CONSERVATION
Conservation presented with 2010 Marian
and Leon Depres Preservation Awards by
the Hyde Park Historical Society
On Saturday night, February 27th the Hyde Park Historical
Society presented its 2010 Marian and Leon Depres
Preservation Awards to Chicago Public Library and PARMA
Conservation at the group's annual awards dinner.
The award recognized the concentrated efforts for returning the
historic murals and gilt plaster in the cupola of the Chicago
Public Library Blackstone Branch to their original beauty.
Mrs. Isabela Farnsworth Norton Blackstone gave this first
branch of the Library to the citizens of Chicago as a memorial
to her husband, Timothy Beach Blackstone, long-time
president of the Chicago and Alton Railroad. Dedicated in 1904,
the building was designed by Solon Spencer Beman and styled
after a Greek Erechtejon. The magnificent murals depicting Art,
Literature, Science, and Labor were painted by the celebrated
artist, Oliver Dennett Grover. During the last hundred years the
ornate plaster work was damaged by the leaky dome, and the
murals became dull from years of grime. Thanks to a $100,000
grant from Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic
Opportunity, the Chicago Public Library finished a complete
restoration and conservation of the cupola in August, 2009.
The beautiful restoration was performed by PARMA
Conservation with assistance from Bernacki & Associates.
Read more about the Blackstone Memorial Library murals and
gilt plaster conservation project...
ART
HANDLING
DESIGN
The Conservation of a Moisture Damaged
Oil Gilded Framed Mirror - Case Study
By Ryan Greene, Bernacki & Associates, Inc.
Read more...
New Deal Mural Brought Back to Public
After 40 Years
By Elizabeth Kendall, Parma Conservation, Ltd.
Read more...
© 2010 Conservation
& Design International. All rights reserved