Proposal for the creation of an AIC Collections Care Network

Proposal for the creation of an AIC Collections Care Network

This proposal recommends the creation of the Collections Care Network (CCN), a group of collections care, conservation, and allied professionals united in promoting a preventive approach to collections care.

Objective:

The CCN will respond to the directive in the AIC’s Guidelines for Practice to “recognize the critical importance of preventive conservation as the most effective means of promoting the long-term preservation of cultural property”. It will do so by: providing resources to support collections care and conservation staff; creating awareness of preventive care; identifying and developing standards and best practices, training, and other projects to advance preventive care in institutions of all types and sizes, locally, nationally and globally; and working with related groups to reach and support key collections care constituents.

Goals:

  • Create a network of collections and conservation professionals committed to the preventive care of collections by providing a focused forum for current AIC members and encouraging non-member collections care professionals to become AIC members.
  • Advance the understanding that preventive care preserves our cultural heritage in a way that post-damage interventive treatment cannot restore.
  • Advocate for professional recognition of all collections care professionals and support the development of the role they play in institutional preservation planning.
  • Create a forum for collections and conservation staff to exchange preservation information, ideas and research.
  • Provide preventive care programs and resources that will be of interest to the broad spectrum of constituents the CCN intends to serve.
  • Network with related collections and conservation organizations to better support shared goals.

 Rationale:

The creation of the CCN offers AIC the opportunity to more efficiently support the growing number of conservators with strong preventive responsibilities and interests. This change in role and focus affects conservators from all AIC Specialty Groups. Thus, the creation of this network would build a bridge between groups, allowing conservators to discuss needs in a topical, rather than media specific way.

Today, many collections care staff have difficulty selecting a professional organization that fully represents their interests. Creation of the CCN would offer AIC the opportunity to significantly expand its membership by welcoming collections care staff and positioning AIC as a professional organization relevant to their needs.

Ultimately, strengthening the connection between conservators and collections staff as professional peers will enable AIC to further the preservation of collections by facilitating exchange and dialogue, support the development of training and resources that interest collections care groups, and ultimately, lead to the application of sound standards for collections care practice in cultural institutions.

Anticipated groups to be served:

The audience for this network will include those with stewardship responsibilities in museums, libraries, archives, historic sites and other institutions working to preserve tangible and intangible heritage, including but not limited to:

  • Collections managers
  • Conservators
  • Art handlers
  • Collections care staff
  • Registrars
  • Packing and crating staff
  • Libraries and archives staff
  • Preservation architects and engineers
  • Historic house museum staff
  • Exhibition mountmakers
  • Preparators
  • Preventive conservation supply vendors
  • Exhibit designers
  • Archaeologists
  • Heritage preservation students
  • Conservation students

Ideas for future projects:

 Collections Care Resource Development

  • Create an online resource that would help to codify resources and offer a platform for the sharing of projects, curricula, and material sources.
  • Advocate for and identify people to write needed text books in the field
  • Identify or develop best practices for the care of challenging collections.
  • Develop formal standards of commitment and practice for collections care that can guide institutions and staff
  • Develop educational materials to promote preventive conservation approaches and conservation planning to institutions at conception, building, renovation and operational stages
  • Support AIC projects and Committees
    • AIC wiki Exhibition Standards & Guidelines
    • Web module on collections storage  (STASH –  Storage Techniques for Art, Science and Humanities collections)
    • RATS sponsored wiki on materials and materials testing
    • Environmental Guidelines Working Group
    • Emergency Committee effort to develop risk assessment and preparedness resources and AIC-CERT
    • AIC Health and Safety Committee

Staff Development

  • Identify and encourage development of continuing education programs for collections care professionals
  • Advocate for job creation and permanence for collections care and preventive care staff
  • Provide training activities that will address
    • collections care activities
    • project management
    • planning
    • obtaining institutional support
    • professional development

