The University of Arizona
 

NEWS
RELEASE

Museum's Pottery Preservation Receives $1M Boost

Date of Release: October 24, 2002

HOW YOU CAN HELP. Contributions of all levels are welcome and can be made to: UA Foundation/ASM Building, c/o ASM Office of Museum Advancement, PO Box 210026, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721. For more information contact: Hartman Lomawaima, ASM Interim Director, 621-6281

ABOUT THE MUSEUM. Established in 1893 as a territorial museum, Arizona State Museum is now the largest and oldest anthropology museum in the region and has grown to become a major curatorial center for archaeological and ethnographic material in the Southwest. The museum's scholars and staff are the state's experts. ASM holds the state's cultural materials in trust for the public and for the state's tribal communities. The museum occupies the two historic buildings just inside Main Gate on the University of Arizona campus in Tucson. It is a Smithsonian Affiliate.

ABOUT THE COLLECTION. ASM's Southwest Indian whole-vessel ceramic collection is comprised of some 20,000 pots spanning more than 2000 years of life in the greater Southwest. It reflects every cultural group in the region and is a worldwide resource for study and research on the Southwest. The collection holds national significance in that research and study on it laid the foundation for much of what we now know about the past in the Southwest. New research technologies continue to produce new knowledge. The collection is as intellectually significant as it is artistically and culturally compelling.

ABOUT THE SAVE AMERICA'S TREASURES PROGRAM. This program is a public-private partnership between the White House Millennium Council, the National Trust for Historic Preservation and the National Parks Service. It was established to protect and preserve our nation's historic and cultural legacy. With official project status, ASM joins icons such as the flag that inspired the Star Spangled Banner, Monticello, and Washington's headquarters at Valley Forge. ASM's project is one of a small group of collections-based projects and one of even a smaller number of archaeological projects. The project was on the homepage of the program's website for many months; ASM staff was recognized at a White House ceremony. The deterioration of ASM's collection represents a national preservation problem to which entire collections have been lost.

(Tucson AZ) Arizona State Museum (ASM) received a $1M boost in its efforts to preserve its internationally recognized collection of Southwest Indian ceramics - the largest, most comprehensive collection of its kind in the nation. In a decisive move, Agnese Nelms Haury, widow of Emil W. Haury, noted archaeologist and former director of the museum, pledged $1M to help meet the museum's most pressing and urgent need - raising nearly $2M for ASM's POTTERY PROJECT.

THE POTTERY PROJECT is an official project of the White House initiative Save America's Treasures. ASM's mandate is to protect and preserve the museum's whole-vessel pottery collection. The pottery faces damage, deterioration and ultimate destruction from the lack of environmental controls in the museum's buildings; nearly 1/3 of ASM's collection already shows damage.

ASM's north building needs renovation to create a storage vault for the 20,000-plus piece collection now housed in five rooms in two different buildings. The proposed vault, with dramatic floor-to-ceiling windows, will gather the collection in one locale, provide environmentally-sound adequate storage space, and present the collection to the public in its full expanse as never before. The project also provides for an upgraded conservation laboratory to provide ongoing care for the pottery and other museum collections.

The museum attracted a $400,000 grant from the Treasures' program in Spring 2001 for equipment and staff. In fall 2001, the legislature vetoed building renewal funds, a portion of which were designated for ASM's project. Without renewal funds, and in an economic downturn, museum fundraising moved slowly. This fall, the museum faced the threat of having to return the $400,000 - a step that would cripple the project and all but doom prospects of future federal funding.

The situation poses a dual threat: the pottery faces ongoing irreparable damage and ultimate destruction unless placed in appropriate storage; and current and future funding is jeopardized. Says Nancy Odegaard, ASM's world-renowned Conservator "If the pottery vessels are not preserved now, the ongoing deterioration will destroy them and this comprehensive cultural resource will be lost."

Mrs. Haury learned of this crisis at a recent ASM board meeting and responded directly and decisively to help the museum meet this urgent need. Mrs. Haury hopes her gift will challenge others and will spur additional giving. Her strategy has proved effective. Several significant contributions have followed from other board members and friends.

UA President Likins has identified ASM's efforts as a time sensitive project of Campaign Arizona and has personally engaged in fund raising for it. "We must come together in a public-private partnership that will provide stewardship for our state's treasures. This collection represents a shared cultural legacy and we all need to share in its well-being."

Museum officials say they need an additional $500,000 to start the project . The final push to reach this funding goal is underway. "We will continue to invite support and assistance from our museum family
and friends which includes individuals, foundations, corporations and American Indian nations and communities," says Hartman Lomawaima, ASM Interim Director. "We all share a common interest in the preservation and care of the collection for current and future generations."