The American Institute for Conservation of Historic & Artistic Works applauds The Monuments Men movie, whose cast depict some of those who served in the Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives program under the Civil Affairs and Military Government Sections of the Allied armies during World War II. This group of approximately 350 men and women protected and preserved millions of pieces of artwork, sculpture, and other cultural artifacts in Europe that had been stolen by the Nazis.
Public awareness of the heroic accomplishments of the Monuments Men is being raised by The Monuments Men movie, based on the book of the same title by Robert Edsel and being released in February. With big-name stars like George Clooney, Matt Damon, Hugh Bonneville, and Cate Blanchett in the film, we hope that while audiences enjoy the action and adventure, they will also leave the film with an appreciation for the importance of preserving cultural heritage. What few know today is that men and women continue in the footsteps of the Monument Men-protecting art for future generations.
The American Institute for Conservation (AIC) honors the Monuments Men, in addition to the profession that grew in the wake of their work. George Stout, depicted by George Clooney in the movie, was one of AIC’s founding members and a proponent of the creation of formal conservation training programs. Conservators today are highly skilled professionals, many of whom are willing and able to respond to human conflicts or natural disasters that threaten cultural property anywhere in the world. AIC members are experts in treating damaged art and educating owners and stewards of art in preservation practices. AIC’s Foundation manages a specially-trained group of experts in emergency preparedness and response (AIC-CERT), teams that respond at no cost to calls for assistance from collecting institutions and others in need following a disaster.
The Monuments Men movie creates an opportunity to highlight the incredible work that AIC members, our modern-day cultural heritage heroes, are performing on a daily basis. To connect the work happening now with the efforts of the Monuments Men in the past, AIC has created a social media campaign to help those interested in the film learn more about conservation projects and the conservators behind the work.
If you are active on social networking sites please use the movie’s hashtag #MonumentsMen, with another hashtag, #TodaysHeroes if you or your organization post on a conservation-related topic. Using both of these hashtags on microblogging and social networking platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc., will allow users interested in these topics to find out about the work that you do.
Category: Outreach and Advocacy
Information on how to help advocate for conservation and preservation concerns at the local, state and national level.
JAIC is Journal of the Month, visit now!
The Journal of the American Institute for Conservation, or JAIC, has been selected by Maney Publication as its “Journal of the Month” for January 2014. This showcase position is used to give all Maney’s readers an in-depth preview of the organization and its journal, and also offers 3 years’ worth of content available free to all for the duration of the month. The page is now available at www.maneyonline.com/page/jotm/jac.
The featured link on Maney’s new publishing platform clicks through to the JotM page containing information about AIC and JAIC, including:
- Commentaries on the conservation of textiles, archaeological artifacts, electronic media as well as sustainability and a review of the archive
- Video interviews with Michele Derrick (Editor-in-Chief) and Pamela Hatchfield (President of the Board of Directors, AIC)
- ‘Best of the archive’: 10 articles hand-picked by the Editor are free to download
- 20% discount on institutional subscriptions
This is a great opportunity to share the Journal with your colleagues, show your friends and family a little more about what you do, promote the benefits of AIC membership to nonmembers, and encourage your library or institution to subscribe. Remember, all of this content is only available until February 15th, so make the most of it while you can! And please spread the word to friends and colleagues who may be interested.
Oppose Devastating Cuts to NEH!
Now that the government shutdown is over and Congress is beginning new budget negotiations, the proposed 49 percent cut to the National Endowment for the Humanities is back on the table. Just two weeks ago, one of the budget negotiators invoked the cut as he questioned the appropriateness of NEH grants. You can make sure that his are not the last words that our elected officials hear on the value of NEH by sending a message today.
We need you, your friends, and your colleagues to send messages in support of renewed investments in the humanities. Thousands of messages from advocates helped to put the proposed cuts on hold this summer, and by sending this new message, you can oppose the cuts and help restore NEH’s critical support for the humanities.
Lend your name to the effort by sending a message to your elected representatives.
