Sustaining Cultural Heritage Collections (SCHC) helps cultural institutions meet the complex challenge of preserving large and diverse holdings of humanities materials for future generations by supporting preventive conservation measures that mitigate deterioration and prolong the useful life of collections.
To develop sound and sustainable preventive conservation projects, NEH encourages collaborative and interdisciplinary planning that can help
institutions:
- understand the nature of collections and their conditions before defining preservation requirements;
- develop preservation strategies based on the risks to collections rather than on ideal and prescriptive targets;
- know the characteristics and performance of the building, its envelope, and its systems, and their role in moderating interior environmental conditions;
- understand the nature of the local climate and its impact on interior environmental conditions;
- consider the potential effects of climate change on cultural property;
- design mechanical systems, whenever possible, only after investigating and implementing passive (that is, non-mechanical) approaches for achieving and managing desired conditions;
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develop solutions tailored to the capabilities of the organization and its staff
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weigh initial and ongoing energy use, costs, and environmental impacts of potential preservation strategies; and
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evaluate and measure the effectiveness of a project’s results through the collection of data on conditions, energy use, and costs.
Deadline: December 12th 2013
Award Ceiling: $350,000
For more information about the grant opportunity and full guidelines, please refer to http://www.neh.gov/grants/preservation/sustaining-cultural-heritage-collections