Foundation News Archive 2019
The Honorable Peter Fox Cohalan Scholarship in American History is awarded to a graduating Nassau and Suffolk County high school senior who will pursue an undergraduate degree with a concentrated study of a minimum of 24 credit hours in American History and/or American Government.
Greater Hudson Heritage Network (GHHN) is awarding $122,535 in conservation treatment grants to 21 organizations, located in 17 counties of New York State, in partnership with the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA).
The Conservation Treatment Grant is a partnership of the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) and Greater Hudson Heritage Network
(GHHN) that provides support for treatment procedures by professional conservators to aid in stabilizing and preserving objects in collections of museums, historical, and cultural organizations in New York State. The Robert David Lion Gardiner Foundation has provided additional dedicated support for conservation treatment projects on Long Island.
From Long Island to Niagara Falls, these funds will provide treatment by professional conservators to aid in stabilizing, preserving, and making accessible to the public an array of unique objects in collections of New York State's museums, historical, and cultural organizations of all sizes. The 2019 grants will support conservation needs of the many types of artifacts typically found in art and history museums and historical societies throughout New York State, including a silk tea gown circa 1870-1900, an early 20th century scenic theatrical curtain, a 49-block album-style potholder quilt made circa 1850, a pair of Franco-Flemish limestone statues, a bottle used to christen a Liberty Ship, a pair of ceramic baskets of fruits and flowers, and a selection of works of art on paper, textiles, paintings on canvas, and decorative arts.
Grants are awarded for prioritized, urgently needed conservation of objects that, once treated, will impact public interpretive programs, exhibitions, and education. Non-profit organizations with stewardship responsibility for cultural collections (but without in-house conservation staff), were eligible applicants; state or federally owned collections are ineligible for support. Grant funding can treat paintings, works on paper, textiles, furniture, sculpture, ethnographic, historical, and decorative objects, and may also support accompanying professional treatment of frames, supports, stands, and mounts if integral to the final public presentation of the object after conservation.
GHHN strives to provide support for conservation treatments that are executed on the highest professional level. The field of conservation is continually changing, with pioneering research and dissemination of findings on innovative materials and techniques. Although there are many paths into the field of conservation, we acknowledge practitioners who have demonstrated high levels of proficiency and advanced knowledge, adherence to the ethics and standards of the American Institute of Conservation (AIC), and are recognized for their expertise in the museum field. In 2019's grants, treatment will be provided by 18 individual conservators.
These grants lead to public impact outcomes beyond the actual conservation of museum objects, including new interest in the state's incredibly varied collections, increased public awareness of the museum's role as steward, and have proven a spark to further institutional, strategic, financial, and long-range conservation planning. Beyond these outcomes, grant recipients report that Conservation Treatment funding prompts greater use of collections (for exhibition, web content, and loan), enhanced interpretive capability, and expanded opportunities to educate the public about art, history, humanities, the science of conservation, and museum work itself.
This year 48 grant applications were received at GHHN from institutions from 32 counties in New York State, requesting an aggregate of $385,018 in grant support. In all, requests were made for the treatment of 71 objects of which 21 organizational awards totaling $122,535.22 were recommended by a peer panel of conservators, curators, and museum professionals. Of the 21 institutions that received funding, 18 received full funding and 3 partial funding. 2019 Conservation Treatment Grant awards range from $2,654 to the maximum amount of $7,500.
Of the 48 applicant institutions, 22 had budgets under $300,000, 11 had budgets over $300,000 but below $1 million and 15 organizations had general operating budgets over $1 million. Organizational operating budgets of 2019's grant recipients span a stunning range from $3,500 to $113 million.
Conservation Grant Recipients:
Big Springs Museum (Livingston County)
$7,500 for the conservation of Judge Willard Smith oil painting and its original frame; work to be done by West Lake Conservators, LTD.
Colgate University, Picker Art Gallery (Oneida County)
$2,654 for the conservation of a selection of paintings by artist Lee Brown Coye; work to be done by Williamstown Art Conservation Center.
Dansville Area Historical Society (Livingston County)
$7,500 for the conservation of a silk tea gown, circa 1870-1900, worn by Dr. Kate J. Jackson, of the Jackson Sanatorium family; work to be done by Gwen Spicer of Spicer Art Conservation, LLC.
Ellicottville Historical Society (Cattaraugus County)
$5185 for the conservation of a Centennial flag believed to be from the Civil War; work to be done by Rebecca Johnson-Dibb of The Textile Conservation Workshop, Inc.
Harness Racing Museum & Hall of Fame (Orange County)
$3,091 for the conservation of "Stamboul", artist unknown, ca. 1900 oil on canvas equine portrait painting; work to be done by Alexander Katlan of Alexander Katlan Conservator, Inc.
King Manor Association of Long Island* (Queens County)
$4,310 for the conservation of a late 18th-century dress and shawl belonging to Mary Alsop King, wife of Rufus King; work to be done by Rebecca T. Johnson-Dibb of The Textile Conservation Workshop, Inc.
