Bonnie Burnham is an American art historian who is a former head of World Monuments Fund (WMF). [1] [2] She joined the organization as executive director in 1985, [3] [4] and was named president in 1996.
Born in Florida, Burnham received degrees from the University of Florida and the Sorbonne.
Burnham worked in Paris at the International Council of Museums, for which she compiled and edited The Protection of Cultural Property, Handbook of National Legislation, published in 1974.
In 1975, Burnham became executive director of the International Foundation for Art Research (IFAR) in New York. [5] That same year, her book, The Art Crisis, [6] [7] was published. While at IFAR, Burnham developed its Art Theft Archive program and published Art Theft; Its Scope, Its Impact and Its Control (1978). [5]
In 1985, Burnham became executive director of the International Fund for Monuments, which later became the World Monuments Fund. Under Burnham's leadership, the WMF established national affiliate organizations in Western Europe in the 1980s and early 1990s,. It also began programs for Eastern European nations after the fall of the communist regimes in that area. WMF also started the Jewish Heritage Program. [8]
Under Burnham, WMF began programs in Cambodia following the downfall of the Khmer Rouge regime, in the former Yugoslavia after the Balkans war, and Iraq after the fall of the Saddam Hussein regime. In 1996, Burnham established the World Monuments Watch, which calls attention to heritage emergencies and opportunities. [9]
Burnham retired in 2015.
Burnham's honors include: Chevalier of the Order of Arts and Letters by the French government (1989); Distinguished Alumna of the College of Fine Arts of the University of Florida (1995); the first recipient of the University of Florida's Beinecke-Reeves Distinguished Achievement Award in Historic Preservation (2004); and an honorary doctorate of humane letters from Florida Southern College (2009).
Burnham has served on the boards of the National Institute of Conservation and the Hearst Castle Preservation Foundation and as a member of the United States Commission for UNESCO. She is currently on the board of the New York Studio School; Fellow of the U. S. Committee, International Council on Monuments and Sites; and a member of the Board of Advocates, College of Design, Construction and Planning, University of Florida. She also serves on the International Council of the Preservation Society of Newport, Rhode Island, and the National Advisory Committee of The Olana Partnership.
The International Council on Monuments and Sites is a professional association that works for the conservation and protection of cultural heritage places around the world. Now headquartered in Charenton-le-Pont, France, ICOMOS was founded in 1965 in Warsaw as a result of the Venice Charter of 1964, and offers advice to UNESCO on World Heritage Sites.
World Monuments Fund (WMF) is a private, international, non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation of historic architecture and cultural heritage sites around the world through fieldwork, advocacy, grantmaking, education, and training.
A monument is a type of structure that was explicitly created to commemorate a person or event, or which has become relevant to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times or cultural heritage, due to its artistic, historical, political, technical or architectural importance. Some of the first monuments were dolmens or menhirs, megalithic constructions built for religious or funerary purposes. Examples of monuments include statues, (war) memorials, historical buildings, archaeological sites, and cultural assets. If there is a public interest in its preservation, a monument can for example be listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Historic preservation (US), built heritage preservation or built heritage conservation (UK), is an endeavor that seeks to preserve, conserve and protect buildings, objects, landscapes or other artifacts of historical significance. It is a philosophical concept that became popular in the twentieth century, which maintains that cities as products of centuries’ development should be obligated to protect their patrimonial legacy. The term refers specifically to the preservation of the built environment, and not to preservation of, for example, primeval forests or wilderness.
Cultural heritage is the heritage of tangible and intangible heritage assets of a group or society that is inherited from past generations. Not all heritages of past generations are "heritage"; rather, heritage is a product of selection by society.
The Preservation Foundation of Palm Beach is a private, nonprofit membership organization dedicated to the preservation of the historic, architectural, as well as cultural heritage of Palm Beach, Florida. Through advocacy initiatives, educational programs, architectural resources, and cultural events, the foundation’s goal is to encourage the community to learn about and save the historic buildings that make the town of Palm Beach special.
Samuel D. Gruber, born 1956, is an American art and architectural historian and historic preservationist. He has written extensively on the architecture of the synagogue and is an expert and activist in the documentation, protection and preservation of historic Jewish sites and monuments.
The World Monuments Watch is a flagship advocacy program of the New York-based private non-profit organization World Monuments Fund (WMF) that calls international attention to cultural heritage around the world that is threatened by neglect, vandalism, conflict, or disaster.
The World Monuments Watch is a flagship advocacy program of the New York-based private non-profit organization World Monuments Fund (WMF) that is dedicated to preserving the historic, artistic, and architectural heritage around the world.
The World Monuments Watch is a flagship advocacy program of the New York-based private non-profit organization World Monuments Fund (WMF) that is dedicated to preserving the historic, artistic, and architectural heritage around the world.
The World Monuments Watch is a flagship advocacy program of the New York-based private non-profit organization, World Monuments Fund (WMF) that is dedicated to preserving and safeguarding the historic, artistic, and architectural heritage of humankind.
The World Monuments Watch is a flagship advocacy program of the New York-based private non-profit organization World Monuments Fund (WMF) and American Express to call upon every government in the world, preservation organizations, and other groups and individuals to nominate sites and monuments that are particularly endangered. At the same time, the nominators commit themselves to participate in a carefully planned preservation project.
The World Monuments Watch is a flagship advocacy program of the New York-based private non-profit organization World Monuments Fund (WMF) and American Express to call to action and challenge government authorities responsible for important cultural resources to identify sites immediately at risk, and to stimulate public awareness of the tremendous need to preserve and create sustainable uses for significant heritage made by man.
The World Monuments Watch is a flagship advocacy program of the New York-based private non-profit organization World Monuments Fund (WMF) and American Express aimed at identifying and preserving the world’s most important endangered cultural landmarks. It targets selected sites for immediate action, to call attention to the need for innovative approaches to protect threatened sites throughout the world.
The World Monuments Watch is a flagship advocacy program of the New York-based private non-profit organization World Monuments Fund (WMF) that calls international attention to cultural heritage around the world that is threatened by neglect, vandalism, conflict, or disaster.
The International Foundation for Art Research (IFAR) is a non-profit organization which was established to channel and coordinate scholarly and technical information about works of art. IFAR provides an administrative and legal framework within which experts can express their objective opinions. This data is made available to individuals, associations and government agencies.
Barbaralee Diamonstein-Spielvogel is an American preservationist, historian, author, and television producer. She is an advocate for the preservation of the historic built environment and the arts. She has worked in the fields of art, architecture, crafts, historic preservation, fashion, and public policy in the U.S. She is the author of 24 books, numerous articles and essays, and recipient of many honors and awards. She is a former White House Assistant, the first Director of Cultural Affairs in New York City, and the longest serving New York City Landmarks Preservation Commissioner.
The Palace of Tranquil Longevity, literally, "peaceful old age palace", also called the Qianlong Garden, Qianlong Palace, Qianlong District or the Palace of Tranquility and Longevity, is a palace in Beijing, China, located in the northeast corner of the Inner Court of the Forbidden City.
An estimated $110 million of art was lost in the September 11 attacks: $100 million in private art and $10 million in public art. Much of the art was not insured for its full value.
The World Monuments Watch is a flagship advocacy program of the New York-based private non-profit organization World Monuments Fund (WMF) that calls international attention to cultural heritage around the world that is threatened by neglect, vandalism, conflict, or disaster.