Art Conservation Program restores murals at National Museum of American Illustration

Art Business News, Nov, 2007

NEWPORT, RI -- Several Tiffany murals were restored at the National Museum of American Illustration, thanks to eight weeks of work by a conservation team from the Winterthur/University of Delaware Program in Art Conservation (WUDPAC).

In April 2006, the museum contacted WUDPAC regarding the conservation of its early 20th-century Treillage Loggia Murals by Tiffany Studios' James Wall Finn. The murals had suffered from years of neglect, a leaky roof and invasive attempts at restoration prior to being acquired by the museum. WUDPAC chose the museum to host an eight-week summer work project that would allow students to complement their course work with practical applications of conservation outside the classroom setting. The students reinforced the structural condition of the murals and improved their overall aesthetic condition by removing surface grime and torn mending and by cleaning and removing discolored and incorrect overpaint. Next spring and summer, the museum and WUDPAC will host another summer work project to complete the second phase of the restoration.

For more information, call 401-851-8949; e-mail art@americanillustration.org; visit www.americanillustration.org.