10 Tips for Becoming a Conservator

Many of us emerging conservation professionals agree that our initial venture into the field of conservation was somewhat unguided, and making connections with people was nearly impossible. With social media as accessible as it is today, information should be much more readily disseminated and networking with other students and conservators should be an obtainable goal.

Moving in that direction, I have compiled what I consider to be the ten most useful tips in pursuing a career in conservation; these tips were originally intended for pre-program students, but looking back through them, I believe they can apply to conservators of all levels. Being pre-program myself, I’m certainly no expert on ‘becoming a conservator,’ but I have taken the advice of faculty members at the conservation schools, my mentors, and my co-workers to compile this [hopefully helpful] list for you.

Paper conservation lab at the Philadelphia Museum of Art

Tip #1: Visit conservators at their studio/lab

You can find conservators in your area by looking through the Geographical Index of the AIC directory (if you’re a member) or through the ‘Find a Conservator’ feature on the AIC website. Also, you can search for a specific city or museum through CoOL’s ‘Finding People’ page—just hit ctrl + F after choosing the country.

Touring a conservation studio provides both an educational and a networking opportunity. You will see how the space is set up, what type of equipment they use, and the treatments that are in-progress. Also, you have the chance to meet all of the people that work in that space and learn about each person’s path to becoming a conservator.

If you’re looking for internship experience, lab visits can be a way of getting your foot in the door; sometimes people are more willing to take you on as an intern after getting to know you in person. It may be a good idea to bring along a cv and portfolio of studio art to show your hand skills, and don’t forget to send a thank you card!

Stay tuned for tip #2….

TCC Back in Action


Frieze from Botanic Gardens Park, Glasgow

I have the pleasure and privilege of introducing the ECPN to the new incarnation of the Textile Conservation Centre! The TCC has had a long history of scholarship and practice in the conservation of historic and artistic textiles in the United Kingdom. Unfortunately the program closed at the University of Southampton in 2009, much to the chagrin of aspiring textile conservators like myself. I was so excited to see a notice on the TCC website this past spring, that the Centre would be getting a new life in Glasgow, Scotland.

From the TCC website:
“The TCC was founded by Karen Finch OBE in 1975 and was based at Hampton Court Palace. In 1998 it became part of the University of Southampton, in a purpose-designed building on its Winchester campus, but was closed by the University on 31st October 2009. Glasgow University, working with the TCC Foundation, is creating a new centre using all of the assets of the former TCC including equipment, the TCC library and intellectual property. “

Please see the TCC website for the official press release and photos!

The inaugural class is comprised of seven students – five from the UK, one from Canada, and myself from the United States. We have come from diverse academic and professional backgrounds and are now candidates for the two-year MPhil in Textile Conservation. Speaking for myself, it is a bit challenging – but mostly exciting – to be a part of this “guinea pig” first year. All of us scrambled to submit our applications when the course was approved in June, not knowing whether or not we’d be in Scotland in the fall. The TCC foundation has provided amazing support for the program – many many thanks to them!

This semester our courses are being accomodated within the History of Art building as we wait for a brand-spanking new lab to be completed for next semester. Without our “bespoke” (I have learned that’s the British word for “custom-built!”) facilities available this semester, we have had the opportunity to do practical labs and workshops at the Glasgow Museums Resource Centre – an amazing storehouse for the collections of the major Glasgow Museums. (Their institutional philosophy is one of more open access to collections for the community – so the facility strikes a very delicate balance between controlled store and exhibition space. Check out Glasgow Life for more information on Glasgow museums.)

Instructor Sarah Foskett (right)demonstrating the fine points of acid-free tissue to student Charlotte Gamper at Glasgow Museums Resource Centre.

The semester has already flown by. Visits to Glasgow Museums’ Burrell Collection, the Hunterian Gallery and the Hunterian Museum on the Glasgow University campus, and the National Museums of Scotland conservation labs in Edinburgh have kept us busy along with our coursework. In the next couple of weeks we will be in chemistry exams, submitting sample object documentation, and writing final essays for our Material Cultures course, as well as preparing a literature review of research we would like to undertake on a topic of our choosing, perhaps to be used in our course-culminating dissertations at the end of the second year.

Students (from left to right) Nikki Chard, Hayley Rimington, and Beatrice Farmer show off a “cracking” packing job.
(“cracking”=”awesome”)

Meanwhile, the city of Glasgow beckons with its killer music scene, arts events, Indian and Pakistani restaurants to die for, and charming citizenry to meet out at the pub! City life isn’t the only thing that Scotland has to offer, obviously – both the Scottish Isles and the Highlands are a train or bus ride away, offering the most inspiring beauty on those much-needed study breaks.

The author (Julie Benner) visits the Isle of Arran, off the southwest coast of Scotland

I really look forward to keeping the ECPN abreast of the developments here at the TCC and welcome any comments or inquiries about TCC or Glasgow!

