Month: August 2009

Greater Hudson Heriitage Announces Conservation Grant Awards

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Greater Hudson Heritage Network (formerly Lower Hudson Conference of Historical Agencies & Museums) has awarded nearly $120,000 in conservation treatment grants to 27 organizations, located in 18 counties of New York, in association with the Museum Program of the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA). These 2009 awards bring the total granted by this statewide program to over $1 million since the Conservation Treatment Grant program began in 2000. The grant 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’s museums, historical and cultural organizations of all sizes.

2009 grants will support treatment of ancient Greek kylizes and contemporary bronze sculpture, printed earthenware, silk and woven textiles, and oil paintings—such as an 18th c. Cuzco School Madonna and Child, 19th c. portraits, and 20th c. landscapes with their carved, gilt frames- a 28 ft. wall mural, an early 20th c. Grand Advertising Curtain, and Frank Stella’s Big Gur. Diverse objects such as artist Thomas Cole’s Top Hat, a Leather Fire Hose, panoramic photograph of Gloversville, The Caudebec Inn 1920’s Hotel Register, a plaster bull sculpture maquette, carriages, coaches, a newsprint sign and a Native American clam basket are among the artifacts stewarded by collecting and exhibiting institutions from Rochester to Rhinebeck receiving conservation treatment support through the 2009 grant program.

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.

Greater Hudson Heritage Network works 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.

An evaluation of the first five years of the Conservation Treatment Grant Program reported that these grants led to public impact outcomes beyond the actual conservation of museum objects, including heightened appreciation of the collections, and increased public awareness of the institution’s role as steward, and has proven a spark to further institutional, strategic, financial and long-range conservation planning. Beyond these outcomes, grant recipients reported that Conservation Treatment funding prompted fuller 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.

41 grant applications were received at Greater Hudson from institutions in 23 counties of New York State, requesting an aggregate of nearly $192,000 in grant support. 27 awards totaling approximately $120,000 were recommended by a peer panel of conservators, curators and museum professionals. Individual 2009 Conservation Treatment Grants range from $555 to $7,500.

Of the 27 funded institutions, 63% have annual budgets under $360,000 (15% with operating budgets of less than $50,000), and 37% have budgets greater than $400,000 (15% of those have budgets of $400-$750,000- 15% are in the $1.8 million &#8211 $4.5 million range, and 7% operate at over $17 million). Organizational annual operating budgets of 2009’s grant recipients span a stunning range from $3,400 to $18.7 million.

Information on the statewide Conservation Treatment Grant Program, including grant guidelines and an archive of past grant awards, visit www.greaterhudson.org, or contact Greater Hudson Heritage Network Executive Director Tema Harnik: 914.592.6726- [email protected].

Congratulations to these 2009 Conservation Treatment Grant Recipients:

Albright-Knox Art Gallery/ Buffalo Fine Arts Academy, Buffalo (Erie County).

$ 2775 for conservation treatment of a 1960 bronze sculpture Man Walking (Version 1,) by Alberto Giacometti, and 1957 oil painting, George Went Swimming at Barnes Hole, but It Got Too Cold, by Joan Mitrchell- work to be done by conservators Stefan Dedecek and Robert Lodge of McKay Lodge Fine Arts Conservation Laboratory, Inc.

John D. Barrow Art Gallery, Skaneateles (Onondaga County).

$ 7500 for treatment of the oil painting Trees with Sunset by John D. Barrow, and its frame. treatment to be done by conservator Susan Blakney, West Lake Conservators Ltd.

Thomas Cole National Historic Site (Cedar Grove), Catskill (Greene County)

$ 2930 for conservation treatment of Thomas Cole’s Black Silk Top Hat, and its original box- work to be done by textile conservator Gwen Spicer, Spicer Art Conservation LLC.

Columbia County Historical Society, Kinderhook (Columbia County).

$ 2967 for conservation of a pair of early 19th c. printed objects: an earthenware pitcher and a cotton textile featuring the Declaration of Independence- to be treated by objects conservator Monica Berry, and textile conservator Gwen Spicer, Spicer Art Conservation, LLC.

Depauville Free Library, Depauville (Jefferson County)

$ 7487 for treatment of an early 20th c. Grand Advertising Drape- work to be done by conservator Susan Blakney, West Lake Conservators, Ltd.

Derfner Judaica Museum at the Hebrew Home at Riverdale, Riverdale (Bronx County)

$ 5035 for conservation treatment and stabilization of a 19th c. European velvet embroidered applique Torah ark valance- work to be done by textile conservator Judith Eisenberg.

