Intermuseum Conservation Association

Last updated
Vitrolite Building, Cleveland, OH Facade.JPG
Vitrolite Building, Cleveland, OH

The Intermuseum Conservation Association ( doing business as ICA-Art Conservation or ICA) is the oldest non-profit art conservation center in the United States, currently located in Cleveland, OH. The ICA offers conservation and preservation treatments for paintings, murals, works on paper, documents, objects of all media, outdoor sculpture, monuments, and textiles. [1]

Contents

History

Richard Buck, founding ICA Director ICA History, Richard Buck.jpg
Richard Buck, founding ICA Director

The Intermuseum Conservation Association (ICA) was founded in 1952 on the campus of Oberlin College in Oberlin, OH. Six directors of major Midwestern museums wanted to create a professional art conservation laboratory. Richard Buck from the Harvard Art Department was the first director of the ICA and served for 20 years. [1] In 2003, the ICA left Oberlin and moved to its current location on the Detroit Shoreway in Cleveland. The new building was once the headquarters of the Vitrolite Company, manufacturers of a popular opaque glass used in 1920s-1950s interior and exterior design. The Vitrolite Building is on the National Register of Historical Places. The ICA is currently restoring the last surviving Vitrolite glass-decorated showroom in the country, for use as an educational and public meeting space. [2]

Services

The ICA has an open 8000 square foot laboratory space for all four conservation specialties: objects, textiles, works on paper, and painting conservation. Beyond conserving and restoring pieces of art, the ICA offers educational programs for learners of all ages, disaster response services, fine art storage, insurance claim assistance, custom mounting and framing, and installation services. [3]

Selected List of Member Institutions

Selected examples of ICA projects

Related Research Articles

Alliance, Ohio City in Ohio, United States

Alliance is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio. Most of the city is located in northeast Stark County while a small portion is in adjacent Mahoning County approximately 16 miles (26 km) northeast of Canton, 27 miles (43 km) southwest of Youngstown and 51 miles (82 km) southeast of Cleveland. The population was 22,322 as of the 2010 census. Alliance was established in 1854 by combining three smaller communities. The city was a manufacturing and railroad hub for much of the 20th century and is also associated with the state flower of Ohio, the scarlet carnation, and is known as "The Carnation City". The University of Mount Union, a private liberal arts college established in 1846, is located in Alliance.

Greater Cleveland Metropolitan area in Ohio, United States

The Cleveland metropolitan area, or Greater Cleveland as it is more commonly known, is the metropolitan area surrounding the city of Cleveland in Northeast Ohio, United States. According to 2018 United States Census estimates, the five-county Cleveland–Elyria Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) consists of Cuyahoga County, Geauga County, Lake County, Lorain County, and Medina County, and has a population of 2,057,009 making Greater Cleveland the 33rd most populous metropolitan area in the United States, the third largest metro area in Ohio, and the second largest metro area, behind Columbus, entirely in Ohio. Greater Cleveland is part of the larger Cleveland–Akron–Canton Combined Statistical Area and its 3.5 million residents make it the largest Ohio metro in the 59 million giant Great Lakes Megalopolis.

Cleveland Public Library

Cleveland Public Library, located in Cleveland, Ohio, operates the Main Library on Superior Avenue in downtown Cleveland, 27 branches throughout the city, a mobile library, a Public Administration Library in City Hall, and the Ohio Library for the Blind and Physically Disabled. The library replaced the State Library of Ohio as the location for the Ohio Center for the Book in 2003.

Cincinnati Union Terminal Train station in Cincinnati, Ohio

Cincinnati Union Terminal is an intercity train station and museum center in the Queensgate neighborhood of Cincinnati, Ohio. Commonly abbreviated as CUT, or by its Amtrak station code, CIN, the terminal is served by Amtrak's Cardinal line, passing through Cincinnati three times weekly. The building's largest tenant is the Cincinnati Museum Center, comprising the Cincinnati History Museum, the Museum of Natural History & Science, Duke Energy Children's Museum, the Cincinnati History Library and Archives, and an Omnimax theater.

Taft Museum of Art United States historic place

The Taft Museum of Art is housed in the 200-year-old historic house at 316 Pike Street. The house – the oldest domestic wooden structure in downtown Cincinnati in situ – was built about 1820 and housed several prominent Cincinnatians, including Martin Baum, Nicholas Longworth, David Sinton, Anna Sinton Taft and Charles Phelps Taft. It now holds a fine art collection, is on the National Register of Historic Places listings, and is a contributing property to the Lytle Park Historic District.

The Cleveland International Film Festival (CIFF) is an annual film festival based in Cleveland, Ohio. It is the largest film festival in Ohio. It was first held in 1977, showing eight films over a period of eight weeks at the Cedar Lee Theatre. It has since grown and in 2019 consisted of 213 feature films and 237 short films from 71 countries, and over 105,000 in attendance. 2021 will mark the 45th year for the CIFF.

