Ford Center Paintings Conservation Laboratory

FAIN: CH-50181-05

Nebraska State Historical Society Foundation (Omaha, NE 68508-1565)
Julie A. Reilly (Project Director: May 2004 to November 2009)

Endowment to support a paintings conservator and related expenses at the Gerald R. Ford Conservation Center's paintings conservation laboratory.

The Nebraska State Historical Society Foundation, requests a $550,000 NEH Challenge Grant, to be matched 3:1 by non-federal funds, for a major regional conservation initiative: The endowment of a Paintings Conservation Laboratory at the Gerald R. Ford Conservation Center to help preserve important historic and artistic resources in public and private holdings in the northern and central United States. While there is a serious dearth of professional paintings conservation expertise and scholarship in this region, the area boasts significant humanities collection repositories that need access to specialized professional skills and knowledge for the examination, research, and preservation of their collections. NEH Challenge Grant funds will be used to leverage an additional 1.65 million dollars of private and corporate contributions for the creation of an endowment, the income from which will support the Paintings Conservation Laboratory. The Paintings Lab will enable the Gerald R. Ford Conservation Center, a division of the Nebraska State Historical Society, to fulfill its mission to preserve and conserve the collections of this region through conservation, preservation, and educational offerings. Of equal importance, the lab will enable regional institutions to more effectively meet their interpretive and preservation missions. Long-range strategic planning by the Society and the Ford Center has determined that increasing organizational capacity by the addition of a paintings conservation lab is its primary strategic initiative.