GHHN awards $138,157 statewide in
Conservation Treatment Grants for 2021
Greater Hudson Heritage Network (GHHN) is awarding $138,157 in conservation treatment grants to 25 organizations, located in 19 counties of New York State, in partnership with the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA).
From Long Island to the Finger Lakes to the Adirondacks, these 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 State's museums, historical, and cultural organizations of all sizes. The 2021 grants will support conservation needs of the many types of artifacts typically found in art and history museums and historical societies throughout New York State, including a large diorama, 1820 mahogany center table, modern bronze sculpture, 19th c. gilded wood and gesso mirror, Louis XIV style writing table, marching band drums, 1870’s opera cape, World War I US Army Air Services uniform, a free music machine and a selection of works of art on paper, textiles, paintings on canvas, and decorative arts.
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.
GHHN strives 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. In 2021's grants, treatment will be provided by 12 individual conservators and 6 conservation labs who will receive work as a result of being part of a successful application to the Conservation Treatment Grant program.
These grants lead to public impact outcomes beyond the actual conservation of museum objects, including new interest in the state's incredibly varied collections, increased public awareness of the museum's role as steward, and have proven a spark to further institutional, strategic, financial, and long-range conservation planning. Beyond these outcomes, grant recipients report that Conservation Treatment funding prompts greater 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 itself.
This year 43 grant applications were received at GHHN from institutions from 25 counties in New York State, requesting an aggregate of $289,862 in grant support. In all, requests were made for the treatment of 70 objects of which 25 organizational awards totaling $138,157 were recommended by a peer panel of conservators, curators, and museum professionals. Of the 25 institutions that received funding, 22 received full funding and 3 partial funding. 2021 Conservation Treatment Grant awards range from $1,920 to the maximum amount of $7,500.
Of the 43 applicant institutions, 25 had budgets under $300,000, 10 had budgets over $300,000 but below $1 million and 8 organizations had general operating budgets over $1 million. Organizational operating budgets of 2021's grant recipients span a stunning range from $830 to $32 million.
Conservation Grant Recipients:
Bard College
(Dutchess County)
$7,169 for the conservation of two 18th-century watercolor portraits, signed by Miriam Sands, of Dr. Samuel Bard (1742-1821) and his wife Mary Bard (1746-1821); work to be done by The Williamstown Art Conservation Center.
Bartow-Pell Mansion Museum*
(Bronx County)
$4,500 for the conservation of gilt-stenciled and bronze-mounted mahogany center table in the manner of Duncan Phyfe; work to be done by Cynthia Moyer, Gilding and Decorative Arts Conservation.
Clinton County Historical Association
(Clinton County)
$1,920 for the conservation of a diorama created by Adirondack artist Arto Monaco;
work to be done by Jennifer Baker Conservation.
Derfner Judaica Museum + The Art Collection at Hebrew Home at Riverdale*
(Bronx County)
$7,500 for the conservation of oil on canvas "Mill in the Woods" by Richard Fremund work to be done by Appelbaum & Himmelstein Conservators.
Empire State Aerosciences Museum
(Schenectady County)
$4,100 for the conservation for part of World War I United States Army Air Services uniform: head coverings, garters, knapsack; work to be done by Spicer Art Conservation, LLC.
Everson Museum of Art
(Onondaga County)
$7,500 for the conservation of bronze sculpture by Henry Moore: Two Piece Reclining Figure No. 3, 1961; work to be done by Monumenta Art Conservation and Finishing LLC.
FASNY Museum of Firefighting
(Dutchess County)
$3,162 for the conservation of a framed portrait of Harry Howard by Francis D’Avignon; work to be done by Williamstown Art Conservation Center, Inc.
Harness Racing Museum & Hall of Fame
(Orange County)
$4,839 for the conservation of two 19th century paintings, "Trotting Horse and Driver with Mountains" (1884), by William G. Van Zandt and trotting mare "Aubine" (1889), by Charles B. Fish; work to be done by Alexander Katlan Conservator, Inc.
Historic Cherry Hill
(Albany County)
$5,841 for the conservation of a 19th-century gilded wood and gesso mirror with a reverse-painted, gilded glass panel; work to be done by Williamstown Art Conservation Center.
