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News Release

 

Historic Murals on UAlbany Downtown Campus to be Restored

Contact: Lisa James Goldsberry (518) 437-4980

ALBANY, N.Y. (August 7, 2003) -- The first of 14 historic murals at the University at Albany's Milne Hall, showing scenes from the history of the Capital Region, will be restored in an ambitious project beginning this month. The murals, which were painted from 1933 to 1946 by artist David Cunningham Lithgow (1868-1958), were a gift to the college by the graduating class of the Milne School.

The project will be open for viewing August 11-15, from 10 a.m. to noon and 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. at Milne Hall, 135 Western Avenue. Special interactive sessions, where the restorers will answer questions and discuss their work, will be held on Thursday, August 14 and Friday, August 15, 2-4 p.m. The restoration project for the murals is under the direction of conservator Joyce Zucker of the Peebles Island Resource Center. The entire project, which will take approximately three years to complete, is estimated to cost $100,000.

Lithgow is also known as an accomplished sculptor and received numerous commissions, including the monument (St. Andrew) in the Albany Rural Cemetery and the Spanish War Memorial on Henry Johnson Blvd. He also painted the murals on regional history on the ceiling of The State Bank of Albany (now Fleet Bank on State Street). Born in Scotland, Lithgow emigrated to New York City in 1888. His first portrait commission was of the actress Lily Langtry.

The murals have always resided in the room for which they were commissioned. Originally the library for the Milne School, it is now the Dr. Theodore H. Fosseick Milne Alumni Room. The Milne School was part of the New York State College for Teachers, which eventually became the University at Albany.


Established in 1844 and designated a center of the State University of New York in 1962, the University at Albany's broad mission of excellence in undergraduate and graduate education, research and public service engages 17,000 diverse students in eight degree-granting schools and colleges. The University is engaged in a $500 million fundraising campaign, the most ambitious in its history, with the goal of placing it among the nation's top 30 public research universities by the end of the decade. For more information about this nationally ranked University, visit www.albany.edu


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