Outreach and Networking

  • Connect with related professional groups world wide to explore joint programming and resource development, including but not limited to
    • AAM and related sub-groups, RC-AAM and PACCIN
    • Allied professionals in universities
    • American Institute of Architects
    • ICOM-CC
    • International Institute for Conservation
    • Mountmakers Forum
    • RegionalMuseumorganizations, such as New England Museum Assoc (NEMA), Virginia Association of Museums, (VAM), and the Small Museum Association.
    • SPNHC
      • Support the preventive conservation session at 2012 SPNHC meeting – Yale, June 2012
    • The Association for Preservation Technology (APTI)
  • Work with other AIC committees and specialty groups to develop joint programming
  • Support the CAP program

To be submitted to the AIC board by the CCN organizing committee, October 15, 2011:

  • Rachael Perkins Arenstein, A.M. Art Conservation, LLC
  • Julia Brennan, Textile Conservation Services
  • Rebecca Fifield, Collections Manager for the Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas, MetropolitanMuseum of Art
  • Gretchen Guidess, Mellon Fellow, HistoricNew England
  • Catharine Hawks, Conservator, NMNH Smithsonian Institution
  • Wendy Jessup, Conservator, Wendy Jessup and Associates, Inc.
  • Karen Pavelka, Lecturer,School ofInformation, TheUniversity ofTexas atAustin
  • Patricia Silence, Conservator, Conservator of Museum Exhibitions and Historic Interiors, Colonial Williamsburg Foundation
  • Joelle Wickens, Assistant Conservator, Head of Preventive Conservation Team and Winterthur Assistant Professor, Winterthur Museum

 

86 thoughts on “Proposal for the creation of an AIC Collections Care Network”

  1. As the director of the Undergraduate Program in Art Conservation at the University of Delaware, many of our students choose not go on to conservation graduate schools, but do stay in collection care related areas. It would be great to say that AIC represents their interests too in a formal way. I am very supportive of this proposal.

  2. I strongly support this within AIC!!!
    one correction:
    STASH is NOT a web module or a standards and guidelines project – it is being designed as a resource that provides many different kinds of solutions for different kinds of situations. “Web module on collections storage, exhibition standards and guidelines (STASH – for Storage Techniques for Art, Science and Humanities collections)”

    Thanks so much! Lisa

  3. I firmly support the proposed creation of the Collections Care Network. I am an objects conservator and Assistant Professor in Museum Studies at The George Washington University where I teach preventive conservation to students who primarily go on to become collections managers. This network will undoubtedly develop into a valuable resource for conservators and allied professionals.

    Thank you to the organizing committee for taking the initiative to craft this proposal!

  4. I’m adjunct faculty in the School of Information at the University of Texas at Austin as well as Adunct Preservation Field Services Officer for Amigos Library Services. In both capacities I see the need for a collections care network. My students and clients all will benefit from the programs being contemplated.

  5. I strongly support the Collection Care Network (CCN) within AIC. I am currently attending the ICOM-CC conference in Portugal where I am a member of the Preventive Working Group. At the working group meeting this year collection care was mentioned many times and the working group has been discussing the need to have a definition for collection care.

    For conservation to continue to grow as a profession these connections to allied professionals will be vital and I believe the entire profession will benefit from the creation of this network.

    Best,
    Rose Cull

  6. I strongly support the proposal for an AIC collections care network. So many of our collections include national heritage items. Special collections in libraries often include not only books but also archives, artifacts and iconographic material. Thus libraries have become more like museums and, in libraries, collection care encompasses preventative care. There has always been a conflict between providing access and maintaining items for future research – not to use up resources. Museums have also become more interested in access of their collections as David Gratton, formerly from CCI, talked about the need to access items in a museum versus the need to preserve them. He gave the Keynote address at the Anoxia and Microfading: the impact on collection care 2 day conference at the Tate, London.
    The list of audiences included above e.g. art handlers, is indicative of the range of allied professionals that we as collection care professionals interconnect with.
    I suggest it connects with UKRG too. This is a good direction to be going in and i would like to be involved. gillian, conservation and collections care manager, Wellcome Library

  7. I think it would be easier and quicker to make this group an AIC specialty group. This would clarify who could be in it and how it is administered, as well as automatically setting an agenda of: having a business meeting at AIC meetings and presenting a program, working on projects with other specialty groups, making presentations to other organizations, and sponsoring special numbers of JAIC. Otherwise, all of the managerial issues – leadership, dues, membership,etc. – will have to be worked out from scratch.