FASNY Museum of Firefighting, Hudson (Columbia County)

$ 4764 for conservation of an early 19th c. copper riveted leather fire hose- to be treated by objects conservator Abigail Mack.

Friends of Raynham Hall, Inc., Oyster Bay (Nassau County)

$ 2800 for conservation of an oil portrait of William Fondey of Albany, by an unknown artist- work to be done by conservator paintings conservator Jonathan Sherman, Sherman Art Conservation.

Fulton County Historical Society, Gloversville (Fulton County)

$ 555 for conservation of a c. 1920 panoramic photograph of downtown Gloversville and its frame- treatment to be done by paper conservator Ellen Riggs Tillapaugh.

Godwin-Ternbach Museum, Queens College Foundation, Flushing (Queens County)

$ 4430 for treatment of the 18th c. Peruvian Cuzco School oil on panel painted Madonna and Child, work to be done by paintings conservator Alexander Katlan, Alexander Katlan Conservator, Inc.

Greater Patchogue Historical Society, Patchogue (Suffolk County)

$ 7500 for conservation of a 28Ft painted mural, Scene Along the Patchogue River by Robert Zoeller- work to be done by paintings conservator Jonathan Sherman, Sherman Art Conservation.

Harness Racing Museum & Hall o
f Fame, Goshen (Orange County)

$ 2440 for treatment of Richard McMahon’s silk Driving Jacket- work to be done by textile conservator Gwen Spicer, Spicer Art Conservation, LLC.

Historic Cherry Hill, Albany (Albany County)

$ 4856 for conservation of two winter landscape paintings by Walter Launt Palmer: Vorheesville Creek and Cedars- work to be done by paintings conservator Matthew Cushman, Willamstown Art Conservation Center.

Judd Foundation, New York (New York County)

$ 7500 for conservation of the 1967 painting Big Gur by Frank Stella- work to be done by paintings conservator Luca Bonetti, Luca Bonetti, Corp.

King Manor Association of L.I., Inc., Jamaica (Queens County)

$ 4074 for conservation treatment of the 19th c. oil portrait of Eliza Grace King Halsey, her cerise Kashmir shawl and her ribbon fragment of a sash worn by General Lafayette on his last visit to America- work to be done by paintings conservator Alexander Katlan, Alexander Katlan Conservator, Inc., and textile conservator Mary Kaldany, Textile Conservation Workshop.

Long Island Museum of American Art, History & Carriages, Stony Brook (Suffolk County).

$ 3055 towards the structural conservation treatment of 6 carriages and coaches- work to be done by objects conservator Valerie Reich Hunt.

Memorial Art Gallery of the University of Rochester, Rochester (Monroe County)

$ 7500 for the conservation of two ancient Greek Kylixes, an African Senufo helmet mask and a Native American Puget Sound Clam Basket- treatments to be done by objects conservator Barbara Moore.

Museum of Jewish Heritage-a Living Memorial to the Holocaust, New York (New York County)

$ 6475 for conservation of a 1935 newprint sign “Avoid Jewish Businesses!” – treatment to be done by paper conservator Caroline Rieger, Rieger Art Conservation..

Neversink Valley Area Museum, Cuddebackville (Orange County).

$ 2296 for conservation of the Caudebec Inn Hotel Register, 1908-1913- treatment to be done by paper conservator Michele Phillips, The Paper Lab, LLC.

New-York Historical Society, New York (New York County)

$ 6600 for conservation of the c. 1858 oil painting Morning in the Blue Ridge Mountains, Va, by William Sonntag and its original frame- treatment to be done by paintings conservator Kenneth S. Moser, and Eduardo Larrea, Larrea Studio, Inc.

Niagara County Historical Society, Lockport (Niagara County).

$ 2400 for treatment of the 1822 engraved Van Rensselaer Geological Profile Extending from the Atlantic to Lake Erie, highlighting the Erie Canal- work to be done by paper conservator Tracy Dulniak, Great Lakes conservation of NY, LLC.

Onondaga Historical Association Museum & Research Center, Syracuse (Onondaga County).

$ 3951 for conservation treatment of the original Roccoco Revival frame for the painted Portrait of Moses Dewitt Burnet (c.1841), attributed to Charles Loring Elliott- work to be done by painting and frame conservator John Sutton, West Lake Conservators, Ltd.

