Intermuseum Conservation Association
Encyclopedia
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The ICA currently offers conservation and preservation treatments for paintings, murals, works on paper, documents, objects of all media, outdoor sculpture, monuments, and textiles. It employs over 20 conservators and staff.
History
The ICA was founded in 1952 on the campus of Oberlin CollegeOberlin College
Oberlin College is a private liberal arts college in Oberlin, Ohio, noteworthy for having been the first American institution of higher learning to regularly admit female and black students. Connected to the college is the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, the oldest continuously operating...
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. 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
Vitrolite
Vitrolite was an opaque pigmented glass manufactured by Pilkington Brothers in the United Kingdom and The Vitrolite Company then Libbey Owens Ford in the United States...
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.
Services
The ICA has departments for architectural, object, textile, paper, and painting conservation. Beyond conserving and restoring pieces of art, the ICA offers materials analysis, disaster response services, fine art storage, insurance claim assistance, custom mounting and framing, and educational programs.Selected List of Member Institutions
- Akron Art MuseumAkron Art MuseumThe Akron Art Museum is an art museum in Akron, Ohio, USA.The museum first opened its doors on February 1, 1922, as the Akron Art Institute. It was located in two borrowed rooms in the basement of the public library...
- Allen Memorial Art MuseumAllen Memorial Art MuseumThe Allen Memorial Art Museum is located in Oberlin, Ohio and is run by Oberlin College. Founded in 1917, its collection is one of the finest of any college or university museum in the United States, consistently ranking among those of Harvard and Yale...
- Cleveland ClinicCleveland ClinicThe Cleveland Clinic is a multispecialty academic medical center located in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. The Cleveland Clinic is currently regarded as one of the top 4 hospitals in the United States as rated by U.S. News & World Report...
Foundation - Cleveland Museum of ArtCleveland Museum of ArtThe Cleveland Museum of Art is an art museum situated in the Wade Park District, in the University Circle neighborhood on Cleveland's east side. Internationally renowned for its substantial holdings of Asian and Egyptian art, the museum houses a diverse permanent collection of more than 43,000...
- Cleveland Public LibraryCleveland Public LibraryThe Cleveland Public Library was founded in 1869 and is located in Cleveland, Ohio. It operates the Main Library on Superior Avenue in downtown Cleveland, 28 branches throughout the city, a mobile library, a Public Administration Library in City Hall, and a library for the blind and physically...
- Kent State University Museum
- Maltz Museum of Jewish HeritageMaltz Museum of Jewish HeritageThe Maltz Museum of Jewish Heritage, The Museum of Diversity and Tolerance, is located in Beachwood, Ohio, and opened on October 11, 2005. The Museum's mission is to reach out to people of all cultures, faiths, races and religions to build bridges of understanding between all people...
- Progressive Art Collection
- Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum
- Stan Hywet Hall and GardensStan Hywet Hall and GardensStan Hywet Hall & Gardens is a notable country estate, with gardens, located at 714 North Portage Path in Akron, Ohio. It ranks seventh on the list of largest houses in the United States....
Selected examples of ICA projects
- Saul SteinbergSaul SteinbergSaul Steinberg was a Romanian-born American cartoonist and illustrator, best known for his work for The New Yorker.-Biography:...
’s mural of Cincinnati - Carnegie Museum of ArtCarnegie Museum of ArtThe Carnegie Museum of Art, located in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is an art museum founded in 1895 by the Pittsburgh-based industrialist Andrew Carnegie...
’s Hall of Architecture - Indiana State MuseumIndiana State MuseumThe Indiana State Museum is a museum located within White River State Park in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA. The museum houses exhibits on the history of Indiana from prehistoric times up to the present day. It has one of the four IMAX theaters in the state of Indiana.-History:The museum was started...
’s 92 County Walk - RagGonNon “Journeys” Quilt by Aminah Brenda Lyn Robinson at the National Underground Railroad Freedom CenterNational Underground Railroad Freedom CenterThe National Underground Railroad Freedom Center is a museum in downtown Cincinnati, Ohio based on the history of the Underground Railroad. The Center also pays tribute to all efforts to "abolish human enslavement and secure freedom for all people." Billed as part of a new group of "museums of...
- Model Ship from Allen County MuseumAllen county museumThe Allen County Museum is located in the city of Lima, the county seat of Allen County, Ohio, United States. Occupying a half city block, the museum campus includes the main museum building, a log house, the MacDonell House , a Shay Locomotive display, Military/Transportation building, the...
- Joan MiróJoan MiróJoan Miró i Ferrà was a Spanish Catalan painter, sculptor, and ceramicist born in Barcelona.Earning international acclaim, his work has been interpreted as Surrealism, a sandbox for the subconscious mind, a re-creation of the childlike, and a manifestation of Catalan pride...
Mural from Cincinnati Art MuseumCincinnati Art MuseumThe Cincinnati Art Museum is one of the oldest art museums in the United States. Founded in 1881, it was the first purpose-built art museum west of the Alleghenies. Its collection of over 60,000 works make it one of the most comprehensive collections in the Midwest.Museum founders debated locating... - Playhouse Square’s State TheaterState Theater (Cleveland)The State Theatre is a theater on Euclid Avenue, Cleveland in downtown Cleveland, Ohio that is part of Playhouse Square. It was designed by architect Thomas W. Lamb to be the flagship of Marcus Loew's Loew's Ohio Theatres company....
mural by James DaughertyJames DaughertyJames Henry Daugherty was an American modernist painter, muralist, children's book author, and illustrator. -Life:... - William SommerWilliam SommerWilliam Sommer was an American Modernist painter.William Sommer was born in Detroit, Michigan in 1867. He was largely self-taught, but received instruction early on from artist and commercial lithographer Julius Melchers...
's and Ora Coltman's murals in the Cleveland Public LibraryCleveland Public LibraryThe Cleveland Public Library was founded in 1869 and is located in Cleveland, Ohio. It operates the Main Library on Superior Avenue in downtown Cleveland, 28 branches throughout the city, a mobile library, a Public Administration Library in City Hall, and a library for the blind and physically... - Restoring and conserving multiple murals from the Federal Art ProjectFederal Art ProjectThe Federal Art Project was the visual arts arm of the Great Depression-era New Deal Works Progress Administration Federal One program in the United States. It operated from August 29, 1935, until June 30, 1943. Reputed to have created more than 200,000 separate works, FAP artists created...
in the region. - Stored a large portion of the Akron Art MuseumAkron Art MuseumThe Akron Art Museum is an art museum in Akron, Ohio, USA.The museum first opened its doors on February 1, 1922, as the Akron Art Institute. It was located in two borrowed rooms in the basement of the public library...
’s collection during its renovation, doing conservation work on the sculpture “The Inverted Q”