Conservation Assessment Program Announces 2005 Grant Recipients 2006 application to be released October 8, 2005
The Conservation Assessment Program (CAP) announces that 113 grants were made in 2005 to museums in 41 states and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The Huntsville Botanical Garden, the Bronx Museum of the Arts, the Peoria Arizona Historical Society and the Choctaw Nation Capitol Museum are among this year’s recipients. To view the list of 2005 CAP grant recipients, click here.
The FY2006 CAP applications will be mailed on Friday, October 7, 2005, to museums on the CAP mailing list and will also be available on Heritage Preservation’s Web site at www.heritagepreservation.org. The postmark deadline for applications is December 1, 2005. Eligible participants will be accepted into the program on a first-come, first-served basis.
In an effort to assist museums affected by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, Heritage Preservation is extending the CAP application deadline until January 2, 2006, for museums in counties declared a federal disaster area in Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Florida and Texas. Applications from these areas will receive expedited review, and eligible applicants will be notified within 10 business days of receipt of their completed application. Heritage Preservation will consider covering reasonable costs over the allocation amount for these museums.
CAP provides assessments by professional conservators for small to mid-sized museums to assess the condition of their collections and make recommendations for improvement. For museums with buildings more than 50 years old, CAP also supports an assessment by a preservation architect. CAP assessors spend two days examining the museum’s collections, storage, environmental conditions, and sites. The assessors then prepare a report identifying the museum’s conservation priorities, both short-term and long-term. Museums that have completed the CAP process state that their reports provide a reference for collections care that is used on a daily basis. CAP reports also lend professional endorsement of a museum’s conservation needs, providing justification for funding. For many museums, CAP is the first step toward improving collections care.
Since 1990, almost 2,500 museums have participated in CAP, including museums in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, U.S. Virgin Islands, U.S. Mariana Islands, and Puerto Rico. Heritage Preservation’s Conservation Assessment Program is supported through a cooperative agreement with the Institute of Museum and Library Services.
To be added to the CAP application mailing list, or for more information, contact Kate Marks (kmarks@heritagepreservation.org, 202-233-0831) or Maria Galban (mgalban@heritagepreservation.org, 202-233-0832).
Heritage Preservation is a non-profit organization dedicated to preserving our nation's heritage. Its members include libraries, museums, archives, historic preservation organizations, historical societies, conservation organizations, and other professional groups concerned with saving the past for the future.
The Institute of Museum and Library Services is an independent federal grant-making agency dedicated to creating and sustaining a nation of learners by helping libraries and museums serve their communities. The Institute fosters leadership, innovation, and a lifetime of learning by supporting the 15,000 museums and 122,000 libraries in America. The Institute also encourages partnerships to expand the educational benefit of libraries and museums. To learn more about the Institute, please visit www.imls.gov.
