Founded in 1913, A. Ottavino Corporation is a NYC-based family business that has contributed its stonework to some of the most recognizable buildings and monuments in the City. 

In more recent decades, the corporation has been a frequent collaborator on important conservation projects in the region. The firm is unique in its ability to create, restore, dismantle, reconstruct and conserve ornate and monumental stone with in-house facilities and artisans. The restoration of the Temple of Dendur at the Metropolitan Museum of Art is one of their most renowned works. Recently, the firm completed the restoration of the Brooklyn Appellate Court and the Whitney Museum.

Kate Ottavino continues the family legacy as one of the members of the third generation to manage the firm’s work. And significantly she has been at the forefront of the movement to assure skills-training in stone cutting, fabrication, finishing work, and conservation is a vibrant part of curricula in career and technical high-school education. 

This evening will be a great conversation with one of the Italian American firms that has contributed to the streetscape we hold dear.

About Kate Ottavino: Kate Burns Ottavino has been a practicing conservator for over thirty years and is a third generation partner in her family’s stoneworks, A. Ottavino Corporation, stone specialists since 1913. Kate holds graduate degrees in Historic Preservation and Architecture from Columbia University. The recipient of several scholarships, she has studied stone conservation in England, Italy and France. Her work has received numerous preservation awards as has the Preservation Arts and Technology High School Curriculum, designed by Kate as the Director of Preservation Technology at the NJIT Center for Building Knowledge. Prior to rejoining A. Ottavino Corporation in 1993, Kate was the Director of Preservation for Ehrenkrantz, Eckstut and Kuhn. Kate lectures and publishes widely on the practice of conservation and preservation education. She is a member of the Stonecutters Union and board member of several not-for-profit preservation and advocacy organizations including NY Preservation Archive Project, Merchant’s House Museum, Historic Districts Council, American Friends of Coubertin, the Williamsburg High School of Architecture and Design and the Bronx International High School, current home of the Preservation Art and Technology Program.