Le Moyne College (Onondaga County)
$7,500 for the conservation of a late-19th-century oil painting & gilded wood frame, artist unknown; work to be done by West Lake Conservators, LTD.
Lodi Historical Society (Seneca County)
$7,371 for the conservation of an early 20th century scenic theatrical curtain with local business advertisements; work to be done by West Lake Conservators, LTD.
Lyndhurst (Westchester County)
$7,500 for the conservation of a 1894 watercolor painted by Frederick Wilson; work to be done by paper conservator Marina Ruiz-Molina.
Nassau County Museum of Art* (Nassau County)
$3,275 for the conservation of "Street in Brittany", oil on canvas, ca. 1870's, by Louis Comfort Tiffany; work to be done by Alexander Katlan of Alexander Katlan Conservator, Inc.
Niagara University (Niagara County)
$7,500 for the conservation of a painting, "Untitled" [American and Horseshoe Falls], 1850 by an unknown artist, possibly by English-born Canadian artist Robert Reginald Whale (1805-1887); work to be done by Eileen Sullivan of Aurora Art Conservation.
Old Merchants House of NY, Inc. (New York County)
$4,500 for the conservation of a Parlor Dome decorative element in the formal dining room; work to be done by Kerith Koss Schrager of The Found Object Conservation.
Old Westbury Gardens* (Nassau County)
$7,484 for the conservation of a pair of Franco-Flemish (date unknown) limestone statues that mark the entrance to the recently restored South Allee landscape feature; work to be done by Eugenie Milroy of A.M. Art Conservation.
Preservation Long Island* (Suffolk County)
$5,589 for the conservation of Edward Lange's 1880 watercolor and gouache of the Brown Brothers Huntington Pottery; work to be done by Andrea Pitsch (Conservator) and Michael Hambrook, Oyster Bay Frame Shop (Framer).
Russian History Foundation (Herkimer County)
$7,500 for the conservation of "Jesus Christ and His Disciples," an oil painting by Russian-American artist Constantin Westchiloff; work to be done by West Lake Conservators, LTD.
Southold Historical Society* (Suffolk County)
$2,676 for the conservation of a 49-block, Album-style Potholder Quilt made circa 1850; work to be done by Rebecca T. Johnson-Dibb, The Textile Conservation Workshop, Inc.
Steuben County Historical Society (Steuben County)
$7,500 for the conservation of an oil painting, including frame, of Rev. David Higgins (1761-1842); work to be done by Klara Zold of Zold Art Conservation.
The Hyde Collection (Warren County)
$7,210 for the conservation of a pair of Ceramic Baskets of Fruits and Flowers by Giovanni Della Robbia (early 16th Century); work to be done by Christine Puzza and Helene C. Gillette-Woodard of Williamstown Art Conservation Center.
The Long Island Museum of American Art, History & Carriages* (Suffolk County)
$6,500 for the conservation of two oil on canvas portraits by William Sidney Mount, 1838; work to be done by Alexander Katlan of Alexander Katlan Conservator, Inc.
The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, Inc. (Otsego County)
$2,690 for the conservation of the bottle used to christen the Liberty Ship John J. McGraw on the day it entered service during WWII; work to be done by Nora Frankel of Williamstown Art Conservation Center, Inc.
Yates County Genealogical and Historical Society (Yates County)
$7,500 for the conservation of a portrait of Joseph Thayer, Jr., Unknown Artist; work to be done by Klara Zold, Zold Art Conservation.
* Indicates additional funding from the Robert David Lyon Gardiner Foundation
$40,000 | The Honorable Peter Fox Cohalan Scholarship in American History For Suffolk County High School Seniors
This Scholarship is awarded to a graduating Nassau and Suffolk County high school senior who will pursue an undergraduate degree with a concentrated study of a minimum of 24 credit hours in American History and/or American Government.
The awardees must attend a 4 year accredited college or university or academic institution subject to Board approval. The scholarship award is $10,000 yearly for 4 years of degree completion.
BIO FOR 2019 RECIPIENT PARKER AHMAD
My name is Parker Ahmad and I am a recent graduate of Bay Shore High School. While in high school I participated in several sports and clubs. I was ranked 15th in the country for Indoor Track and Field in the event of the 1609 meter women's racewalk and was captain of all the sports teams I was a part of - which were girls varsity soccer, indoor winter track and field, and outdoor spring track. Through the environmental club at my high school, I was able to travel to Costa Rica, where I learned a great deal about their environment. Through a program called Athletes Helping Athletes (AHA) I had the opportunity to teach middle schoolers the dangers of bullying, drugs and alcohol, and vaping. This fall I will be attending Marist College where I will be double majoring in History and American Studies. I have always had a passion for history - specifically American History - all my life. My love history grew out of learning about my own family history. My sister and I are both descendants of John Mowbray, the founder of Bay Shore. My sister and I are also granddaughters to two immigrants from India and Canada, as well as great granddaughters to immigrants who crossed through Ellis Island after leaving Germany. I am excited to be attending Marist College for the next four years and cannot wait to expand my love for history with many others.
