);

Community Projects

“Promoting a broader understanding of the importance
of cultural preservation while providing meaningful
assistance to an important local collection each year.”

ANGELS’ PROJECT

At Georgian Bay Art Conservation, one of our core operating principles is to help make the fine art of preserving objects of artistic, historic, or cultural significance accessible within smaller communities and to individuals located outside large city centers. This year, in recognition of the importance of local community we are proud to launch our Angels’ Project. The primary goal of the project is to promote a broader understanding of the importance of cultural preservation while providing meaningful voluntary assistance to an important local collection each year.


Benefits of an Angels’ Project include:

  • Improving the long-term preservation of local heritage collections
  • Improving community access to objects of artistic, historic, or cultural significance
  • Providing sites with an opportunity to establish ongoing relationships with local conservators and preservation specialists who may assist with on-going and future conservation needs
  • Providing an opportunity for conservators and site volunteers to network and have fun
  • Enhancing public awareness of GBAC activities within the community and the goals of the conservation profession as a whole.

Who can apply?

Eligible sites include historic houses, museums, churches or cemeteries, cultural institutions, or any other not-for-profit organization that has a need for basic collections care, preventive conservation, such as: re-housing, conservation picture framing, moving of collections, and remedial conservation treatment. A successful Angels’ Project will also include local and regional publicity such as television, newspaper and magazine coverage to publicize the need for collections care and preservation. Each project will be featured and archived on the GBAC website.

To qualify, project sites must meet the following minimum criteria:

  1. The site does not have a conservator on staff;
  2. The site has a director, committee, or liaison who can coordinate with the Angels’ Project chair to help facilitate the project;
  3. The site must be located within Grey and Bruce Counties (see regional map);
  4. The project must be well defined and ideally provide an opportunity to train and educate in-house staff, caretakers and volunteers to carry through with the long-term preservation requirements of the object or collection once the project is completed;
  5. A detailed letter of interest is submitted before the March deadline of the current project year; and
  6. Insure that the project will fit within the GBAC Angels’ Project timeline as outlined in the following section.

Timeline for an Angels’ Project:

  • March – Deadline for GBAC to accept letters of interest from qualified organizations who would like to be considered for an Angels Community Project.
  • April – The project chair will visit sites to determine a “best fit” for an Angels’ Project grant
  • May – The project site will be announced
  • Summer – The site director and GBAC project chair will meet to determine the scope of the project, logistics and any available community funding and grants to help offset organizational costs, necessary materials and supplies and other expenses such as marketing and publicity.
  • September to December – Angels Project takes place

HELP PRESERVE OUR LOCAL HISTORY!

If you are looking for an opportunity to share your expertise and passion for cultural heritage
preservation or are a current student interested in gaining valuable hands on conservation experience,
we want to hear from you. Become an active member of GBAC’s team of volunteers!