Preserving Vizcaya’s Barge: Addressing Damage from Hurricane Irma - Phase I

FAIN: PB-261324-18

Vizcaya Museum and Gardens Trust, Inc. (Miami, FL 33129-2831)
Lauren Hall (Project Director: January 2018 to October 2018)
Remko Jansonius (Project Director: October 2018 to September 2019)

The costs associated with retrieving and cleaning the architectural and sculptural elements of the Vizcaya Museum and Gardens that are submerged in Biscayne Bay due to Hurricane Irma, as well as contracting with a conservation firm to repair and restore a broken Calder statue that was also damaged during the storm.

Vizcaya Museum and Gardens requests a $30,000 NEH Chairman’s Emergency grant to recover architectural and decorative sculptural elements from the Barge—a boat-shaped breakwater—that were toppled into Biscayne Bay by Hurricane Irma’s powerful storm surge. Additionally, grant funds will be used to repair one of these damaged sculptural elements—a herm designed by American artist Alexander Stirling Calder (1870-1945). These efforts will begin the restoration process for this significant and emblematic part of Vizcaya’s collections and vital barrier that protects the Main House and its art, furnishings and decorative objects.