Seneca Falls Historical Society, Seneca Falls (Seneca County)

$ 4207 for conservation of the 1827 oil portrait of Wilhelmus Mynderse painted by Thomas Wentworth- treatment to be done by paintings conservator Susan Blakney, West Lake Conservators, Ltd. Frame conservation to be done by Gregory Johnson, Heirloom Picture Framing.

Smithtown Historical Society, Smithtown (Suffolk County)

$ 3537 for the conservation of the plaster maquette of the Smithtown Bull Statue of Whisper, created by sculptor Charles Carey Rumsey- treatment to be done by objects conservator I. Joseph Chiarello

Southold Historical Society, Southold (Suffolk County).

$ 3775 for conservation of two period carved frames for works by Edward Bell and Irving R. Wiles- work to be done by Rhonda Feinman, Custom Frames, Inc..

Southworth Library Association, Dryden (Tompkins County)

$ 2905 for treatment of the 1804 oil portrait of Jeremiah Dwhight by AJ Purdy, and its frame- work to be done by conservators Susan Blakney and John Sutton, West Lake Conservators, Ltd.

Wilderstein Preservation, Rhinebeck (Dutchess County).

$ 5380 for conservation of the portrait of Mrs. Robert Sands and its frame- treatment to be done by conservators Thomas Branchick and Hugh Glover of Williamstown Art Conservation Center.

Weekly New York History Blogging Round-Up

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  • Fenimore Art Museum: Travelling Show Preparations
  • Don Rittner: Leaving Your Mark [Historic Graffiti]
  • Confessions of a Preservationist: Rollover Rochester
  • Historic Districts Council: Spotlight on Upcoming [NYC] Landmarks
  • City Room Blog: Death of Yusuf Hawkins, 20 Years Later
  • The History Blog: Roman Naval Battle in NYC
  • US History Blog: 100 Twitter Feeds That Teach You History
  • Brooklynology: Brooklyn-Long Island Cat Club

    • NYS Librarys September Noontime Programs

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    In September, the New York State Library will offer three noontime author talks and book signings. On Wednesday, September 9th, Mark Jodoin will discuss his book &#8220Shadow Soldiers of the American Revolution: Loyalist Tales from New York to Canada,&#8221 which tells the stories of ten young men and women who were forced to flee north, into what became Ontario and Quebec, because they remained loyal to the British government. On Wednesday, September 16, Dr. Margaret Lynch-Brennan will discuss her new book, &#8220The Irish Bridget: Irish Immigrant Women in Domestic Service in America, 1840-1930,&#8221 one of the first books written on Irish servant girls. And on Wednesday, September 23, Michael Esposito, author of &#8220Troy’s Little Italy (Images of America),&#8221 will talk about the Italian immigrants who settled in Troy, beginning in the late 1880s, and the community they created there. All programs run from 12:15 to 1:15 and are free and open to the public.

    Sept. 9: Shadow Soldiers of the American Revolution: Loyalist Tales from New York to Canada

    In 1778, New York State patriots forced colonists loyal to the British government to flee north into what became Ontario and Quebec. Many of the defiant young British Americans soon returned south as soldiers, spies and scouts to fight for their multigenerational farms along the Mohawk River, Lake Champlain and the Hudson River Valley. Eventually defeated, they were banished from their ancestral homelands forever. Mark Jodoin, author of the book Shadow Soldiers of the American Revolution: Loyalist Tales from New York to Canada offers an enlightened look back at ten young men and women who were forced north into what became Ontario and Quebec, sharing the struggles that these Loyalists faced during our nation’s founding.

    Sept. 16: The Irish Bridget: Irish Immigrant Women in Domestic Service in America, 1840-1930

    &#8220Bridget&#8221 was the Irish immigrant servant girl who worked in American homes from the second half of the nineteenth century into the early years of the twentieth century. She was widely known as a pop culture cliche: the young Irish girl who wreaked havoc working as a servant in middle-class American homes. Many contemporary Irish-American families can find one or more of these Irish Bridgets in their background. Come hear Dr. Margaret Lynch-Brennan discuss her new book, &#8220The Irish Bridget: Irish Immigrant Women in Domestic Service in America, 1840-1930.&#8221 This is the first book to be written on Irish servant girls. This program will be held in the Huxley Theater on the first floor of the Cultural Education Center.

    Sept. 23: Troy’s Little Italy

    Italian immigrants began arriving in Troy in large numbers in the late 1880s, escaping the abject poverty of their homeland. They settled among Irish immigrants who had arrived fifty years earlier in Troy’s first and eighth wards just south of the central business district, an area bustling with activity. The neighborhood contained blocks of two and three story brick buildings, a mix of row houses and free standing homes. Within a few years, these Italian immigrants began opening small businesses, particularly on Fourth Street, the neighborhood’s “Main Street,” and it was typical of the mixed residential and commercial communities in many American cities. Michael Esposito will discuss the neighborhood and its people from his new book “Troy’s Little Italy.”

