Cultural Preservation & Restoration, Inc. (CPR) specializes in a wide range of conservation and museum services, including conservation surveys and assessments, conservation treatment, stabilization, reconstruction, object analysis, restoration, mount making and exhibit design. Our conservation projects include archaeological artifacts, waterlogged objects, ethnographic materials, historic cemeter
ies and military collections, natural history and anatomical collections, as well as sculpture, paintings and textiles. CPR supports and adheres to the Code of Ethics and Guidelines for Practice of the American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works (AIC). AIC is the national membership organization of conservation professionals that advances the practice and promotes the importance of the preservation of cultural property. Gary McGowan, President and Principal Conservator
Gary McGowan has more than 25 years of conservation experience with a wide range of archaeological and art materials. His projects have included both prehistoric and historic sites in the New York area, as well as sites in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware. As conservator for the South Street Seaport Museum, Mr. McGowan worked on all of their archaeological collections that were excavated in lower Manhattan from the 1970s through the 1990s. As Principal Conservator and Lab Director of the Foley Square Project at John Milner Associates, he developed, equipped and directed the Foley Square Laboratory and the conservation of the cultural materials recovered from the 18th century African Burial Ground and 19th century Five Points sites in New York City. Other projects included conserving seven earthen sculpted faces from the Wesleyan Methodist Church in Syracuse, New York, that has been documented as a stop on the Underground Railroad. Also included are the conservation of materials from the HMS DeBraak shipwreck, stabilization of several wet tissue collections, and the conservation of historic small arms for the US Army. McGowan has performed conservation surveys, assessments and treatments on a variety of late 19th and 20th century sculptures, including works by Marisol, O'Keefe, Moore, Siegel, Johnson, Jaeger, Federici and Mestrovitch. He is President of the New York Regional Association of Conservation and has received the distinction of Professional Associate within the American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works (AIC). OTHER REPRESENTATIVE PROJECTS:
Archaeological Conservation Projects:
Alexandria Archaeology Museum, VA
City Hall Park Project, NY for Parson's Engineering, VA
City of Wilmington, DE
Department of Environmental Protection, NY
Delaware State Museum
Division of Historical and Cultural Affairs, DE
Foley Square Archaeological Project, Five Points and African Burial Ground, NY, (GSA)
Independence Hall, Philadelphia, PA
Independent Archaeological Consulting, Portsmouth, NH
Independent Seaport Museum, PA
National Park Service, PA
New York State Museum, Albany, NY
New York University (Institute for the Study of the Ancient World (ISAW)
South Street Seaport Museum, New York, NY
Fine and Decorative Arts, Sculpture
African Art Museum, Tenafly, NJ
The Asia Society, NY
The Brooklyn Museum, NY
The Forbes Collection, NY
The Jewish Museum, NY
Museum of the City of New York, NY
U.S. Capitol, Architect of the Capitol
Historic Military Collections
US Army Center for Military History, Washington, DC
US Army Corp of Engineers
Wet-Tissue Stabilization
Bryn Athyn College, PA
The College of Physicians, Mutter Museum, PA
Howard University, Washington DC
Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, IL
National Museum of Health and Medicine, Washington DC
Pennsylvania Hospital, PA
Wistar Institute, PA
