After being accepted into the Conservation Center for Arts and Historic Artifacts (CCAHA)’s 2016 Philadelphia Stewardship Program last spring, the Arcadia University Art Gallery has been awarded a $2,000 matching grant to improve the storage of the permanent art collection. This is the first time the gallery has received this grant.

The CCAHA visited campus in July 2016 to assess the University’s art collection and storage facilities in order to highlight areas for possible improvement. The recommendations made in the two reports from this visit were utilized by the gallery staff in developing the grant application. The funds will be used to purchase archival storage materials to improve the housing of many works on paper, including the University’s inventory of Benton Spruance prints. This will involve removing many works from non-archival frames and mats, and transferring them into custom made archival folders. These folders will then be stored in flat files that will protect them from light, which will minimize color degradation.

“We are thrilled of course to be able to take further steps to protect the University’s artistic legacy for future generations as a result of this grant, but we also recognize that much more needs to be done,” said Matthew Borgen, exhibitions coordinator for the University.

The CCAHA is one of the largest nonprofit institutions for art preservation in the country. The Stewardship Program and matching grant opportunities are sponsored by the William Penn Foundation. CCAHA’s Stewardship Program is designed to assist nonprofit art collecting institutions in achieving their preservation and conservation goals for their art collections.