Click on the link below to send a message:
http://cqrcengage.com/nhalliance/app/write-a-letter?0&engagementId=28058
Help us reach more advocates by sharing this message with your friends.
Background
In its FY 2014 budget resolution, the House of Representatives Budget Committee called for the complete elimination of funding for the National Endowment for the Humanities, writing that the programs funded by NEH “…go beyond the core mission of the federal government, and they are generally enjoyed by people of higher-income levels, making them a wealth transfer from poorer to wealthier citizens.” The House subcommittee that oversees the NEH’s appropriation has followed through on the spirit of this resolution by approving a 49 percent cut to the agency’s budget.
Funding for NEH is already at just 29 percent of its peak and 62 percent of its average.
After years of deep cuts, the Obama Administration has proposed restoring some of NEH’s capacity with a 12 percent increase in funding.
Click on the link below to send a message:
http://cqrcengage.com/nhalliance/app/write-a-letter?0&engagementId=28058
Documentary film being made on Ambassador Hotel, and long battle to preserve it
A documentary film, After 1968, is being made that highlights a 15-year struggle by preservationists to save the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, and creates a “living history” of the building through interviews of local residents and those who stayed at the hotel. Camilo Silva is the director/filmmaker behind the project, and took footage of the actual demolition in 2005. The hotel, which hosted the Academy Awards as well as countless celebrities and U.S. presidents, was also the location of the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy in 1968. The site is now a school.
Silva is funding this project in part via Indiegogo, with the campaign ending on Saturday, August 24, 2013. Below is a press release about the project, and a trailer can be seen at www.after68.com. Silva also is featured in an interesting interview on the National Trust blog PreservationNation.
ICONIC AMBASSADOR HOTEL RISES FROM THE RUBBLE IN NEW DOCUMENTARY AFTER 68
Filmmakers Recover Legacy of Historic Hotel by Resurrecting its Demolished Past
LOS ANGELES, CALIF.
In 2005 the landmark Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles became one of the most historically significant and celebrated U.S. buildings of the 20th century ever to be destroyed. Nearly a decade later, a dedicated team of documentary filmmakers intend to bring the Ambassador back to life with After 68. The feature length documentary is a gripping exposé on the dynamic history and controversial demolition of the iconic hotel. “Though the hotel’s structure is gone we are working hard to ensure that its legacy lives on. By chronicling its rich history and the emotional fight to save it from demolition, we hope to give the Ambassador its rightful place in history,” states director/producer, Camilo Silva. “This film is particularly important because it goes far beyond just recapping the history of a famous site. It will challenge audiences to think about historic preservation in new ways and question how actively we value our aging structures from the past.”
After 68 examines historic preservation through the lens of the 15-year struggle to save the Ambassador Hotel from the wrecking ball. For decades the Ambassador was the epicenter of cultural and civic life in the U.S., playing host to the Academy Awards, celebrities, international dignitaries, iconic authors, artists, scientists and every U.S. President from Hoover to Nixon. The hotel’s legendary Cocoanut Grove was one of the most sought after music venues in the world, showcasing almost every major musical act of the 20th century and launching the careers of countless stars. In 1968 the Ambassador’s fate took a dark turn when it became the site of a tragedy: the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy.
When the hotel closed in 1989, the Ambassador once again garnered national headlines during a dramatic battle between preservationists and the school district over the fate of the site. A heated fight ensued, quickly polarizing the community and sparking a multifaceted debate that pitted education against historic preservation. After a lengthy and costly legal battle, the board voted to demolish the hotel. “California doesn’t preserve much of their history…Tear it down and build something new, there was no interest in the preservation of it” stated Merv Griffin in his After 68 interview. Coming in at just under $600 million, the new school campus that was constructed would end up with the distinction of being the most expensive school built in U.S. history.
In the first feature film ever to turn the lens back on the Ambassador, Silva weaves together classic photography and historical footage, along with captured footage of the building’s demolition, and emotional interviews from a range of key people involved with the hotel. “As documentarians timing is critical for us because with every day that passes we are threatened with losing the oral histories that only remain within our collective memory and we want to recover them before it is too late,” says Silva.
