AIC 41st Annual Meeting – Objects Session, Friday, May 31, 2013. Preserving an Aesthetic of Decay: Living Artists and the Conservation of Contemporary Objects by John T. Campbell.

Disclaimer: I am not the fastest note-taker, and may have misspelled some names or gotten some of the concepts a bit wrong.  If something I say is critical for you, please check directly with the presenter(s) for corroboration. 

The purpose of this presentation was to present a framework for collaboration between the artist and the conservator.  Of course, this is only possible with living and still-cognitive artists.  If you are working with such an individual, do not delay as the opportunity may close at any time without warning.

The presenter broke the process into two main areas.  The first is artist education – enhancing the likelihood of a favorable outcome.  The second is documentation – facilitated through an artist interview.  The anecdote presented was the work The Hill near El Paso, TX by artist Jim Magee.

Decay happens to all object with only a very few exceptions, especially those exhibited outdoors.  Complicating this fact is that some artists intentionally use decay (or “patination”) as part of their art.  What is intended, and what is not, that is the question.  And then there is the million dollar question, if decay is intended to be arrested at a certain point, can that be done, and how?

In order to even get to the artist documentation stage, it is necessary to foster a level of cooperation with the artist.  In some instances, this will be easy.  They will know about deterioration, conservation, maintenance needs, and so forth.  In other cases, they will be oblivious, or even worse, will have had a bad experience with conservation/conservators.  This requires diplomatic skills to foster a common ground that allows effective communication to occur.  At this point of common listening, it is possible to educate the artist, and of course the conservator as well.  The interview becomes possible.

Ideally, the interview will be in person.  Long-distance interviews are very difficult, especially if the object has not been examined in person by the conservator.  First, determine the artist’s expectations, then help manage their expectations.  Ask questions such as is deterioration wanted or not?  Entropic art desires deterioration as part of its evolution.  Is dirt/dust considered part of the object or an unwanted intrusion?  Is maintenance intended/desired or not? 

If time allows, create a manual of care for the object.  This will incorporate and memorialize in writing the intent and desires of the artist, as well as the recommendations of the conservator.  Of course, as with any written document, its presence must be kept in the consciousness of the responsible entity, or it essentially does not exist.  This is a HUGE problem.  How many of us have done CAPs for an organization, and five years later, no one there knows it exists, much less is following its recommendations?  It has happened to me probably a dozen times.  This problem alone could be the subject of a future AIC conference.

What was not discussed was how to affect arrested decay.  If layered on top of this is that the artist states they do not want any changes or alterations in appearance, the conservator is in an impossible position with our current technology.  Perhaps deaccessioning/selling is the best ethical solution? 😉

In my own practice, I did treatments for a California State Park where their park ethic and even motto was “arrested decay.”  Literally!  They were a mining-era ghost town supposedly left the way it was when abandoned.  In reality, a good deal of “interior decorating” was done in the 1940s and 1950s before it became a park, including cutesy furnishings of rooms, and decrepit horse-drawn vehicles in the fields.  But they wanted arrested decay, so they did not fix the holes in the roofs.  Not that long afterwards, the roofs began to collapse.  But they did not want to repair or fix anything, and no modern materials were supposed to be visible.  That had to change, obviously.  Now, they repair roof and other leaks, but still do not treat the exterior siding of the buildings.  I am sure their policy will have to change again.  Decay can be “arrested” perhaps for the memory of an individual, but not for centuries or millennia, at least for outdoor objects. 

My project at the park was to preserve several of the horse-drawn vehicles with minimal effect on their appearances.  The park staff wanted them to be continued to be exhibited in the fields, which was actively contributing to their deterioration.  But they did not want anything to change in their appearance.  The compromise reached was that some of them got moved to interior spaces in barns and sheds and their stabilization could be less invasive, but some were kept outside and had more aggressive treatments that altered their appearance a bit (but much less than what had happened because they had previously had no treatment).  But this treatment is destined to fail in a relatively few years, and hopefully the park will have awakened to a painful reality.  Arrested decay outdoors currently is not possible.

