Yale Hall of Graduate Studies Lounge
Historic building restoration at Colleges and Universities
– Cathedrals of learning – are the legacy of a country committed to education and the successful alumni whose generosity ensures the preservation of that history.
When board members, community leaders, and prospective students and their parents walk into a campus building, their first impression of tradition and respect is of the utmost importance.
The people responsible for the upkeep of campus buildings appreciate John Canning & Co.’s emphasis on accuracy, quality, and attention to detail combined with the ability to thoughtfully find solutions that also work for their budgets when it comes to historic campus restoration projects.
We provided plaster restoration stabilization and ornate plaster fabrication in Morse Recital Hall, a performance space at Yale University School of Music.
John Canning & Co.’s scope of work in Christ Chapel at Hillsdale College largely entailed faux finishes and gilding.
The murals within the rotunda were assessed and documented before repairing the plaster substrate and conserving the historic artwork.
Our conservation team restored the interior decoration painting, architectural gilding, and plaster at Rackham Auditorium, University of Michigan.
John Canning & Co. was the contracted to perform the gilding of the dome for the Yale University’s Sterling Divinity School Quadrangle Chapel Steeple.
We served as a consultant for restoring the decorative paint, stone & marble, gilding, and metal refinishing at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
The John Canning & Co. restored the interior decoration at the University of Michigan Hill Auditorium using decorative painting techniques, transparent glazes, and gilding.
The John Canning & Co. process of archival research, hands-on investigation, scientific analysis, and interpretation led to the successful restoration of Battell Chapel’s original Victorian-era decorative painting scheme.
The John Canning & Co. fine-art conservation team stabilized and conserved two, wall-sized WPA murals at UNH. The murals suffered varying degrees of deterioration and loss due to moisture intrusion and plaster substrate destabilization over nearly 80 years.
The College of Our Lady of Elms Chapel project involved Canning to provide conservation and decorative painting along with some other services.
Highlights from our Artisans, Research and Travels:
Resources:
Higher Educational Restoration Guide
Examples of restoration and conservation work in Historic Colleges & Universities