    Locals Elected to Adirondack Architectural Heritage Board

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    For your information comes the following press release issued by the Adirondack Architectural Heritage on the recent election of their Board of Directors:

    On June 13, 2009, Adirondack Architectural Heritage (AARCH) held its annual meeting at the Boathouse Theater in Schroon Lake, during which time the following individuals were elected to serve their first three-year term on AARCH’s Board of Directors: Willem Monster (Northampton), and Albert Price (Piseco Lake)- Jane Mackintosh (Queensbury), and Howard Lowe (Plattsburgh), were elected to serve their second three-year term- William Johnston (Westport), Jay Higgins (Lake Placid), and Phebe Thorne (Keene Valley), were elected to the AARCH Advisory Council. And, at the July AARCH Board meeting, Stewart de Camp (Thendara) was elected to serve on the AARCH Board for a first three-year term.

    Adirondack Architectural Heritage is the private, non-profit, historic preservation organization for New York State’s Adirondack Park. AARCH was formed in 1990 with a mission to promote better public understanding, appreciation and stewardship of the Adirondack’s unique and diverse architectural heritage. For more information on membership and our complete program schedule contact AARCH at (518) 834-9328 or visit our website at www.aarch.org.

    A New Book Highlights Brooklyns Evergreens Cemetery

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    Organized in 1849 as a non-sectarian cemetery Evergreens Cemetery in Brooklyn (it actually borders Brooklyn and Queens) and covers 225 acres and is the resting place of over a half million people. This remarkable cemetery of rolling hills and gently sloping meadows features several thousand trees and flowering shrubs in a park like setting and is on the National Register of Historic Places. It is also the subject of an outstanding new book, Green Oasis in Brooklyn: The Evergreens Cemetery 1849-2008 by noted historian John Rousmaniere.

    This oversize book filled with unique and picturesque photographs by Ken Druse, traces the history of the Evergreens Cemetery beginning with the land on which the cemetery was founded, and it’s design by some of the most acclaimed architects of their time, Alexander Jackson Davis and Andrew Jackson Downing. It also shows how the forces that shaped the history of New York &#8211 population growth, immigration and growing wealth &#8211 also shaped the Evergreens. Among the monuments of fascinating characters buried there are those of Brooklyn’s Eastern District Fire Department (site of a statue memorializing a fireman who died in the Brooklyn Theatre Fire of 1876), Chinese American plots, the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire Memorial, Stranger’s mound (pauper’s graves), the graves of more then 500 entertainers, the 20th Regiment of U.S. Colored Troops plot, Yusef Hawkins (the 16-year-old African American youth who was shot to death in 1989 in Bensonhurst sparking racial tensions), Max Weber, Anthony Comstock, and literally thousands of other notable people.

    Take a listen to NPR’s recent tour of The Evergreens here.

    This is the rest of the post

    Replica Ship Half Moon Seeks Volunteers

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    Captain W.T. &#8220Chip&#8221 Reynolds of the replica ship Half Moon has put out a call for volunteer sailing crew, cooks, and dockside tour guides for the rest of August, September, October, and early November. The 85-foot replica of the ship Henry Hudson sailed while exploring the Hudson River in 1609 has a volunteer crew of 15 and was built in Albany, N.Y. in 1989 to commemorate the Dutch role in exploring and colonizing America. The Half Moon replica has six sails on three masts, sporting 2,757 square feet of canvas. It’s equipped with six cannons and four anchors.

    The original ship, called the Halve Maen, was commissioned on March 25, 1609 for the Dutch East India Company. The company hired Hudson, an Englishman, to search for a passageway between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. He thought he had found that passage when he sailed up the river that now bears his name. In making his trip up the river, Hudson claimed the area for the Dutch and opened the land for settlers who followed. His voyage came 10 years before the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock. For general information about the replica Half Moon check the 2009 Event Schedule at
    www.halfmoon.mus.ny.us.

    Contact Karen Preston by e-mail at [email protected] if you are interested in volunteering with any of these activities:

    August 23-27, the Half Moon will sail from Athens, NY, to Staten Island (see
    item 2). A cook is needed for the voyage to Staten Island, and while
    dockside in Staten Island- most sailing crew positions are filled, but one
    or two slots may open.