AIC 41st Annual Meeting – Discussion Session, Friday, May 31, 2013. Then vs, Now: Fundraising for Conservation Isn’t What It Used to Be by Susan Mathisen.

Disclaimer: I am not the fastest note-taker, and may have misspelled some names or gotten some of the concepts a bit wrong.  If something I say is critical for you, please check directly with the presenter(s) for corroboration. 

While this presentation concerned itself with changes to fundraising needs in the conservation and preservation arena, it is simply a small subset of changes that have occurred in the much larger global non-profit funding mentality.  The old model of funding that we as conservators were trained to do is object-centric.  We write reports on the existing condition of the object and its treatment needs.  Funding requests are centered on the individual object(s) and the benefits of funding to it/them.  There may be some small discussion of how the better preserved object will benefit museum visitors.  But the general approach is introspective – how the museum would be better served.  This approach is comfortable for many older conservators and funders.

The new model is about personal connections.  It is about stories.  It is about community engagement.  It is about meeting the needs of constituents in the society.  The general approach is extrospective – how the outer world can benefit.  This is a comfortable view for many younger conservators and funders.

The challenge is not only how conservators can begin to think in this more extrospective manner about their treatments, but how conservation in general can be viewed by funders as benefiting society outside of usual museum visitors.  The presentation offered some suggestions, but also made it clear that much further reflection and brain-storming is necessary for designing conservation projects that meet the requirements of the increasing numbers of funders that have implemented the new model.

Several additional presenters offered anecdotal projects in which they had been involved.  These were interspersed with the main presentation.  Following are some more specific points brought up by the presenters.

Funding by individuals has advantages.  They are not under funding restrictions, many do not have caps on the amount they can give, and during the downturn of the last several years, their level of funding has been the most stable.  There are two general reasons why individuals give – for personal benefit, such as name recognition or for a tax deduction – or for altruism, they want to see effects or results.  Generally, individual donors to museums are interested in the art.  They are not interested in conservation or preservation.  We as conservators need to tell our stories about the art, not the care of the art, in order to engage them.  Most have personal connections or stories that motivate them, and we need to tap into these.  We need to engage them in a two-way dialog to let THEIR story come out.  Along with this, we need to focus on individual objects, not large numbers of objects, as in general funders find big groups hard to grasp and relate to personally.

There are a number of different approaches to crowd funding, which is an emerging and highly effective method of fundraising.  These are discussed in many places in books and the web, and can be explored individually.  A general concept is to empower your supporters – get them excited and wanting to spread the word about your campaign.  Have the full message of your campaign written in advance and ready to go before launching it.  Send frequent information/reminders/updates – it is recommended weekly.

One presented fundraising option that is very interesting is to create a mechanism to give money electronically right in the exhibition gallery.  This can be facilitated with information placed right at the object, or in place of the object if it is too unstable to exhibit. The visitor can give their $1 or $5 or more live on the spot through a card swipe or text.

The key to fundraising is engagement, which is a mission strategy.  Engagement with the community is essential.  Activities grow out of this relationship, articulating the values of the community, rather than out of the needs of the objects.

A growing interest with funders it collaboration between organizations.  This is not just between museums within an area, but between diverse organizations in different sectors, sometimes spread throughout the world.  Such projects have a collective impact and give the funders more reach for the same amount of funds.  It also reduces the funders’ costs, since they have to administer only one grant/project rather than possibly a dozen of them. 

Collaboration on a large scale is reflected by creative placemaking, a term with which many conservators may not be familiar.  Essentially, it is planning a geographical area around a mix of artistic, cultural, residential, and business functions designed to be symbiotic with one another.  In my opinion, good examples of this are the River Walk in San Antonio, and the Guggenheim Bilbao, Spain (if you want instant creative placemaking, simply have Frank Geary design you a building, and you will put millions of tourism dollars into your local economy).

