Asset Protection for Museums against Theft

Comprensive Object-Specific Protection for Every Piece

The security challenges faced by museums today are acute. Thefts from large and small institutions occur on a regular basis and serve to remind us that more has to be done to harden defenses against a number of threats, whether from without or within.

Increase accessibility, lower vulnerability
Common to any museum’s goal is the relationship between the viewer and the asset. Any facility is expected to balance presentation with protection – exhibiting objects to maximize visibility while protecting those same works from theft. This is a razor’s edge since anything short of placing an object behind glass and ropes and training the eyes of a guard and camera on it still leaves a question.

Art Guard MAP – Designed specifically for the challenges of museum security
Art Guard’s MAP wireless sensor is the only comprehensive object-specific security solution available for the multitude of challenges that museum security personnel face. Knowing when an object is moved without authorization should be paramount. MAP is comprehensive in its ability to provide discreet protection for hanging works, seated works, historical artifacts, tapestries, documents, books, and statuary. In short MAP can protect nearly any stationary piece of art or asset, no matter the size.

A favorite of conservators
MAP’s unique technology serves the demands for safety of the object, which often limits the use of other motion or vibration sensors. A small rare earth magnet is affixed to the object with inert museum wax or even wheat or rice paste. The MAP sensor is placed in close proximity. Affixing a tiny magnet instead of the sensor significantly decreases the affect on the fabric of the object and eliminates any danger of battery leakage.

A dedicated, versatile, flexible and affordable solution
MAP is installed in some of the country’s most prestigious museums, protecting nearly every conceivable type of asset from masterpiece paintings to small pieces of jewelry and from wall-mounted to seated pieces to the doors of cabinets and vitrines. Designed for precise protection, scalability and ease-of-use, MAP is the most affordable object-specific alarm system in terms of both capital investment and life cycle costs. It can be used on just a few vulnerable works of art, as an added layer of protection for works on loan or to alarm entire rooms. Registrars should be aware of the ability of a MAP system to travel with works loaned out, satisfying any legal concerns for protection. No other product can so effectively cover the security needs of a museum of any size. 

Reliable | Comprehensive | Safety | Flexible | Affordable

Reliable

  • MAP is employed by some of the most highly regarded institutions in the U.S.
  • Effective and discreet coverage with minimal false alarms
  • Industry standard check in and 4-5 year battery life with low battery alert

Comprehensive

  • No means of object-specific protection is as versatile as MAP
  • Can be applied to any stationary object, as well as to cabinets doors and vitrines

Safety

  • The tiny magnet can be attached with an inert adhesive or buffered with another material

Flexible

  • MAP can be deployed throughout a museum or in specific locations
  • A MAP system can be designed to travel with a show or works on loan
  • MAP systems are completely scalable

Affordable

  • No other security system as comprehensive in its coverage costs as little initially and over the course of its life as MAP
“We are a large mid-western museum and have used both Art Guard Safe Hook and the MAP sensors for several years now. MAP in particular has been most helpful in applications where stealth, dependability, and sensitivity to the art material being protected is required. It’s versatility and dependability have helped us protect masterpieces and meet the requirements of lenders from museums around the world.”

Director of Security, Large Midwest Museum

Art Guard
2017-02-13T23:14:24+00:00

Director of Security, Large Midwest Museum

“We are a large mid-western museum and have used both Art Guard Safe Hook and the MAP sensors for several years now. MAP in particular has been most helpful in applications where stealth, dependability, and sensitivity to the art material being protected is required. It’s versatility and dependability have helped us protect masterpieces and meet the requirements of lenders from museums around the world.”
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Art Guard

Due to the sensitive nature of security, we do not disclose clients’ names. Please contact us.

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You can’t stop the threat, but you CAN stop the act.

FACT: The FBI estimates that annual losses from art theft worldwide amount to 8 billion annually, but most experts agree that the real figure is far greater.

FACT: Only 3-4% of all stolen art is ever recovered.

FACT: Grab-and-run theft accounts for over 50% of art losses.

FACT: Interpol ranks as fourth-largest criminal enterprise after drugs, money laundering and weapons. And recovery rates are abysmally low, about five to eight per cent.

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