Professional development through workshops offered around the country for conservators responsible for the care of humanities collections.

FAIC's National Heritage Responders, volunteers trained in responding to disasters affecting cultural institutions, will assist collecting institutions to assess and recover collections damaged by Hurricane Harvey and the subsequent floods.

A three-year cooperative agreement between the Foundation for Advancement in Conservation (FAIC) and NEH to evaluate the current state of cultural heritage conservation and establish a forward-looking vision for preservation in the United States. Designed to support and enhance NEH’s “A More Perfect Union” initiative, core activities would include a fall 2021 national convening, followed by a publication and associated resources detailing needs, opportunities, and next steps to preserve the nation’s cultural heritage.

The "Held in Trust" project will evaluate current national infrastructure and opportunities and challenges facing cultural heritage conservation, establish a forward-looking vision for the preservation of our nation’s cultural heritage, and identify future directions and resource priorities to ensure that our nation’s cultural treasures are available for future education and enrichment. These goals will be achieved through three primary activities: 1) Interdisciplinary research and expert working group discussions designed to shape the dialog and engage many diverse perspectives; 2) A National Convening and related activities to examine and strengthen the field of conservation in the United States for current and future practitioners; 3) Publication of a report documenting needs, opportunities, and next steps required to better ensure the preservation of our nation’s cultural heritage, to be disseminated to key decision-makers and stakeholders.

To support FAIC in conducting emergency work to assess, protect, stabilize, and conserve cultural property damaged by the recent floods in Missouri, Illinois, and Kentucky.

FAIC's National Heritage Responders program, which is comprised of volunteers trained in responding to disasters affecting cultural institutions, will assist collecting institutions with assessment and recovery of collections damaged by the severe storms and flooding in July 2022.

Mid-career professional development through workshops offered around the country for conservators responsible for the care of humanities collections. Fifteen presentations of 10 courses would be held over the two-year grant period, reaching an estimated 461 conservators and allied professionals. Twenty travel stipends would be awarded to participants from under-served regions.

The Foundation of the American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works (FAIC) seeks funding to support 15 presentations of 10 courses over a two year period. This initiative is part of FAIC's expanding program of professional development for conservators of culture heritage, and builds on the successes and lessons learned from previous programs. An estimated 461 conservators and allied professionals will participate. 20 scholarships will increase access for conservators in under-served regions through travel stipends. Workshops will take place in six states and the District of Columbia.

Mid-career professional development through workshops offered around the country for conservation professionals responsible for the care of humanities collections. Eleven presentations of nine courses would be held over the two-year grant period, reaching an estimated 287 conservators and allied professionals. Twenty travel stipends would be awarded to participants from underserved areas.

The Foundation of the American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works (FAIC) seeks funding to support 11 presentations of 9 courses over a two-year period. This initiative is part of FAIC's program of professional development for conservators of cultural heritage, and builds on the successes and lessons learned from previous programs. An estimated 287 conservators and allied professionals will participate. 20 scholarships will increase access for conservators in under-served regions through travel stipends. Workshops will take place in # states and the District of Columbia.

Mid-career professional development workshops offered around the country for conservation professionals responsible for the care of humanities collections. Thirteen presentations of ten courses would be held over the two-year grant period, reaching an estimated 267 conservators and allied professionals. Twenty travel stipends would be awarded to participants in need of assistance and from underserved areas.

The Foundation for Advancement in Conservation (FAIC) seeks funding to support 13 presentations of 10 courses over a 2-year period. This initiative is part of of FAIC's program of professional development for conservators of cultural heritage and builds on the success and lessons learned from previous programs. An estimated 267 conservators and allied professionals will participate. 20 scholarships will increase access for conservation professionals in under-served regions through travel stipends. Workshop will take place in 9 states.

The creation of two Alliance for Response (AFR) networks in New Hampshire and Arizona, the training of four National Heritage Responders (NHR) cohorts in Massachusetts, Charleston, New Orleans, and Philadelphia, and the development of webinars, microgrants, and new online resources for the AFR community.

Emergency preparation and response for humanities collections would be improved by creating new “Alliance for Response” (AFR) networks, training and developing regional heritage response teams, developing inclusivity tools, and providing training and resources to strengthen AFR networks, over a three-year period. Specifically, two new AFR networks in New Hampshire and Arizona would be established and four volunteer heritage response teams would be trained, in cooperation with AFR networks in Massachusetts, Charleston, SC, New Orleans, and Philadelphia. A guide would be developed to support collaboration with community groups. The response training curriculum will be expanded to provide guidance on working with culturally sensitive collections. Project grants, a series of webinars, web forums, and expanded online resources will support these efforts and increase sharing of expertise among existing AFR networks.

