Commissioned Eighteenth-Century House Mural |
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In the month of October, we enjoy the feeling of warmth as the seasons bring the cooler weather. In our tiny corner of Connecticut, we get to enjoy all of the splendors of a New England autumn, and are reminded of the beauty of the world as it changes around us. Along with all of our mural and artwork restoration & conservation, Canning provides custom murals, commissioned artwork, and design scheme services. The commissioned artwork shown above depicts this modest, autumnal New England and colonial American life, accentuated by the color of the trees and the overall warmth of the painting’s color. Commissioned art is especially beautiful in the way that it is fully customizable, as its name suggests. This commissioned work is a series depicting colonial life in New England, and even incorporates a few personal touches to the scenes, including using the owner’s pets as a reference when painting the dogs in the artwork.
Our custom and commissioned mural, artwork and design services can come into play during the restoration process. For instance, when conducting a historic paint investigation of decorative finishes, results can be inconclusive. In these areas, new design elements or murals consistent with the intent of the original designer can be created to re-establish the cohesive design. Canning has created new designs of this nature at the Philadelphia Academy of Music. In areas of the ballroom where information about the original artwork was not available, scenes from Mozart’s operas were created by our artists to match the correct style and time period. These scenes can be seen in the grisaille-style, lunette artwork in the ballroom. New artwork can also be required when conditions of existing artwork has reached a point were conservation isn't possible. Our large scope of treatment techniques and design/assist services for the Luzerne County Courthouse restoration included creating new murals in the same style and colors as the original paintings that could not be conserved. These severely damaged murals were thoroughly assessed and documented before new, period appropriate murals took their place. This process included archival research of the artist and original artwork, gilding, and glazing.
Along with these projects, we have completed a number of other commissioned works, including paintings at the English Rose Residence, US National Archives, the Cathedral of St. Patrick, the Archdiocese of the Military Chapel, and the project featured here for an Eighteenth-century house. Our artisans have decades of experience not only preserving, conserving and restoring murals & artwork, but also in creating new design schemes and pieces. These skills are employed by our expert conservators to create murals and artwork that align with the historic structure of the space, utilizing period methods, materials, and techniques. To read more about our commissioned artwork and design services, visit the links below.
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Latest Articles & Announcements |
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| Ghosts in the Decorative Arts |
With the month of October being a time that ghosts and goblins are often talked about, we figured we would join in the conversation and highlight one of our experiences with ghosts in the decorative arts. Whether you are aware or not, the ghosts in the decorative arts are all around and can be found in cities and towns across the United States. The discussion of ghosts in the decorative arts brings us into taking a look inside a Ghost Sign project we had the privilege to be a part of in the Town of Old Saybrook.
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The Use of Ornamental Plaster in Five Historic Theaters |
We touched upon some of our work at the Philadelphia Academy of Music above and it is one of the five theaters this article covers regarding plasterwork. Historically, builders and architects performed ornamental plasterwork in two ways: accomplished on the site or through cast in molds in the studio for installation on site. Ornamental plaster can truly transform a space, and John Canning & Co. have mastered the art of creating beautiful designs or matching the traditional techniques and processes. There are many historical theaters that the John Canning Company has worked on utilizing ornamental plasterwork to restore and beautify these important community palaces. Let's take a look and explore five of these theaters.
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4 Steps for Cleaning Historic Murals |
To go along with the discussion of murals above, we thought to revisit this blog which takes a look at the steps required for cleaning historic murals. With proper care and cleaning of murals, the hope would be that there would not be a need to create new murals as replacements that could not be conserved. The process for cleaning historic murals starts far before any physical cleaning is actually done to the piece. Steps need to be taken to research, assess, and document the mural to make sure that any changes made to the piece are absolutely necessary and well documented in case they need to be reversed at a later date.
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The Use of Stone in College Chapels & Churches |
Stone has been the essential material for structures since the beginning of human civilization, for even the cave men lived inside natural stone formations. In addition to its extreme strength and stability, stone is exceedingly beautiful and somewhat sophisticated which makes it a valuable material in the collegiate world. And what better material is there for university chapels and churches than this vessel of strength, stability, and beauty? Our most recent blog takes a look at how stone is used in college chapels and churches across the world.
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Last month we mentioned a few of our projects receiving the ICAA Bulfinch Awards, which we look forward to celebrating at the end of this month. To add to this excitement, we are thrilled to have been recently awarded the 2022 McKim, Mead & White Award for Artisanship for their project, San Joselito’s Chapel – Transformation Through Design. We completely redesigned, the roughly 18ft x 35ft chapel, including the installation of decorative paint, stenciling, glazing, and gilding. This project is a great example of our new design scheme services and how they can transform a space. The complete beautification of the once plain, white-washed chapel brought the surrounding community together to create a stunning place of worship to be enjoyed by parishioners and visitors alike.
