The Oysterponds Historical Society is grateful to the Robert David Lion Gardiner Foundation for its award of $53,330 to create a comprehensive collections care plan. OHS holds some of the most significant and deepest collections representing a single community on Long Island, with objects that exemplify life in Orient and East Marion from the seventeenth century through the present day. OHS is committed to preserving its collections for future generations. This grant will fund a careful assessment of priorities, risks, and resources, addressing the need for more and better quality space for its collections and curatorial staff, which will be integrated into a campus plan that provides a welcoming visitor experience, safe storage for collections, and programming and exhibition space.

This grant from the Gardiner Foundation will bring in consultants to assess the collections, evaluate the condition of buildings on the OHS campus, and develop a comprehensive plan for properly housing the collections. Consultants Michael Devonshire and Kurt Hirschberg from Jan Hird Pokorny Associates along with Rainey Tisdale, co-founder of the Active Collections movement, will work with members of the staff including Curator Bill McNaught and Collections Manager Amy Folk, who is also Southold Town Historian.