The Buffalo State College Foundation has been generously awarded a $388,000 grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to benefit Buffalo State's Art Conservation program.

The grant will support a three-year pilot program aimed at enhancing the college’s current offering in the important conservation specialties required by libraries and archives.

The expanded curriculum, which begins September 2011, fills a void in the conservation programs. In response, the Mellon Foundation is funding the pilot program here, and at two other institutions respected for their art conservation programs: the University of Delaware and the Institute of Fine Arts at New York University.

Funding will provide improved conservation instrumentation and increased staffing, and also present a clear career path for the interested student, leading from coursework through summer projects and internship opportunities.

The goal of the graduate curriculum in library and archive conservation is to educate ethical, knowledgeable, skilled conservators for entry-level positions in conservation laboratories in archives, historical societies, and libraries. Students will perform standard and advanced treatments on the panoply of paper-based media, such as rare books, photographs, circulating collections, maps, archival materials, and manuscripts.

“We are honored to see this opportunity made available to our graduate students and the excited by the contributions they can make in this important field,” said Art Conservation Department director Patrick Ravines. “We appreciate the ongoing support the Mellon Foundation has given to Buffalo State to advance the field of Art Conservation.”

Founded in 1970, Buffalo State's Art Conservation Department has provided graduate education in library and archive conservation as part of its broad program in paper conservation.

“We hope the opportunities made possible by this grant will double our number of graduates in the library and archive field,” said art conservation professor and paper conservator Judith Walsh. “We look forward to working with our sister institutions as we refine coursework and share opportunities that will benefit our students.”

The Buffalo State Art Conservation Department is one of the leading programs of its kind in North America. Accepting only 10 students a year, the competitive three-year graduate program trains conservators of fine art and material cultural heritage. Graduates can be found in the conservation labs of major institutions across the United States, including the National Gallery of Art, the Library of Congress, and the Museum of Modern Art in New York. The department is currently planning an expansion in Rockwell Hall, scheduled for completion in 2012.