St. George’s Square, Glasgow

Edited 06 December 2010 to add University of Glasgow link to the program:

http://www.gla.ac.uk/departments/historyofart/prospectivestudents/postgraduate/taughtpostgraduates/mphilintextileconservation/

Smithsonian’s Haiti Cultural Recovery Project

The January 12, 2010, earthquake decimated Haiti’s cultural institutions that housed the country’s artwork, artifacts, and archives. Learn how the Smithsonian- in partnership with American Institute for Conservation (AIC), the President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities, U.S. Committee of the Blue Shield, National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), and Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) – is helping the Haitian government assess, recover, and restore Haiti’s cultural heritage.

The WEBCAST on the Smithsonian’s Haiti Cultural Recovery Project was recorded on Tuesday, November 9, 2010.

Heritage Preservation publishes a new manual addressing emergency Incident Command Systems for cultural repositories

News release from allied organization, Heritage Preservation:

WASHINGTON DC – Heritage Preservation announces the publication of Implementing the Incident Command System at the Institutional Level: A Handbook for Libraries, Archives, Museums, and Other Cultural Repositories. The book is written by David Carmicheal, Director of the Georgia Division of Archives and History, and published in cooperation with RescuingRecords.com.

When rainwater flooded the Alaska State Archives in 2009, conservator Ellen Carrlee began blogging about the trials and triumphs of rescuing a priceless cultural collection. Ellen’s daily journal struck a chord with author David Carmicheal. “This institution was isolated, trying to address a disaster internally, without the resources that FEMA and other agencies bring to the table when a disaster is widespread.” He recognized that the Incident Command System (ICS) could provide a powerful tool within a single institution.

Implementing the Incident Command System at the Institutional Level explains how libraries, archives, and museums can adopt the ICS as a temporary management structure whenever “business as usual” won’t get the job done. The manual, written in a clear and conversational style, describes staff roles and includes charts, duty statements, sample forms, and a step-by-step incident description. Whether preparing for fires and floods – or even planning a major public event – the Incident Command System is a proven management tool that safeguards lives, property, and collections.

Since its development in the early 1970s, ICS has been used to tackle a vast array of incidents, including fires, floods, hurricanes, and earthquakes. “The system has demonstrated that it can scale up to handle disasters that mushroom over large areas and even multiple states,” says Carmicheal, “but the ICS was designed to scale down as well as up.”

Jane Long, Vice President for Emergency Programs at Heritage Preservation, believes the Incident Command System has particular value for libraries, archives, and museums. “Even small disasters can have big consequences for cultural institutions. ICS provides a structured and effective response and ensures that every responder involved is on the same page.”

The 208-page book is available in two formats: Perfect Bound ($47.00) or Coil Bound ($47.00), plus postage and handling. For further information, visit www.RescuingRecords.com/ics.html. RescuingRecords.com is a website dedicated to protecting essential records during times of crisis.

Link directly to the Heritage Preservation news release.

WUDPAC students work on objects in the Penn Museum of Archaeology and Anthropolgy

The Philadelphia Inquirer had only compliments about the yearly WUDPAC/Penn 2nd year objects students collaboration. I think the mutually beneficial collaboration was originally started over a decade ago by Ginny Greene and Bruno Pouliot.

The rare stringed instrument – a sarangi, made of dark tropical hardwood in colonial India – was falling apart. The rawhide sounding board was starting to separate. Only one of the instrument’s four strings was attached to the bridge. The item was covered in grime.

Enter LeeAnn Barnes Gordon.

A graduate student at the Winterthur/University of Delaware Program in Art Conservation, she spent more than 50 hours cleaning, repairing, and stabilizing the object.

She was one of three students from the program this year who worked on objects from the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. Gordon, Rose Daly and Carrie Roberts delivered their findings last week at the Penn Museum.

The partnership between the museum and the Delaware program has been around for years. Each year, students get to borrow a few objects and practice the skills of their newly acquired trade; the museum benefits from the painstaking care given to a few of its one million artifacts.

Besides the sarangi, this year’s items included an early-20th-century woven hat from the Pacific Northwest; two bronze Etruscan vessels more than 2,300 years old; and a ceremonial model of a boat from the Mesopotamian city of Ur, dated to about 2,500 B.C. and made of a tarry substance called bitumen.

The gentle cleanings and other treatments were done in consultation with museum conservators and the students’ professor. One part of the sarangi’s care involved reshaping a loose section of bone trim with the help of a humidification chamber; the trim was then reattached with resin.

The exchange can result in a learning experience for the museum staff as well. They get to hear about the latest forms of spectroscopy and other high-tech imaging used to study the items’ conditions. After hearing the students’ earlier presentation in May, the museum’s head conservator, Lynn Grant, recalled: “I felt like Galileo at NASA.”

Read more: http://www.philly.com/inquirer/magazine/20101108_A_high-tech_tune-up.html#ixzz14nyqQowL

Mellon Fellowship at the Brooklyn Museum

The Brooklyn Museum
Andrew W. Mellon
Conservation Fellowships (2)
Object – Painting – Paper

The Brooklyn Museum announces the opening of two Fellowships in conservation supported by a permanent endowment established by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, to establish a permanent endowment to support fellowships in conservation. The two year fellowships , with the possibility of a third year, will be offered in either object, paper, or painting conservation beginning September 2011.