    August 27-September 1, help is needed with a variety of activities,
    including set-up of ship on August 28, 30, 31 and Sept. 1- help with
    managing or leading tours of the Half Moon on Saturday, August 29 and 31.

    September 5-26, a cook is needed to help with the Voyage of Discovery from
    New York Harbor to Albany.

    September 23-28, help is needed to set up the Half Moon and prepare for the
    festival on Sept. 26, and to help manage visitors and lead tours in Albany
    on Sept. 26, and to help break down the ship and historical displays on
    Sept. 28.

    October 8-16, a cook is needed to help with the Masters Voyage of Discovery
    to Yonkers, NY.

    October 16-31, volunteers are needed to help set up the Half Moon for public
    tours from October 16-31, and to help lead tours both weekdays and weekends
    in Yonkers, NY.

    November 1-10, volunteers are needed to help set up the Half Moon for public
    tours on November 1, and to help lead tours daily from Monday, Nov. 2
    through Sunday, Nov. 8, and to help break the ship down on November 9 and
    10.

    November 10, volunteer crew are needed to help move the Half Moon to winter
    berthing at King Marine, Verplanck, NY.

    Weekly New York History Blogging Round-Up

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  • Ephemeral New York: The New York Sun’s “Great Moon Hoax” of 1835
  • Progressive Historians: The Myth of Woodstock
  • Huffington Post: Helicopter Crashes In NYC History (Photos)
  • Walking Off the Big Apple: New York Museum Exhibitions, Fall 2009
  • US History Blog: What Would Teddy Roosevelt Think About Michael Vick?
  • Virtual Dime Museum: The Live and Let Live Oyster Saloon
  • Bovina History: Was Bovina Butter Served at the White House?

    • 28th Annual Iroquois Indian Festival Sept. 5-6

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    The Iroquois Indian Museum of Howes Cave, New York, announces the 28th Annual Iroquois Indian Festival to be held on Labor Day weekend, Saturday, September 5 through Sunday, September 6. The two-day festival’s goal is to foster a greater appreciation and deeper understanding of Iroquois culture through presentations of Iroquois music and social dance, traditional stories, artwork, games and food. This year’s master of ceremonies will be Museum Educator, Mike Wahrare Tarbell, a member of the Turtle Clan from the Ahkwesahsne Mohawk Nation.

    The annual festival centers on the celebration of Iroquois creativity and self-expression by featuring an all Iroquois Indian Art Market open to Iroquois artists by special invitation only. Both traditional and contemporary arts are showcased.

    This year we celebrate the return of Santee Smith (Mohawk, Turtle Clan). Santee is from the Six Nations Reserve, where she has gained recognition as both a performing artist (dance) and as a visual artist (pottery). She will be presenting excerpts from her two major works, “Kaha:wi” and “A Story Before Time”. Santee will be performing with Emily Law and, for the first time, with her daughter, Semiah Smith. We are very pleased to be able to welcome Santee, Emily and Semiah to this year’s Festival.

    The Sky Dancers from Six Nations Reserve in Ontario will perform traditional Iroquois social dances, and may invite the public out onto the dance floor to participate, as well. The Children’s Tent will feature arts & crafts activities including beadwork and cornhusk doll making. Local wildlife rehabilitator Kelly Martin will be available to discuss wildlife conservation in our bioregion and will present a variety of wild animals including birds of prey along with a special presentation in the Museum’s outdoor amphitheater. Pamela Brown “Wolf Teacher” returns to promote understanding and awareness of wolves and the importance of their survival with a display of educational and informational materials and fundraising items. Other special features include displays and demonstrations on genealogy, archeology, and flintknapping led by talented and knowledgeable Iroquois Museum volunteers.

    Food is an important part of any culture, and a full array of Native foods will be available for purchase provided by Frank and Pam Ramsey from Onondaga. Delicious traditional entrees include buffalo burgers, Indian tacos, venison sausage, roasted corn soup and frybread.

    The Festival will be held at the Iroquois Indian Museum on Saturday and Sunday from 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM each day, rain or shine. Performances will take place in the Museum’s outdoor covered amphitheater and the artists participating in the art-market will be set up in adjacent tents.

    The Iroquois Indian Museum is located just 35 miles west of Albany New York, near the intersection of highways 7 and 145. Take exit 22 from Interstate 88 and follow the signs. There is a fee for entrance to the Festival grounds. For more information call the Museum at (518) 296-8949, or go to the Museum’s website at www.iroquoismuseum.org.