Using first-hand accounts, After 68 demonstrates how the Ambassador Hotel’s rich history ultimately placed it between opposing cultural divides: a pawn in the power struggle between those who saw the importance of preserving our past as a means to define our future, and those who were willing to destroy it. “The Ambassador’s story marks the irrecoverable loss of an important relic of human and social history, and as filmmakers we want to educate the public about the value of protecting our past, and thereby ensure that the other Ambassadors of the world may be saved” declares Silva. This film is not only a tribute to the life and legacy of the hotel but it will also serve as an important symbol for the value of historic preservation worldwide.
For More Information Visit:
www.after68.com
US House of Representatives Appropriations Committee to Cut NEH Funding by 49%
Please read the message below from the National Humanities Alliance:
The House of Representatives Appropriations Committee released its FY 2014 Interior and Environment Appropriations bill this morning with a 49 percent ($71 million) cut for the National Endowment for the Humanities. If enacted, this funding level would devastate an agency that has already been reduced by 19 percent since 2010.
This drastic cut would end programs that provide critical support for humanities teaching, preservation, public programming, and research, and result in positive impacts on every community in the country. Programs supported by the NEH teach essential skills and habits including reading, writing, critical thinking, and effective communication that are crucial for ensuring that each individual has the opportunity to learn and become a productive member of society. Further, NEH’s programs strengthen communities by promoting understanding of our common ideals, enduring civic values, and shared cultural heritage.
Click here to send a message today to urge your Representative to vote against these devastating cuts.
Please share this message with your friends.
The NEH desperately needs your help.
1000th post on the AIC blog!
This is the 1000th post for the AIC blog conservators-converse. Looking back at some of my favorite posts so far:
Proposal for the creation of a Collections Care Network
I love this post for the comments, it was so interactive and it brought out a lot of voices some who were familiar with blogging, some on web 2.0 for the first-time, which was great.
From the Bench Series
This is a fun series with images and information about current conservation projects. I probably like it a lot because I am an objects conservator, but I would like it still if there were examples of paper, photography, electronic media, and other materials featured.
10 Tips for becoming a conservator series
I think this was a good example of someone (Heather Brown) understanding how the medium of blogging works and how to write a good series of posts offering advice for potential conservators. It worked really well.
AIC members have been blogging since 2008, so perhaps there will be 2,000 posts by 2018?
TIMBUKTU NEEDS YOU NOW!
Last week, PMG members were challenged to participate in the rescue effort called T-160K Timbuktu Libraries in Exile and help raise fund to protect 300,000 precious manuscripts that were evacuated last year from Timbuktu in the midst of a civil war.
Our goal was to help raise $1500 for the preservation of 50 manuscripts; it was met a few days ago. To this day PMG members have contributed enough funds to preserve more than 60 manuscripts.
I am now challenging you, Facebook Friends of AIC, to join the fundraising effort. If each of you contributes just $1 to the campaign, you could help preserve 231 additional manuscripts!
Hurry up, there are only a few hours left to contribute and join this great learning adventure of the Timbuktu Libraries. To show your support, make your donation directly at http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/timbuktu-libraries-in-exile/x/3254149?c=home and “like” this posting.
How your contribution makes a difference:
All of the funding raised through the Indiegogo campaign will serve a single purpose: better accommodate the manuscripts (individual boxing, buffering and humidity control while maintaining mobility so that the manuscripts can be moved in the case of an escalation of socio-political strife in Mali) to lessen the risk of deformation and arrest microbial infestation that are imminent and will lead to very significant loss of substance.
Many thanks,
Sylvie Pénichon
Chair, Photographic Materials Group
American Institute for Conservation
41st Annual Meeting – Photographic Materials Business Meeting and Luncheon, May 30, “Conservators as Diplomats,” by Mary-Jo Adams
The PMG luncheon was business as usual, with an approval of the minutes and budget, and a welcoming of the new committee, but we also had the privilege of hearing from Mary-Jo Adams, Executive Director of the Finca Vigía Foundation.
