Media Contact:
Tracy Gillespie
Director of Curatorial Operations


Phone: (703) 777-2414
FAX: (703) 777-3282
E-mail: myork@morvenpark.org

Leesburg, VA. 6/15/04. Historic Morven Park Mansion awarded a one-time opportunity Conservation Assessment Program (CAP) grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). The grant will provide the funds for professional specialists to identify the conservation and preservation needs of Morven Park's collections and the conditions of their historic buildings.

The conservation and preservation specialists will spend two days surveying the site and three days writing comprehensive reports identify conservation and preservation priorities. According to Morven Park Executive Director, Will O'Keefe, this on-site consultation will enable Morven Park to evaluate current collections care policies, procedures, and environmental conditions. "The assessment reports will assist Morven Park in making improvements for the immediate, mid-range and long-range care of its collections and historic buildings," O'Keefe added.

The collections and buildings being surveyed are the arts and antiques in the historic mansion, the mansion itself, the Winmill Carriage Collection and the building that houses the carriage collection.

The Mansion, the historic Leesburg home of Virginia Governor Westmoreland Davis, is currently undergoing another conservation and preservation effort started in 2003 including extensive work on the exterior.

Tours of historic Morven Park Mansion, its collection, the Winmill Carriage Collection and the Museum of Hounds and Hunting are all included for one price and will continue during the preservation and conservation projects. "We have tailored the tours so we can share preservation and conservation efforts with our visitors, it has become an architectural tour by default," explains Tracy Gillespie, Director of Curatorial Operations. Tours are offered on the hour Fridays - Mondays from 12:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. and we even have a coupon on our website for a reduced admission fee."

CAP is funded by IMLS and administered by Heritage Preservation. IMLS provides a Federal support for museums and libraries and comprises the Offices of Museum Services (OMS) and Library Services (ILS.) Congress established IMLS in 1996 through the Museum and Library Services Act that consolidates museum support formerly administered by the Institute of Museum services and Library programs formerly administered by the Department of Education. Heritage Preservation, based in Washington, D.C., is the national organization representing conservation and preservation activities in the United States.

For more information or to tour Historic Morven Park contact Tracy Gillespie or Melissa York directly at (703) 777-6034.