Preservation Assessment, Staff Training, and Preservation Materials to Preserve Archival Collections

FAIN: PG-51508-12

Vermont College of Fine Arts (Montpelier, VT 05602-3145)
Mary Louise Welz (Project Director: May 2011 to April 2014)

The hiring of two consultants to conduct a preservation assessment, training in collections care, and the purchase of preservation supplies and environmental monitoring equipment. The collections include archival records, manuscripts, photographs, artifacts, books, and serials documenting the founding of the college as a seminary in 1834, and the religious and social history of Vermont.

The grant will support preservation planning and remedial care for the historical collections of Vermont College of Fine Arts (VCFA). These long-neglected collections span the 177 year history of this well-known Vermont institution and consist of approximately 2800 objects and 120 linear feet of documents pertaining to the history of the school, Vermont, and social, educational and religious changes from the early 19th century on. The proposed grant will support the purchase of archival file boxes and rolling shelving units, an environmental datalogger, and three on-site visits from two collections care consultants. These visits will result in a formal conservation assessment survey, a long-range preservation plan, and a collections management policy as well as a training session for volunteers in basic object handling and inventory and a public presentation on collections care. The grant project will set VCFA on a path towards responsible stewardship of its collections.