LOS ANGELES-The
Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) has received a $1.86 million
challenge grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to endow a senior
conservation scientist position at the museum. The grant also includes funding
to purchase and maintain state-of-the-art analytical equipment for LACMA's
Conservation Center. The museum has already raised $150,000 toward its
matching equipment obligation, but must raise an additional $650,000 to obtain
the full benefit of the endowment for the senior conservation scientist
position.
"The Conservation Center owes a great debt of gratitude to the Andrew W.
Mellon Foundation and its Program Officer, Angelica Rudenstine," said
Victoria Blyth-Hill, director of the Conservation Center. "Her commitment
to the advancement of scientific research coupled with the support of LACMA's
President and Director, Andrea L. Rich, ensures that the Center will be able
to advance its mission of strengthening and furthering conservation science to
the benefit of LACMA and museums worldwide."
LACMA's Conservation Center became the first art conservation department on
the West Coast when it was established in 1967. The Center encompasses six
areas of conservation expertise: paintings, textiles, paper, objects,
research, and most recently, laser research. Its staff of more than
twenty-five includes conservators, scientists, technicians, fellows, interns,
photographers, and administrators. Its myriad responsibilities include
authenticating works of art, solving historical riddles, recommending repairs,
and monitoring the museum environment. LACMA's Conservation Center further
seeks to develop techniques suitable for use by a broader community of art
conservators to address these tasks.
Particularly exciting is the purchase of a Raman Microspectrometer, which
allows for increased analysis of art in a non-invasive manner. Raman
Spectroscopy can be used to identify pigments, gemstones, and corrosion
products without the need to take a sample from the artwork. Raman
Spectroscopy is well established in major European museums, but LACMA is only
the second museum in the United States working on the application of this
technique to conservation research. The particular Raman Microspectrometer
being installed in LACMA's Conservation Center is big enough to handle
statues or paintings: a significant improvement over previous machines,
designed to accept objects of only a couple inches in size.
The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation is a private foundation, with assets of
approximately $4 billion, that makes grants on a selective basis to
institutions in higher education; museums and art conservation; performing
arts; population; conservation and the environment; and public affairs.
Information about the Foundation is available on its Web site at
www.mellon.org.
An earlier gift from the Mellon Foundation endowed conservation fellowships at
LACMA that have since provided training for more than 150 students. Matching
funds from the LACMA community would help foster a continued relationship with
the Foundation, Blyth-Hill observed.
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LACMA's
permanent collection includes approximately 100,000 works spanning the history
of art from ancient times to the present, making it the premier encyclopedic
visual arts museum in the western United States. The museum uses its
collection and resources to provide a variety of educational and cultural
experiences for its visitors. In addition, LACMA offers an ever-changing
series of outstanding special exhibitions of the work of the world's leading
artists, as well as lectures, classes, family activities, film programs, and
musical events.
