Hill-Stead Museum Environmental Monitoring Upgrade

FAIN: PG-51856-13

Hill-Stead Museum (Farmington, CT 06032-2372)
Melanie Anderson Bourbeau (Project Director: May 2012 to November 2014)

The purchase of dataloggers and training of staff in monitoring and analyzing environmental conditions in the Hill-Stead Museum, a 1901 colonial revival home designed by Theodate Pope Riddle for her father, Alfred Atmore Pope, as a country estate and showplace for his extensive art collections. Collections of French Impressionist paintings; works by Thomas Sully, James Whistler, and Mary Cassatt; and extensive holdings of decorative arts, textiles, and furniture are displayed in the 36-room home. These collections, along with a large archive of letters, photographs, and family memorabilia, support tours, programming, and research on topics related to American social and cultural history, art and architectural history, and women's studies.

Hill-Stead Museum requests a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities Preservation Assistance Grants for Smaller Institutions Program to address recommendations for implementing a data logger program as outlined in a 2011 Conservation Assessment Program (CAP) report funded by Heritage Preservation and the Institute of Museum and Library Services. This project will address the needs of the museum's entire collection.