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Friday, February 19, 2021
'We Have Food, Air Mattresses, and Dog Food': Texas Museums Are Sheltering Staff and Running on Generators Amid Devastating Storms
news.artnet.com: Millions of Texans are still living in the cold and darkness as once-in-a-lifetime storms cause widespread power outages throughout the state. While many people have been sitting in their cars with the heat blasting, museums have been relying on generators the size of small sedans in order to maintain the temperatures needed to properly protect artworks.
5 comments:
Vanessa Mills
said...
I have several family members that live in Texas, so I’ve been hearing about the conditions there since the cold front started. The conditions that people have been living in have also been all over social media in the past week. However, I never even thought about the museums and the artwork that rely on temperature control to remain in their perfect condition. The fact that the power has been so unreliable in Texas definitely poses a huge threat to the artwork in the museums and there’s also the question of how long these generators can power the museums. If this cold front goes on for too long, could they possibly run out of ways to fill the generators with the gas that they require? I would also like to add that it’s not entirely the electric companies’ faults that the power is unreliable. Yes, they are prepared for hurricanes and hot summers, but Texas has never been this cold before. The entire state is unprepared for this kind of weather. Hopefully, this prompts government officials to actually believe in and take action against climate change.
The museums initiative to do this for their employees is incredible. Knowing that they have to have an emergency preparedness team because of the priceless art in their care means that they will be ten times more prepared for anything than any individual residence will be. Using their resources to help out their employees is a fantastic way for them to give back to the people who make their space function. Showing that level of care from an employer to an employee is also wonderful because it shows the family like nature of the organization and how much they truly care about their employees. The fact that they also have dog food stocked is, I think, adorable and very thoughtful. Seeing an entire state be completely devastated by a cold winter storm like this is absolutely horrifying, especially knowing that in other states it would be much less of a concern. It just makes me think about the variety of things that everyone should be prepared for no matter how rare the occurrence may be.
Until reading this, I hadn’t even thought about museums needing to keep some power running to protect the artwork. I’m glad they are able to offer shelter to some employees; what is happening in Texas is… something else entirely and so abnormal (hi climate change!). Snow storms are a norm in some parts of the country, but definitely not in Texas. I listened to a podcast about this, which focused on how the Texas electrical grid works and why that is such an integral part of this discussion (The Daily, from Wednesday Feb. 17 if anyone was interested). Texas’ grid is completely separate from surrounding states; usually, states will connect with one another and be able to borrow power if something happens but not in Texas. It will be interesting to see how they adjust their practices after this; the entire globe is seeing the effects of climate change and this is one example.
It is truly heartbreaking what is happening in Texas and the lack of attention people are giving the situation. Texas truly does not have the infrastructure to survive any sort of snow and they did not have to until very recently. Climate change is a huge problem and it is time that our congressmen and government officials start holding big companies responsible for damaging our environment to be point where it's snowing in Texas. I have noticed a bunch of northerner telling Texas that they are overreacting and the snow is not even that bad, so many comments like "oh it snowed 2 feet in Michigan only 2 inches in Texas" and I think that's why people have not given Texas the attention it needs to recover from this. Companies are also taking advantage of all the people who are struggling in this situation and cutting off power to conserve power and such and such. Overall Texas is a mess right now and hopefully this will help people realize just how big of a problem climate change is. "When it snows in Texas" used to be a saying people said for the unbelievable now due to climate change it has happened.
I have quite a bit of family and multiple friends in Texas who have been completely thrown off by this weather. My aunt and one of my friends both separately lost their power and their water. It heartens me to see that the museum is taking in its staff and keeping them safe, however it also confuses me a bit. If there are so many people suffering besides your staff members, why not open it as a shelter altogether? Maybe I am too hopeful of how things can happen but I know in Florida during hurricanes and other natural disasters, shelters appear in the least likely of places. Considering the museum has “generators the size of small sedans” I feel like that would help a lot of people. I do acknowledge there are issues in too many people within an enclosed space during the pandemic, as well as worrying about the art pieces being stolen.
5 comments:
I have several family members that live in Texas, so I’ve been hearing about the conditions there since the cold front started. The conditions that people have been living in have also been all over social media in the past week. However, I never even thought about the museums and the artwork that rely on temperature control to remain in their perfect condition. The fact that the power has been so unreliable in Texas definitely poses a huge threat to the artwork in the museums and there’s also the question of how long these generators can power the museums. If this cold front goes on for too long, could they possibly run out of ways to fill the generators with the gas that they require? I would also like to add that it’s not entirely the electric companies’ faults that the power is unreliable. Yes, they are prepared for hurricanes and hot summers, but Texas has never been this cold before. The entire state is unprepared for this kind of weather. Hopefully, this prompts government officials to actually believe in and take action against climate change.
The museums initiative to do this for their employees is incredible. Knowing that they have to have an emergency preparedness team because of the priceless art in their care means that they will be ten times more prepared for anything than any individual residence will be. Using their resources to help out their employees is a fantastic way for them to give back to the people who make their space function. Showing that level of care from an employer to an employee is also wonderful because it shows the family like nature of the organization and how much they truly care about their employees. The fact that they also have dog food stocked is, I think, adorable and very thoughtful. Seeing an entire state be completely devastated by a cold winter storm like this is absolutely horrifying, especially knowing that in other states it would be much less of a concern. It just makes me think about the variety of things that everyone should be prepared for no matter how rare the occurrence may be.
Until reading this, I hadn’t even thought about museums needing to keep some power running to protect the artwork. I’m glad they are able to offer shelter to some employees; what is happening in Texas is… something else entirely and so abnormal (hi climate change!). Snow storms are a norm in some parts of the country, but definitely not in Texas. I listened to a podcast about this, which focused on how the Texas electrical grid works and why that is such an integral part of this discussion (The Daily, from Wednesday Feb. 17 if anyone was interested). Texas’ grid is completely separate from surrounding states; usually, states will connect with one another and be able to borrow power if something happens but not in Texas. It will be interesting to see how they adjust their practices after this; the entire globe is seeing the effects of climate change and this is one example.
It is truly heartbreaking what is happening in Texas and the lack of attention people are giving the situation. Texas truly does not have the infrastructure to survive any sort of snow and they did not have to until very recently. Climate change is a huge problem and it is time that our congressmen and government officials start holding big companies responsible for damaging our environment to be point where it's snowing in Texas. I have noticed a bunch of northerner telling Texas that they are overreacting and the snow is not even that bad, so many comments like "oh it snowed 2 feet in Michigan only 2 inches in Texas" and I think that's why people have not given Texas the attention it needs to recover from this. Companies are also taking advantage of all the people who are struggling in this situation and cutting off power to conserve power and such and such. Overall Texas is a mess right now and hopefully this will help people realize just how big of a problem climate change is. "When it snows in Texas" used to be a saying people said for the unbelievable now due to climate change it has happened.
I have quite a bit of family and multiple friends in Texas who have been completely thrown off by this weather. My aunt and one of my friends both separately lost their power and their water. It heartens me to see that the museum is taking in its staff and keeping them safe, however it also confuses me a bit. If there are so many people suffering besides your staff members, why not open it as a shelter altogether? Maybe I am too hopeful of how things can happen but I know in Florida during hurricanes and other natural disasters, shelters appear in the least likely of places. Considering the museum has “generators the size of small sedans” I feel like that would help a lot of people. I do acknowledge there are issues in too many people within an enclosed space during the pandemic, as well as worrying about the art pieces being stolen.
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