Funding and Donations

The University of Delaware continues to partner with the Smithsonian Institution and others to provide training and support for cultural heritage preservation projects in Iraq. As ISIS is pushed out of the country, the damage and loss to cultural heritage is becoming more apparent. Iraq needs help to document, salvage and recover. The community of people who support and work with the Iraqi Institute for the Conservation of Antiquities and Heritage are in a unique position to bring international expertise to a strong community of Iraqi practitioners responsible for Iraq’s cultural heritage. We want you to be a part of that community. To make donations to the Smithsonian Fund for the Iraqi Institute to support this work contact Jessica S. Johnson, Head of Conservation, Museum Conservation Institute, Smithsonian Institution, 301-238-1218 or johnsonjs@si.edu. For more information see: http://si.edu/mci/english/research/conservation/IraqiCulturalHeritage.html

Many companies match gifts of their employees. This is a great way to double or even triple your gift. Check with your company's Human Resources department or visit our on-line database to find out if your employer matches gifts.

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