The Smithsonian’s Office of Fellowships and Internships has announced one-year fellowships for recent graduates of masters programs in art and archaeological conservation (or the equivalent) to conduct research and gain further training in Smithsonian conservation laboratories for conservation of museum collections. Researchers in conservation science topics, including those at the postdoctoral level, are also encouraged to apply. The fellowship begins in the fall of 2016. A stipend of $37,700 is being offered at the postgraduate level and $48,000 at the postdoctoral level, plus a research allowance up to $4,000. While 12-month fellowship proposals are preferred, applications for projects of shorter duration (between 3-12 months) are acceptable, with a commensurate reduction to the stipend amounts. The prospective fellow must first contact the conservator or scientist with whom he or she would like to work. If the potential supervisor confirms that candidacy is suitable, application must be made through the Office of Fellowships and Internships by December 1, 2016. Program guidelines and instructions for application are available at http://www.smithsonianofi.com/fellowship-opportunities/smithsonian-postgraduate-fellowships-in-conservation-of-museum-collections-program/. As one of the conservation laboratories in which a fellowship is offered, the Smithsonian’s Museum Conservation Institute (MCI) offers postings for treatment and research projects benefiting Smithsonian collections that make use of MCI’s excellent analytical capabilities (http://www.si.edu/mci/).
For more information: http://www.si.edu/mci/english/professional_development/2016-2017PostgraduateFellowships.html
Month: September 2015
Job Posting: 2016 Interdisciplinary Post-Doctoral Fellowship in Stable Isotope Sciences (Suitland, MD or Panama City, Panama)
2016 Interdisciplinary Post-Doctoral Fellowship in Stable Isotope Sciences
The Office of Fellowships and Internships is offering an Interdisciplinary Postdoctoral Fellowship in the area of stable isotope sciences. Research proposals must integrate the use of stable isotopes (2H/1H, 13C/12C, 15N/14N, and 18O/16O) into their specific research questions. Stable isotope analysis must comprise a significant portion of the research. The successful applicant will conduct analyses at one of the two Pan-Institutional isotope facilities (OUSS/MCI Stable Isotope Mass Spectrometry Facility in Suitland, MD or at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Panama City, Panama).
Applicants must have completed or be near completion of the Ph.D. Recipients who have not completed the Ph.D. at the time of application must provide proof of completion of the degree before the fellowship begins.
For more information: http://www.si.edu/mci/english/professional_development/2016PostDocFellowshipStableIsotopeSciences.html
Advocacy Alert: Comment on proposed changes to laws regarding trade and transit of African elephant ivory
Please Act Now!!
An urgent message to AIC members from AIC President Pamela Hatchfield:
In response to an unprecedented rise in illegal poaching of the African elephant driven by the demand created by the ivory trade, US Fish and Wildlife Services (FWS) has responded with proposed amendments to existing laws to increase protection of the African elephant. These efforts are in tandem with CITES international efforts and an executive order by President Obama in 2013 to combat wildlife trafficking. Most recently, FWS has amended language in the Endangered Species Act (ESA) 4(d) rule to incorporate certain restrictions on international and interstate trade and transit of African elephant ivory. While we strongly support the premise that the African elephant must be protected, we also want to protect cultural heritage. The two goals are not mutually exclusive. FWS has invited the general public to comment on the proposed changes through 28 September 2015.
The AIC code of ethics states, “III. While recognizing the right of society to make appropriate and respectful use of cultural property, the conservation professional shall serve as an advocate for the preservation of cultural property.” Accordingly, we must take a stand for the protection of cultural property, including items made with ivory.
We have crafted the comment below for your use, but you should feel free to alter or add to it. The more comments received, the more likely it is that our concerns will be heard. We urge you to submit your comments to the FWS portal so that AIC’s voice is heard as they finalize these changes.
You may submit comments electronically via the Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov/. In the Search box, enter FWS–HQ–IA–2013–0091, which is the docket number for this rulemaking. You may submit a comment by clicking on ‘‘Comment Now!’’
You may also submit by U.S. mail or hand-delivery to: Public Comments Processing, Attn: FWS–HQ–IA–2013–0091; Division of Policy, Performance, and Management Programs; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; 5275 Leesburg Pike, MS: BPHC; Falls Church, VA 22041.
