Heritage Preservation is currently celebrating the Conservation Assessment Program’s (CAP) 20^th year of helping museums obtain general collections assessments. To mark the occasion, we have created a special feature on our website (www.heritagepreservation.org/CAP) called “Twenty Years of Conservation Improvements through CAP.” It showcases one museum from each year in the program’s twenty-year history, and demonstrates how each museum used their CAP recommendations to improve collections care.

From the Quincy Art Center in Illinois, to Iolani Palace in Hawaii, to the Beartooth Nature Center in Red Lodge, Montana, we have brought together stories of preservation improvements that involve everything from careful restoration of historic buildings, to extensive fund-raising for collections storage furniture, to innovative methods of volunteer recruitment for collections projects, to the construction of new habitats for living animal collections. Gain inspiration and valuable ideas for collections care improvements from the examples of these dedicated museum professionals.

CAP funds a professional collections assessment for small to mid-sized museums of all types, at a minimal cost. In addition, CAP funds historic buildings assessments for institutions with buildings that are 50 years or older. The assessment process helps museum professionals better understand and improve their institutions’ policies and procedures, learn conservation and historic preservation best practices, and forge relationships with conservators and historic structures assessors. The resulting CAP report can help your institution to develop strategies for improved collections care, long-range planning, staff and board education, and fund-raising.

In 2010, 107 museums in 40 states were selected to participate in CAP, including Pettaquamscutt Historical Society in Kingstown. To view the entire list of current CAP participants, visit www.heritagepreservation.org/CAP/10recipients.html.

The 2011 CAP applications will be mailed on Friday, September 3, 2010, to museums on the CAP mailing list and will also be available on Heritage Preservation’s Web site at www.heritagepreservation.org. The postmark deadline for applications is midnight on December 1, 2010. Participants are identified on a rolling basis, and site visits for participants can begin as early as January 1, 2011. Final reports must be submitted to Heritage Preservation by November 1, 2011. CAP is administered by Heritage Preservation and supported through a cooperative agreement with the Institute of Museum and Library Services.

To be added to the CAP application mailing list, or for more information, please contact CAP staff at cap@heritagepreservation.org or 202-233-0800.

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 27th, 2010 at 4:09 pm and is filed under Opportunities. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.