Christopher Foster, Associate Conservator of Art on Paper and Photographs at the Detroit Institute of Arts, presented the Award for Outstanding Commitment to the Preservation and Care of Collections to the Alden B. Dow Home and Studio on November 3, 2000, at a reception celebrating the award. Stephen Carras, Alden Dow's grandson, accepted the award. About 60 people attended the reception.

Conservation has been an important part of the Alden B. Dow Home and Studio's work since its inception. Architect Alden B. Dow, one of the earliest participants in Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesin Fellowship in 1933, is best known for his residential designs, especially his own 28,000 square foot Home and Studio.

In 1988, when his family began setting up an archive of his work, staff began sorting through documents and photographs.As records were transferred from the architectural firm to the archives, the condition of all documents was assessed. Drawings, documents, and motion picture films were given professional conservation treatment. In addition to the archival materials, the house contains a collection of mid-century decorative art, which has been inventoried and photographed. A collection of model trains is also being restored.

An ongoing program with a local high school trains student researchers on the unique nature of archival materials and the importance of preserving the information with proper care, conservation, and holdings maintenance. The Home and Studio also hosts high school humanities classes when they study 1930s and 1940s culture. A program of study for fourth grade social studies classes is being developed as part of the required curricula on Michigan history.

The Alden B. Dow Home and Studio is one of four winners of this year's award, along with Fairmount Park Art Association, Philadelphia; Bata Shoe Museum, Toronto; and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. This is the first year multiple winners have been chosen. The awards committee felt that the 15 nominees demonstrated outstanding commitments to different types of collections with different levels of resources available and that it would be unjust to recognize only one.

Nominations for the 2001 awards were due November 15, 2000. For more about the award, click here.

For more about the 2000 winners, click here.

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