Note that all comments will be publicly posted on http://www.regulations.gov/.
Dear ______,
I am a member of the American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works (AIC), an organization formed specifically to protect cultural heritage properties, including those fabricated from or incorporating materials derived from endangered species.
As a conservation professional, I support elephant conservation efforts and respect laws that halt illegal trafficking of new raw and worked ivory. At the same time, we must seek the protection of cultural property that was obtained in full compliance with legal regulations at the time of acquisition. Therefore, we advocate for protecting permitted, legally acquired worked ivories from unnecessary destruction, destructive testing, and possible confiscation.
As a member, it is essential for me to state my position on this important issue. While I wholeheartedly support efforts to protect elephants, I wish to call attention to the fact that present efforts to protect African elephants from extinction could also result in inadvertent damage to historic cultural artifacts that are made of or with ivory. Please consider the following recommendations while finalizing all proposed changes to the 4(d) rule:
- Protect legally acquired worked ivories from destruction, destructive testing, and possible confiscation.
- Accept documentation that reliably establishes ownership dating to 1976 or before (pre-Convention) as proof that the ivory was legally obtained, and as antique if documentation demonstrates a history over 100 years.
With thanks for your attention to these critically important concerns,
Sincerely,
(Your Signature Here)
C2CC Webinar 10/8/15: Insurance 101: Practical Considerations for Protecting Institutional Collections and Loans
Join us October 8, 2015, 2:00 PM Eastern for a Connecting to Collections Care webinar, “Insurance 101: Practical Considerations for Protecting Institutional Collections and Loans.” It’s free!
This session is appropriate for all levels of experience from beginner to expert and all types of cultural organizations as an introduction and review of collections insurance basics and how they are an integral part of collections care. We will examine loss prevention, loss control and how to protect the collection through good housekeeping, landscaping, managing patrons, and during transport of objects. In addition, examples of recent claims and outcomes to illustrate how insurance responds to loss and damage will be presented.
This session is sponsored by Huntington T. Block Insurance Agency, Inc. (an Aon Company) – specialty fine art brokers for over 50 years.
Sign up: http://www.connectingtocollections.org/insurance-101-practical-considerations-for-protecting-institutional-collections-and-loans/
2016-2017 Getty Graduate Internship Program Announced
Internships are open to students of all nationalities. Applicants must be:
|
Internships are located at the Getty Center in Los Angeles or the Getty Villa in Malibu. All positions are full-time beginning September 12, 2016. Most internships are for eight months, ending May 19, 2017. Conservation internships are twelve months, ending September 8, 2017. Grant amounts are $17,400 for eight months and $26,000 for twelve months. Support for research travel is available for up to $2,500. Graduate Interns are eligible to enroll in the Getty’s health care plan. The grant includes $1,000 towards relocation expenses but housing is not provided. Please note that grant funds may be subject to federal and state taxes and deductions. Additional information about the terms of these grants is available here.
43rd Annual Meeting – Textile Session, May 30, "A Turkish Kilim: Analysis, Stabilization, and Loss Compensation” by Cathleen Zaret.
Cathy Zaret presented on the techniques and challenges she encountered during the conservation treatment of a large Kilim. The Kilim was a 6 x 8 ft fragment from a private collection. After the completion of her treatment, the fragment would be returned to the private collector where it would be displayed over the back of their sofa.
Cathy’s introduction to Kilims provided helpful terminology and historical context. Kilims are woven tapestries, hangings, or rugs. They have non vertical panels with slits in the weave, but the design is such that the slits are small. Kilims formed part of the dowry of women in Anatolia and were made for personal use. Women wove many different designs and motifs into their Kilims and the choice of design does not appear to be geographically associated. Cathy searched through the literature to find a Kilim that appeared similar to hers and could only find one other similar example.
The Kilim fragment had a number of distinct manufacturing and condition features. The yarn in the fragment exhibited color variation and the condition of the yarn seemed to relate to the color. For example, the brown weft was most susceptible to loss, possibly because it had been dyed with iron oxide, rendering it vulnerable to additional damage. There had been many previous campaigns of restoration, all of which were documented as part of this treatment.