  8. It seems to me that the CCN is an excellent idea, and it will certainly serve the needs of many collections care staff people in museums, and especially the large number of small institutions in the museum community. Working through MAP, CAP,museum accreditation and private projects, I have worked with many small museums that have been told quite enough what they are not doing right — more help pertinent to answering their collections care needs would be warmly greeted, I am sure.

  9. I am also in support of this proposal. As a Conservator, I have noticed that in some ways Conservation has distanced itself from professionals in related fields (Preparators, Mount makers, Registrars, and so on). It would be good to work together in a more collaborative and concrete way toward our common goals. Please let me know what I can do to help with this project.

    Dee Stubbs-Lee, PA, Conservator, the New Brunswick Museum, Saint John, NB, Canada

  10. I support this proposal. Including as many stakeholders as possible in the education and sharing of resources about preventative conservation is a big step forward. Commercial framers will benefit.

    Terry Marsh, paper conservator, Damariscotta, Maine

  11. I certainly support this effort and will participate in this group. I agree with Barbara that it would fit well as a specialty group. The CCSG could work to promote collections care presentations within other specialty groups, holding joint sessions with a different group each year. There is also a special need to reach out to museum facilities managers and to train more conservators in environmental control principals and actions, a significant part of collections care.

  12. I support this proposal and would be happy to participate in the formation of the Collections Care Network. Thank you for spearheading this movement.
    -Elizabeth Byrne, Administrative Support Manager for Conservation and Collections Management, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

  13. I am the principal conservation instructor for the Applied Museum Studies program at Algonquin College in Ottawa, Canada and the majority of our graduates procure employment within the collections care field. A Collections Care Network would certainly prove beneficial to those engaged in the care of collections.
    Cheers
    Terry Quinlan

  14. I strongly support this initiative. IPI is focused on developing and deploying sustainable practices for the preservation of collections in cultural institutions. We constantly promote the importance of preventive conservation and the development of a holistic view of managing the environment for preservation. An AIC Collections Care Network promoting standards and best practices would be a great resource for the field. If we can help in any way please let me know. Thank you for your effort and for reaching out for input from your colleagues.

  15. I agree with Barbara in the sense that right now it is not clear how this new — and much needed — network will be administered. But the proposal seems to open up for AIC an opportunity to discern a different way of working with a broader membership base that needs a home professional organization. The framers of the idea of a collections care network need to simultaneously work on the logistics of this new network while also receiving authorization from AIC members to do it. A wise man once said “too many memberships cause dismemberment,” and I am concerned that another specialty group will break the collective back of AIC. Please count my voice as an advocate for the idea (heck, a member of the CCN as soon as it’s formed), with the hope that a novel administrative model is developed that complements the current structure of AIC and its specialty groups.

  16. A portion of any collections care program must address the potential destruction of structures and collections from pests and mold. As a 36-year consultant to museums, historic properties, libraries, and archives, I strongly support an overall collections care program, which would include IPPM (Integrated Preventive Pest Management).

  17. As a collections professional in a small museum, I support the creation of this network. As others have mentioned, I can see this being especially useful to small museums and institutions that lack local conservation experts. Having a group of experts to consult will instill confidence and build skills in those charged with preventative conservation.

  18. This proposal to AIC is long overdue!

    I have initiated a preventive conservation practice at the Broward County (Florida) Public Art and Design Program 12 years ago, by introducing a Conservation Review at the project conceptual design stage before it is accepted by the Selection Committee. This review process has greatly improved the maintainability and sustainability of the finished artwork. Also, I would recommend to reach out to PAN (Public Art Network of the American for the Arts) and the 260 plus active public art programs in the nation.

