The Morris Louis Conservation Fund (MLCF) was established in 1998 by the artist’s widow, Marcella Brenner. Between 1998 and its dissolution in 2014, MLCF encouraged and supported the study and professional conservation of works by Louis owned by public institutions in the United States. MLCF also actively supported research and technical coordination between art historians, conservators, scientists, and scholars.
MLCF solicited its first conservation proposals in 1998, funding three pilot projects. In 2001 the Fund was incorporated in the State of Maryland, and in 2002 MLCF received a 501(c)(3) determination by the IRS entitling it to operate as a tax exempt organization. Between 1998 and 2014, MLCF funded the examination and/or treatment of approximately 50 paintings held by 25 U.S. museums. MLCF also funded two major international meetings on Louis’s materials and working methods, including one associated with the 2008 exhibition Morris Louis: NOW organized by the High Museum. Per the articles of incorporation, MLCF expended all funds and ceased operations in 2014.