exhibition area.

"This is a disaster, the building is a total loss. The storm blew our roof off; it's gone," Williams said. "Thankfully, we have good insurance."

Williams added that staff and volunteers have been moving exhibits numbering in the thousands of pieces to a secure location.

"We are going to move all the exhibits, we are going to move everything," Williams said. "You have to remember we probably only display 20 percent of our collection at a time, so it's quite a few items. We also have a huge African Art collection, and we were determined not to lose it."

The line of storms struck late Monday night and early Tuesday morning, wreaking chaos throughout the city.

"It was a powerful line of thunderstorms," Parks Camp, science and operation officer for the National Weather Service office in Tallahassee, said. "There were straight-line winds, powerful winds, all along it."

Because of downed trees and power lines, Williams said she and her husband, Tim, walked to the museum at 9 a.m.

"We saw debris everywhere and had to come in through the kitchen, which was dry, and thought maybe it wasn't so bad," she said. "Then we noticed the water, and I could barely breathe. Upstairs, you could see sunlight through the ceiling and collapsed ceiling tiles were everywhere. The debris you saw outside is what is left of our roof.

"It's really overwhelming."

Also overwhelming was the number of trustees, staff and volunteers who showed up to try and save the works of art.

"It's been so awesome to see the trustees, staff and volunteers who showed up to carry things out," Williams said. " I called staff this morning and told them not to come in. They came anyway. What is really sad to me is to know what the Albany Museum has meant to this community, and I am grateful that we aren't going away.

"We have a disaster plan for this type of event, but we hoped we'd never have to use it," Williams said. "But we also have good insurance, and the company flew in two adjusters this morning. We'll know more this week."

In 1983, the museum moved into a new facility on Gillionville Road, with an exhibition of American Impressionism from the Phillips Collection and a permanent installation of its own collection of traditional African art. The growing collection of the AMA now includes 19th- and 20th-century American and European paintings, drawings, sculptures, watercolors, prints, and photographs, and what has become one of the largest collections of traditional African art in the Southeast outside of a university setting.

The museum offers more than 20 art exhibitions annually, including its permanent collection exhibits, and contains a 200-seat auditorium and a classroom for studio arts.

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