Thanks to $750,000
Save America’s Treasures Grant
MIAMI — September 10, 2024 — Vizcaya Museum and Gardens is proud to have been awarded a $750,000 grant from the National Park Service’s Save America’s Treasures grant program, funded through the Historic Preservation Fund. This significant grant will support the conservation of Vizcaya’s Swimming Pool Grotto, including the preservation of the historic ceiling mural by renowned American artist Robert Winthrop Chanler.
“Vizcaya Museum and Gardens is a cultural gem of Miami-Dade County, and the preservation of this historic site will be invaluable,” said Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava.
“Protecting Vizcaya’s legacy centers on conservation efforts and addressing the challenges posed by climate change. This significant grant from the National Park Service offers vital funding that allows us to preserve our heritage, ensuring that future generations can continue to enjoy this extraordinary historic estate.”
Preserving a Unique Cultural Treasure
The Swimming Pool Grotto, a jewel of the historic Vizcaya estate, represents one of the most significant conservation challenges in the overall preservation of this National Historic Landmark. Designed to suggest an underwater fantasy, the grotto is an immersive, site-specific space that merges the grandeur of European design precedents with a twentieth-century approach to art and decor—uncannily located in a subtropical indoor-outdoor environment, just steps from Miami’s Biscayne Bay. The ceiling mural, crafted by Chanler in 1916, is a vibrant display of marine life, reflecting the distinguished American artist’s distinctive and playful style.
The grotto has faced surface deterioration and structural challenges due to Miami’s humid climate and water infiltration beginning as early as 1917. Vizcaya has been engaged in a multifaceted conservation effort for nearly a decade now and this significant funding will be transformative.
Vizcaya’s Executive Director/CEO Joel Hoffman said, “We are so fortunate to have this extraordinary example of Robert Winthrop Chanler’s immense creativity at Vizcaya and it is miraculous that the work has survived in Miami’s subtropical climate for over a century. The Save America’s Treasures grant will now enable us to complete the complex conservation of the mural, the grotto and the surrounding architectural elements so that this treasure can be protected and enjoyed for many years to come.”
Honoring Robert Winthrop Chanler’s Legacy
The ceiling mural in the Swimming Pool Grotto is a testament to the creative genius of Robert Winthrop Chanler, whose work was celebrated for its whimsical and imaginative qualities. Chanler, a prominent figure of the Gilded Age who exhibited extensively at the 1913 Armory Show in New York, was known for merging fantasy and nature in enchanting and unconventional ways.
A member of New York’s Astor family, Chanler worked almost exclusively for wealthy patrons and so his art remains hidden inside private collections with little opportunity for public viewing. In fact, Vizcaya’s Swimming Pool Grotto is one of only three places in the world where Chanler’s work is visible to the public, making its conservation critical.
The importance of Chanler and the grotto, in particular, were comprehensively documented by Gina Wouters, Vizcaya’s former curator and current President and CEO of Planting Fields Foundation, and her co-authors in the 2016 publication Robert Winthrop Chanler: Discovering the Fantastic (Monacelli Press), an exploration of the artist’s life and work. The book received widespread acclaim, with The Miami Herald praising it as “the first comprehensive examination of his work (and his over-the-top life) in more than 80 years.”
The Work Continues
The conservation work that lies ahead covers the Swimming Pool Grotto and its decorative mural. To stabilize and restore the mural’s appearance, this project involves replacing a previously removed pendentive element, stabilizing loose high relief components made of plaster, consolidating the painted surface and removing old overpaint and repairs.
In addition, the Living Room above the Pool Grotto will be closed to the public to access the metal substructure between the Living Room floor and the Swimming Pool Grotto ceiling, where cathodic protection will be applied to reduce corrosion.
Vizcaya Museum and Gardens extends its deepest gratitude to the National Park Service and the Save America’s Treasures grant program. Their generous support is crucial to preserving this historic site and its invaluable cultural assets. As the work continues, we also thank our dedicated staff, partners, and the community for their ongoing commitment to safeguarding these important cultural resources.
This project is supported by the Save America’s Treasures grant program as administered by the National Park Service, Department of Interior.
About Vizcaya Museum and Gardens
Vizcaya Museum and Gardens is a National Historic Landmark that preserves its cultural and environmental resources to engage people in connecting with the past, understanding the present, and shaping the future. Built between 1914 and 1922 as the winter home of farm equipment manufacturer James Deering, Vizcaya is one of the most intact remaining examples from this era in the United States, when the nation’s most successful entrepreneur-built estates were inspired by the stately homes of Europe. Vizcaya features a Main House filled with a decorative art collection, 10 acres of formal gardens, a rockland hammock (native forest), mangrove shore,and a historic village that is being restored to tell Vizcaya’s full story and provide additional spaces for programs and community outreach, including those on agriculture. Vizcaya has been a community hub since it opened to the public in 1953; it welcomes 300,000 visitors annually.
Located on Biscayne Bay at 3251 South Miami Avenue, Vizcaya is open Wednesday through Monday from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Closed Tuesdays, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day. For more information, visit www.vizcaya.org, connect via social media, or call 305-250-9133.
