Restoration of Art Works in the Sarah Gillespie Collection HURRICANE KATRINA EMERGENCY GRANT

FAIN: PC-50008-06

William Carey College (Hattiesburg, MS 39401)
Iris Michael Easterling (Project Director: October 2005 to June 2007)

William Carey College operates three campuses in Mississippi: Hattiesburg, Gulfport, and New Orleans. The Gulfport Campus, where the Sarah Gillespie Gallery was located, was severely damaged during Hurricane Katrina. The Gillespie Gallery housed and exhibited a regional American Art collection, spanning the twentieth century and including works by such artists as Walter Anderson, Kate Freeman Clark, William Dunlap, Emmitt Thames, and Ethel Mohamed. The Gallery was destroyed, but some of the art collection was salvaged. Works of art on paper and several paintings on canvas were exposed to water, then to high humidity and temperatures. Active mold covers much of the collection. A well-qualified conservator has examined the works and provided condition reports and estimates to treat active mold and water damage.