This last sort of tongue and cheek comment is actually very important in project design with funders – the economic impact of the project.  According to the presenter, Stephen Shepherd wrote an interesting paper on the Economic Impact of Museums that had some interesting findings (the specific citation was not provided, so do your homework).  Economic impacts may be job creation, increased tourism, reduced utility expenses, increased tax revenue, greening of the environment, or many other outcomes. 

The following are tips for foundation and government grants.  Understand the funder’s mission.  Read the guidelines – give them their own language.  Pick up the phone and call – the representatives are there to assist YOU in meeting THEIR mission.  As mentioned, collaboration is desirable.  IMLS has an online course “Shaping Outcomes” that can be very helpful in transitioning to the new approach to funding.  Debbie Hess Norris mentioned a web site designed for a worldwide photograph preservation project but also helpful for general fundraising and partnership education: www.academia.edu/ .

It is a real challenge for me to transition my conservation thinking to this social engagement and emotional connection model.  I am not a fan of social media, at least not in my personal life.  I do not want everyone to know what I am up to, and I believe that social media is making life more complicated instead of more simple (KISS).  However, from a marketing/fundraising perspective I can see how bigger organizational objectives can be met through little contributions of individuals.  Howard Dean showed this to be effective a number of years ago.  The trick for me in private practice is how to make this new approach work to bring conservation projects into my door.  My business is designed around working exclusively for museums, and I can’t see that social media will have a significant influence on their decision-makers coming to me.  Heck, it is really difficult for ANYTHING other than word-of-mouth to be effective.  However, I certainly can see how I can work with museums to help fit the conservation projects they need to be done into the new model of thinking, and then THEY can fundraise with social media or any other method they wish.  The bottom line is that without collections, museums would not have an audience and they could not offer social value to meet their constituents’ needs.  They would not exist.  WE as conservators have done a poor job of making that emotional connection with our museum communities.

I was reminded of a TED talk I heard a few weeks ago on NPR radio.  I don’t recall the speaker’s name, but he felt that the non-profit world had the wrong model of fundraising.  He did not like the model of granting agencies disdaining what they termed “overhead” costs and wanting to limit them to a very small part of the overall budget.  He felt the profit-making business model of marketing was more appropriate – you spend as much as you need to on marketing as long as each $1 of marketing cost generated more than $1 of net profit.  If it did, spend more until you reached the breakeven point, since you were still making more money even though you were spending more.  So, he went out and formed a company to fundraise for non-profits on this model.  His anecdotal client was breast cancer research.  They started a fundraising campaign that in something like it’s fifth year raised over a net $100 million that year alone, but spent something like $40 million to do so ($140 million total).  Some in the non-profit world, the funders’ world and the media began to complain and the noise became so loud that major donors began to back out.  He had to terminate his involvement with the campaign.  The next year, once the fundraising had been returned to the old model with limited “overhead,” net funds raised for breast cancer fell nearly in half.  They never returned to the previous level.  A challenge we have in the museum world is how to change the perceptions of the “old” limited-overhead funding believers into the “new” marketing-heavy realities.  This is a big a shift for them as for us conservators to move away from our object-centric view into the newer connections-centric view.  But it is at least as important, and possibly more important in terms of dollars that can be raised for conservation and museums in general.

The Art Conserver: How conservation professionals make use of online resources

This blog post accompanies the Emerging Conservation Professionals Network (ECPN)’s poster at AIC’s 41st Annual Meeting: The Art_Con<server>: How conservation professionals make use of online resources, which captured and analyzed preferences in our field regarding the creation and use of conservation information online. The content for the poster was generated based on a survey distributed to AIC members. In this survey, respondents were asked to rate their usage and preferences about various online resources. These resources are summarized in this post.

