YCHC Set to Conserve Third Thayer Painting

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – December 6, 2024
FOR MORE INFORMATION – Jonathan Monfiletto, (315) 536-7318
 
YCHC Set to Conserve Third Thayer Painting
 
The Yates County History Center recently received the 2024 New York State Council on the Arts/Greater Hudson Heritage Network Conversation Treatment Grant. The funding in the amount of $7,500 will be used to restore the 1850 portrait of Samantha Beard Thayer donated by Ann Hallock, of Hannacroix. Klara Zold, of Corning, will perform the conservation work.
 
The portrait is one of three paintings of the Thayer family of Milo in the YCHC collection – the other two depicting Thayer's husband, Joseph Thayer Sr., and her son, Joseph Thayer Jr. – and the final one of the family group of portraits to be conserved. Hallock, who is a descendant of the Thayer family, donated all of the paintings. Zold previously restored the portraits of Thayer Jr. and Thayer Sr.
 
The three portraits date from around 1850. While the portraits of Thayer Sr. and Thayer Jr. are on display in the Oliver House Museum since their conservation, the portrait of Samantha Beard Thayer has been in storage since it entered the YCHC collection. Thayer Sr. was undersheriff of Yates County and a grocer. Thayer Jr. served as a guard at Elmira Prison during the Civil War.
 
The conservation of the painting of Samantha Beard Thayer is being supported through the NYSCA/GHHN Conservation Treatment Program administered by Greater Hudson Heritage Network. The program is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.