NEW YORK, NY.- Eli Wilner & Company has announced that, as of June 6th, 2026, $135,000 in funding remains available for the month of June through its museum grant program to support significant reframing and frame restoration projects at museums and cultural institutions nationwide. The grants are intended to offset a portion of project costs, enabling the completion of conservation and reframing initiatives that might otherwise be deferred due to budget limitations. Funding will be awarded on a first-come, first-served basis through June 30, 2026, and applications are currently being accepted via email at info@eliwilner.com or by phone at 212-744-6521.

Among the projects completed through the program was the restoration of the original frame for Thomas Wilmer Dewing's Lady with a Fan, a painting on loan from the Maryland State Archives to the Baltimore Museum of Art. The work had been unable to be exhibited due to the advanced deterioration of its frame, a rare floating grille design attributed to Stanford White, one of the most influential figures in American architectural and frame design history.

Conservators found that the grille element had become broken, distorted, and extensively worn. Although preservation of original material remained the primary objective, the grille was ultimately determined to be beyond repair and was carefully removed from the gilded substrate. Drawing upon surviving Stanford White period frames as reference, craftsmen at Eli Wilner & Company recreated the grille using traditional techniques and internal wire reinforcement. The newly fabricated element was then gilded, reintegrated into the frame, and finished with an appropriate period patina. The restoration returned the frame to its original appearance, allowing the painting to be reunited with its historic setting and made accessible to the public once again.

Since the program's inception, grants have supported projects at a broad range of institutions, including the Akron Art Museum, Birmingham Museum of Art, Chazen Museum of Art, Cincinnati Art Museum, Cleveland Museum of Art, Drayton Hall Preservation Trust, Fenimore Art Museum, Indianapolis Museum of Art, J. Paul Getty Museum, Joslyn Art Museum, Krannert Art Museum, Memorial Art Gallery, Milwaukee Art Museum, Morris Museum, Museum of the City of New York, Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute, Museums at Washington and Lee University, New Britain Museum of American Art, New-York Historical Society, Parrish Art Museum, Philadelphia Museum of Art, RISD Museum, Ringling Museum of Art, San Antonio Museum of Art, Seattle Art Museum, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, The White House, Toledo Museum of Art, University of Arizona Museum of Art, and Wellin Museum of Art.