Volume 3, Number 1, Feb. 1981, p.6

Special Projects

Rocky Mountain Regional Conservation Center

The Federal Bureau of Fish and Wildlife has sent 42 Indian Rugs to the RMRCC for treatment. The Center is currently taking applications for a textile conservator to begin work on these and other area projects.

Balboa Art Conservation Center

BACC has recently accepted "The Driving of the Last Spike" by Thomas Hill for conservation treatment. The treatment of this monumental painting (8 ft x 12 ft) owned by the California State Department of Parks and Recreation, California State Railroad Museum History Building, will require approximately four months to complete and involves a concentrated effort by all of the BACC staff.

Utah Fine Arts Council

Brook Bowman is working on an extensive project with an interesting history. Legislative action of 1899 provided for the creation of a State Art Collection. This action gives the state of Utah the distinction of having the oldest state owned art collection in the country. The collection was active for a time and then fell into a period of little activity, growth, use or care. However, in 1980 the state legislature came to grips with the collection and took action to rectify the problems of the collection.

As a result of the moneys provided in 1980, under the direction of Dan E. Burke, Museum Coordinator for the state of Utah, the collection has been catalogued, photographed in color and black and white, and proper storage bins have been built to house the works that are not out on loan. Mr. Burke and Ms. Bowman have worked together in cataloging, documenting condition, and placing protective backings on the paintings. A modest conservation lab has been equipped with microscope and supplies. General rehabilitation and stabilization has begun. Scott Haskins has acted as consultant and taken some of the pieces which are beyond the capabilities of this lab to his conservation laboratory. The Utah Arts Council will exhibit some of the works which have been treated. Entitled "To Preserve a Legacy: Conservation of the State Art Collection," the exhibition will run from mid-January to the end of March.