Founded in 2003, the Finca Vigía Foundation is an American organization developed to preserve Ernest Hemingway’s house and property in San Francisco de Paula, Cuba, about 12 miles outside of Havana. Hemingway lived in the house from 1939-1960 and it was opened to the public by the Cuban government after Hemingway’s death. In 2005, Finca Vigía (“Lookout Farm”) was deemed one of the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s 11 Most Endangered Places, and in 2006 it was added to the World Monument Fund’s 100 Most Endangered Sites. The house itself is still filled with original furniture, artwork, and other objects, including Hemingway’s car and personal library. During Adams’s talk, she detailed the work that has been done up to this point to restore the site to its original appearance.
The majority of funding for the Foundation’s preservation efforts comes from corporations, as donations to Cuba can be a bit tricky for the private sector. With that money, Adams and her team have been able to bring in specialists in architecture, engineering, and conservation to begin the process of repairing the estate and the collection. NEDCC has partnered with the foundation to consult on the conservation of archival materials, and photograph conservator Monique Fischer traveled to Cuba in 2012 to contribute to the efforts. All of the necessary materials were brought from the U.S. to treat, digitize, and re-house the books, papers, and photographs in the library collection.
Another part of the initiative includes the training of Cuban volunteers on site and in preservation classes and workshops held in Havana. As Adams described, the greatest challenge has been to collaborate with the Cuban people through their many cultural and language differences. For instance, the Spanish word for “endangered” roughly translates to “neglected,” so it is Adams’s job to explain the ongoing risks to the estate and best practices for its preservation. The title to the talk, “Conservators as Diplomats” refers to the need for cultural heritage professionals to work at gaining the trust of their foreign colleagues before trying to force help upon them…It also doesn’t hurt to have the assistance of international celebrities like Cuban-American home improvement guru Bob Villa, who not only advised on areas of the building repair, but has advocated for site’s preservation.
Adams expects that active restoration efforts of Finca Vigía should be complete by 2017. For more information, please visit the Foundation’s website.
Spotlight on Molly Gleeson, ECPN Chair and Project Conservator of "In the Artifact Lab: Conserving Egyptian Mummies" at the Penn Museum
Emerging Conservation Professionals Network (ECPN) Chair, Molly Gleeson has been busy in her new role as Project Conservator of “In the Artifact Lab: Conserving Egyptian Mummies” at the Penn Museum, Philadelphia, PA. “In the Artifact Lab” is a collaborative project between the Penn Museum’s Conservation Department and its Egyptian Section that is both a visible conservation laboratory and exhibition that opened on September 30, 2012. To learn more about this initiative and to see some exciting press, please visit the links below. Many congratulations to Molly and her colleagues at the Penn Museum for their work on this exciting initiative!
www.penn.museum/sites/artifactlab
http://www.newsworks.org/index.php/homepage-feature/item/45842- at-penn-museum-unveiling-the-secrets-of-mummies-while-you-watch?
Support Museum Funding Today
Once again, loyal museum advocate Senator Kirsten Gillibrand is circulating a letter urging the Senate Appropriations Committee to provide FY14 funding for the Office of Museum Services (OMS) at the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS).
The deadline to sign on to this letter is Wednesday, April 24, 2013.
Ask your Senators to sign the OMS appropriations letter today!
The House version of this year’s OMS appropriations letter has already closed and at least 95 Representatives have signed the letter–a new record!
“This year’s record-setting effort in the House of Representatives is a testament to the hard work of museum advocates nationwide,” said American Alliance of Museums President Ford W. Bell. “But we can’t afford to lose any momentum, so I hope everyone will take one minute to contact their Senators today.”
The Office of Museum Services received $30.8 million in the FY12 appropriations cycle, but that was reduced to $29.2 million in FY13 as a result of across-the-board cuts known as “sequestration.” While President Obama has proposed increasing OMS’s budget in FY14, Congress will ultimately decide on funding, so it is imperative that legislators hear from their constituents.
Thank you for taking action on this important issue!