    Tin Ly, Conservation Manager
    Broward County Public Art and Design Program

  19. I am in strong support of this proposal. Right now I work in a grant funded position where I am implementing a program of preventive conservation of paintings, so I see a great need for a resource such as this. It would benefit all collections care staff as well as those preparing to enter the field. I know I would have appreciated it when I first began (and still would).

  20. I support this proposal. Registrars and other collection professionals would greatly benefit from a strengthened relationship with the conservation community.

    Amber Morgan, Associate Registrar
    Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh, PA

  21. As Assistant Director for the Western Region Field Service Office at the Balboa Art Conservation Center, my day to day is promoting a preventive approach to collections care. I absolutely support this proposal and I believe it would greatly benefit the collecting institutions we serve. May I suggest adding the Regional Alliance for Preservation to Networking and Outreach?

    Thank you to the CCN organizing committee and the AIC for recognizing this need and developing this proposal.

  22. As exhibitions conservator at the Freer and Sackler Galleries of Art, Smithsonian, I have found that one of the overriding problems in caring for collections in storage, on display or in transit is a lack of understanding of the priorities, abilities, limitations and motivations that exist between museum professionals of diverse backgrounds.

    Providing a forum for conservators, designers, exhibit preparators, collections managers, registrars and other professionals to discuss collection care and exhibit issues is vital to developing better approaches that not only satisfy the preventive care needs, but also better meet the goals and priorities held by other professions. It’s refreshing that there has been more focus on collaboration in the last few years. I attended the Mountmaker’s Forum in DC and found it to be incredibly informative and thought it was too bad that more conservators and other museum professionals could not attend. Combining these opportunities under the umbrella of a larger organization would help attract a larger audience. I believe this would be an appropriate role for the AIC and I would be very interested in participating.

  23. Run, do not walk, to the Connecting to Collections (C2C) On-line Community website: http://www.connectingtocollections.org/. This is an IMLS funded initiative that in conjunction with Heritage Preservation that is working state-by-state to deal with preventive conservation issues, as well as disaster planning. If the CCN does not work in conjuction with C2C the future will be full of duplicated efforts, wasted resources and lots of re-invented wheels.

  24. I definitely support this idea and also agree with Janice Klein on the need to work with C2C. They are doing so much great stuff already.

    Are there existing ideas among the petition’s proposers on how administration could work? What about thoughts on funding the programs suggested?

    Like Sarah Stauderman, I’m not sure about the specialty group idea. Preventive conservation as an area of practice is something I think most conservators do, regardless of designated specialty. Or at least that is true for those of us in smaller institutions. It would be nice to have organization/administration for this that transcends the specialty group model. Especially if we envision working in conjunction with other national organizations. Specialty group administration as it currently exists does not seem ideal for such broad efforts.

  25. I am one of the organizing committee members and Collections Manager for the Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

    I have really enjoyed reading the above statements of support, and also feel energized that people want to focus in on the details of creating the Collections Care Network at AIC. Suzanne Davis pinpointed the reason that we chose the “Network” group format, versus the Specialty Group format: all members of AIC should have an interest in collections care, regardless of specialty, and that the Network format facilitates that. As a Collections Manager, I am very aware that while conservators are most often recognized as preservation practioners within museums, it takes considerably more staff to accomplish our shared goals.

    The CCN is looking to meld the interests and efforts of preventive care within AIC with other efforts as listed in the proposal, including the excellent HP/IMLS Connecting to Collections, which lists their primary goal as helping smaller museums quickly locate reliable preservation resources. So while the AIC CCN is looking to help raise awareness of the preventive approach, we are also looking to help support and build bridges between all of those involved in collections care.

  26. I am really excited about this. It looks like it’s going to serve as a resource to a wide variety of professionals whether the collections are of a cultural nature, or of a more natural science nature. I want to support this.

