Gerald Ford Conservation Center

Everyone likes a mystery.  The painting in question certainly was.  What had caused the white surface?  Could anything be done?  What lay beneath? The painting owners had bought it at an estate auction in western Nebraska.  The estate had been owned by a man whose grandfather had been an art dealer in Portland, Oregon.  The house had been vacant, and a pipe had frozen and burst, damaging the painting.  The owners spent $2 on the painting and hoped they had a treasure on their hands.  Their daughter lived down the street from the Ford Center, so they brought it here hoping it could be saved and that something beautiful might be underneath the clouded surface.  

March is Women’s History Month so we’re highlighting mid-20th century Nebraska artist, Sara Green.  The Ford Center has treated two of her paintings over the years.

It can be difficult to know what objects in present times will be valued in the future.  However, the staff at History Nebraska actively seeks to build its collection of objects related to current events.  

This is a carbine bullet that killed Corporal Henry P. Orr at Fort Robinson on January 11, 1879.

Conservators use a lot of different tools and equipment when treating objects and artwork in the lab.

Conservators use a lot of different tools and equipment when treating objects and artwork in the lab.  This quarter’s blog posts from the Ford Center will be about different tools and how we use them. 

Conservators use a lot of different tools and equipment when treating objects and artwork in the lab.

Ten thousand books. Three-hundred-and-twenty hours. Four vacuum cleaners. One suitcase full of bricks.