Greater Hudson Heritage Network (formerly Lower Hudson Conference of Historical Agencies & Museums) has awarded nearly $120,000 in conservation treatment grants to 27 organizations, located in 18 counties of New York, in association with the Museum Program of the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA). These 2009 awards bring the total granted by this statewide program to over $1 million since the Conservation Treatment Grant program began in 2000. The grant funds will provide treatment by professional conservators to aid in stabilizing, preserving, and making accessible to the public an array of unique objects in collections of New York’s museums, historical and cultural organizations of all sizes.
2009 grants will support treatment of ancient Greek kylizes and contemporary bronze sculpture, printed earthenware, silk and woven textiles, and oil paintings—such as an 18th c. Cuzco School Madonna and Child, 19th c. portraits, and 20th c. landscapes with their carved, gilt frames- a 28 ft. wall mural, an early 20th c. Grand Advertising Curtain, and Frank Stella’s Big Gur. Diverse objects such as artist Thomas Cole’s Top Hat, a Leather Fire Hose, panoramic photograph of Gloversville, The Caudebec Inn 1920’s Hotel Register, a plaster bull sculpture maquette, carriages, coaches, a newsprint sign and a Native American clam basket are among the artifacts stewarded by collecting and exhibiting institutions from Rochester to Rhinebeck receiving conservation treatment support through the 2009 grant program.
Grants are awarded for prioritized, urgently needed conservation of objects that, once treated, will impact public interpretive programs, exhibitions and education. Non-profit organizations with stewardship responsibility for cultural collections, (but without in-house conservation staff) were eligible applicants- state or federally owned collections are ineligible for support. Grant funding can treat paintings, works on paper, textiles, furniture, sculpture, ethnographic, historical and decorative objects, and may also support accompanying professional treatment of frames, supports, stands and mounts if integral to the final public presentation of the object, after conservation.
Greater Hudson Heritage Network works to provide support for conservation treatments that are executed on the highest professional level. The field of conservation is continually changing, with pioneering research and dissemination of findings on innovative materials and techniques. Although there are many paths into the field of conservation, we acknowledge practitioners who have demonstrated high levels of proficiency and advanced knowledge, adherence to the ethics and standards of the American Institute of Conservation (AIC), and are recognized for their expertise in the museum field.
An evaluation of the first five years of the Conservation Treatment Grant Program reported that these grants led to public impact outcomes beyond the actual conservation of museum objects, including heightened appreciation of the collections, and increased public awareness of the institution’s role as steward, and has proven a spark to further institutional, strategic, financial and long-range conservation planning. Beyond these outcomes, grant recipients reported that Conservation Treatment funding prompted fuller use of collections (for exhibition, web content and loan), enhanced interpretive capability, and expanded opportunities to educate the public about art, history, humanities, the science of conservation, and museum work.
41 grant applications were received at Greater Hudson from institutions in 23 counties of New York State, requesting an aggregate of nearly $192,000 in grant support. 27 awards totaling approximately $120,000 were recommended by a peer panel of conservators, curators and museum professionals. Individual 2009 Conservation Treatment Grants range from $555 to $7,500.
Of the 27 funded institutions, 63% have annual budgets under $360,000 (15% with operating budgets of less than $50,000), and 37% have budgets greater than $400,000 (15% of those have budgets of $400-$750,000- 15% are in the $1.8 million – $4.5 million range, and 7% operate at over $17 million). Organizational annual operating budgets of 2009’s grant recipients span a stunning range from $3,400 to $18.7 million.
Information on the statewide Conservation Treatment Grant Program, including grant guidelines and an archive of past grant awards, visit www.greaterhudson.org, or contact Greater Hudson Heritage Network Executive Director Tema Harnik: 914.592.6726- [email protected].
Congratulations to these 2009 Conservation Treatment Grant Recipients:
Albright-Knox Art Gallery/ Buffalo Fine Arts Academy, Buffalo (Erie County).
$ 2775 for conservation treatment of a 1960 bronze sculpture Man Walking (Version 1,) by Alberto Giacometti, and 1957 oil painting, George Went Swimming at Barnes Hole, but It Got Too Cold, by Joan Mitrchell- work to be done by conservators Stefan Dedecek and Robert Lodge of McKay Lodge Fine Arts Conservation Laboratory, Inc.
John D. Barrow Art Gallery, Skaneateles (Onondaga County).
$ 7500 for treatment of the oil painting Trees with Sunset by John D. Barrow, and its frame. treatment to be done by conservator Susan Blakney, West Lake Conservators Ltd.
Thomas Cole National Historic Site (Cedar Grove), Catskill (Greene County)
$ 2930 for conservation treatment of Thomas Cole’s Black Silk Top Hat, and its original box- work to be done by textile conservator Gwen Spicer, Spicer Art Conservation LLC.
Columbia County Historical Society, Kinderhook (Columbia County).
$ 2967 for conservation of a pair of early 19th c. printed objects: an earthenware pitcher and a cotton textile featuring the Declaration of Independence- to be treated by objects conservator Monica Berry, and textile conservator Gwen Spicer, Spicer Art Conservation, LLC.
Depauville Free Library, Depauville (Jefferson County)
$ 7487 for treatment of an early 20th c. Grand Advertising Drape- work to be done by conservator Susan Blakney, West Lake Conservators, Ltd.
Derfner Judaica Museum at the Hebrew Home at Riverdale, Riverdale (Bronx County)
$ 5035 for conservation treatment and stabilization of a 19th c. European velvet embroidered applique Torah ark valance- work to be done by textile conservator Judith Eisenberg.
