The National Endowment for the Humanities has awarded a $350,000 Preservation and Access grant to the Winterthur/University of Delaware Graduate Program in Art Conservation.

UD’s Department of Art Conservation is pleased to announce the receipt of a three-year National Endowment for the Humanities’ Preservation and Access grant, one of only ten Education and Training grants within the announced NEH funding for 84 humanities projects across the country. The three-year grant ($250,000 with $100,000 in federally 1:1 matched funds) will support graduate stipends for six “NEH Fellows” annually, from July 1, 2026, to June 30, 2029. Graduate stipend support enables WUDPAC students to focus on their conservation studies without the distraction of financial hardship or external employment during their three years of concentrated full-time study. This support is essential in sustaining the academic excellence of the graduate program and ensuring that WUDPAC graduates maintain the high standard of conservation care that our nation’s humanities collections deserve. Two students in each of the first, second and third years of their WUDPAC enrollment will be designated “NEH Fellows” upon admission, a title that will follow them throughout their graduate career.

Past NEH Preservation and Access grants have been essential in supporting the department’s master’s-level students throughout their three years of intense training. Over the past decade, generous NEH funds have supported graduate stipends for 56 students and alumni who are now leading conservation efforts for humanities collections nationally and globally. Our graduates are responsible for preserving such irreplaceable American objects and sites as the Statue of Liberty, the Declaration of Independence, the Emancipation Proclamation, Thomas Jefferson’s Bible, George Washington’s Revolutionary War tent, the Star-Spangled Banner, the Liberty Bell, John Glen’s space capsule, and works by renowned artists including Gilbert Stuart, Frederic Remington, Thomas Moran, Andy Warhol, Faith Ringgold, and Nick Cave. WUDPAC students and alumni have also been key in the preservation of pop cultural heritage including Julia Child’s kitchen, C-3PO from the Star Wars franchise and Grace Kelly’s wedding dress. Graduates are prominently employed in cultural institutions throughout the US and abroad. (A complete listing of our 464 alumni and current placements is available on the ARTC website.) NEH’s support has lasting impacts on the mission and work of our students and alumni to care for our nation’s humanities collections.

This successful application was a collaboration of exceptional colleagues in the UD College of Arts and Sciences, the Research Office, and Development and Alumni Relations Offices. ARTC extends its thanks to all who drafted proposals, obtained letters of support, prepared financial projections and advocated so effectively for our future. This award reflects not only the strength of this individual graduate program but also the power of UD’s shared purpose and sustained commitment to excellence in education and service.