    Amy Smith, CMU Museum of Cultural and Natural History support faculty
    Mt Pleasant, MI

  27. I fully endorse this proposal and recommend that the graduate conservation training programs get involved in some capacity, possibly under the ANAGPIC umbrella. All of the programs teach preventive conservation and our students frequently participate in various preventive conservation projects. It’s a great way for students to broaden their horizons and get involved in real-life collections care problems. Thanks to Rachael and the organizing committee! Peggy

  28. I strongly support this proposal and would like to participate in the formation of this network in any way possible.

    Christine Lam, Assistant Conservator, Department of Asian Art
    Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY

  29. I am teaching preventive conservation at NYU and welcome any initiative, no matter which organizational frame it would have, to enhance the importance of preventive conservation within conservation education and within collection management at large.
    Hannelore Roemich, Professor of Conservation Science, Conservation Center, IFA, NYU

  30. Count me in.
    McKelvey Museum Services and adjunct faculty, Museum Studies Department, University of Delaware. Former director, Collections Care Training Program; Curator, Hagley Museum and Library

  31. I would support this new network very much. I am Egyptian senior conservator and a conservation trainer as well. I am very interested in training and education on preventive conservation. We have just finished running the first field school for Egyptian conservators in Egypt for three years ( A joint ARCE-USAID project. I would be happy to share thoughts and experience about the need of both advanced training and education for conservators especially in Arab countries.

    All Best

    Saied Hamed

  32. I think this is a great idea and it is nice to see so many signatures with titles other than conservator already in the discussion. A clear sign that our allied colleagues are waiting for this whatever administrative form it takes.

    Thanks,
    Heather Galloway
    Painting Conservator
    ICA Art Conservation

  33. I strongly support the creation of a Collections Care Network within AIC and look forward to participating.

    Allison Murphy
    Collections Care Specialist, Textile Conservation
    Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

  34. I support this proposal and would like to participate in the Collections Care Network. I’m currently working with archival collections, and I would welcome the opportunity to share what I’m learning here in northern England with all of you.

  35. I support and reinforce this proporsal! here in Brasil we need urgently the enlargement of actions focus in cultural heritage preservation. I am a theory of preservation teacher, and in this aspect, the students don’t possess opportunities for practical learning. We have few courses in the country. all itens in “Collections Care Resource Development” is necessary to improve in our reality. at least, I would like to participate in the Collections Care Network!

  36. I think this is a wonderful and useful idea. Having taught Collections Care and Preservation for nine years in the Graduate Museum Studies Program at Tufts Univeristy, I know there is a deperate need for Collections Care information, access and text books. Teaching collection care concepts to non-conservators is a wonderful way to raise the knowledge level of our emerging fellow museum professionals so that they undertsand better what it is exactly that we do as conservators day-in-and-day-out…advocating for the art! I fully support this proposal and look forward to promoting it!

  37. Wonderful idea, I fully support it. As a textile conservator in private practice, I often work with small museums and collectors with limited resources. Sometimes the conservator functions like the emergency room physician, taking care of the life threatening damage and after treatment the artifact goes back to the same less than ideal conditions. It would be very useful to teach everybody connected with collections, preventative practices so that serious problems can be avoided and collections can be kept in “good health” as much as possible.

  38. I support the establishment of the Collections Care Network.

    Rachel Tu
    Sr. Collections Administrator
    Costume and Textile Department
    LACMA

  39. I strongly support the creation of the Collections Care Network. Networking with other professionals in the arena of collections care and management would be a welcome bonus to our subscription to AIC. Sharing ideas for workshops and educating those who need support is part of what we do in preserving material culture.
    Having input from colleagues to assist insitutions without professional staff is a blessing.
    I’m ready to participate and hope that this happens.
    Marie T. Schlag
    The Studio for Textile Conservation LLC

  40. As a student, I appreciate that my coursework is focused equally on preventive conservation as on the various material specialties; I feel that I’m better prepared for the “real-life collections care problems” that Peggy mentioned. I think it would be great to have that same emphasis on preventive conservation within AIC, especially if it means a higher level of outreach to related professions in need of support.