The Brooklyn Museum‘s collection and exhibition schedule offer varied and rewarding educational experiences in conservation. Fellows will be immediately involved in all aspects of the department, working with a diverse professional conservation staff, and interacting with colleagues throughout the institution to preserve and present art work.

Successful candidates should be graduates of a conservation training program or have equivalent experience. Applications should include a letter of interest, resume, and two letters of recommendation from conservation professionals, along with two detailed conservation condition reports, accompanying treatment proposals and treatment report with full documentation, all carried out completely by the applicant, all in hard copy. After initial review, selected applicants will be invited for an interview and portfolio review at the Museum.

The Museum should receive applications no later than December 1, 2010. Candidates will be selected for interviews in January- February 2011, and the final selection awarded in March 2011.

The starting salary is $33,000 / year with full Museum benefits, including annual leave and medical benefits, and a travel allowance of $2,500 to support professional development.

Applicants should be sent to: Conservation Fellowship//The Brooklyn Museum// 200 Eastern Parkway//Brooklyn, New York, 11238

All further inquires should be sent to the previous address or Conservation.Fellow@brooklynmuseum.org Brooklyn Museum is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Applicants for positions are considered without regard to race, creed, color, country of origin, sex, age, citizenship, disability or sexual orientation. Candidates of color are strongly encouraged to apply. The Immigration and Control Act (1986) requires that all hires be in conformity with the law.

Kenneth S. Moser
Carol Lee Shen Chief Conservator
Vice Director for Collections
The Brooklyn Museum
200 Eastern Parkway
Brooklyn, New York 11238

The Boston Globe features Northeast Document Conservation Center

Northeast Document Conservation Center is featured in the science section of the Boston Globe. The article features book conservator MP Bogan and a recent treatment of Robert Frost’s attendance register.

Here is an excerpt:

To properly treat the Frost register, a conservator first surface-cleaned the pages and unbound the book. The pages were alkalized for protection, and tears were carefully mended using a special Japanese tissue and wheat starch paste. Next, digital photos were taken of each page. The pages were then reassembled, sewn with linen thread, and rebound in a cloth binding.

Senior book conservator M.P. Bogan put 22 hours into the project, which was – as with all preservation work at the center – done completely by hand. Bogan says items such as the Frost register hold a particular interest for her.

“What I like about working on projects like this is that it’s a working, one-of-a-kind document,” she says. “There’s only one in existence.”

Bogan and her fellow conservators work in the paper lab section of the center, which resembles an art studio. Some of the hand tools look as old as the documents on which they are used. Across the hall is the more modern digital lab, where photographic images are captured of the often centuries-old items. The process requires knowledge in several areas.

“The staff who work in the lab are not only conservators, but also artists and chemists,” says [Julie] Martin. “They need all of that background in addition to the skills to do the job.”

With its preservation process complete, the Frost register will return to Methuen in a custom-fit box for extra protection. The conservators will already be hard at work on other projects, and a piece of local history will be saved for generations to come.

A tale with a happy ending

The mounting of a Faith Ringgold exhibit at the Neuberger Museum (September 11- December 19, 2010) was the occasion for the recounting of a conservation tale with a happy ending. In 1970, Ringgold was commisioned to paint a large work in oils for the Women’s House of Detention on Rikers Island. In 1999, when that facility was housing men, inmates removed the painting from the wall and painted it over with white acrylic paint. Forunately, the painting was able to be restored and is now on view to the general public for the first time in the Neuberger show. The story in greater detail is available in The New Yorker piece, “The Artistic Life Behind Bars”.

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Materials Scientists and Conservators Join Forces to Preserve Silver Artifacts and Art

Where there’s silver, there’s tarnish. While getting the tarnish off your flatware might be an occasional inconvenience, to museum curators and conservators, it’s a threat to irreplaceable works of art.

To protect these objects for generations to come, scientists from the A. James Clark School of Engineering at the University of Maryland, College Park, have teamed up with conservators from the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore, Md., to develop and test a new, high-tech way to protect silver art objects and artifacts, using coatings that are mere nanometers thick.

The technique, called atomic layer deposition (ALD), will be used to create nanometer-thick, metal oxide films which, when applied to an artifact, are both transparent and optimized to reduce the rate of silver corrosion. The films are created when an object is exposed to two or more gases that react with its surface.

Read the rest of the press release here.

Mount Vernon Behind the Scenes

American History TV visited Mount Vernon to take a close look at objects used by George Washington including a blue wool coat, a shaving kit, a leather canteen, fire buckets, and some Mount Vernon China. Learn how curators and conservators care for historic items and prepare them for display.

The show will air on American History TV (C-SPAN3)

Saturday, October 30

3pm

Sunday, October 31

2am, 8am, 7pm, 10pm

Watch the preview on the C-SPAN website.