Project Samples

United States Capitol, Washington, DC

Recovery of the Brumidi Corridors’ historic decoration in the U.S. Senate included Cunningham-Adams’ technical research and development of a 25-year treatment plan to uncover and restore its original 1850’s wall and ceiling paintings. Painted in lime wash and tempera emulsion originally and covering over 25,000 sq. ft. throughout the seven corridors, the paintings had been covered for over 100 years with several layers of oil overpaint. Restoration of the walls: 1993-2010; ceiling from 2011 to 2017.

Fisk University’s Cravath Hall, Nashville, Tennessee

1930 murals by Aaron Douglas, for contractor Orion Building Corporation, 2002-2003 The seven-month project of restoring the 1,900 sq. ft. of the severely deteriorated mural cycle confronted the practical and philosophical problem of saving extensive repainting that drastically altered the original palette but which was done by the artist himself some 35 years after his original work. Cunningham-Adams was awarded the 2004 Preservation Award from the National Trust for Historic Preservation for its restoration of the Douglas murals.

General Services Administration, Washington DC

Ariel Rios Building: Conservation of eight 1930’s wall paintings, two each by George Harding, Alfred D. Crimi, Ward Lockwood, and Karl Free, variously oil on canvas glued to the wall and fresco, totaling about 800 sq. ft. 1998.

St. Joseph Abbey, St. Benedict, LA

1952 fine arts decoration of church and refectory, potassium silicate on mortar (12,000 sq. ft. of fine arts paintings) by Dom Gregory de Wit, 1945-1955. Conservation conditions analysis and treatment recommendations, consolidation and aesthetic treatment. 1995-1998.

Lincoln Memorial, Washington, DC

Two 1918 murals, oil paintings on canvas glued to limestone slabs (1,525 sq. ft.) by Jules Guerin. Our treatment for the National Park Service included technical analysis of failure and causes, cleaning of dirt and previous surface coatings, ground and paint stabilization, aesthetic adjustment, and surface coating. 1995-1996

Department of Justice Main Building, Washington, DC

Two 20th century lunette paintings (WPA), oil paint on canvas glued to mortar, (250 sq. ft.) by Leon Kroll, in 1936-37, in Attorney General’s conference room. Stabilization of flaking paint and powdering ground caused by earlier water intrusion; partial cleaning and aesthetic reintegration of losses and blanched areas. 1994.

United States Capitol President’s Room, Washington, DC

President’s Room 19th century painted decoration (1,225 sq. ft.) including fresco and tempera ceiling, and fresco and oil wall paintings by Constantino Brumidi. Stabilization, cleaning, and aesthetic reintegration of paint losses 1994-95.

The Trustees of Reservations, Stevens-Coolidge Place, North Andover, MA

Restoration of the 1918 tempera on plaster wall paintings by Joseph Remidas (750 sq. ft.), including stabilization of the plaster wall, support and paint layer; aesthetic reintegration of losses; and environmental consulting in 1993-94.

Museum of American Folk Art, New York City

19th century American lime wash fresco with tempera on plaster wall painting (85 sq. ft.) previously removed from original structure. Stabilization of plaster and paint layer; repair of major plaster losses; cleaning; and aesthetic reintegration of paint losses. 1993

Ansonia Historical Commission, Ansonia, CT

Conservation and reinstallation in new location of 3.5’ x 90’ mural of 11 panels, egg tempera on hardboard, executed by Lois North, 1936-1939.

Trinity Church, Copley Square, Boston, Massachusetts

19th Century tempera/encaustic wall painting by John LaFarge (210 sq. ft) Our work uncovered information about the unusual tempera and encaustic technique used by LaFarge and his assistants that will be useful in the future conservation of the entire interior. Our treatment in response to water damage included emergency consolidation of powdering paint, removal of salt encrustations and efflorescence, in-painting to integrate damaged area. 1989.

Warner House, Portsmouth, New Hampshire

American oil painting on plaster mural cycle painted in 1716, one of the country’s oldest colonial wall painting cycles. The six month project in 1988 included stabilization of flaking paint, overpaint removal and aesthetic reintegration of losses. Executed in oil paint directly on plaster preparation, the murals cover over 500 square feet and depict scenes of religious, social, and historical interest of the period. In one mural, rare images are painted of two American Indians who traveled to England and acted as diplomats in the court of Queen Anne. The restoration project was given the 1988 Preservation Award by the preservation group, the Portsmouth Advocates.

Santa Donna Regina Nuova Church, Naples, Italy

For RES, a private conservation consortium of Rome. In 1988, Cunningham-Adams contributed one month’s participation in the restoration by RES of a 1684 fresco by Francesco Solimena in one of the vignette scenes on the ceiling of the left transept, removing old cement fills, replacing them with new fills made of mortar to match the original quality; consolidation of the mortar preparation by injection of an acrylic resin in emulsion and the paint layer with a methylacrylate resin; and aesthetic reintegration of losses with water colors.

Statue of Liberty / Ellis Island Foundation and National Park Service, New York, NY

400 sq. ft. of immigrant graffiti executed in pencil and chalk on the plaster walls of the immigration center’s Main Building. Messages in eleven different languages documented the excitement and anguish of the many hundreds of people who passed through its halls on their way to a new home in America. Fragments bearing messages and drawings of birds and boats were removed, stabilized, and prepared for exhibition in the island’s soon-to-be opened new museum and visitor’s center. Treatment: 1985 – 1990.

Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, Connecticut

3rd century lime wash on clay wall painting cycle (170 sq. ft.) excavated and removed in the 1950’s from the Mithraic shrine in the ancient city of Dura Europos on the Euphrates River. Flooding of gallery in 1979 raised the relative humidity in the environment surrounding the murals, and caused severe, minute flaking when the gallery had dried out. The 1982 restoration included stabilization of severe flaking, cleaning, aesthetic reintegration of losses, and application of a protective surface coating. An article Mrs. Cunningham-Adams wrote describing the problem and the treatment was published in the Yale University Art Gallery Bulletin in 1984.