  • AATA: This Getty-run site is “a comprehensive database of over 120,000 abstracts of literature related to the preservation and conservation of material cultural heritage”.
  • AIC website: The American Institute for Conservation (AIC) website has resources for conservators and the public. These include academic journals, the member newsletter, and helpful guides.
  • AIC Wiki: The AIC Wiki has sections for each of the specialty groups, drawing information from different resources, including the print conservation catalogs. This “platform allows for easy and timely collaborative editing and also provides much broader access to these resources, ensuring that innovative methods and materials are documented and widely disseminated to practicing conservators and conservation scientists.”
  • American Alliance of Museums (AAM) Resource Center: Resources for museums include collections stewardship, financial stability, and marketing and public relations.
  • Bibliographic Database of the Conservation Information Network (BCIN): One of the “most complete bibliographic resources for the conservation, preservation and restoration of cultural property”.
  • Canadian Conservation Institute (CCI) website: The CCI website includes many documents and links, including resources from other Canadian heritage organizations.
  • CoOL: A centralized repository covering over twenty-five preservation and conservation topics.
  • CoOL DistList archives: The Conservation DistList is an email distribution list and an interdisciplinary forum open to conservators, conservation scientists, curators, librarians, archivist, administrators, and others involved in the preservation of cultural property. The archives include posts dating back to 1987.
  • Getty Conservation Institute (GCI) website: The GCI site includes an e-bulletin, digital collections, a large library of free PDF versions of GCI publications, and article and research databases.
  • Google Scholar: Search for scholarly work in all disciplines.
  • JSTOR: A digital library of academic journals.
  • National Park Service (NPS) website: The NPS has handy Conserve-O-Grams, “short, focused leaflets about caring for museum objects, published in loose-leaf format”. They cover all of the various specialty groups, as well as disaster response and collection care.
  • Wikipedia: A free encyclopedia that can be edited by the public.
  • WorldCat: The largest network of library content and services, WorldCat allows the user to search for libraries all over the world.

Of course there are a large number of other very useful resources for our field. What resources do you find yourself referencing most often? Do you have an interesting resource to share? Please leave comments so that others can know about them.

Collective energy: harnessing the power of community

If you ask me if I’m connected, I might at first think, well, I have a smartphone where I can access my Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn accounts, my family and I share a Google calendar, so sure, I guess I’m connected. But what does it really mean to be connected? With all of these devices, apps, and programs, I find that it is becoming increasingly easier to never leave the comfort of my home or desk in order to feel like I’m an active part of a community – whether it be my neighborhood, my family, or the conservation field.
But nothing replaces the experience of connecting with other people face-to-face. Our field is experiencing some big changes, and making the effort to go to conferences each year, and even venturing a bit outside of our close-knit community, may be more valuable than ever before. By attending allied professionals meetings, I believe that we will find that this not only benefits us as individuals, but our field as a whole.
Last week I spent 2 very full days at the American Alliance of Museums (AAM) annual meeting in Baltimore and I returned feeling inspired and energized with new ideas.

AAM attendees filing into the general session in the ballroom at the Baltimore Convention Center
AAM attendees filing into the general session in the ballroom at the Baltimore Convention Center

This was my first time attending this meeting, and as Chair of the Emerging Conservation Professionals Network (ECPN), I went on behalf of our group in an attempt to promote ECPN to the wider museum community, to connect with the AAM Emerging Museum Professionals (EMP) network, and to seek ideas and ways for ECPN to collaborate with other emerging museum professionals. In the interest of supporting the significant work of ECPN, The University of Delaware generously supported my participation.
A shot from the AAM opening reception at the American Visionary Art Museum
A shot from the AAM opening reception at the American Visionary Art Museum

I was fortunate to have a meeting buddy – ECPN Vice Chair Eliza Spaulding also attended the conference, and between the two of us, we sought out as many opportunities to take in all AAM had to offer. Some of the highlights included:

  • A first-time attendees orientation meeting
  • A one hour speed-networking event
  • The Emerging Museum Professionals (EMP) reception
  • One-on-one career coaching
  • One-on-one resume review
  • The Alliance opening party at the American Visionary Art Museum
  • Keynote talk by Freeman Hrabowski, III, President of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) about the role of museums in inspiring future generations

