LOWER MERION, PA, December 11, 2007-The Board of Trustees of the Barnes Foundation has announced the award of a $75,000 grant
from the Henry Luce Foundation. This generous gift is a conservation initiative grant and will be used to conserve and
stabilize the nineteenth-century Native American ceramics in the Barnes Foundation collection.
Derek Gillman, President and Executive Director of the Barnes, said: "It is with the deepest gratitude that the Board thanks
the Henry Luce Foundation for its continuing generous support, including this latest grant. The grant will help pay for the
conservation of forty-seven Southwestern Native American ceramics that date from 1800 - 1930. Not only will we endeavor to do
the necessary work on the ceramics, but we will also fulfill our educational mission through informal lectures for staff and
students on the process of the conservation of the pieces."
The twelve-month project will begin early in 2008 and will be completed prior to the collection moving to the proposed new
Education Center on the Parkway.
Barbara Buckley, Head of Conservation at the Barnes Foundation will oversee the project and stated: "We are delighted to
have the far-sighted support of the Henry Luce Foundation. It was during a 2002-2004 survey of the objects, which was funded
in part by the Luce Foundation, that this collection was determined to be a priority for conservation."
The Project will begin with a thorough examination of the ceramics leading to detailed written and photographic documentation
of the objects adhering to the American Institute for Conservation's Code of Ethics and Guidelines for Practice. The primary
goal of the project is to stabilize fragile surfaces followed by a conservative surface cleaning that will respect their
historical usage. These treatments will allow for safe handling during future curatorial studies and for the objects to be
packed safely when the collection moves to the new facility on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway.
About the Barnes Foundation
The Barnes Foundation was established by Albert C. Barnes in 1922 to "promote the advancement of education and the
appreciation of the fine arts." The Galleries house one of the world's largest collections of Impressionist,
Post-Impressionist and early Modern paintings, with extensive holdings by Renoir, Cézanne, Matisse, Picasso,
Rousseau, Modigliani, Soutine and de Chirico, as well as Old Master paintings, important examples of African
sculpture and Native American ceramics, American furniture and metalwork, and antiquities from the Mediterranean
region and Asia.
About the Henry Luce Foundation
The Henry Luce Foundation's national American art program focuses on American fine and decorative arts and is committed to
scholarship and the overall enhancement of this field. Since the program's inception in 1982, the Luce Foundation has
distributed over $110 million to some 250 museums, universities, and service organizations in 47 states, the District of
Columbia and internationally.
The Henry Luce Foundation was established in 1936 by the late Henry R. Luce, co-founder and editor-in-chief of Time, Inc.
With assets of approximately $750 million, the Luce Foundation also supports higher education, Asian affairs, theology,
and women in science and engineering.
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For more information, contact:
The Barnes Foundation
Andrew Stewart, 610 667 0290 x1567 or astewart@barnesfoundation.org
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