FASNY Museum of Firefighting, Hudson (Columbia County)
$ 4764 for conservation of an early 19th c. copper riveted leather fire hose- to be treated by objects conservator Abigail Mack.
Friends of Raynham Hall, Inc., Oyster Bay (Nassau County)
$ 2800 for conservation of an oil portrait of William Fondey of Albany, by an unknown artist- work to be done by conservator paintings conservator Jonathan Sherman, Sherman Art Conservation.
Fulton County Historical Society, Gloversville (Fulton County)
$ 555 for conservation of a c. 1920 panoramic photograph of downtown Gloversville and its frame- treatment to be done by paper conservator Ellen Riggs Tillapaugh.
Godwin-Ternbach Museum, Queens College Foundation, Flushing (Queens County)
$ 4430 for treatment of the 18th c. Peruvian Cuzco School oil on panel painted Madonna and Child, work to be done by paintings conservator Alexander Katlan, Alexander Katlan Conservator, Inc.
Greater Patchogue Historical Society, Patchogue (Suffolk County)
$ 7500 for conservation of a 28Ft painted mural, Scene Along the Patchogue River by Robert Zoeller- work to be done by paintings conservator Jonathan Sherman, Sherman Art Conservation.
Harness Racing Museum & Hall o
f Fame, Goshen (Orange County)
$ 2440 for treatment of Richard McMahon’s silk Driving Jacket- work to be done by textile conservator Gwen Spicer, Spicer Art Conservation, LLC.
Historic Cherry Hill, Albany (Albany County)
$ 4856 for conservation of two winter landscape paintings by Walter Launt Palmer: Vorheesville Creek and Cedars- work to be done by paintings conservator Matthew Cushman, Willamstown Art Conservation Center.
Judd Foundation, New York (New York County)
$ 7500 for conservation of the 1967 painting Big Gur by Frank Stella- work to be done by paintings conservator Luca Bonetti, Luca Bonetti, Corp.
King Manor Association of L.I., Inc., Jamaica (Queens County)
$ 4074 for conservation treatment of the 19th c. oil portrait of Eliza Grace King Halsey, her cerise Kashmir shawl and her ribbon fragment of a sash worn by General Lafayette on his last visit to America- work to be done by paintings conservator Alexander Katlan, Alexander Katlan Conservator, Inc., and textile conservator Mary Kaldany, Textile Conservation Workshop.
Long Island Museum of American Art, History & Carriages, Stony Brook (Suffolk County).
$ 3055 towards the structural conservation treatment of 6 carriages and coaches- work to be done by objects conservator Valerie Reich Hunt.
Memorial Art Gallery of the University of Rochester, Rochester (Monroe County)
$ 7500 for the conservation of two ancient Greek Kylixes, an African Senufo helmet mask and a Native American Puget Sound Clam Basket- treatments to be done by objects conservator Barbara Moore.
Museum of Jewish Heritage-a Living Memorial to the Holocaust, New York (New York County)
$ 6475 for conservation of a 1935 newprint sign “Avoid Jewish Businesses!” – treatment to be done by paper conservator Caroline Rieger, Rieger Art Conservation..
Neversink Valley Area Museum, Cuddebackville (Orange County).
$ 2296 for conservation of the Caudebec Inn Hotel Register, 1908-1913- treatment to be done by paper conservator Michele Phillips, The Paper Lab, LLC.
New-York Historical Society, New York (New York County)
$ 6600 for conservation of the c. 1858 oil painting Morning in the Blue Ridge Mountains, Va, by William Sonntag and its original frame- treatment to be done by paintings conservator Kenneth S. Moser, and Eduardo Larrea, Larrea Studio, Inc.
Niagara County Historical Society, Lockport (Niagara County).
$ 2400 for treatment of the 1822 engraved Van Rensselaer Geological Profile Extending from the Atlantic to Lake Erie, highlighting the Erie Canal- work to be done by paper conservator Tracy Dulniak, Great Lakes conservation of NY, LLC.
Onondaga Historical Association Museum & Research Center, Syracuse (Onondaga County).
$ 3951 for conservation treatment of the original Roccoco Revival frame for the painted Portrait of Moses Dewitt Burnet (c.1841), attributed to Charles Loring Elliott- work to be done by painting and frame conservator John Sutton, West Lake Conservators, Ltd.
Seneca Falls Historical Society, Seneca Falls (Seneca County)
$ 4207 for conservation of the 1827 oil portrait of Wilhelmus Mynderse painted by Thomas Wentworth- treatment to be done by paintings conservator Susan Blakney, West Lake Conservators, Ltd. Frame conservation to be done by Gregory Johnson, Heirloom Picture Framing.
Smithtown Historical Society, Smithtown (Suffolk County)
$ 3537 for the conservation of the plaster maquette of the Smithtown Bull Statue of Whisper, created by sculptor Charles Carey Rumsey- treatment to be done by objects conservator I. Joseph Chiarello
Southold Historical Society, Southold (Suffolk County).
$ 3775 for conservation of two period carved frames for works by Edward Bell and Irving R. Wiles- work to be done by Rhonda Feinman, Custom Frames, Inc..
Southworth Library Association, Dryden (Tompkins County)
$ 2905 for treatment of the 1804 oil portrait of Jeremiah Dwhight by AJ Purdy, and its frame- work to be done by conservators Susan Blakney and John Sutton, West Lake Conservators, Ltd.
Wilderstein Preservation, Rhinebeck (Dutchess County).
$ 5380 for conservation of the portrait of Mrs. Robert Sands and its frame- treatment to be done by conservators Thomas Branchick and Hugh Glover of Williamstown Art Conservation Center.