After US funding for the initial
project ended in 2010, Iraqi and American cultural heritage professionals made
a strong case for continuing American involvement and funding for IICAH
programs. The University of Delaware agreed to administer the program.
Generous grants from the Mellon Foundation and the Getty Conservation
Institute to match funding provided by the US Embassy, Baghdad provided funding
through 2013. In 2012 the Governor's office in Erbil began funding the
Architecture and Site Conservation course and the Education and Cultural
Affairs Bureau (ECA), US Department of State, funded two Archeological Site
Preservation courses.
The Kurdistan Regional Government and
the State Board for Antiquities and Heritage both have made significant in-kind
contributions of facilities, facilities maintenance and operational staff
including 24-hour security. The Board of Directors has set user fees for all
groups using IICAH facilities to conduct heritage related programs and
educational activities. Such groups have included the World Monuments
Fund and the Italian ministry for Cultural Heritage Activities.
By 2014, joint plans for shifting
more funding responsibility for IICAH to the Kurdistan Regional Government were
underway, but the sudden massive influx of refugees diverted all discretionary
funding to prevent a humanitarian crisis. For security reasons classes
were cancelled temporarily in August 2014. Meeting immediate needs, short courses
in disaster planning and recovery were offered in 2015, funded by the JM Kaplan
Foundation (through the University of Pennsylvania Cultural Heritage Center)
and the Prins Claus Fund. Regular classes resumed again in early 2016 with
funding from the US Embassy, Baghdad and the ECA.
While the University of Delaware continues to administer part of the
program, responsibility for academic program management passed to the Museum
Conservation Institute (MCI) of the Smithsonian Institution in 2015. The
Smithsonian established the Smithsonian Fund for the Iraqi Institute in 2016 to
administer donations from private individuals and foundations in support of the
Institute. See information about Smithsonian Programs here:
https://global.si.edu/projects/smithsonian-and-iraqi-institute-conservation-antiquities-and-heritage
Donors – Academic Programs 2009-2015
US Embassy, Baghdad
The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
Getty Conservation Institute
Education and Cultural Affairs Bureau, US Department of State
Governorate of Erbil
JM Kaplan Foundation
Prins Claus Fund
Donors – Student Scholarships
Walters Art Museum, Elisabeth Packard Education Fund
Leon Levy Foundation
Linda Noe Laine Foundation "To honor the memory of her parents,
Governor and Mrs. Anna Gray Noe of Monroe, Louisiana"
Gouhar Hazim Shemdin
Mrs. Babe Stofer
Tru Vue Inc.
Special Projects
Bank of America Art Conservation project – Conservation
Treatment of Nimrud ivories and related instructional support
Hollings Center – symposium for Iraqi Antiquities Directors
NEH
– Advisory Council Meeting
Curtis
Brennan Foundation – Advisory Council Meeting
In-Kind Contributors
International Institute for Conservation
American Institute for Conservation of Artistic and Historic Works
University of Delaware
Winterthur Museum and Gardens
Walters Art Museum
University of Arizona
University of Pennsylvania