Emergency Planning & Collection Recovery Services
Burke & Co. provides emergency preparedness, risk assessment, and recovery planning for private collectors, estates, museums, municipalities, and cultural institutions. Our approach combines museum emergency-planning practices with practical solutions tailored to the collection, its environment, and the risks specific to Florida, including hurricanes, flooding, water intrusion, power loss, and other emergencies.
Emergency & Disaster Planning
Development of customized emergency response plans for art and collections, including procedures for preparation, evacuation, stabilization, communication, and recovery before, during, and after an emergency.Collection Risk Assessments
Evaluation of homes, galleries, collection storage areas, and outdoor environments to identify vulnerabilities related to weather, water, climate, storage, display, security, and other potential threats to collection property.Collection Prioritization & Salvage Planning
Identification of priority objects for protection, evacuation, or recovery based on factors such as significance, condition, material vulnerability, value, location, and difficulty of replacement.Collection Inventories & Emergency Documentation
Documentation and cataloging of collections, including photography, object information, locations, values, and other records necessary to support emergency preparedness, insurance documentation, and post-event recovery.Material-Specific Risk Planning
Assessment of the particular vulnerabilities of paintings, works on paper, photography, sculpture, decorative arts, furniture, outdoor artwork, and other collection materials, with recommendations for appropriate preventive measures.Hurricane & Severe Weather Preparedness
Pre-storm planning for collections and outdoor artwork, including recommendations for securing, relocating, protecting, or documenting vulnerable objects and establishing procedures that can be implemented when severe weather threatens.Emergency Storage & Relocation Planning
Identification and coordination of appropriate temporary or long-term fine art storage, transportation, and relocation options when collections cannot safely remain onsite.Emergency Response & Recovery Coordination
Post-event assessment and coordination of appropriate conservators, art handlers, storage facilities, transportation providers, and other specialists needed to stabilize and recover affected collection property.Conservation & Specialist Coordination
Access to a vetted network of conservators, art handlers, transport specialists, fabricators, storage providers, and other professionals appropriate to the materials and circumstances involved.Insurance & Claims Documentation Support
Assistance documenting affected collection property and coordinating information needed by collectors, insurers, adjusters, conservators, and other professionals following damage or loss.Collection Advocacy & Recovery Oversight
Representation of the collection owner's interests during a recovery effort, helping prioritize appropriate handling, stabilization, conservation, transportation, and storage while coordinating communication among the professionals involved.
Prepared Before an Emergency. Supported After One.
Effective emergency planning begins well before a storm or other event occurs. Burke & Co. works with clients to understand their collections, identify vulnerabilities, establish priorities, and create practical procedures that can be implemented when needed.
When an emergency does occur, we can also assist with the transition from immediate response to long-term recovery—helping coordinate the specialized professionals, documentation, conservation, transportation, storage, and collection decisions necessary to protect affected property and move the recovery process forward.