Employment Strategies For the Restoration Arts: Craft Training in the Service of Historic Preservation

In 1993, World Monuments Fund sponsored a symposium examining ways in which to train and employ young Americans in jobs related to the restoration arts, with the intention to create a program capable of making a national impact. Inspired by the Escuelas Taller program, which was then training unemployed youth at 700 work sites around Spain, participants in the conference explored ways to cooperate with federal programs such as Job Corps as well as local unions and high schools to advance the state of restoration skills training. Ultimately, contributors recognized that in order to make a persuasive presentation to the local and federal authorities, preservationists needed to embark on a campaign of data-collection, demonstrating the utility and economic benefit of craft training and the conservation of historic architectural fabric.