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Image courtesy of the Buffalo History Museum
Image courtesy of the Buffalo History Museum

Buffalo History Museum: New exhibition celebrates 50 years of art conservation & collaboration

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Tue, Oct 20th 2020 11:05 am

The Buffalo History Museum has opened a new exhibit in collaboration with Buffalo State College’s Patricia H. and Richard E. Garman Art Conservation Department. The exhibition, “Fifty Years of Conservation of Cultural Heritage and Art in Western New York,” displays many of the museum’s objects that have undergone conservation treatment. The exhibit is part of a broader community celebration for the 50th year of the conservation program.

“The mission of the Garman Art Conservation Department is and always has been to educate future generations of conservators to carry on with the goal of preserving the wide range of objects that comprise cultural heritage and art,” said Patrick Ravines, associate professor and art conservation program director. “In Buffalo we have been able to accomplish this by collaborating with our colleagues at The Buffalo History Museum to conserve the wide range of their collections and make them accessible to the public, researchers, students and scholars. It has been a pleasure to work hand-in-hand with all of our colleagues at the museum.”

“Art conservation is a great example of the marriage of scientific knowledge and artist skill,” said Walter Mayer, senior director of museum collections. “The students in the program, with supervision of faculty, gain practical skills in their field while preforming conservation treatments to artifacts we impart to their care. I have always been impressed by the knowledge of the department’s faculty in their field and the caliber and dedication of the students accepted into the program.”

The museum began its association with the program in the early 1970s while the program was in Cooperstown, affiliated with The New York Historical Association and SUNY Oneonta. Since the department’s relocation in 1987 to Buffalo State College, the partnership strengthened with a total of 160 artifacts of the museum’s collection conserved in the past 50 years with the program. Of the artifacts conserved, the exhibit features more than 40 artifacts, including a child’s sofa, a Larkin Company desk, a Civil War surgeon’s kit, a helmet, shield and mace from Central Asia, and numerous paintings.

Admission to the museum and this exhibition is free through the end of December. Information on COVID-19 safety protocols are available on the venue’s website. For more information or to preregister a museum visit, visit buffalohistory.org.

Members of the museum can also schedule private “Beyond the Label” tours of the exhibit by contacting Angelica Rodriguez, membership and events coordinator, at 716-873-9644, ext. 344, or at [email protected]. Information on becoming a member is available on the website.

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