Professional development through workshops offered around the country for conservators responsible for the care of humanities collections.

On behalf of the American Institue for Conservaiton of Historic & Artistic Works (AIC), the Foundation of the American Institute for Conservation (FAIC) seeks funding in the amount of $264,198 to support nine workshops consisting of five topics over a two year period. This initiative is part of the AIC's newly expanded program of professional development for conservators of cultural heritage, and builds on the successes and lessons learned from previous programs. An estimated 128 conservators will participate. 45 scholarships will increase access for conservators in underserved regions through travel stipends. A blended learning module will be created to improve an existing course on Adhesives for Conservation. A job task analysis will be conducted to help prioritize future training programs and as the basis for a online tool for conservators to assess and track their professional development needs.

Professional development through workshops offered around the country for conservators responsible for the care of humanities collections. Up to 12 advanced conservation workshops would be held for approximately 150 conservators. Five new workshops would also be developed on such topics as the conservation of digital prints, contemporary print identification, and preventive conservation.

The Foundation of the American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works (FAIC) seeks funding to support fourteen presentations of eight workshops over a two year period. This initiative is part of FAIC's expanding program of professional development for conservators of cultural heritage, and builds on the successes and lessons learned from previous programs. An estimated 152 conservators will participate. 30 scholarships will increase access for conservators in under-served regions through travel stipends. Workshops will take place in six states and the District of Columbia.

Two county-based forums and six webinars for cultural heritage managers and emergency response personnel as part of the Alliance for Response (AFR) program to help new and existing network members develop, manage, and maintain cooperative disaster networks.  Each forum would reach an audience of 125 participants, while the webinars would reach the 23 current AFR networks.  Once archived on the AFR Web site, the webinars would be available free of charge to the public.  The program would also expand its current outreach to link major emergency management and first response associations with the cultural heritage community.

Humanities collections throughout the country are vulnerable to emergencies, from localized flooding to region-wide catastrophic events. Alliance for Response educates stewards of humanities collections on how cultural heritage institutions and emergency management agencies can collaborate to implement networks, plans, and policies that reduce the risk of damage to collections. Relationships with emergency management agencies are key to protecting collections, but few cultural heritage institutions have formal connections and few emergency management agencies include cultural heritage in official disaster planning. In this next phase of Alliance for Response, Heritage Preservation will pilot two county-based forums; present six webinars to help new and existing network members organize, manage, and maintain robust cooperative disaster networks; and expand its ongoing cultural heritage educational outreach campaign to major emergency management and first response associations.

The pilot phase and development of a free, online Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) library and tool for conservation and preservation professionals. When completed, this library would help cultural heritage institutions evaluate the environmental and human health impacts of collection management activities including conservation treatment, storage, loans, and exhibitions.

This project will lay the groundwork for an online Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) library and tool that assesses the environmental and human health impact of sustaining a humanities collection.  The investigators will produce three representative Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) reports; document the most prevalent activities, products, and events that are part of collections care and access work in museums and historic sites; produce a beta version of a tool for evaluating LCA; and develop a plan for next steps to create a robust LCA library and online tool.  These new resources will allow custodians of cultural heritage to evaluate materials and approaches used to maintain collections, and enhance decision-making for care of all forms of material culture.

The Foundation of the American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works (FAIC) is the national membership organization supporting the professionals who preserve our cultural heritage. FAIC has been working with the U.S. Committee of the Blue Shield, the Smithsonian Institution, the National Archives, and other federal agencies and professional organizations to plan and coordinate post-earthquake salvage and recovery of cultural heritage collections in Haiti, following the earthquake on January 12, 2010. FAIC is prepared to send teams of preservation professionals, trained in disaster response, to Haiti to recover damaged cultural heritage collections and to carry out conservation treatments, as necessary. The U.S. Committee of the Blue Shield would provide logistical support and coordination with other international Blue Shield organizations and with military organizations in Haiti. FAIC has developed Collections Emergency Response Teams (AIC-CERT) that respond to the needs of cultural institutions during emergencies and disasters through coordinated efforts with first responders, state agencies, vendors, and the public. To date, AIC-CERT members have provided assistance to U.S. cultural institutions following the Midwest floods of 2008 and Hurricane Ike, also in 2008. Sixteen members of AIC-CERT are prepared to travel to Haiti to offer assistance. A $30,000 NEH emergency grant would enable FAIC to begin sending AIC-CERT members to Haiti by supporting such costs as travel, subsistence, honoraria, supplies, and materials. The division's staff recognizes the substantial need in Haiti for preservation assistance and believes that FAIC, working with the U.S. Committee of the Blue Shield and the Smithsonian Institution, is prepared for this challenging task.