26 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



V 



CONSIDERATIONS FOR FUTURE GROWTH OF THE 



MUSEUM 



As at present arranged, the Museum of Science is in very effec- 

 tive and pleasing quarters. The halls are imposing in all dimen- 

 sions and agreeable in their architectural treatment. The casing of 

 the various exhibits is essentially new throughout and their com- 

 position and grouping appropriate. It must be made clear, how- 

 ever, that every economy of space must be practised in order to 

 present the collections adequately, and it should be understood that 

 the exhibited collections in the present building can never be but a 

 fraction of what they should be, as in fact they are today but a 

 fraction of what the Museum now owns. The maintenance of the 

 collections therefore must be a continuous process of elimination 

 and substitution, of replacement of the good by the better until 

 quality shall be paramount where quantity is impracticable. The 

 danger here is that the want of space may force the Museum to 

 inadequacy of appropriate display. 



To enhance the attractiveness and the educational value of the 

 Museum a proper treatment of the walls is essential. These great 

 halls (those on the main floor having a total straight length of 

 nearly 700 feet) are divided and relieved by panels 30 feet high, 

 arched at the top. Now they carry only the plain finish left by the 

 architect, and the vast surface they cover is unrelieved except by 

 their form and the upspringing arches of the overhead iron work. 

 These walls should be appropriately decorated, if not all, at least in 

 part, and it is the Director's conception that a symbolic treatment 

 suggested by the spirit of the place, continuous in theme though 

 interrupted by the borders of the panels, confined to the lunettes of 

 the arches or at least covering only the upper and atmospheric 

 parts of the walls, is essential to give these majestic halls their true 

 dignity. 