The goals for this treatment were to stabilize the Kilim and perform loss compensation on the largest areas of loss while being aware of the future use of the item. Since the prior repairs were in good condition and part of the history of the object, they were left intact.
- Cathy lined the fragment with net for structural support during cleaning and removed it after cleaning.
- The kilim was cleaned with a surfactant and then rinsed repeatedly before rolling it in towels and laying it out to dry. This successfully removed most of the soiling from the tapestry.
- The kilim was mounted on a saw horse tensioning frame for treatment.
- Used a whip stitch to stabilize the lower edge.
- Repaired or replaced warp with handspun singles. Introduced the new warp into an undamaged area near the loss and wove it through the area of loss and then moved the yard to an adjacent warp and wove it back across the loss.
Cathy overcame many challenges during this treatment related to the size of the object and its context. To keep track of her treatment on a fragment of this size (6 x 8 ft), Cathy divided the kilim into six sections and worked on one section at a time. She also learned how to manage her treatment when the cost of conservation is higher than the perceived value of the textile.
I primarily work on objects but have occasionally had the opportunity to work with a textile conservator on something that crosses the line between textile and object. Cathy’s talk was comprehensible to conservators well versed in textiles and applicable for those of us who work on the fringes of textile conservation. I look forward to using her conservation techniques and well-organized approach in the future.
Job Posting: Tenure-Track Assistant Professor – University of Delaware, Art Conservation Department (Newark, DE)
Assistant Professor (Tenure-Track)
Art Conservation Department
University of Delaware
Beginning September 1, 2016
The Department of Art Conservation at the University of Delaware invites applications for a tenure-track position in art conservation at the assistant professor level beginning September 1, 2016. The department prefers scholars focusing on the History and Technology of Art Materials, whose work speaks to historical as well as contemporary art. In addition to pursuing a research agenda, the appointee will be expected to enhance the department’s course offerings in the history and technology of art methods, and documentation and examination of artifacts, and play an active role in advising both undergraduate and graduate students. The successful candidate will join a department of five full-time UD faculty members with extensive records of scholarship and public outreach in addition to 15 teaching conservators and scientists at Winterthur Museum.
This position is crucial to advancing the Department’s and College’s long-term commitment to excellence for education and training of undergraduates, Master’s-level, and doctoral students in conservation and preservation. The candidate must demonstrate an especially strong commitment to undergraduate teaching and mentoring. We especially want to encourage individuals to apply who are willing to contribute to the interdisciplinary dialogue between conservators, scientists, art historians, and living artists and other disciplines found on campus. Active research projects with the potential for involving undergraduate students would be crucial to this position. The successful candidate will ideally contribute to the current need to provide artists with a resource that can provide accessible, accurate, and current information about available artist’s materials, their composition, appropriate uses, aging properties, and safety in use. The campus is especially interested in candidates who can contribute to the diversity and excellence of the academic community through their research, teaching and/or service.
Founded in 1743, the University of Delaware is one of the nation’s oldest institutions of higher education and combines tradition and innovation. Our long-standing partnership with the Winterthur Museum allows for unparalleled opportunities for our faculty and students. Also, the Winterthur Program in American Material Culture and the University of Delaware’s Center for Material Culture Studies, Department of Art, and Department of Art History also enhance the opportunities for interdisciplinary teaching and research.
Responsibilities will include:
- Regularly teach undergraduate courses on the history and technology of art materials and technical art history.
- Teach non-destructive examination techniques, alone or as part of a team, for the first- year, master’s- level courses, Conservation Principles 1 & 2
- Conduct research on artists’ techniques (this could include living artists or Old Master techniques and materials), or other related topics. Publications online or in print are to be encouraged.
- Provide guidance in research and independent study projects to undergraduate and graduate students.
- Advise undergraduate students on degree completion and professional practice and help to arrange practical internships.
- Serve on departmental, college, and university committees.
- Collaborate with faculty and staff across campus, including in the departments of Art History, Art, and Chemistry, and Biochemistry, as well as within regional/national cultural institutions.
- Provide consultation to contemporary artists on their choices in materials and techniques in order to maximize long-term preservation of their works;
- Represent the department in professional organizations, both local and national, and other responsibilities as assigned by the Department Chair.
