UF Preservation Institute to sponsor lecture by WMF president

June 04, 2009
NANTUCKET, Mass. —- The University of Florida Preservation Institute: Nantucket will sponsor the lecture “Saving the World’s Heritage: The Work of the World Monuments Fund” by Bonnie Burnham, president of the World Monuments Fund, or WMF, at 6 p.m. on July 10 at the historic Coffin School at 4 Winter St. The lecture, free and open to the public, is co-sponsored by the Egan Maritime Institute, the island’s only non-profit organization devoted to celebrating Nantucket’s seafaring heritage. A cocktail reception will follow the lecture at the school.

Established in 1965, the World Monuments Fund is the leading private organization dedicated to saving the world’s most treasured places, including those named to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s prestigious World Heritage list. Unfortunately, selection to the list does not guarantee that these sites will survive. Therefore, every two years, the WMF issues the World Monuments Watch List of the 100 Most Endangered Sites, a global call to action on behalf of sites in need of immediate intervention. Burnham, also a member of the U.S. Commission to UNESCO and a member of UF’s Historic Preservation Programs Board of Advocates, will present a number of innovative WMF projects that have helped save World Heritage sites while discussing what non-profit and educational communities can do to ensure the survival of those sites still in danger today.

UF’s Preservation Institute: Nantucket, or PI:N, is an interdisciplinary program in the College of Design, Construction and Planning’s Center for World Heritage Research and Stewardship that exposes participants to the theories and methodologies of international cultural heritage conservation and the research, documentation and management of current and potential World Heritage sites. Nantucket and its historic and natural environments serve as a learning laboratory. After more than 35 years of working with local partners to document and preserve the island’s built environment, PI:N is leading a local effort to explore the potential of nominating the cultural and natural resources of Nantucket to the World Heritage List. For more information, visit worldheritage.dcp.ufl.edu.

Contact
Marty Hylton
Phone: 352-219-4122