So much has and continues to go into planning and preparing for the reopening of Gilcrease Museum. One critical thing you may not have thought about is how busy our conservation team has been assessing the condition issues and display needs of every item in our vast collection that will be displayed in the museum’s core and study galleries when it reopens in 2026. To date, they have reviewed more than 600 works, several of which have already undergone treatment. In the before and after treatment photographs of two treated paintings below, you can see the remarkable aesthetic improvements that can be achieved through conservation.

     
Becker, Joseph. Snow Sheds on the Central Pacific Railroad in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. 01.1212. late 19th century.
Tulsa: Gilcrease Museum, https://collections.gilcrease.org/object/011212 (10/05/2018).

In 2023, Cathy and Steve Herrin generously donated $100,000 to Gilcrease in support of conservation of its collection. Given as a challenge gift, their support will cover more than 800 hours of treatment time and materials needed to clean, stabilize, and repair works in the Gilcrease collection prior to the museum’s reopening. But there is more work to be done.

We invite everyone who values the Gilcrease collection to join the Herrins in helping the museum care for it and ensure every piece displayed in the new museum looks its best and is stabilized for the long term. If preserving Gilcrease’s artworks and items for future generations is important to you, please make a gift in response to this challenge by sending a check to the museum or giving online below.

     
Stephen Mopope, August 27, 1898 - February 1974, Native American; Kiowa (Artist). Chief Red Arrow.
01.582. 1932. Tulsa: Gilcrease Museum, https://collections.gilcrease.org/object/01582 (09/22/2014).