The successful candidate will have a Master’s degree in Art Conservation, and teaching experience at the college level is required. The candidate should demonstrate a strong interest in teaching and research in addition to excellent communication and collaborative skills. The ideal applicant will be a generalist in historical art materials and techniques and be able to work with materials across disciplines and historical artifact categories. The successful candidate should possess experience conducting research on historical artist’s materials and a demonstrated record of scholarship and publication.
Please visit our website at www.udel.edu and the Art Conservation department website at http://www.artcons.udel.edu/. The University of Delaware is an Equal Opportunity Employer and encourages applications from minority group members and women.
The appointment will begin on September 1, 2016. Applicants should visit www.udel.edu/udjobs and read “Applicant Instructions” under the “Resources for Applicants” tab before submitting their applications. Applicants are asked to create and upload a single document that includes a cover letter and a c.v. Please also arrange for each of your three recommenders to be upload their letters to the online application system . Review of applications will begin upon receipt, with a deadline of October 30, 2015.
Job Posting: Conservation Assistant II – Preservation Department, Yale University Library (New Haven, CT)
Conservation Assistant II
Collections Conservation and Housings
Preservation Department
Conservation Services
Yale University Library
Grade D
Job: #32196
For a complete job description please go to: http://www.yale.edu/jobs/
Position Focus: Under the supervision of the Chief Conservator and/or Assistant Chief Conservator, performs a variety of tasks related to the conservation of books and other library materials from Yale’s general, circulating, rare, and special collections. This position’s primary assignment will be in collections conservation and housings, with secondary assignments from special collections conservation and exhibition production support.
In consultation with the Assistant Chief Conservator, carries out treatments on library materials in accordance with accepted standards for conservation practice; gives time estimates, and documents treatments performed. Handles intermediate to complex conservation tasks that require knowledge and expertise in multiple techniques and tools and uses skills and abilities to adapt techniques and knowledge to solve unique problems. Treatments applied in combination include, but are not limited to, conservation rebinding, rebacking and board reattachment; surface cleaning; aqueous treatment to wash and/or de-acidify; mending and/or lining; tape and adhesive removal. Uses a variety of simple, visual examination techniques and equipment such as a microscope and ultraviolet illumination to describe the materials, construction and condition of cultural property. Designs and makes complex, custom-fit enclosures for fragile objects using supplied materials. These may include custom 4-flap, clamshell or 2-piece boxes, which can be made by hand or using a Kasemake automated box-making system and its unique software. Housing may also include matting, framing and encapsulation. Tracks incoming and outgoing collection items for the unit. Fields questions from Library staff about individual items, and ensures that recall and rush requests are filled in a timely manner. Assists conservators with conservation and preservation outreach activities. May assist with the training of student assistants. May assists conservators with surveys noting general conditions of cultural property via written or electronic reports. Assists with laboratory maintenance, supply inventories,and restocking; prepares solutions and other stock treatment essentials (e.g., paste, adhesives); cleans and maintains equipment; participates in laboratory safety training. May assist in the preparation of library materials for exhibition. Fabricates simple mounts and, in consultation with the Exhibits Production Coordinator.
Education and Experience: Six years of directly relevant work experience, four of them in the same job family at the next lower level, and a high school level education; or four years of related work experience and an Associate degree or little or no work experience and a Bachelor’s degree in a related field; or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
Preferred Education, Experience and Skills: Minimum of one year experience in book conservation at another institution or practice, under the supervision of a conservator. Required Skills and Abilities: Demonstrated knowledge of the fundamentals, techniques and history of bookbinding, paper treatment and conservation. Excellent manual dexterity and sustained concentration with delicate and occasionally repetitive tasks. A portfolio of relevant work is required.
2016 Rome Prize Competition Now Open
The American Academy in Rome invites applications for the 2016 Rome Prize.
