GHHN (Greater Hudson Heritage Network) is honored to enter into a partnership with the Robert David Lion Gardiner Foundation for $150,000 (over three years) to provide dedicated funding for Nassau and Suffolk County museums through the Conservation Treatment Grant Program.
Launched in 2000, the Conservation Treatment Grant (CTG) Program is a partnership with the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) and the GHHN, made possible with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature. The Robert David Lion Gardiner Foundation will provide additional dedicated support for conservation treatment projects in Nassau and Suffolk Counties. These additional dedicated funds will be made available during the 2019 Conservation Treatment Grant program grant year.
"GHHN is grateful to the RDL Gardiner Foundation for their gracious support and partnership. These dedicated Long Island Conservation Treatment Grant funds will enable Nassau and Suffolk County museums to conserve their collections for the benefit of future generations" said Priscilla Brendler, Executive Director of GHHN.
The Conservation Treatment Grant provides support for treatment procedures by professional conservators to aid in stabilizing, preserving, and making accessible to the public an array of unique objects 'at risk' in collections of Nassau and Suffolk County museums, historical and cultural organizations of all sizes. Grants will support conservation needs of the many types of artifacts typically found in art and history museums and historical societies throughout Long Island. Past CTG conservation support has included: oil on canvas painting Hells Gate by Ernest Lawson, c1910 from the Suffolk County Historical Society; Civil War frock coat and kepi from the Sayville Historical Society; one red deer shoulder mount from Old Westbury Gardens; seven carriages and two sleighs from the Long Island Museum; and hand-drawn, hand-watercolored Map of the Western Hemisphere drawn by Elizabeth Mount, 1822 from the Three Village Historical Society.
Grants are awarded for prioritized, urgently needed conservation of objects that, once treated, will impact public interpretive programs, exhibitions and education. Nassau and Suffolk County non-profit organizations with stewardship responsibility for cultural collections, (but without in-house conservation staff) are eligible applicants. 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.
These grants lead to public impact outcomes beyond the actual conservation of museum objects, including new interest in Nassau and Suffolk Counties incredibly varied collections, and increased public awareness of the museum's role as steward, and has proven a spark to further institutional, strategic, financial and long-range conservation planning. Beyond these outcomes, grant recipients report that Conservation Treatment funding prompts greater 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, itself.
About The Robert David Lion Gardiner Foundation
The Robert David Lion Gardiner Foundation, established in 1987, primarily supports the study of New York State history. Robert David Lion Gardiner was, until his death in August 2004, the 16th Lord of the Manor of Gardiner's Island, NY. The Gardiner family and their descendants have owned Gardiner's Island since 1639, obtained as part of a royal grant from King Charles I of England. The Foundation is inspired by Robert David Lion Gardiner's personal passion for New York history. For more information, please visit www.rdlgfoundation.org
About GHHN (Greater Hudson Heritage Network)
GHHN is the statewide 'go-to' service organization for responsive assistance, interpretation and collections care. Our program services are local, professional and statewide. GHHN offers grants, workshops, webinars, consultations, technical assistance, a resource network and professional development opportunities to advance the work of historical societies, historic house museums, heritage centers, historic sites, archives and libraries. www.greaterhudson.org