Historical Society of Woodstock
(Ulster County)
$5,550 for the conservation of oil on canvas "Hervey White in his Studio" (c. 1926) by Arnold Blanch (1896-1968) and oil on linen canvas "Landscape" (c. 1910) by Edmund R. Rolfe (1877-1917); work to be done by Nadia Ghannam Fine Art Conservation.
Huntington Historical Society*
(Suffolk County)
$7,000 for the conservation of an embroidery on silk, with small leather and metallic pieces of "Scene from the Iliad" by Caroline Wing, 1822; work to be done by Appelbaum & Himmelstein Conservators.
International Percy Grainger Society
(Westchester County)
$5,220 for the conservation of “Cross-Grainger Experiments– February 1950” an early example of Percy Grainger’s Free Music machines; work to be done by Found Object Art Conservation.
Iroquois Museum
(Schoharie County)
$4,575 for the conservation of two oil on canvas paintings "Indian Thanksgiving" by Seneca artist Ernest Smith c.1940 and "Niagara Falls" by Cayuga artist James Beaver c.1900; work to be done by O’Connor Art Conservation.
Lindenhurst Historical Society*
(Suffolk County)
$7,500 for the conservation of four historical marching band drums; work to be done by Conservator Kate Wight LLC.
Middlesex Heritage Group
(Yates County)
$4,800 for the conservation of hand-colored photograph of the Round Schoolhouse in use 1838-1920; work to be done by Conservator Gary E. Albright.
Niagara University - Castellani Art Museum
(Niagara County)
$4,500 for the conservation of oil on canvas, "Niagara University, New York, c. 1856-73" by Ferdinand Richardt (1819-1895); work to be done by Aurora Art Conservation.
Old Merchants House of NY Inc*
(New York/Manhattan County)
$2,750 for the conservation of an ensemble of three orange blossom jewelry bridal accessories, a corsage, headpiece or wreath, and earrings along with original box c.1872; work to be done by Found Object Art Conservation.
Preservation Long Island*
(Suffolk County)
$4,988 for the conservation of watercolor and gouache on wood pulp paper of "Charles Jones’ Sloop" 1882; work to be done by Andrea Pitsch Conservation.
Roberson Museum and Science Center
(Broome County)
$7,500 for the conservation of Pottier & Stymus Louis XIV Style Writing table, C. 1905-10; work to be done by Furniture Conservators Fallon & Wilkinson, LLC.
Syracuse University Art Museum
(Onondaga County)
$6,312 for the conservation of oil and wax on canvas of "Untitled, 1988" by Louisa Chase; work to be done by West Lake Conservators, LTD.
The Cobblestone Society & Museum
(Orleans County)
$6,800 for the conservation of oil on canvas of "Portrait of Mary Jane P. Danolds" (1818-1899) by Anonymous; work to be done by Great Lakes Art Conservation.
The Long Island Museum of American Art, History & Carriages*
(Suffolk County)
$6,700 for the conservation of three oil paintings by artist Evelina Mount (1837-1920): oil on panel "Untitled landscape" c. 1860; oil on slate "Two Children" c. 1855; oil on panel "Longbotham Farm, Setauket" c. 1870; work to be done by Alexander Katlan Conservator, Inc.
Valley Stream Historical Society*
(Nassau County)
$5,328 for the conservation of an 1870's opera cape; work to be done by the Textile Conservation Workshop.
Wildlife Conservation Society Library and Archives (Bronx Zoo)*
(Bronx County)
$6,510 for the conservation of oil on canvas "Whooping Crane, on the Breeding Grounds in Saskatchewan: by Louis Agassiz Fuertes, 1922; work to be done by Nadia Ghannam Fine Art Conservation.
Williamson-Pultneyville Historical Society
(Wayne County)
$5,594 for the conservation of oil on canvas of "Unknown, Still Life With Apples" 1916 by Kenneth Orbaker; work to be done by West Lake Conservators, LTD.
* Indicates additional funding from the Robert David Lion Gardiner Foundation
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