And of course we attended several interesting sessions, met many new people, and had a chance to visit the booths at the MuseumExpo.
Eliza and I are excited to share some of our experiences at AAM, and how these have given us ideas for future projects, at the ECPN informational meeting during the AIC Annual Meeting in Indianapolis this week. The ECPN meeting will take place on Friday, May 31 from 5:30-6:30 pm in the JW Marriott Meeting Rooms 201-203.
We hope to see you there!
 

Survey on teaching conservation in allied academic degree programs

For AIC’s 2013 annual meeting, Emily Williams and I developed a discussion session to examine conservation education in allied degree programs. Our overall goal for the session is to begin a dialogue about the goals and methodology of teaching conservation information and concepts to non-conservation students.
In order to provide a foundation for understanding and examining current trends in conservation pedagogy at the university level, we conducted an online survey, titled Teaching Conservation in Allied Degree Programs, prior to the session.
The survey was created using Qualtrics ( www.Qualtrics.com ) and was active for 2.5 weeks. It was distributed by link to a variety of listservs including all AIC specialty group lists, the Conservation-Research list and multiple ICOM-CC lists.  A total of 154 respondents began the survey and 111 completed it. 1 complete response was discarded because it was not appropriate (the respondent did not teach in higher education), and 8 nearly complete responses were retained. This resulted in a total of 118 responses for analysis. Several of these were re-coded to correct obvious errors (for example, when a respondent chose “other” but wrote in a response that matched one of the possible choices).
A public version of the initial survey report can be accessed here: Allied Education Survey Report – Public.  All information that might compromise respondent anonymity was removed from the public version of the report.
Many thanks to all those who took the survey! We appreciate your time and the opportunity to explore conservation education with you. We’re especially grateful to the following colleagues for testing and editing multiple versions of the survey: Cathleen Baker, Sanchita Balachandran, Holly Cusack-McVeigh, Heather Galloway, Richard McCoy, and Renée Stein.
 

AIC's 41st Annnual Meeting in Indy – Local Restaurant Recommendations

Special thanks to Jean Easter, a member based in Indianapolis, for developing this list for the attendees of AIC’s 41st Annual Meeting
Bluebeard (Italian-inspired local + bakery)
653 Virginia Ave
(317) 686-1580
bluebeardindy.com
-Excellent and wonderful menu, but does not take reservations.
B’s Po Boys (Cajun & Creole)
1261 Shelby St
(317) 916-5555
bpoboy.com
– Very Good.
Black Market (Gastropub)
922 Massachusetts Ave
(317) 822-6757
blackmarketindy.net
-Very good Food.
Cerulean (Modern American)
339 S Delaware St
(317) 870-1320
ceruleanrestaurant.com/indianapolis
-Located in the Alexander Hotel & has fabulous food.
Delicia (Latin American)
5215 N. College Ave.
(317) 925-0677
facebook.com/DeliciaIndy
-Very new, very good, nice atmosphere.
Locally Grown Gardens (Chef-owned market + bakery)
1050 E 54th St
locallygrowngardens.com
-Sugar Cream Pie = crack cocaine
Meridian (Farm to fork)
5694 N Meridian St
(317) 466-1111
meridianonmeridian.com
-Excellent Food and you will not be disappointed.
Naked Tchopstix  (Sushi)
6255 N College Ave
(317) 252-5555
tchopstix.com
-Fabulous, the Play Boy Roll is the best.
Napolis (Pizza)
3475 N Shadeland Ave
(317) 545-1907
napolispizzaindy.com
-Great pizza and opens at 5pm.
Patachou (Café – sandwich, salad, soup)
4901 N Pennsylvania St
(317) 925-2823
cafepatachou.com
-Basically good.
Recess (4-course pre-fixe dinner)
4907 N College Ave
(317) 925-7529
www.recessindy.com
-Fabulous, a little pricy but worth the money and dinner only.
Room Four (Modern American)
4907 N College Ave
(317) 925-7529
recessindy.com/recess-menu/room-four-menu
-Fabulous, less expense than Recess, and very cozy.
R Bistro (Modern American)
888 Massachusetts Ave
(317) 423-0312
rbistro.com
-Very good Food.
Siam Square (Thai Cuisine)
936 Virginia Ave
(317) 636-8424
siamsquareindy.com
-Fabulous! Fabulous!
Taste (Modern American)
5164 N College Ave
(317) 925-2233
tastecafeandmarketplace.com
-Fabulous and wonderful! Dinner served Wed & Thu. w/ breakfast and lunch everyday
The Libertine Liquor Bar (Bistro + Mixologists)
38 E Washington St
(317) 631-3333
libertineindy.com
-Amazing, must make the Bacon Flight.
Zest (American‑Eclectic café)
1134 E 54th St
zestexcitingfood.com
-Very Good