    I would be happy to involve myself with the CCN!

    Heather Brown
    WUDPAC 2014

  41. I strongly support this proposal. The network has the potential to be more inclusive and flexible than a new specialty group as well as to attract the many allied professionals who count preventive conservation as part of their job.

  42. I support this proposal. Although I am still only a student, I have already seen for myself the critical importance of preventive conservation for the long-term preservation of collections. Organizing the CCN is an important next step in advancing the field.

    Emily Schuetz
    Winterthur/ University of Delaware Program in Art Conservation Class of 2013

  43. I support the creation of the Collections Care Network. Increased interaction with a variety of museum professionals can only be beneficial when it comes to this topic.

    Katherine Ridgway
    Conservator
    George Washington’s Mount Vernon

  44. This sounded like a great idea when I heard about it, but now I’m not sure who the audience is- or if I’m in it. Will membership in AIC be required? Is it for conservators, or will it be useful for field collection managers looking for one place to find resources to help them care for collections?

  45. I strongly support the creation of the Collections Care Network within the AIC.

    Richard Hinson
    Senior Preparator
    Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
    Former Chair, PACCIN

  46. I strongly support the creation of the AIC Collections Care Network. I agree with others in its potential broaden our outreach to other museum collections positions and strengthen our professionalism within the conservation field as whole.

    Lauren Fair
    Assistant Objects Conservator
    Winterthur Museum, Garden and Library

  47. I strongly support the creation of the AIC Collections Care Network and agree with the suggestion of it being a specialty Group.

    Luisa Casella
    Photograph Conservator
    Harry Ransom Center

  48. I strongly support the creation of an AIC Collections Care Network and echo what Emily mentioned above. Preventive conservation is vital to the museum community as a whole, and the creation of a specialty group will provide a forum for shared knowledge and advancement.

    Courtney Von Stein
    Winterthur/University of Delaware Program in Art Conservation, Class of 2014

  49. I strongly support this effort. The concerns and studies in Preventive Conservation are wide ranging, and I echo Barbara Applebaum’s suggestion that a specialty group might be the best solution.
    Regardless, I look forward to participating.

    Jerry Shiner
    President, Keepsafe Microclimate Systems

  50. I think think this is a fantastic idea and particularly like the idea of having one place to develop and access standards and best practices, training, and other projects to advance preventive care in institutions of all types and sizes, locally, nationally and globally.

    -Marianne Weldon
    Objects Conservator/Collections Manager
    Bryn Mawr College

  51. I support the Collection Care Network proposal. Collection care is a substantial part of what I do as the conservator and de facto preservation librarian for an academic research library, and I’d love to have a broader network to consult when making decisions that have far-reaching consequences.

  52. I support this effort which has the potential to assist all museums especially those who do not have (or cannot afford to hire) conservators. This practical approach is long overdue.

  53. I strongly support this initiative and would be interested in participating in the formation of this network.

  54. I fully support the creation of an AIC Collections Care Network. As both the manager of art and storage services for the Metropolitan Museum and an instructor of Collections Management at NYU I’ve found that the documentation of the standards, best practices and training in collections management is scarce or antiquated. Developing a community will not only help to update and standardize our practice but it will also help to inform and educate interested students of the field.

    Chuck Agro
    Manager, Packing and Art Services
    The Metropolitan Museum of Art

  55. I support the development of an AIC Collections Care Network and feel that it addresses a critical need in the preservation field and in the AIC as a professional organization.

    Marlene Yandrisevits
    Graduate Fellow, Class of 2014
    Winterthur/ University of Delaware Program in Art Conservation

  56. This proposal has the clearly capacity to strengthen AIC; foster new partnerships centered on preventive conservation research, teaching and practice; and to make collections care programming and resources more readily available to a broad spectrum of professional colleagues globally.

