For immediate release: July 18, 2005
For further information contact: Emmie Donadio, Chief Curator (802) 443–2240

MIDDLEBURY, VT—The Middlebury College Museum of Art has recently been awarded a Heritage Preservation 2005 Conservation Assessment Program (CAP) grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). Middlebury joins the 2,100 museums that have participated in CAP since the program began in 1990. CAP assists museums by providing funds for professional conservation and preservation specialists to identify the conservation needs of their collections and to recommend ways to correctly improve collections conditions.

CAP provides funds for a general conservation assessment of the museum’s collections. A professional conservator will spend two days surveying the site and three days writing a comprehensive report that will identify conservation priorities. The on-site consultation will enable the museum to evaluate its current collections care policies, procedures, and environmental conditions. The assessment report will help the museum make appropriate improvements for the immediate, mid-range, and long-range care of their collections.

“We expect that the conservation assessment process will reaffirm the high standards of collections management to which we hold ourselves, as well as clarify any changes necessary to ensure the future safety and preservation of the College’s art collections, while also serving as a spring board for the future conservation of specific works of art in the collection,” said Richard Saunders, director of the museum at Middlebury.

The Middlebury College Museum of Art houses the College’s permanent collections of antiquities, Asian art, photography, European and American painting, sculpture, and prints, and it offers 3–5 traveling exhibits each year curated in conjunction with the College’s curriculum. The Museum, located in the College’s Center for the Arts on Route 30, one-half mile south of the center of town, is free and open to the public Tues.–Fri. 10–5, and Sat. and Sun. 12–5. Parking is available in the Center for the Arts parking lot. The Museum is handicapped accessible. For further information please call (802) 443–5007 or TTY (802) 443–3155, or visit the Museum’s website at http://museum.middlebury.edu.

CAP is a one-time award funded by IMLS and administered by Heritage Preservation. IMLS provides Federal support for museums and libraries and comprises the Office of Museum Services (OMS) and Library Services (OLS). Congress established IMLS in 1996 through the Museum and Library Services Act that consolidates museum support formerly administered by the Institute of Museum Services and library programs formerly administered by the Department of Education. Heritage Preservation, based in Washington, D.C., is the national organization representing conservation and preservation activities in the United States.