CSA College and University Collection Care Grant

The CSA College and University Collection Care Grant supports colleges and universities with costume and textile collections that lack financial backing. This grant enables institutions to enhance the care, conservation, and instructional use of their collections, fostering educational opportunities in apparel, textiles, and theatre. Established in 2006, the grant prioritizes projects with minimal institutional financial support, helping to preserve valuable historical and educational resources for future study.

Collection Care Grant is intended to assist the costume and
textiles collection of a college or university that receives little or
no financial support from its institution. Funding may be used to
collection of historic, period, or otherwise informative costume and
textiles that are intended for preservation and are used for study by an
institution that has a degree program in apparel, textiles, or theatre.
First awarded in 2006, and now funded by the CSA
Endowment, one or more College and University Collection Care Grants is
awarded annually. These grants assist a college or university collection
(not eligible for a Small Museum Collection Care Grant) and may be used
for appropriate supplies or display items, the services of a consultant
or specialist, or other projects which relate directly to the
institution’s costume collection and foster the care or use of the
collection at a level appropriate to the particular collection’s most
pressing needs.

Eligibility

Institutions applying for a grant must meet the following requirements:Have a degree program in apparel, textiles, or theatre;Have a collection consisting of dress, textiles, and related objects (published materials, textile production tools/equipment, etc.) that is intended for preservation;Legally own the collection (a private collection housed in a college/university is not eligible);Provide institutional support for the collection in the sense that institutional employee(s) is/are responsible for the care and maintenance of the collection;Provide institutional endorsement of the collection by some expression of commitment for the care and management of the collection (such as exhibition space, insurance, storage, or staff time);To accept a grant, an institution must be or become an Institutional Member of the Costume Society of America or have an active staff member who is an Individual CSA member;An institution is not eligible to receive a grant more than once in three years.A CSA College and University Collection Care Grant is intended to make a dramatic beneficial impact on the receiving institution’s costume collection. There is no set limit on institutional budget size, since the field of candidates may vary from year to year; however, budget size and access to other financial resources will be taken into account when selecting grant recipients.

Ineligibility

This grant does not permit an “overhead” or “operational cut” that many colleges and universities typically take from grant funds they receive.