    Debra Hess Norris
    Chair, Department of Art Conservation
    University of Delaware

  57. The establishment of a Collections Care Network would be a great resource for anyone working in museums. I think it would be especially useful for those who are just entering into the field. I think this is a great proposal with a lot of useful possibilities.

    Colleen Sinnott
    Museum Tech
    The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation

  58. I certainly support the creation of an AIC Collections Care Network!

    Tracy Satin
    Associate Director Collections and Conservation
    Kelowna Museums (British Columbia, Canada)

  59. I support this proposal for the creation of a Collections Care Network! The broader issues of preventive practices are essential aspects of a holistic approach to conservation that rely on collaboration and support from allied professionals.

    LeeAnn Barnes Gordon
    Sherman Fairchild Fellow in Objects Conservation
    Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

  60. While I strongly support an online resource for long term preservation needs It is difficult to visualize how it will be implemented. There are a ton of smaller institutions that desperately need help. There are also many resources for smaller institutions out there, C.C.I and N.P.S, readily come to mind. I would like to be involved in this project and hope to learn more about its goals and the community that will be using this service.

  61. I am completely and fervently in support of this proposal to establish a Collection Care Network within AIC. I believe that a “network” rather than a specialty group is very appropriate and will maximize the opportunities for cross fertilization and minimize further fracturing into specialty groups. I realize there will be challenges to setting up such a network system. Still, these collection care professionals are the very people who have the special cross disciplinary communication skills to pull that off successfully. Why not let them lead us to what could be a better way to work together?

    This initiative will likely lead me to rejoining AIC after a hiatus of 30 years. Great initiative!

    Robert Waller, Protect Heritage Corp.

  62. I definitely support the creation of such a network. As a curator in a natural history museum I have encountered situations where training as a biologist (whatever specialty) did not provide enough background for some of the curation issues that are peculiar to natural history. Interconnections with other museum professionals would greatly help with resources.

  63. The emphasis on collaboration between all collections care staff is wonderful to see, as it so crucial to accomplishing the goals of preventive conservation. The CCN will be a great resource to have. I’m in!

    Jessica Ford
    Winterthur/University of Delaware Program in Art Conservation, Class of 2014

  64. This is a great idea overall. I am particularly glad as it would mean that the AIC membership would “officially” endorse preventive care as an important component of what it does. Most other international conservation associations already have an active group involved in preventive conservation, and it is about time that the AIC does the same. I would hope that the new network will create a platform for lectures or other forms of exhanges at each upcoming AIC conference, therefore offering incentives for others in the collection management world to attend the AIC conference. As the former Head of the Preventive Conservation Team at Wintethur Museum, and as a professor in the Winterthur/University of Delaware Program in Art Conservation who helped develop the current curriculum in preventive conservation, I completely understand that formal acknowledgement of preventive care as a sub-discipline is crucial to bring support to the ’cause’. Also I know how preventive care is not only the concern of conservators, and that it takes a team approach in order to really make a difference. I trust that the new network will play a big part in taking the “cause” to the next level.

    Bruno P. Pouliot, Objects Conservator and Winterthur Assistant Professor in Art Conservation.

  65. I think that making the Collections Care Network into a Specialty Group would be a mistake. Specialty Groups are designed to be just that – groups that appeal to a specific portion of our members. Collections care/preventive conservation is a subject that per our Code of Ethics and Guidelines for Practice is the responsibility of all conservators. In addition, the proposed CCN is deliberately intended to encourage interaction among all our colleagues who share this responsibility with us.

    I think that Specialty groups like Research and Technical Studies should have been a network or have had some other organizational framework to allow them to more easily serve all AIC members. Instead, many AIC members attend RATS sessions at the Annual Meeting, but do not support RATS through specialty group dues. RATS tradionally spends most of its income on its mission, soemthing not common among other specialty groups that have a much narrower focus. If we are relying on RATs and will rely on CCN to provide essential services to all AIC members and possibly to a much wider audience, we need to find new ways to support those initiatives. This will certainly be a topic of discussion at the next AIC Board meeting. Specialty groups have an extremely important role in AIC; however, they are not the only way to serve the membership, nor are they the best way to reach out to allied professionals in a host of other fields.

