Conservation Center for Art and Historic Artifacts
Encyclopedia
The Conservation Center for Art and Historic Artifacts (CCAHA), located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
, was founded by Marilyn Kemp Weidner in 1977, with funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities and in response to the growing problem of paper deterioration occurring in repositories
in the Mid-Atlantic region.
Currently one of the largest non-profit
regional conservation facilities in the country, CCAHA specializes in the treatment of art and historic artifacts on paper, including drawings, prints, maps, posters, historic wallpaper, photographs, books, scrapbooks, and manuscripts, as well as related materials like parchment and papyrus. CCAHA serves cultural, research, and educational institutions, such as museum
s, libraries
, archive
s, and historical societies, both in its region and across the country. It also works with individuals and private organizations.
Recent treatments include Bruce Springsteen
's original lyric notebooks and scrapbooks, Frank Lloyd Wright
's architectural drawings, John James Audubon
Birds of America prints, Civil War muster rolls, and works by Degas
, Matisse
, and Picasso
.
In addition to treatment services, CCAHA offers nation-wide educational programs on disaster planning, collections care, and records
and archives management. These lectures, seminars, and workshops are designed for professional staff who have primary responsibility for the care and handling of artifacts, such as curators, collections managers, archivist
s, and librarians
.
Other services include digital imaging, conservation matting and framing, on-site consultations, emergency conservation services and disaster assistance, and help with grant writing and exhibition planning.
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...
, was founded by Marilyn Kemp Weidner in 1977, with funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities and in response to the growing problem of paper deterioration occurring in repositories
Repository (publishing)
A repository in publishing, and especially in academic publishing,is a real or virtual facility for the deposit of academic publications, such as academic journal articles....
in the Mid-Atlantic region.
Currently one of the largest non-profit
Non-profit organization
Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...
regional conservation facilities in the country, CCAHA specializes in the treatment of art and historic artifacts on paper, including drawings, prints, maps, posters, historic wallpaper, photographs, books, scrapbooks, and manuscripts, as well as related materials like parchment and papyrus. CCAHA serves cultural, research, and educational institutions, such as museum
Museum
A museum is an institution that cares for a collection of artifacts and other objects of scientific, artistic, cultural, or historical importance and makes them available for public viewing through exhibits that may be permanent or temporary. Most large museums are located in major cities...
s, libraries
Library
In a traditional sense, a library is a large collection of books, and can refer to the place in which the collection is housed. Today, the term can refer to any collection, including digital sources, resources, and services...
, archive
Archive
An archive is a collection of historical records, or the physical place they are located. Archives contain primary source documents that have accumulated over the course of an individual or organization's lifetime, and are kept to show the function of an organization...
s, and historical societies, both in its region and across the country. It also works with individuals and private organizations.
Recent treatments include Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen , nicknamed "The Boss," is an American singer-songwriter who records and tours with the E Street Band...
's original lyric notebooks and scrapbooks, Frank Lloyd Wright
Frank Lloyd Wright
Frank Lloyd Wright was an American architect, interior designer, writer and educator, who designed more than 1,000 structures and completed 500 works. Wright believed in designing structures which were in harmony with humanity and its environment, a philosophy he called organic architecture...
's architectural drawings, John James Audubon
John James Audubon
John James Audubon was a French-American ornithologist, naturalist, and painter. He was notable for his expansive studies to document all types of American birds and for his detailed illustrations that depicted the birds in their natural habitats...
Birds of America prints, Civil War muster rolls, and works by Degas
Edgar Degas
Edgar Degas[p] , born Hilaire-Germain-Edgar De Gas, was a French artist famous for his work in painting, sculpture, printmaking and drawing. He is regarded as one of the founders of Impressionism although he rejected the term, and preferred to be called a realist...
, Matisse
Henri Matisse
Henri Matisse was a French artist, known for his use of colour and his fluid and original draughtsmanship. He was a draughtsman, printmaker, and sculptor, but is known primarily as a painter...
, and Picasso
Pablo Picasso
Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso known as Pablo Ruiz Picasso was a Spanish expatriate painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist, and stage designer, one of the greatest and most influential artists of the...
.
In addition to treatment services, CCAHA offers nation-wide educational programs on disaster planning, collections care, and records
Records management
Records management, or RM, is the practice of maintaining the records of an organization from the time they are created up to their eventual disposal...
and archives management. These lectures, seminars, and workshops are designed for professional staff who have primary responsibility for the care and handling of artifacts, such as curators, collections managers, archivist
Archivist
An archivist is a professional who assesses, collects, organizes, preserves, maintains control over, and provides access to information determined to have long-term value. The information maintained by an archivist can be any form of media...
s, and librarians
Library science
Library science is an interdisciplinary or multidisciplinary field that applies the practices, perspectives, and tools of management, information technology, education, and other areas to libraries; the collection, organization, preservation, and dissemination of information resources; and the...
.
Other services include digital imaging, conservation matting and framing, on-site consultations, emergency conservation services and disaster assistance, and help with grant writing and exhibition planning.