The following is a text-only press release from the federal Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). An HTML version of this release can be read on the agency's Web site at www.imls.gov/news/2007/051007.shtm.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 
May 10, 2007

Press Contacts
202-653-4632
Jeannine Mjoseth, [log in to unmask]
Mamie Bittner, [log in to unmask] 

Institute of Museum and Library Services Awards Almost $5 million For Critical Conservation at Nation's Museums

Washington, DC--Anne-Imelda M. Radice, Ph.D., Director of the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), announced the 65 museum recipients of the 2007 Conservation Project Support (CPS) grants totaling $4.9 million. The grant program, which began in 1984, helps museums identify conservation needs and priorities and perform activities to ensure the safekeeping of its collections. Today, Heritage Preservation also announced participants of their IMLS-supported Conservation Assessment Program (www.heritagepreservation.org/CAP).

"The Conservation Project Support awards help museums develop comprehensive strategies for the care of their collections, safeguarding pieces of our nation's story, now and for future generations," Radice said. A 2005 report conducted by IMLS and Heritage Preservation found that immediate action is needed to prevent the loss of millions of irreplaceable artifacts held by archives, historical societies, libraries, museums, and scientific organizations.

In addition to its ongoing support of conservation through grants, the Institute has launched Connecting to Collections: A Call to Action. This multi-year conservation initiative aims to increase public awareness of the importance of collections care. The initiative will begin in Washington, D.C., with a June meeting of library and museum representatives from every state.

Conservation Project Support grant recipients will match their awards with an additional $8.9 million. This year, the Institute received 172 applications for a wide range of projects, including conservation treatment, training, and surveys. Eighteen of the 65 grant recipients are first-time CPS grantees. Ten of the recipients won additional funding for a public education component to their conservation project. Museums nationwide of all disciplines, from art to zoo, are among today's recipients. Go to www.imls.gov/news/2007/051007_list.shtm for a full list of grant recipients by state.

Conservation Project Support grant recipients include:

The Museum of North Arizona, in Flagstaff, will conduct a detailed condition survey of 100 textiles and 90 to 135 Hopi katsina dolls. The grant will allow the museum to better assess the effectiveness and appropriateness of its current storage practices and develop storage and mounting plans to prevent deterioration. Grant amount: $8,924. Cost share: $8,924.

The National Trust for Historic Preservation, in Washington, D.C., will conduct an environmental survey of the Woodrow Wilson House's building and existing mechanical systems to develop priorities for collections improvements and a strategy for mechanical upgrades. The Woodrow Wilson House is a national historic landmark and house that focuses on President Woodrow Wilson's Washington Years (1912-1924). Grant amount: $76,022. Cost share: $77,760.

The Bishop Museum in Honolulu, HI, will treat three important Hawaiian feather cloaks ('ahu 'ula). These cloaks were the sacred insignia of the Islands' highest ali'i (individuals of chiefly rank) and were created with small bundles of tiny feathers of indigenous birds secured to a netted foundation of twisted-fiber cordage. Grant amount: $28,447. Cost share: $28,537.

The Chicago Zoological Society in Brookfield, IL, will conduct research to learn more about basic behavioral and physiological patterns of male and female okapi, a forest-dwelling hoofed mammal. The goal of this project is to develop management recommendations to improve the well-being of the captive okapi population. Grant amount: $249,922. Cost share: $320,174.

The National Museum of Mexican Art in Chicago will purchase and install new storage furniture in which to properly rehouse the museum's folk art collection. Represented in this collection of more than 700 objects are items indigenous to Mexico such as amate (hand-made bark paper), papier-mâché or cartoneria (an ephemeral form of papier-mâché used for festivals and holiday celebrations), and extremely brittle ceramics. Grant amount: $83,595. Cost Share: $90,000.

The University of Iowa's Museum of Art in Iowa City will use its grant to conduct research on important components in 15th - 19th-century western paper, the results of which will allow conservators and other preservation specialists to make better-informed treatment and collections care decisions. The project will augment the William Barrow Laboratory's pioneering 1974 analysis of 1,500 historical papers, but include certain analytical techniques not used or unavailable 30 years ago. Grant amount: $184,740. Cost Share: $220,938.

The Kansas State Historical Society in Topeka will treat two Kansas Civil War battle flags carried by Kansas regiments at Prairie Grove, Arkansas. The flags are painted and depict numerous battle honors. One of the flags is from the 1st Kansas Battery, commanded by James Lane, one of the first U.S. Senators from Kansas and a fervent antislavery soldier. His unit attacked and looted Osceola, Missouri, an event that incited Confederate guerilla William Quantrill to later attack the town of Lawrence, Kansas, where Lane lived, killing 150 men and boys. Grant amount: $25,837. Cost Share: $25,913.

The Louisiana Museum Foundation in New Orleans will purchase compact shelving, conservation materials, and supplies to rehouse the museum's collections. These collections will be returned to the museum from temporary storage where they were stored due to damage caused by Hurricane Katrina. Grant amount: $150,000. Cost Share: $1,087,186.

The New Orleans Museum of Art will purchase and install new storage cabinets to rehouse the museum's diverse permanent collections of furniture, photography, framed works on paper, textiles, small-scale sculpture, ethnographic, and decorative art that was removed from storage areas due to damage caused by hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Grant amount: $94,600. Cost Share: $97,900.

The Museum of Fine Arts in Boston will treat wooden and polychromed wooden material excavated from an Egyptian tomb dated to about 2000 B.C. The tomb, filled with funerary equipment of a local governor and his wife, comprises one of the largest, most important reference collections for the study of ancient cultures along the Nile Valley. Grant amount: $131,537. Cost Share: $230,003.

The Shelburne Museum in Shelburne, VT, will provide mid-career on-the-job training for a staff conservator and an advanced internship for a recent conservation graduate in folk art conservation. The intern will assist in the conservation of 27 painted folk art panels from the museum's rare intact 1902 carousel built by the Gustav A. Dentzel Carousel Company, and a 1920's Artizan Factories carousel organ. This grant will also help to design, fabricate, and mount an exhibit on the conservation of the 900-piece hand-carved Arnold Circus Parade, the Dentzel carousel animals and rounding boards, and the Artizan Factories carousel organ. Preventive conservation actions taken throughout the museum's 27 collections buildings will also be highlighted and explained. Grant amount: $82,029. Cost Share: $89,114.

	
About the Institute of Museum and Library Services
The Institute of Museum and Library Services is the primary source of federal support for the nation's 122,000 libraries and 17,500 museums. The Institute's mission is to create strong libraries and museums that connect people to information and ideas. The Institute works at the national level and in coordination with state and local organizations to sustain heritage, culture, and knowledge; enhance learning and innovation; and support professional development. To learn more about the Institute, please visit www.imls.gov.
 

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