Mount Auburn Cemetery

The Mount Auburn Cemetery will study and document 30 of its most significant monuments, many of which are expressions of Victorian art by major American sculptors. The project will digitize primary documents to provide historical context for the monuments, and complete condition assessments and cataloging as a baseline for conservation. The museum will conserve the Amos Binney monument, a well-known work of funerary art, as a pilot project. The museum will sponsor an online exhibition and create a film, a print publication, and website content to share information about the monuments. The museum will share project findings with conservators and art historians through monument tours and a one-day seminar on prioritizing and planning preservation for outdoor collections. These efforts will help establish standards and guidelines for the care of outdoor sculpture and monuments in a horticultural setting.