This award is part of a broader investment in conservation education, with parallel endowment support provided to the Patricia H. and Richard E. Garman Art Conservation Department at SUNY Buffalo State University and the Conservation Center, Institute of Fine Arts, New York University.

“We are deeply grateful to the Sherman Fairchild Foundation for their leadership and partnership in strengthening and sustaining graduate education in art conservation,” said Debra Hess Norris, Unidel Henry Francis DuPont Chair of the Department of Art Conservation and professor of photograph conservation. “This support strengthens our ability to carry our work forward — with care, with purpose and with a deep sense of responsibility to the communities we serve.”

Shifting focus

Despite WUDPAC’s national prestige and impact, it did not escape sweeping cuts made by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) in April 2025, losing a grant that supported graduate stipends.

In response, Norris worked closely with WUDPAC director Joelle Wickens, along with faculty, staff, alumni and supporters to secure alternative funding and ensure that the program’s work could continue unimpeded and that students would not face impossible financial barriers.

Over the past 12 months, WUDPAC has secured more than $5 million in endowment and spendable funds to support graduate education in art conservation. These transformative investments have come from organizations including the Wyeth Foundation for American Art, the Helen Frankenthaler Foundation, and the Ellsworth Kelly Foundation, as well as alumni and private individuals — many of whom were first-time donors to the program. 

“Our work in the preservation of cultural heritage remains essential. It connects people to one another, to history, and to a shared sense of identity and understanding,” Wickens said.

Philanthropic support has been key to WUDPAC since the program’s founding in 1974, and the department’s collaborative approach to expanding partnerships and diversifying funding sources has helped ensure the program’s continued strength and stability.

Unparalleled opportunity

The knowledge and skills needed in art conservation take many years to develop. WUDPAC students take advantage of every opportunity to expand their knowledge, and this is possible through the funding they receive.

For example, third-year graduate student Daisy Diamond worked with Yup’ik communities in Alaska to preserve grass baskets in the Anchorage Museum.

“The varied backgrounds represented by students in conservation training programs are absolutely essential to care for heritage belongings stewarded by communities and collections worldwide,” she said.

Second-year graduate fellow in painting conservation Elizabeth Glander will complete a 10-week internship at the Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp, in Antwerp, Belgium, this summer, something that wouldn’t be possible without funding from WUDPAC. Learning from other conservators helps students develop expertise.

“No two paintings are alike in their condition or their treatment,” she said. “This exchange of knowledge and first-hand experience in a European paintings conservation lab will better prepare me to care for works traveling internationally or entering into an American museum while on loan.”

Leah Palmer, a recent graduate, said that WUDPAC funding has allowed her to work on projects across the world, including an archaeological dig in Turkey.

“Without funding, I would not have been able to pursue art conservation,” she said. “During my studies I have been able to complete conservation treatments, technical analyses and outreach projects, including treating Ming Dynasty stucco sculptures for a private client.”

Palmer also gained experience advocating for the arts on Capitol Hill through work with the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

“Because I had financial support, I have had truly once-in-a-lifetime opportunities that have deeply impacted me,” she said.