Gustav Stickley House Foundation Awarded “Save America’s Treasures” Grant

by Kate Nixon

 

Team Stickley is alive and kicking as exciting news comes from the Gustav Stickley House Foundation, whose efforts have resulted in an award from the Save America’s Treasures Grant, and news of a new online course from the Stickley Museum at Craftsman Farms explores the eccentric, the defining, and the exaggerated, impulsive avenues of decor in the Arts and Crafts Movement has just been released. We cover it all in this week’s news…

 

Gustav Stickley House Awarded Save America’s Treasures Grant

 

Historic preservation recently got a boost of financial support from the National Park Service, the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the National Endowment for the Humanities – and one of those organizations has direct ties to the Gustav Stickley legacy.

42 organizations across the country were awarded grant money as part of the Save America’s Treasures Grant, funding preservation and conservation efforts – $12.8 million in total was awarded. One of these organizations, The Gustav Stickley House Foundation from Syracuse, New York was awarded a maximum amount of $500,000, which made the foundation the highest awardee in New York State.

The recent award is the latest news from the organization since the announcement of Phase Two of the Capital Campaign to restore Gustav Stickley’s House in Syrcause. After the exterior of the house was completed, Phase Two to the interior includes the restoration of the Main Floor and Upper Floor historic spaces as well as the fireplaces, guest suites with private baths, a commercial-grade kitchen and Breakfast Room, an upgrade of electrical, plumbing, HVAC, security, the fire and sprinkler system and the development of educational programming and exhibits.

 

 

 

In a recent interview with Urban CNY News, U.S. Representative John Katko (NY-24) announced both the Gustav Stickley House Foundation and the Canal Society of New York would be receiving funds for the grant. “Central New York is home to countless historic treasures that enrich our community and help connect us to our past. I’ve worked to strengthen the National Park Service’s Save America’s Treasures Program and am pleased to announce the Greater Syracuse Land Bank and Canal Society of New York State have received $617,000 in federal funds,” said Rep. Katko. “These new awards will contribute to preservation efforts related to the Erie Canal and the Gustav Stickley House Restoration, both of which play an important role in promoting our region’s rich history.”

Established in 1998, the National Park Service in partnership with the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the National Endowment of the Arts, and the National Endowment for the Humanities has since provided $323 million in grants to more than 1,200 preservation and conservation projects for significant collections, artifacts, structures and sites. According to Margaret Everson, Counselor to the Secretary of the NPS Director, the grants provide relief not just for historic sites, but for educational institutions and tribal organizations. “From conserving the papers and artifacts of William “Count” Basie to stabilizing a sandstone cliff dwelling of the Ancestral Puebloan culture, these grants enable educational institutions, museums, tribes, and local governments to preserve significant historic properties and collections for ongoing purposes of inspiration and education.”

Additional winners of the Save America’s Treasures grants include the Alabama Space Science Exhibit Commission, the National Building Museum in the District of Columbia, the Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana, Boston’s Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities, and more. A full list of grant winners can be found here.

Last year in 2019, Congress saved funding for Save America’s Treasures from the Historic Preservation Fund – a fund that uses revenue from federal oil leases to provide assistance in preservation issues without using tax dollars. The program requires applicants to leverage project funds from other sources to match the grant money dollar for dollar.

 

Upcoming Online Course Focuses on George Ohr, the Roycroft Metal Shop, Decorative Impulse of the Arts and Crafts Movement

The latest online course from the Stickley Museum at Craftsman Farms will delve into the contributions of the eccentric “Mad Potter of Biloxi,” the facts and fictions of the Roycroft Metal Shop, and the development of exaggerated lines in design with instructor Jonathan Clancy in the upcoming “The Creative Spark: Rethinking Decoration in the Arts & Crafts Movement.”

The three-session course will start September 12th on Saturdays during this month. Like all courses from the Stickley Museum, the session will happen over Zoom at 1:00 PM Eastern on Saturdays. The first upcoming session will look at George E. Ohr’s contributions in contemporary and historical ceramics, reevaluates his relationship to craft potters of the period, and sheds new light on his rambling travelogue “Some Facts in the History of a Unique Personality,” which was published in 1901.

For more information on the classes and how to register, please visit the Stickley Museum of Craftsman Farms’ website.