The McKim, Mead & White Awards, formerly known as the Stanford White Awards, are esteemed awards given for excellence in Classical and New Traditional Design for projects in architecture, landscapes, urbanism, interiors, and building craftsmanship & artisanship throughout New York, New Jersey, and Fairfield County, Connecticut. The inaugural McKim, Mead and White award this year comes as an especially extraordinary honor, as it is John Canning & Co.’s second award from the New York Chapter of the Institute of Classical Art and Architecture (ICAA), with the first coming during the inaugural 2012 ICAA Stanford White Award year. We are incredibly proud and honored to have received this award, and look forward to celebrating this accomplishment in New York City on November 30th at the awards ceremony. The ceremony event is going to take place at the Metropolitan Club of NY. We are excited to revisit the Club where we have performed restoration and conservation work in the past that included the sky mural on the ceiling in the main room.
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We are proud to announce that our restoration project at the Luzerne County Courthouse in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania received the Local Government Leadership Award at the 2022 Pennsylvania Historic Preservation Awards. Preservation Pennsylvania is the only private statewide nonprofit organization in the commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The organization is dedicated to helping people protect and preserve the historic places that matter to them and the community. Our project at the historic courthouse included the restoration of 125 murals throughout the rotunda proper and third floor corridors, the restoration of deteriorated flat and ornamental plaster, marble cleaning and repair, and the reinstatement of the historic color palette. We congratulate A+E Group and Luzerne County for their joint success in this project, and extend our thanks to our team for all of their hard work, and to Preservation Pennsylvania for the award recognizing the project. We look forward to attending the awards ceremony in November.
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The Association for Preservation Technology (APT) is hosting their annual conference in person on November 7th-12th in Detroit, Michigan. This year’s conference will include workshops, seminars, field sessions and tours, and will conclude with the symposium, which focuses on conservation approaches for industrial heritage places across the globe. The symposium will also include discussions about sustainability, potential challenges, and opportunities for sustainable reuse in today’s cities and industrial landscapes while navigating the ever-present issue of climate change. The conference is open to anyone seeking to share their knowledge of the field, or learn more about the world of preservation.
Canning is a long-time member of APT and conference participant. We are proud to continue our support for this great organization as a sponsor again this year, and look forward to seeing everyone. We are excited for the conference to be back in person this year. The last in person conference was in 2019 when David Riccio, President and Principal of John Canning & Co. received the honor of an Association for Preservation Technology (APT) Recognized Professional.
Please stop by our exhibit booth to say hello to David, John and some of Canning team that will be attending. We look forward to catching up with longtime APT member friends as well as meeting new member and sharing more about our company! Registration is open now – learn more about the conference, including how to register, here.
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The National Trust for Historic Preservation is hosting their PastForward National Preservation Conference virtually from November 1-4, 2022. This year’s conference will focus on historic preservation climate action, inclusion and diversity through preservation, and understanding preservation’s role in real estate development, with an over-arching them of “Moving from Vision to Action.” November is fast approaching and registration will soon increase in price, so register now to get the best deal. Learn more about the conference, including how to register, here.
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This month we celebrate the birthday of American architect Russell Sturgis, born on October 16th, 1836 in Baltimore County, Maryland. Sturgis designed a number of esteemed buildings throughout his career as an architect, including Battell Chapel at Yale University. The Battell Chapel restoration was one of the earliest historic preservation projects in Connecticut and John Canning & Co.’s first comprehensive church restoration in the United States. Exuberant original Victorian-era decoration in the chapel had been painted over for years. Scientific analysis performed by Canning confirmed the original color palettes, and the historic decoration was successfully replicated throughout the chapel, returning it to its original design. To read more about this special restoration project, visit our website, linked here.
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Check out the Canning 45th Anniversary Retrospective...
All last year we continued to share and expand this page to celebrate our 45th Anniversary, with project highlights, fun facts, stories, photos and more. If you haven't had a chance yet, check it out! |
We understand the importance in sharing our expertise and knowledge in our field. Besides the monthly newsletter and blogs we post, we also develop and share downloadable resources to help guide you in your conservation, preservation and restoration projects. Check out the Resources page and see if any of the resources can help answer some of your questions and provide a better understanding of some of the intricacies in the preservation field.
Check out our Featured Downloadable Resource below.
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Many historic buildings uniquely express themselves with their interior paint finishes. Looking to the history of the building or space, there may be a reason to look beneath the surface. The purpose of the Identifying Historic Paint guide is to help you identify whether or not investigating further is something to consider for your project and how to determine the significance of the finishes. With this guide you will be able to determine whether you have something worth investigating, understand the role of the conservator, and evaluate cases where it may be necessary to take a deeper look into finishes.
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If you think others would be interested in our content, please forward!
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The Association for Preservation Technology (APT) is the premier cross-disciplinary organization dedicated to promoting the best technology for conserving historic structure and their settings.
APT 2022 Conference
November 7–12th Detroit, MI |
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As a national nonprofit preservation organization, the National Trust for Historic Preservation works to save America's historic places and is a great resource for anyone looking to learn more or get involved. PastForward 2022 Conference November 1–4th Virtual |
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The American Institute for Conservation and the Foundation for Advancement in Conservation work together to promote the preservation and protection of cultural heritage. Partner with us to further that mission. |
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JOIN THE CONVERSATION #PerfectingPreservation #jcanningcrew |
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