The Intermuseum Conservation Association ( doing business as ICA-Art Conservation or ICA) is the oldest

non-profit A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...

art conservation conservation and restoration of cultural property focuses on protection and care of cultural property (tangible cultural heritage), including artworks, architecture, archaeology, and museum collections. Conservation activities include preve ...

center in the United States, currently located in

Cleveland, OH Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania stat ...

. The ICA offers conservation and preservation treatments for paintings, murals, works on paper, documents, objects of all media, outdoor sculpture, monuments, and textiles.ICA websit
History Section
Accessed 2007-07-28

History

The Intermuseum Conservation Association (ICA) was founded in 1952 on the campus of

Oberlin College Oberlin College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college and conservatory of music in Oberlin, Ohio, United States. Founded in 1833, it is the oldest Mixed-sex education, coeducational lib ...

in Oberlin, OH. Six directors of major

Midwest The Midwestern United States (also referred to as the Midwest, the Heartland or the American Midwest) is one of the four census regions defined by the United States Census Bureau. It occupies the northern central part of the United States. It ...

ern

museums A museum is an institution dedicated to displaying or preserving culturally or scientifically significant objects. Many museums have exhibitions of these objects on public display, and some have private collections that are used by researchers ...

wanted to create a professional art conservation laboratory. Richard Buck from the Harvard Art Department was the first director of the ICA and served for 20 years. In 2003, the ICA left Oberlin and moved to its current location on the Detroit Shoreway in

Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...

. The new building was once the headquarters of the

Vitrolite Pigmented structural glass, also known generically as structural glass and as vitreous marble, and marketed under the names Carrara glass, Sani Onyx, and Vitrolite, among others, is a high-strength, colored glass. Developed in the United States i ...

Company, manufacturers of a popular opaque glass used in 1920s-1950s interior and exterior design. The Vitrolite Building is on the National Register of Historical Places. The ICA is currently restoring the last surviving Vitrolite glass-decorated showroom in the country, for use as an educational and public meeting space.

Services

The ICA has an open 8000 square foot laboratory space for all four conservation specialties: objects, textiles, works on paper, and painting conservation. Beyond conserving and restoring pieces of art, the ICA offers educational programs for learners of all ages, disaster response services, fine art storage, insurance claim assistance, custom mounting and framing, and installation services.

Selected List of Member Institutions

Akron Art Museum The Akron Art Museum is an art museum in Akron, Ohio, United States. The museum first opened on February 1, 1922, as the Akron Art Institute. It was located in two borrowed rooms in the basement of the public library. The Institute offered clas ...

Allen Memorial Art Museum The Allen Memorial Art Museum (AMAM) is an art museum located in Oberlin, Ohio, and it is run by Oberlin College. Founded in 1917, the collection contains over 15,000 works of art. Overview The AMAM is primarily a teaching museum and is aimed at ...

Cleveland Clinic Cleveland Clinic is an American Nonprofit organization, nonprofit Academic health science center, academic Medical centers in the United States, medical center based in Cleveland, Ohio. Owned and operated by the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, an O ...

Foundation *

Cleveland Museum of Art The Cleveland Museum of Art (CMA) is an art museum in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. Located in the Wade Park District of University Circle, the museum is internationally renowned for its substantial holdings of Asian art, Asian and Art of anc ...

Cleveland Public Library The Cleveland Public Library is a public library system in Cleveland, Ohio. Founded in 1869, it had a circulation of 3.5 million items in 2020. It operates the Main Library on Superior Avenue in downtown Cleveland, 27 branches throughout the cit ...

Kent State University Museum
* Maltz Museum of Jewish Heritage *Progressiv
Art Collection
*

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF), also simply referred to as the Rock Hall, is a museum and hall of fame located in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States, on the shore of Lake Erie. The museum documents the history of rock music and the ...

Stan Hywet Hall and Gardens Stan Hywet Hall & Gardens (70 acres) is a historic house museum in Akron, Ohio. The estate includes gardens, a greenhouse, carriage house, and the main mansion, one of the largest houses in the United States. A National Historic Landmark, it i ...

Selected examples of ICA projects

Saul Steinberg Saul Steinberg (June 15, 1914, Rm. Sărat, Romania – May 12, 1999, New York City) was a Romanian-born American artist, best known for his work for ''The New Yorker'', most notably ''View of the World from 9th Avenue''. He described himself ...

’s mural of Cincinnati *

Carnegie Museum of Art The Carnegie Museum of Art is an art museum in the Oakland (Pittsburgh), Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The museum was originally known as the Department of Fine Arts, Carnegie Institute and was formerly located ...

’s Hall of Architecture *

Indiana State Museum The Indiana State Museum is a museum located in Downtown Indianapolis, downtown Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. The museum houses exhibits on the science, art, culture, and history of Indiana from prehistoric times to the present day. His ...

’s 92 County Walk *RagGonNon "Journeys" Quilt by Aminah Brenda Lyn Robinson at the

National Underground Railroad Freedom Center The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center is a museum in downtown Cincinnati, Ohio, based on the history of the Underground Railroad. Opened in 2004, the center also pays tribute to all efforts to "abolish human enslavement and secure fr ...

*Model Ship from Allen County Museum *

Joan Miró Joan Miró i Ferrà ( , ; ; 20 April 1893 – 25 December 1983) was a Catalan Spanish painter, sculptor and Ceramic art, ceramist. A museum dedicated to his work, the Fundació Joan Miró, was established in his native city of Barcelona ...

Mural from

Cincinnati Art Museum The Cincinnati Art Museum is an art museum in the Eden Park neighborhood of Cincinnati, Ohio. Founded in 1881, it was the first purpose-built art museum west of the Alleghenies, and is one of the oldest in the United States. Its collection of ...

Playhouse Square Playhouse Square is a theater district in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It is the largest performing arts center in the US outside of New York City (only Lincoln Center is larger). Constructed in a span of 19 months in the early 1920s ...

’s State Theater mural by

James Daugherty James Henry Daugherty (June 1, 1889 – February 21, 1974) was an American modernism, American modernist painter, muralist, children's book author and illustrator. Life Daugherty was born in Asheville, North Carolina. He later lived in Indiana, ...

* William Sommer's and Ora Coltman's murals in the

*Restoring and conserving multiple murals from the

Federal Art Project The Federal Art Project (1935–1943) was a New Deal program to fund the visual arts in the United States. Under national director Holger Cahill, it was one of five Federal Project Number One projects sponsored by the Works Progress Administratio ...

in the region. *Stored a large portion of the

’s collection during its renovation, doing conservation work on the sculpture "The Inverted Q" Tunstall, Arnold. "Akron Art Museum Paintings Get an 'Extreme Makeover." Akron Art Museum: Exhibitions and Events Dec 2004-Feb 2005: 4.

References

External links

Intermuseum Conservation AssociationOhio Preservation CouncilRegional Alliance for PreservationAlliance for Response
{{Authority control Organizations based in Cleveland Conservation and restoration organizations