For over a century, the Academy has awarded the Rome Prize to support innovative work in the arts and humanities. Through a national juried competition, Rome Prizes are awarded to emerging and established artists and scholars working in the following disciplines:
- Ancient Studies
- Architecture
- Design (includes graphic, industrial, interior, exhibition, set, costume, and fashion design, urban design, city planning, engineering, and other design fields)
- Historic Preservation and Conservation
- Landscape Architecture (includes environmental design and planning, landscape/ecological urbanism, landscape history, sustainability and ecological studies, and geography)
- Literature
- Medieval Studies
- Modern Italian Studies
- Musical Composition
- Renaissance and Early Modern Studies
- Visual Arts (includes painting, sculpture, drawing, photography, film/video, installation, new media, digital arts, and other visual arts fields)
Ranging from six months to two years, the thirty fellowships include a stipend, room and board, and individual workspace at the Academy’s eleven-acre center in Rome.
Submissions due: NOVEMBER 1, 2015
Visit aarome.org/apply for guidelines.
Revisions – Zen for Film, Bard Graduate Center, NY
Revisions—Zen for Film
Bard Graduate Center, New York
September 18, 2015–January 10, 2016
How do works of art endure over time in the face of aging materials and changing interpretations of their meaning? How do decay, technological obsolescence, and the blending of old and new media affect what an artwork is and can become? And how can changeable artworks encourage us to rethink our assumptions of a work of art as fixed and static? Revisions—Zen for Film, on view this fall and winter in the Bard Graduate Center Focus Gallery in New York, explores these questions through Zen for Film, one of the most evocative artworks by the Korean-American artist Nam June Paik (1932- 2006). Created during the early 1960s, Zen for Film consists of the screening of blank film leader for several minutes. As the film ages and wears in the projector, the viewer is confronted with a constantly evolving work. Revisions—Zen for Film provides a fresh perspective on an artwork with a rich history of display by asking precisely what, how, and when is Zen for Film?
Developed during a two-year Andrew W. Mellon “Cultures of Conservation” Fellowship at Bard Graduate Center, Revisions—Zen for Film offers a unique and intimately focused encounter with the materiality of Paik’s work, present here in one specific instance in a series stretching back to the early 1960s.The rationale behind the project is to critically revise—and question—some assumptions about Zen for Film so as to foster a broad reflection not only about media that refuse simple classifications but also about artworks radically shaped by curatorial, conservation, and presentation decisions.
The digital interactive with contributions by BGC master’s students frames Zen for Film through conceptual associations that correspond to viewers’ experiences of it—boredom, chance, materiality, nothingness, silence, time, and trace. Through these concepts, Zen for Film is linked with a number of artworks that can be viewed as potential inspirations, antecedents, or contemporaries. Together these suggest issues of appropriation and continual reinterpretation. Included in the digital interactive are artworks by Cory Arcangel, John Baldessari, Robert Barry, Joseph Beuys, George Brecht, John Cage, Com&Com, Tony Conrad, Merce Cunningham, Guy Debord, Marcel Duchamp, Ceal Floyer, Ken Friedman, Yves Klein, Imi Knoebel, JODI (Joan Heemskerk / Dirk Paesmans), Joseph Kosuth, Christine Kozlov, Peter Kubelka, Kasimir Malevich, Christian Marclay, Nam June Paik, Robert Rauschenberg, Man Ray, Robert Ryman, Paul Sharits, Hiroshi Sugimoto, Mungo Thompson, Michel Verjux, Lawrence Weiner, and Andy Warhol.
The exhibition was curated by Hanna Hölling, Andrew W. Mellon Visiting Professor, Cultures of Conservation, at Bard Graduate Center.
The exhibition is accompanied by Revisions: Zen for Film—a fully illustrated book by Hölling that offers an in-depth analysis of Zen for Film by constructing a sequence of ten thematically ordered chapters, or “revisions,” spanning a theoretical-historical context and the frameworks of exhibition, dissemination, and continuation.
Visit bgc.bard.edu/revisions for more information about the exhibition, to access the interactive and to find out about related public programs. A symposium Revisions: Object—Event—Performance—Process since the 1960s with participating international scholars in film, performance, and curatorial and conservation studies will take place on September 21, 11:15am-6pm.
On September 24, 6:30pm-8:00pm, Curator’s Corner: On Curating Nam June Paik will focus on some of challenges posed by technology-based media in the extended field of conservation and curatorial practice (with Hanna Hölling and Michelle Yun).
Location
38 West 86th Street, Lecture Hall: symposium and public programs
18 West 86th Street, Focus Gallery: exhibition