On-Line Application Form

THE PILGRIM TRUST CONSERVATION AWARDS 2002

Notes for Applicants and On-line Form [The form itself is below]

Our cultural heritage is irreplaceable. Buildings and collections provide enormous pleasure and enlighten us about our past. People value them highly. Yet our heritage is a fragile resource, made of perishable materials in a hostile environment. Individual artefacts, museum collections, historic buildings which house collections, and the contents of libraries and archives all depend for their well-being and survival on active policies for conservation, restoration and prevention of future decay.

Central to these challenges are the skills of conservation. Conservators not only ensure the long-term future of items, but also use their scientific, technological, aesthetic and historical knowledge to ensure that the stories hidden within artefacts are revealed to a wide audience, and that images and meaning are made intelligible.

The Conservation Awards, generously sponsored by the Pilgrim Trust, and supported by English Heritage, the National Preservation Office, Resource and the United Kingdom Institute for Conservation, focus public attention on the skills of conservation professionals in the UK by celebrating excellence in conservation and restoration projects. An additional sponsor this year is the Anna Plowden Trust, with a new award recognising the importance of research and innovation in preserving and understanding the heritage.

This year
This is the seventh year of the Conservation Awards.

There will be three categories of entry for the 2002 Conservation Awards:

The Award for Conservation, worth £15,000
The Student Conservator of the Year Award, worth £10,000, with £5,000 being awarded to the student and £5,000 to the training institution
The Anna Plowden Trust Award for Research and Innovation in Conservation, worth £2,000

The awards will be presented at a high-profile ceremony to be held at the British Library on the evening of 12 November 2002. All short-listed entrants will be invited to attend the ceremony. A rotating image of the Trophy can be seen here.

Electronic applications
Please note that electronic applications can be made for the Award for Conservation and the Anna Plowden Award only. Applications for the Student Award must be made on the printed form.

THE AWARD FOR CONSERVATION
This Award celebrates excellence in completed conservation or restoration projects in museums, galleries, historic buildings, libraries or archives.

What is the Award for?

the Award is made for a project judged to be the best of those submitted
to be eligible, projects may focus on the conservation of individual items or collections, on the decorative elements or fixtures associated with a historic building, or on monuments and sculptures, or
they can be projects to improve the environment in which a collection is housed
projects must be accessible to the public in the UK
projects must be completed between 31 January 2001 and 28 February 2002

Who is eligible to apply?
Conservators or teams working in the public or private sectors. The application must be supported by the organisation(s) which commissioned the work.

Criteria for assessment for the Award for Conservation
In entering projects for this Award, applicants should be able to demonstrate the following features, as appropriate:

exemplary and innovative conservation work, which may influence future practice
communication of the conservation project to the wider community
evidence that conservation has increased and/or improved the quality of access to the item, collection or building
high quality of collaboration with clients and professional colleagues.

Other factors which will be taken into account as appropriate are:

project planning and management
documentation and clarity of methodology
cost-effectiveness

THE ANNA PLOWDEN TRUST AWARD FOR RESEARCH AND INNOVATION IN CONSERVATION
The Anna Plowden Trust Award recognises the achievements of those involved in conservation research, development and application.

What is the award for?
The award is for the best completed programme of research or development aimed at furthering the practice of conservation. This may relate to materials, equipment, systems or techniques for improved conservation and collection care, and could be for examination, analysis, treatment or monitoring. The work must have been accepted for publication or put on the market in the UK between 31 January 2001 and 28 February 2002.

Who is eligible to apply?
Scientists, conservators, designers, manufacturers or suppliers based in public or commercial sector laboratories, studios or workshops. The application should be made by the head of the laboratory or studio, or manager/director of the company. In the case of joint initiatives, the application must be supported by the co-operating organisations. Projects which are primarily aimed at analytical investigation, with only minimal conservation content or implications, are not eligible.