Bulletin of Research on Metal Conservation (BROMEC 34) is now available

BROMEC34The trilingual site BROMEC is the online resource for research dissemination by conservators and scientists of metallic cultural heritage artifacts.
BROMEC 34, the Bulletin of Research on Metal Conservation’s April 2013 issue, is now available online at the following websites:

Eight research abstracts and 8 announcements are presented, together with the usual lists of contacts and informative metal research/conservation websites and discussion groups. The issue includes articles on:
Calls for collaboration:

  • Survey on the stabilization of marine iron-organic composite artefacts

New research projects:

  • New approaches and applications of electrochemical techniques and corrosion inhibitors for in situ monitoring of shipwrecks and treatment of recovered marine metal-organic composite artefacts
  • MAIA: Microbes for Archaeological Iron Artefacts
  • Fabrication, corrosion and conservation of the silver jewellery from Lumbe’s Garden, Prague Castle

Ongoing research projects:

  • The MIFAC-Metal project: a methodology for studying and analyzing microstructures and corrosion profiles of heritage metals; application to metallographic samples from Swiss collections
  • The St Maurice project: development of an electrolytic pen for cleaning tarnished gilt silverware with wooden cores

Finalized research projects

  • Conservation of a fluvial deposit of bronzes from Agde-La-Motte

English, French and Spanish language versions are available for downloading as PDF documents.
To subscribe for email updates about BROMEC: www.warwick.ac.uk/bromec-subscription
BROMEC Editorial Team
Anglophone Editor & Translator:
·      James Crawford
Francophone Coeditor:
·      Michel Bouchard
Hispanophone Coeditor:
·      Emilio Cano
Francophone Translators:
·      Nathalie Richard
·      Elodie Guilminot
·      Marc Voisot
Hispanophone Translators:
·      Diana Lafuente
·      Inmaculada Traver

