Flaten Art Museum selected for preservation program
St. Olaf College’s Flaten Art Museum is one of 75 institutions from across the country selected to participate in the inaugural year of the Collections Assessment for Preservation (CAP) Program.
Administered by the Foundation of the American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artist Works, CAP assists museums in improving the care of their collections by providing support for a conservation assessment of the museum’s collections and buildings.
A team of two preservation professionals will spend two days surveying the site and meeting with staff before preparing a comprehensive report that will identify preventive conservation priorities. The assessment report will help the museum prioritize its collections care efforts in the coming years.
Flaten Art Museum expects the program to be a first step in the next phase of its collections care work.
“In the last 10 years, Flaten Art Museum has acquired hundreds of objects that support the museum’s pedagogical mission. Additions include a collection of 150+ Andy Warhol photographs, Polaroids, and serigraphs; a vast collection of Yoshida Hodaka’s prints; and an extremely rare collection of World War II propaganda posters,” says Flaten Art Museum Director Jane Becker Nelson ’04.
“Since its inception in 1976, Flaten Art Museum has steadily fulfilled its promise as an educational and cultural asset. Now the museum’s potential is rapidly and significantly expanded. Continuing to develop this potential will require substantial investments and innovation, much of which will depend on external grant support. A general assessment is the foundation that will inform future investments and innovation and make grant support possible.”
The CAP program is administered by FAIC through a cooperative agreement with the Institute of Museum and Library Services, a federal grant making agency that supports museums and libraries.
About Flaten Art Museum
The Flaten Art Museum collection includes over 4,000 historic and contemporary paintings, drawings, prints, photographs, sculptures, ceramics, and textiles that serve the college’s mission of teaching and learning. The museum is open Monday through Wednesday and Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Thursday from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.; and Saturday and Sunday from 2 to 5 p.m.