  66. I enthusiastically support the creation of the Collections Care Network. A resource of this kind will be very valuable to those of us concerned with preventive conservation who have not found quite the right fit in AIC’s existing specialty groups.

    I’m looking forward to getting involved.

    Jessica Makin
    Manager of Housing and Framing
    Conservation Center for Art and Historic Artifacts
    Philadelphia PA

  67. As a Preventive Conservation professional, this network would serve my staff and I in so many different and valuable ways. The idea of “advocating for professional recognition” is huge for my staff and I, as Preventive and Collections Care so often get mixed into the big picture rather then taken on their own. In the process those on the ground ae, often times, untintionally overlooked. In my short time at Winterthur I have seen much change in the approach to Preventive Conservation, in very good ways. Networking via CCN would not only serve to augment and support much that is already going but spread it to many corners.

    I whole-heartedly endorse this proposal and look forward to the future!

    Matthew Mickletz
    Supervisor, Preventive Conservation
    Winterthur Museum

    Also representing Winterthur’s Preventive Conservation Aides

  68. As Publications Chair for PACCIN (Preparation, Art handling, and Collections Care Information Network) I whole heartedly support this proposal.
    Its focus on providing sound information and in fostering communication and effective collaboration is entirely compatible with what we stand for as an organization comprised of hands-on collections care professionals that come from a wide variety of backgrounds and disciplines in both the non-profit and for-profit arenas.

    A well maintained source of information, available to a broad audience, that consists of established, up to date standards and best practices as established by specialists within the AIC community and by professionals from related organizations and disciplines can provide an invaluable resource for collections care professionals everywhere and will potentially save objects that would otherwise be lost.
    I look forward to participating in whatever way may be useful.

    Ashley

  69. As a recent graduate of GW’s graduate museum studies program, I would love to support the creation of a network like CCN. As Colleen suggested above, it would be extremely helpful for those of us just entering the field. I’d be happy to participate in any way. Very much appreciated and looking forward to it!

  70. I am looking forward to getting involved with the CCN.

    Lauren Shoniker
    Intern
    Book and Paper Lab
    Parks Canada
    Ottawa, ON

  71. I love the idea of the rotating co-sponsorship of presentations with the existing specialty groups. This approach seems easier to manage than yet another totally free-standing specialty group.

    In our regional group, the Virginia Conservation Association, preventive conservation is one of our major areas of emphasis; many of our members are allied professionals, not practicing conservators.

  72. I, too, welcome this proposal. As a fremer whose focus is preservation of the works of art we frame, I look forward to taking part in the CCN.

    Jed Bark
    Bark Frameworks
    Long Island City, NY

  73. I support this proposal and look forward to participating in the network. Much needed!
    Kathy Francis
    Francis Textile Conservation LLC

  74. I add my support to this new initiative!

    Sarah C. Stevens
    Zephyr Preservation Studio, LLC

  75. I forgot to include my affiliation:

    Anthropology Collections Manager
    Nevada State Museum, Carson City

  76. I strongly support the creation of the Collections Care Network within AIC.

    A greatly needed resource!

    Sandra C. Aho
    Textile and Costume Conservator
    SA Threads Textile and Costume Conservation, LLC

  77. I srongly support this proposal and looking forward to being involved in any way poassible.

    Siobhan Conyngham
    Fine Art Conservator
    Ireland

  78. Good initiative! I support this proposal.It would be of extreme help, and valuable.
    I think that the proposal of special group might be the best solution.

  79. I support the proposal. It is important for conservators and other specialists working on the field to have access to a network. I am sure this would bring new energy and a better understanding of the multidisciplinary aspects of art-care and art-preservation for future generations.

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