Flood Recovery of Haitian Paintings

Preserving Cultural Heritage After the 2024 Tampa Bay Hurricanes

In October 2024, the Tampa Bay area was devastated by back-to-back hurricanes, bringing unprecedented destruction not seen in over a millennium. The impact extended far beyond damaged homes and vehicles—valuable cultural heritage and artworks were also at risk.

One significant collection suffered severe damage, with four-foot floodwaters impacting irreplaceable pieces. The recovery and conservation efforts include variable-speed conservation vacuuming, microbial remediation, re-stretching, stabilization, and more to mitigate long-term damage and ensure their preservation.

Among these works are Haitian paintings, deeply significant both artistically and culturally. Tampa Bay collector Ed Gessen has spent decades traveling and acquiring an extraordinary selection of paintings, works on paper, and steel-drum sculptures. His generosity has made much of his collection accessible to the public through donations to the Tampa Museum of Art.

The paintings undergoing conservation today are slated for future exhibition at the museum, further enriching Tampa’s remarkable collection of Haitian art and ensuring these works continue to inspire for generations to come.