Art Institute of Chicago receives funding commitment from Grainger Foundation

Art Institute of Chicago retiring President and Eloise W. Martin
Director Douglas Druick announced February 16, 2016 that The
Grainger Foundation has generously committed to the museum endowment
funds of $10 million to realize the long-term vision and ambitions
of the Art Institute's Department of Conservation.  Founded with a
single conservator nearly 60 years ago, the Art Institute's
Department of Conservation has now grown to include specialists
across all media who help to authenticate, identify, preserve,
research, and store our collection, and conservation scientists who
focus on materials research of unparalleled intellectual breadth.
The department has assumed a central place in all of the museum's
activities, contributing to scholarship on our holdings and
informing special exhibitions, publications, and education
offerings.

Druick explained the importance and impact of the commitment, "The
Art Institute is known for a particular brand of research that
depends on close collaboration between curators, conservators, and
conservation scientists.  We are immensely grateful to The Grainger
Foundation for fueling that work, as well as supporting the
all-important preservation and stewardship of our collections.  The
newly established Grainger Fund for Conservation will allow us to
attract and retain talent to our program, and to serve as a training
ground for emerging talent in the fields of conservation and
conservation science."

This commitment represents the single largest gift made in support
of the Department of Conservation in the museum's history, and
stands as the most important investment in the care and study of the
collection to date.  As Martha Tedeschi, Deputy Director for Art and
Research, shared,

   "By focusing on talent, research, and equipment, this enlightened
    commitment from The Grainger Foundation recognizes what it takes
    today to lead in the field of Conservation and Conservation
    Science and insures that the Art Institute will sustain that
    leadership in the future."

Led by Frank Zuccari in the position of Grainger Executive Director
of Conservation, which is supported through an earlier endowment,
the Department of Conservation serves collections across the museum
in two major conservation areas "objects and paintings" as well as
specialized studios for the treatment of works on paper,
photographs, books and other printed material, textiles, and frames.
Critical to this enterprise are the conservators and scientists who
address the immediate needs of vulnerable works of art and
collaborate with curators on their research.  Zuccari reflected on
the generosity and impact of the commitment, noting "This commitment
will benefit the Art Institute collection for many generations to
come."

The Grainger Foundation is an independent, private foundation
located in Lake Forest, Illinois, established in 1949 by William
Wallace Grainger, founder of W.W. Grainger, Inc., North America's
leading broad line supplier of maintenance, repair and operating
products, with operations also in Europe, Asia, and Latin America.
Since its creation more than six decades ago, the Foundation has
provided substantive support to a broad range of organizations
including museums and educational, medical, and human services
institutions.


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 29:38
                 Distributed: Sunday, February 21, 2016
                       Message Id: cdl-29-38-001
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