Food in Indy

With AIC’s 41st Annual Meeting fast approaching, I’ve not only been looking forward to a range of interesting and informative presentations, but I’m also excited to see colleagues and friends. With the busy conference agenda, I find that the best time to catch up with people is for a meal. Indianapolis has no shortage of good places to eat and drink. I wanted to share a few of them with you so you can plan your best experience while you’re in Indy.
The conservation department at the IMA loves good food. I’ve asked my colleagues to share their favorite places to eat so that you can enjoy some of the best that Indy has to offer. We’ve taken into account some dietary needs (we represent quite a gamut ourselves: vegetarian, egg allergy, garlic allergy, onion allergy, gluten-free, etc.) as well as location. I figured most of you will have Yelp on your phone, so this is just a highlight of some favorites. I wanted to focus on places that were somewhat unique to Indy. You can also find places like McCormick and Schmick’s or Palaminos downtown (please consult Yelp, the concierge, or ask one of the Indianapolis folks).
There are several good bars in the downtown area that serve food as well (but not always a full meal). This is also a great option to sit down and catch up with friends. My colleague, Richard McCoy, wrote a blog post highlighting some good places to grab a drink.
Walking distance from the JW Marriot:
Sky City Café at the Eiteljorg Museum: The café is located on the main floor of the Eiteljorg, along the downtown canal, and offers southwestern themed dishes.
Café Patachou: This small, Indy-based chain uses fresh, local ingredients and offers a good selection for vegetarians. There are several locations around town, but the one downtown at Capitol and Washington is walking distance from the conference hotel. They serve a good variety of soups, salads, and sandwiches. They have options for those who are vegetarian or gluten-free. (Open for breakfast and lunch only).
Napolese: An Artisanal Pizzeria: Napolese is a small, local chain that was recently opened by the owners of Patachou. The pizzas are cooked in a wood-fired over and made from a variety of fresh, local ingredients. Located at 30 South Meridian (on Meridian between Washington and Maryland), this place is a short walk from the conference hotel. They have good vegetarian and gluten-free options. (This location is open for lunch and dinner).
Stardust Terrace Café at the Indiana Historical Society: The café is catered by Hoaglins (which also has its own café on Mass Ave—see below). They have good options for soups, salads, and sandwiches. You can dine inside or outside along the canal.
A longer walk (or short taxi ride):
There are many good places along Mass Ave. The southwest end of the street is walk-able from the hotel (in my opinion), but there are some good places at the far end of the street that may seem like a bit of a hike.
Bazbeaux Pizza: Bazbeaux’s is another local chain, located at 333 Massachusetts Ave. They offer a lunch special that includes a slice of pizza and salad. They have craft beers and numerous options for vegetarians. Prices here are very reasonable. (Open for lunch and dinner).
Hoaglin To Go: Hoaglin’s offers catering at a number of venues around Indy, including the Indiana History Center, but they have a café at 448 Mass Ave. They serve breakfast and lunch.
Bru Burger: Classic and unique burgers made from local meats (when possible). They have some vegetarian and gluten-free options. Located at 410 Mass Ave.
Creation Café: Located at the end of the downtown canal (at 337 West 11th Street) in Buggs Temple. They offer lots of salads, sandwiches, and pasta for lunch. They have many vegetarian options. Reasonably priced and they have nice outdoor seating if the weather is nice.
Saffron Café: This Moroccan restaurant is located at 621 Fort Wayne Ave. They have several vegetarian options. The portions are large, so sharing might be a good idea (or you may be really hungry if you walk there and back).
Cerulean: This new addition to downtown Indy is affiliated with Alexander Hotel and is located at 339 South Delaware Street. Cerulean features fine dining (with some relatively affordable lunch options). They have a full bar and decent wine list. Appetizers at the bar are recommended.
A Taxi ride away (but worth the trip and not too far from the downtown area):
R Bistro: Located at 888 Massachusetts Ave (the far end of the Ave). They serve local, fresh foods dreamed up by chef Regina Mehallick. The menu changes weekly to incorporate what’s fresh and in-season. Open for lunch and dinner (online reservations are recommended). Not the most economical option in town, but the food is really good.

Bluebeard: Located at 653 Virginia Ave near Fountain Square, this restaurant features only local, hand-crafted, and in-season foods. Nothing comes from a can or jar. The menu changes often to reflect what’s locally available. Lunch is affordable, but dinner can be pricey (but probably worth every penny).
Bosphorus Istanbul Café: A Turkish restaurant located at 935 S. East St., near the Lilly campus and Fountain Square. They have good lunch specials and amazing hummus. They have a few vegetarian options.
I hope everyone has a great time at the conference.  Please feel free to leave a comment with other ideas of places to eat.

Why blog from the AIC annual meeting?

