Heritage Preservation held its annual meeting June 7 in Miami. Following are some highlights from the meeting.
President Larry Reger opened the meeting with a summary of the current Washington “climate.” He noted that the events of September 11, 2001, and combating terrorism have been the government’s main focus. The Heritage Emergency National Task Force has been involved by mobilizing the conservation community (see below).
Though the government is now back in deficit spending mode, this should not affect the appropriations for IMLS and the Endowments, at least for FY2003, Reger predicted. He noted that First Lady Laura Bush has endorsed Save America's Treasures, meaning that there is likely to be another $30 million for FY 2003.
Moira Egan, Vice President for External Relations, summarized Heritage Preservation’s grant funding for the past year and outlined goals for fund-raising: full implementation of the Heritage Health Index and funding for the Emergency Task Force, especially to implement recommendations of the Cataclysm and Challenge report. She also encouraged members to help with member recruitment efforts.
The Heritage Health Index
This first stage of the Heritage Health Index has been to develop the survey questionnaire, methodology, and universe of participating institutions. The survey form will be pretested this summer and finalized in the fall, along with the sampling plan.
The Heritage Health Index will be distributed to archives, historical societies, libraries, and museums and select other institutions with significant collections. The data collected will represent collections in all types and sizes of institutions across the U.S. However, the quality of the information gathered depends on high participation. Look for updates on the Heritage Health Index and help publicize this groundbreaking study.
Heritage Emergency National Task Force
The Task Force changed its name this year to clarify its mission, which is to safeguard cultural heritage, and its goals, which advocate preparedness as well as effective response.
The Rueda de salvamento y respuesta ante emergencias has been printed, and nearly 15,000 copies were mailed in May to libraries, museums, archives, historic sites, and historic preservation organizations. The Rueda will also aid cultural institutions in Latin America through the Lampadia Foundation’s plans to distribute 4,000 copies in Argentina, Brazil, and Chile. At the AIC conference, Ruedas were given away to Latin American scholarship students and at the Heritage Preservation booth.
A new initiative called Alliance for Response will bring together cultural heritage leaders and emergency management professionals. One-day forums will be held in four cities and provide models of successful state and local disaster mitigation and response networks. One of the goals will be to generate some local initiatives, like a directory of local resources, joint training exercises, or mutual aid agreements.
Cataclysm and Challenge, the report on how September 11, 2001, and its aftermath affected cultural resources in Lower Manhattan and at the Pentagon, was released in early June. It was featured in several major media outlets, including the Associated Press. Although countless works of art, artifacts, and records were lost in the Trade Center, beyond Ground Zero the degree of damage to collections proved to be less than originally feared. And we are still learning about what survived. For example, as a result of publicity about the report, a NYPD officer called to say he believed he had 2 artifacts from the African Burial Ground.
Conservation Assessment Program
Heritage Preservation received 173 applications for the 2002 CAP cycle, and 140 awards were announced on April 16. Awards were made in 44 states and in Puerto Rico. CAP plans to revise the presentation of the museum cost match in the 2003 IMLS CAP guidelines booklet. Average match amounts have been increasing each year as professional fees have increased. The current presentation of “estimated” matches is confusing to museums. Several museums are surprised by the amount of their match at the time of negotiating contracts and each year a few museums withdraw from the program at this time. We will work to reduce this confusion
The Best Practices for General Conservation Assessments workshop was held on June 6, with over 80 attendees. The program examined Locust Grove Historic House Museum in Louisville, Kentucky, as a model CAP museum. The case study was followed by nine assessors speaking on three panels, and the day ended with Mary Estelle Kennelly of IMLS’s announcement that in 2003, CAP grants will be restructured to accommodate higher professional fees. A post-workshop publication will be developed over the summer to share the information with assessors who were unable to attend.
Collections Care
The 2002 College Art Association and Heritage Preservation Award for Distinction in Scholarship and Conservation was presented at the February CAA meeting to Harry Cooper and Ron Spronk for their collaboration on Mondrian: The Transatlantic Paintings.
The Award for Outstanding Commitment to the Preservation and Care of Collections [link] will go to three organizations in 2002. The Award Committee met in February and chose the recipients: the City of Buffalo Arts Commission, the New York Academy of Medicine, and the Vermont Museums and Gallery Alliance.
Save Outdoor Sculpture!
Between July 1998 and January 2002, 126 public sculptures received awards for conservation. Today 54% of the projects are completed; 67% should be completed by summer’s end. Forty conservation firms or individuals are participating.
SOS! is locating the 430 artworks in NEA’s Works of Art in Public Places program for assessment. So far 315 have been located and 200 surveyed. Of the 75 assessments to award, 32 have been issued, covering 47 artworks in 20 states. The search for the owner, artist, and artwork has taken much longer than anticipated. Survey forms and a list of sculptures that need to be documented are at www.heritagepreservation.org/programs/SOS/NEAMIA.htm.
The SOS! traveling exhibit, Preserving Memory: America’s Monumental Legacy is registered at 35 venues in 26 states; 17 are confirmed. The exhibition opens this September and is tentatively booked through 2004. Sample panels are available for viewing. In conjunction with the traveling exhibition, SOS! will try to award assessment grants to sculptures in host cities and look for conservation funds in those venues.
Business Meeting
The results of the recent board elections were announced. In uncontested elections, Frank Matero was re-elected Secretary, Julie Reilly was elected Treasurer, and Barbara Heller was re-elected as a member of the Board. Tom Clareson of OCLC was the winner of the election to a Board seat. Because the election was so close, Board Chairman Dennis Fiori will recommend that the other candidate, Dennis Montagna of the National Park Service, become one of the appointed members of the Board. At the meeting, Victoria Steele of UCLA Libraries was elected to the Nominating Committee.
Debbie Hess Norris announced that a card was available for people to sign for Carolyn Rose, a former chairman of Heritage Preservation who is battling cancer.
Photo: Well-wishers sign the card for Carolyn Rose outside the annual meeting room.