Bonnie Burnham

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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.

Contents

Early life and education

Born in Florida, Burnham received degrees from the University of Florida and the Sorbonne.

Career

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.

Recognition

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.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Monument</span> Structure built to commemorate a relevant person or event

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References

[8] [10] [11]

  1. VOAニュースフラッシュ 2008年度版[CD+テキスト]. アルク. April 2008. pp. 110–. ISBN   978-4-7574-1373-3.
  2. Historic Preservation: Quarterly of the National Council for Historic Sites and Buildings. The Council. 1992. page 2
  3. "Monumental Achievements". New York Media, LLC (5 March 1990). New York Magazine. New York Media, LLC. pp. 24–. ISSN   0028-7369.
  4. Kimberly Lisagor (8 April 2008). Disappearing Destinations. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. pp. 275–. ISBN   978-0-307-38928-2.
  5. 1 2 Barbara T. Hoffman (2006). Art and Cultural Heritage: Law, Policy, and Practice. Cambridge University Press. pp. 110–. ISBN   978-0-521-85764-2.
  6. Sandy Nairne (15 September 2011). Art Theft and the Case of the Stolen Turners. Reaktion Books. pp. 363–. ISBN   978-1-86189-960-6.
  7. Garrett Stewart (1 June 2011). Bookwork: Medium to Object to Concept to Art. University of Chicago Press. pp. 60–. ISBN   978-0-226-77391-9.
  8. 1 2 Ismail Serageldin; Ephim Shluger; Joan Martin-Brown (1 January 2001). Historic Cities and Sacred Sites: Cultural Roots for Urban Futures. World Bank Publications. pp. 414–. ISBN   978-0-8213-4904-5.
  9. Nikos Passas; Neva R. Goodwin (2004). It's Legal but It Ain't Right: Harmful Social Consequences of Legal Industries. University of Michigan Press. pp. 173–. ISBN   0-472-02619-4.
  10. Nicholson, Louise (2005). "Personality of the year: Bonnie Burnham, President of the World Monuments Fund". Apollo
  11. "Bonnie Burnham", US Department of State, July 12, 2012