The Conservation Center for Art & Historic Artifacts Seeks Nominations for Pennsylvania's Top 10 Endangered Artifacts

PHILADELPHIA, Jan. 7, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- The Conservation Center for Art & Historic Artifacts (CCAHA) has opened a statewide call to libraries, museums, historic sites and archives to participate in a new program called Pennsylvania's Top 10 Endangered Artifacts.  This initiative to save the state's most significant artifacts seeks nominations of inspiring historic items – drawings, paintings, manuscripts, rare books, maps, photographs, objects, textiles and more – that illuminate important stories of the state's history and are in need of conservation.

The top 10 objects, selected by an independent review panel of collections care professionals, will be featured on a new micro-fundraising site and promoted through marketing and social media campaigns in a new model for heritage fundraising and awareness building. On this website, the public can vote for and donate to their favorite objects from the group of 10, encouraging some friendly competition among institutions and history enthusiasts. Institutions may now nominate an artifact at patop10artifacts.org.

CCAHA, the country's largest nonprofit conservation facility, created Pennsylvania's Top 10 Endangered Artifacts, which is supported by The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage and by The Beneficial Foundation, to draw attention to the increasingly urgent need to preserve and protect Pennsylvania's cultural collections for future generations.

"This initiative is a wonderful opportunity for the participating organizations to engage with the public on the important issues of collections care and the need to preserve Pennsylvania's heritage," says Ingrid E. Bogel, Executive Director of the Conservation Center for Art & Historic Artifacts. "With a sustainable fundraising platform and the community's support, we will ensure that artifacts vital to preserving the state's history remain accessible to the public, educators, students and researchers."

About the Conservation Center for Art & Historic Artifacts    

The Conservation Center for Art & Historic Artifacts (CCAHA) is the country's largest nonprofit conservation facility serving cultural, research and educational institutions, as well as individuals and private organizations. Its mission is to provide expertise and leadership in the preservation of the world's material culture. Learn more at ccaha.org.

Pennsylvania's Top 10 Endangered Artifacts is part of CCAHA's Save Pennsylvania's Past, a statewide effort to preserve the millions of objects and historic artifacts that shape the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania's history and define our nation. The initiative is supported by an Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) Connecting to Collections Statewide Implementation Grant, by the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, and by the Arthur Ross Foundation, Inc.

Acknowledgements    

Pennsylvania's Top 10 Endangered Artifacts has been supported by The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage through The Philadelphia Cultural Management Initiative, with additional support from The Beneficial Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Beneficial Bank.

To request photos, interviews and more information, please contact:
Canary Promotion, 215-690-4065
Megan Wendell, [email protected]

SOURCE Conservation Center for Art & Historic Artifacts