To support development and implementation of experiential curricula in rural history for students in grades 3-8, utilizing the museum's resources and emphasizing field studies in local communities. Teacher workshops and national dissemination of project results are planned.

To support planning to interpret the Museum's significant regional collections in the context of Vermont's resources, geophysical characteristics, values and aspirations.

To support implementation of a temporary exhibition addressing regional history, the history of technologies related to Vermont's forest resources and the perceptions, attitudes, values, and lifestyles of Vermonters as they relateto the forest environment.

A preservation assessment and rehousing of photographic and glass plate negative collections that depict business, social, and landscape history of 19th- and 20th-century Vermont.

A preservation assessment and the purchase of boxes and other supplies to re-house the museum's manuscript papers and watercolor collection of 20th-century German artist, Helmut Siber.

The Fairbanks Museum will produce a preservation plan for works on paper representing the watercolors and archives of internationally known 20th century German painter, Helmut Siber, who lived in northern New England during the 1960’s and early 1970’s and produced a large body of work interpreting the region’s dramatic weather. The Museum seeks to engage a paper conservator to produce a condition assessment of these materials and recommendations for their future housing, conservation, and exhibition. The Museum seeks to enhance public opportunities for study and interpretation of Siber’s work as it pertains to the observation and appreciation of natural phenomena and his evolving ideas on aesthetics, science, and artistic technique.

A conservation assessment and the purchase of a storage cabinet for ten mosaics made during the period 1880 to 1923 by amateur entomologist, engineer, and artist John Hampson. The mosaics are assembled from thousands of moths, butterflies, and colorful beetles and depict historical quilt patterns, events, and persons, including George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. The collection is used to explore the cultural integration of the sciences and the arts and attitudes about design and nature during the late Victorian era and into the early 20th century.

The Fairbanks Museum & Planetarium seeks $6,000 from the NEH Preservation Assistance Grants program to support the stabilization, assessment, and creation of a detailed conservation plan for its collection of insect mosaics made during the period 1880-1923 by amateur entomologist, engineer, and artist John Hampson. These ten mosaics, meticulously assembled from moths, butterflies, and colorful beetles, depict historical figures and events. They are beloved curiosities in the Museum's exhibition gallery that have come to be known by Museum visitors as "bug art." They are the products of a fertile mind during a period of profound cultural transitions and invite reflection on attitudes about design and nature. The Museum will rehouse these objects and engage objects conservators from the Williamstown Art Conservation Center to produce a conservation treatment plan and introduce Museum staff and collections volunteers to best practices for their housing, handling, and display.