Criteria for assessment for the Anna Plowden Trust Award for Research and Innovation
In assessing projects submitted for this Award, the judges will be looking for some or all of the following features:

wider benefit to the conservation of heritage
excellence in experimental technique, imaginative investigations, innovative solutions, resourcefulness
extent of potential uptake and wider application
revelations or discoveries
quality of collaboration with clients and others
good documentation, clarity of methodology and presentation
training benefits and applications
enhancement of public understanding and appreciation
cost-effectiveness

Timetable and Judging
The applications procedure has been changed this year. Entrants for the Award for Conservation and the Anna Plowden Trust Award should submit a short application by 29 March 2002 (see "How to apply" below for details). These will be sifted and considered for short-listing by the Conservation Awards Screening Panel and the Anna Plowden Trust. Only short-listed candidates will be asked for full details of their projects. All short-listed candidates for the Award for Conservation and the Anna Plowden Trust Award will be informed in late April and asked to submit full details of their projects by 31 May 2002.

Members of the Judging Panel will visit all the short-listed projects during June/July in order to meet those involved and see the outcome of the projects at first hand.

Conditions of application

the work must have been carried out in the UK
the project must have been completed, or in the case of the Anna Plowden Trust Award, accepted for publication or put on the market, between 31 January 2001 and 28 February 2002
joint applications from conservators or others working in collaboration are acceptable
applications may be made for both the Award for Conservation and the Anna Plowden Trust Award
all applicants should be clearly identified on the application form
entry material will not normally be returned
English Heritage, the National Preservation Office, Resource and the United Kingdom Institute for Conservation reserve the right to publicise the projects as submitted
all award-winners and short-listed applicants will receive a certificate
a trophy will be presented to the winner of the Award for Conservation. A rotating image of the Trophy can be seen here.
the decisions of the Judges are final

HOW TO APPLY

THE PILGRIM TRUST CONSERVATION AWARDS 2002

The Award for Conservation and the Anna Plowden Trust Award
To apply for the Award for Conservation and/or the Anna Plowden Trust Award for Research and Innovation in Conservation, please complete the on-line application form provided below. You must also submit as an attachment to an e-mail a project description of no more than 500 words in Word format, making clear how far the project meets the criteria for the award(s) applied for. Any application which fails to do this will not be considered for inclusion in the short-list. Two images in electronic format illustrating the project should also be e-mailed as attachments.

The project description in Word format and two electronic format images should be sent as attachments to an e-mail to: [email protected], to arrive no later than 29 March 2002.

Any questions?
If you have any queries, or would like further information, please contact the Awards Co-ordinator by telephone or fax on 020 7326 0995 or by e-mail to: [email protected]

Recent Award-winners

Award for Conservation 2000: Hanna Conservation and Martin Stancliffe. Investigations into the causes of deterioration of carvings of leaves and animals in the 13th-century Chapter House, Southwell Minster, used as the basis for a new approach to long-term preservation.

Award for Conservation 1999: Virginia Neal and Wiltshire County Council. A collaborative project to conserve a fragile Bronze Age shield found at South Cadbury and put it on public display.

Award for Conservation 1998: Keith Barley. Conservation of historic stained glass windows in St. Mary the Virgin Church, Fairford.

Please note that the wording used in the fields marked * will be used on publicity material and Award certificates, and should be as clear and concise as possible.
Fields marked « must be completed.

NAME OF AWARD(S) APPLIED FOR «
CONSERVATION
RESEARCH AND INNOVATION

INFORMATION ON APPLICANT(S) AND PROJECT
Applicant(s) applying for the Award (company/institution/individual) *
«

Address
«

< Town/City «
< County
< Postcode «

Contact name/address (if different from above)
< Name
< Address

< Town/City
< County
< Postcode

Telephone	«
E-mail	«
Fax

Title of project/programme of research or development *
«

Date of completion/publication «

Brief description (max 50 words) * «

Other team members

Location where project can be seen
«

I/We declare that this information is supplied to UKIC by the applicant(s) and represents a true record of the project « (tick this box to make this declaration)

Date of declaration «

The information provided by applicants will be used and retained by UKIC solely in connection with the Conservation Awards scheme, and details of individuals and projects reaching the short-lists will be released only for the purposes of publicising the Awards and short-listed applicants. By submitting this form, applicants signify their consent to such data processing and publicity.