The Butler Institute of American Art opened in 1919 and was established by industrialist Joseph G. Butler Jr. as the first in the nation devoted solely to American art. The institute’s mission is to preserve and collect works of art in all media created by U.S. citizens. The institute successfully deployed the Camera Based Motion Alarming System (CBMAS) from Acuity-vct, Cleveland, to protect its holdings, which now exceed 20,000 individual works.
For years, the institute’s executive director, Dr. Louis Zona, had believed that there must be a more efficient way to protect the priceless collection of American Art during hours of operation. Historically, the Butler’s security staff used video surveillance to monitor visitor movements, insuring theft or damage did not occur. Though this method is appropriate for the vast majority of guests, Zona lost sleep for years worrying that there was a potential weakness in this strategy — a small group of individuals could create a diversion and then attempt the theft of a collection piece.