William Sommer

William Sommer (1867–1949) was an American Modernist painter.

James Daugherty American painter

James Henry Daugherty was an American modernist painter, muralist, children's book author and illustrator.

State Theatre (Cleveland, Ohio)

The KeyBank State Theatre is a theater located at 1519 Euclid Avenue in downtown Cleveland, Ohio. It is one of the theaters that make up Playhouse Square. It was designed by the noted theater architect Thomas W. Lamb and was built in 1921 by Marcus Loew to be the flagship of the Ohio branch of the Loew's Theatres company.

Charles Percy Parkhurst

Charles Percy Parkhurst was an American museum curator best known for his work on the Roberts Commission, tracking down art looted during World War II.

B. Gunar Gruenke

B. Gunar Gruenke is a stained glass artist in Wisconsin.

Oliver Brothers Fine Art Restoration

Oliver Brothers Fine Art Restoration and Conservation is believed to be the first art restoration establishment in the United States. For more than one and one-half centuries, the Olivers and their successors have restored and conserved antique and contemporary paintings, original works on paper, fine art prints, icons, murals, original photographs, documents, sculpture, gilded objects, and picture frames for private collectors, museums, art dealers, auction houses, galleries, corporations, universities, historical societies, libraries, and others.

Heritage Preservation is an American non-profit organization founded in 1973. Its mission is to preserve the nation’s heritage for future generations through innovative leadership, education, and programs.

EverGreene Architectural Arts (EverGreene), based in New York City, is a specialty contractor and design studio working with commercial, government, institutional, sacred and theater clients in the areas of interior restoration, conservation, decoration and new design. Established in 1978, EverGreene is a company of artists, conservators, craftsmen and designers who work throughout the United States and several sites abroad.

The Eskenazi Health Art Collection consists of a wide variety of artworks composed of fragments from the 1914 City Hospital mural and artwork project, artworks added over time, and newer pieces which include works created for the new Sidney & Lois Eskenazi Hospital and campus in 2013. Other works have been added occasionally; there are also artworks at the clinics throughout Marion County.

Valleyview Homes, now Tremont Pointe, was originally built in 1939 in the Tremont neighborhood, overlooking Cleveland's industrial valley. As one of the country's oldest public housing estates, the original design was a World War II barrack style layout with small units lacking contemporary amenities and was separated by 72 vertical steps. In addition, the site was adorned with a large number of Works Progress Administration (WPA) artwork. By 2004, Valleyview Homes had become one of CMHA's most distressed public housing estates, and some of the art was badly damaged.

<i>América Tropical: Oprimida y Destrozada por los Imperialismos</i> 1932 mural by David Alfaro Siqueiros

América Tropical is a 98-foot wide fresco mural created in 1932 by David Alfaro Siqueiros and other artists in Los Angeles, California, on a second-level exterior wall of the Italian Hall. It was painted over soon after its completion on an external wall of the Italian Hall on Olvera Street, in El Pueblo de Los Angeles Historical Monument of Downtown Los Angeles. It was restored and revealed to the public in 2012, 80 years to the day after its first unveiling.

Charles L. Sallée Jr. was an African-American artist from Cleveland, Ohio. He was the first African-American to graduate from the Cleveland School of Art. He was later commissioned as a WPA artist and muralist and also worked as an interior designer.

References

  1. 1 2 ICA website History Section. Accessed 2007-07-28
  2. Abington Foundation Grant to for restoration. Accessed 2007-08-01
  3. Regional Alliance for Preservation Description of members. Accessed 2007-08-01
  4. ICA website . Accessed 2009-10-22
  5. Cornwell, Lisa. "Museum to display artist's 1940s view of Cincinnati." [NE Ohio] News-Herald 17 June 2007
  6. Indiana State Museum Press Release on Renovation. Accessed 2007-08-01
  7. Washington Post Article on Cincinnati Renovations. Accessed 2007-08-01
  8. Von Glahn, Michael. "Polishing Gems: Playhouse Square Center and Local Conservators Return James Daugherty's State Theater Murals to Their Original Splendor." Cleveland Magazine Oct 2003: 84-87.
  9. Chatman, Angela. "Saving Art from the Wrecking Ball: Effort Aims to Preserve Murals and Other Local Pieces in Valleyview Homes." Plain Dealer [Cleveland] 24 Dec 2004: B1, B10.
  10. Kline, Benjamin. "Mural from Old Dunbar Installed." Dayton Daily News 10 July 2004: B1.
  11. Tinsley, Jesse. "Bedford Cheers Return of Beloved Mural." Plain Dealer [Cleveland] 20 Aug 2003: B3.
  12. Shinn, Dorothy. "Query: where's 'Q'?" Beacon Journal [Akron] 12 Dec 2003: E1, E6.
  13. Tunstall, Arnold. "Akron Art Museum Paintings Get an 'Extreme Makeover." Akron Art Museum: Exhibitions and Events Dec 2004-Feb 2005: 4.