The fourth annual Heritage Preservation/AIC Award for Outstanding Commitment to the Preservation and Care of Collections will be given to three organizations in 2002: the New York Academy of Medicine, the Vermont Museums and Gallery Alliance, and the City of Buffalo Arts Commission.

The New York Academy of Medicine
The New York Academy of Medicine maintains one of the largest medical libraries in the United States and is the only one in New York City open to the public. In 1982, NYAM established its conservation department with a $100,000 NEH grant. Since then, systematic strides have been made to increase the department staff, laboratory space, and equipment. In addition to securing a number of grants for conservation projects and instituting a Rare Book Adoption Program, the preservation staff has instituted several programs in support of ongoing collections care. These include regularly scheduled “cleaning days” (pictured at left), a daily walk-through of all stack levels, and monthly day-long orientation programs for new employees that teach appropriate techniques for handling, shelving, transporting, and photocopying. Plans for a building annex scheduled to open in 2006 include modern shelving and environmental controls for all of the library’s holdings, as well as bigger space and more conservation equipment for the Preservation Department. The NYAM is a model for similar library collections.

The Vermont Museum and Gallery Alliance
The Vermont Museum and Gallery Alliance’s Collections Care Program has assisted small, rural museums and historical societies around the state by funding conservation and museum professionals to carry out general and specific collections surveys, design storage systems, and carry out artifact treatments. The Alliance hosts workshops around the state at member institutions each year on a variety of topics, including “How to Exhibit Textiles” and “3-Dimensional Storage” (pictured at right). Their Mentors in Vermont Program has grown out of the Collections Care Program, where the need for personalized, on-site training was first identified. Members can make inquiries to the Collections Care Program Director through an 800 number (donated by long distance Cellular One) and through e-mail with donated Internet service from the Kingdom Connection. The VMGA Web site includes an extensive lending library listing and news of the latest conservation activities around the state. The awards committee was greatly impressed by how many museums this program has reached with so much creativity and so little money.

City of Buffalo Arts Commission
The City of Buffalo Arts Commission administers care for over 40 outdoor monuments. Several of the works were professionally conserved between 1989 and 1991 on an ad hoc basis, but since 1993 the city has been systematically treating and maintaining the entire collection. Results of the Save Outdoor Sculpture! survey became the basis for developing a five-year strategic plan to contract for conservation and maintenance of the outdoor sculptures. An annual RFP is produced to solicit bids from professional conservators. Especially commendable is the stress on annual maintenance—works that receive initial conservation treatment go out for bid for maintenance every year after. Proposals are judged and selected by a Conservation Committee, which has a strong conservation influence in Dr. Christopher Tahk, Director of the Art Conservation Department at Buffalo State College, who serves as a volunteer consultant. Funding for treatment and maintenance comes from Buffalo’s 1% for Art budget, where a percent of the city’s capital budget is used for arts programs. When highly visible conservation treatments have been undertaken, a number of interested groups have come forward to partner with the city in its care of public art. Due to these successes with the outdoor sculpture collection, the Arts Commission has recently focused on the city’s indoor collections. The collection of over 50 painted portraits of Buffalo’s mayors and council presidents has been surveyed and is now being treated. Along the way, numerous newspaper, television, and radio coverage and rededication ceremonies have drawn attention to Buffalo’s commitment to conservation and preservation.

Recipients from other years

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