I first volunteered to blog from the AIC annual meeting 2 years ago. At that point, I didn’t really have much experience blogging, and honestly, I was a bit intimidated by the idea. I was concerned that I wouldn’t get the author(s) points across very effectively (or worse get details completely wrong) and I was also worried that my posts would be boring. A lot of the blogs that I followed were funny, clever, and insightful, and I just didn’t feel that I would be able to measure up to such standards. Finally, I just felt out of practice doing that kind of writing – being just out of graduate school, I was used to doing lots of technical writing and writing for scholarly purposes, but writing for a blog is different – you want to impart your voice and opinions, and it can be difficult to adjust to such a different format and style.
Well, I did blog from the annual meeting that year, and then blogged again last year, and I’m here to say that it isn’t all that bad. In fact, it was really worthwhile (and dare I say, fun??). Knowing that I was blogging for specific presentations made me pay attention to details I otherwise wouldn’t have, and it also made me think of capturing components of the talks that would work well in a visual presentation on the blog – photos of a poster or handout, a screenshot from the powerpoint, or an image from the conference room, etc. Blogging is also a great way to reflect on a talk and form your own opinions about the content. You don’t need to express these all in your blogpost, but ultimately, digesting a talk in a follow-up blogpost helps make that particular presentation more memorable and valuable.
Thinking about blogging from the annual meeting but unsure if you can hack it? Keep the following points in mind:

  • Only sign up to blog for a presentation that you’re already planning on attending.
  • Don’t worry about capturing all of the details – it’s okay to say in your blogpost that you missed something, or to even say – “did anyone else understand this particular point, or capture that particular detail?” This is a way to engage readers-some of the best blogposts are those that ask for reader feedback or ask questions.
  • Start by signing up to blog for 1 presentation or event. This shouldn’t be a stressful task, and signing up for 1 blogpost will be a huge help.  If you are feeling adventurous (or thirsty) AIC is offering a free drink ticket at the opening reception for the first 35 volunteers who sign up for two talks!
  • Try to write up your thoughts about the talk soon after you hear it, but don’t worry about posting something right away. The goal is to have posts up in the week after the meeting – but at least organizing your thoughts sooner rather than later will make things easier on yourself.
  • Think about images. If you have a camera or smartphone with you, snap a photo to include in your post. Readers always appreciate blogposts with images.
  • Have fun with it! Consider taking the opportunity to follow up with the speaker or talking to other attendees about the talk, and incorporate this feedback into your post. No pressure to do this, but it could make for a more enriching experience.
  • Keep it simple. Most people who read blogs don’t have a lot of time or patience to read thousands of words of content. They’re looking for quick access to information, so try to write succinctly and use headings to break up long blocks of text. Blogposts 600 words or less are typically best.
  • If you do end up blogging, include this on your CV. Future potential employers will take notice, and this type of writing is also good practice for future jobs or projects where you may be asked to contribute to a blog.

If, after reading this, you think you might be interested, please check out the Google Doc Spreadsheet to see which sessions or events are in need of bloggers and to sign up:

There is a separate tab down at the bottom for each session, workshop or event.  Input your name and email next to the talk you are interested in covering.  Easy! Also, please leave a comment here if you have further questions, and thanks for considering this!

Spotlight on Molly Gleeson, ECPN Chair and Project Conservator of "In the Artifact Lab: Conserving Egyptian Mummies" at the Penn Museum

Emerging Conservation Professionals Network (ECPN) Chair, Molly Gleeson has been busy in her new role as Project Conservator of “In the Artifact Lab: Conserving Egyptian Mummies” at the Penn Museum, Philadelphia, PA. “In the Artifact Lab” is a collaborative project between the Penn Museum’s Conservation Department and its Egyptian Section that is both a visible conservation laboratory and exhibition that opened on September 30, 2012. To learn more about this initiative and to see some exciting press, please visit the links below. Many congratulations to Molly and her colleagues at the Penn Museum for their work on this exciting initiative!
www.penn.museum/sites/artifactlab
http://www.newsworks.org/index.php/homepage-feature/item/45842- at-penn-museum-unveiling-the-secrets-of-mummies-while-you-watch?