AIC&#x27;s 42nd Annual Meeting

On this comprehensive combo tour, led by a representative from San Francisco Heritage, you will embark on a two-hour walking tour of eastern Pacific Heights and view examples of San Francisco’s diverse architecture. Architectural styles include several lovely Victorian homes situated on the typical narrow lots of the 19th century, featuring such details as original wrought iron fences, round and hexagonal towers, and rinceau frieze bands of wreaths. Also included are palatial homes of the early 20th century. You will see the stunning ‘’sugar palace,” built for sugar magnate, Adolph Spreckles and his wife, Alma, in 1915. Designed by architect George Applegarth in the French Baroque style, it features intricately wrought metal balconies and two-story Corinthian columns. Also on the tour is the grand 1915 Phelan Mansion, designed by Charles Weeks.

You will also have the opportunity to tour inside the Haas-Lilienthal House is a Queen Anne-style Victorian, and was completed in 1886. It is the only intact private home of the period that is open regularly as a museum, complete with authentic furniture and artifacts. The House has elaborate wooden gables, a circular corner tower and luxuriant ornamentation and recently was awarded National Treasures status by the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Our tour will highlight the ongoing conservation efforts for the house.

Tuesday May 27, 2014 2:00pm - 6:00pm PDT
Haas Lilienthal House

Tour, Architecture

3:00pm PDT

(Business Meeting) Collection Care Network Liaisons Meeting (invitation only)

Tuesday May 27, 2014 3:00pm - 6:00pm PDT
Seacliff C

9:00am PDT

(Business Meeting) AIC-CERT

This meeting is intended for current members of the AIC Collections Emergency Response Team to review the past 12 months of operations, but is open to all who wish to learn more about FAIC’s AIC-CERT program.

Session Moderator(s)

Beth Antoine

Book & Paper Conservator / AIC-CERT Coordinator, New Orleans Book & Paper Lab / AIC-CERT

Beth Antoine, is a member of the American Institute for Conservation (AIC) and her work conforms to the AIC Code of Ethics and Guidelines for Practice. She received her Masters degree from the conservation program at the Kilgarlin Center for the Preservation of the Cultural Record... Read More →

Wednesday May 28, 2014 9:00am - 12:00pm PDT
Regency Room

9:00am PDT

(Tour) de Young and Legion of Honor Museum Conservation Labs and Collections

Limited Capacity seats available

Tour the conservation labs at the two buildings that make up the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. At the de Young, you will visit the objects, textiles, paintings, and frame conservation studios. At the Legion, you will visit the paper conservation lab, and also tour the recently re-installed Salon Dore, an 18th century French period room. There will be time to explore the collections of each museum, and you will receive a 10% on purchases in the museum gift shops as well.

Designed by Herzog and de Meuron and opened in 2005, the new de Young blends with and complements its natural surroundings in Golden Gate Park. Windows erase the boundary between the museum interior and the lush natural environment outside. The museum showcases the institution’s significant collections of American painting, sculpture, and decorative arts from the seventeenth to the twenty-first centuries; art from Africa, Oceania, and the Americas; costume and textile arts; photography, and international contemporary art.

Across town, high on the headlands of Land’s End, on a bluff overlooking national park lands at the western edge of the city, stands the Legion of Honor. The museum opened in 1924, with the present renovation dating to 1995. The French neoclassical building is made even more dramatic by its spectacular setting in view of the Pacific Ocean and the Golden Gate Bridge. Its holdings span four thousand years and include European painting, sculpture, and decorative arts; ancient art from the Mediterranean basin; and the Achenbach collection of works of art on paper.

Draft Tour Itinerary
10:00 am – Leave the Hyatt
10:45 am - Arrive at the de Young
10:45 am to 12:15 pm –Conservation Lab Tour
12:15 pm to 2:00 PM – Time to view the collection and have lunch in the café on your own
2:00 PM – Leave for the Legion of Honor
2:30 PM – Arrive at the Legion of Honor
2:30 to 3:30 Pm – Conservation Lab and Salon Dore Tour
3:30 to 5:00 Pm – Time to view the collection and grounds on your own.

Maximum number is 40 people. Many tours sell out fast. Around the beginning of March, AIC will need to decide, based on the number of people registered for each tour, if a tour needs to be canceled. Register early to secure your spot and to help AIC determine interest in the tours.

Wednesday May 28, 2014 9:00am - 6:00pm PDT
Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco

Tour

9:00am PDT

(Tour) Napa Valley – The ultimate pairing - di Rosa and Reds

Limited Capacity seats available

Join your colleagues for a fun-filled day of art and wine in world-renowned Napa Valley. Start your day with a walking tour of the di Rosa Art Preserve. The di Rosa, located on over 200 extraordinary acres of vineyard, gardens, and natural landscape in the Carneros Appellation of the Napa Valley, di Rosa originated as the shared vision of Rene and Veronica di Rosa, prolific collectors whose personal passion for art and adventuresome spirits fueled their support of art and artists. Their home and the famed vineyards around Winery Lake became the focal point not only for their life, but the development of the world class art collection that is now housed in three buildings, both contemporary and historic, as well as on the surrounding landscape. Considered the most significant holding of Bay Area art in the world, di Rosa houses approximately 2,000 works of art by more than 800 artists.

After the museum visit enjoy a picnic lunch and then it is off to wine tastings at 2-3 additional wineries. Register for this tour by March 31, and help us select the wineries visited based on your wine preferences. This tour is exclusive to AIC only, but will be co-managed by Platypus Wine Tours, a 2013 Trip Advisor Certificate of Excellence winner. Your experienced Platypus guide will enhance your knowledge of Napa Valley wines. No matter if you are a wine connoisseur or merely divide wine into two groups – red and white – you will enjoy this day tour. Consider it a pre or post conference treat. The tour cost in all inclusive and includes the tasting fees and lunch. If you see a public wine tasting tour offered for less, it most likely does not include tasting fees or lunch.

Wednesday May 28, 2014 9:00am - 6:00pm PDT
di Rosa Art Preserve

Tour, Objects

9:00am PDT

(Workshop) Dataloggers - Establishing and Maintaining Environmental Monitoring Systems

Limited Capacity seats available

This workshop covers low-tech solutions, stand-alone dataloggers and wireless monitoring systems. The program introduces a number of products that have found wide acceptance in the museum community and give participants an opportunity to have hands-on time with the units and their software. Tips on establishing and maintaining a monitoring program and the equipment will also be covered. Participants will be introduced to the various elements of an environmental monitoring program, understand how devices can be deployed effectively, learn how to maintain equipment and data, and how to assess what equipment is appropriate for their particular monitoring requirements, budget, and technological resources.

Instructor

Samantha Alderson

Assistant Director of Conservation, American Museum of Natural History

Samantha Alderson is the Assistant Director of Conservation at the American Museum of History, where she has worked since 1993, focusing on the care of collections in the Division of Anthropology. She received an advanced certificate in the Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works... Read More →

Rachael Arenstein

Principal, A.M. Art Conservation, LLC

Rachael Perkins Arenstein is a Professional Associate member of the American Institute for Conservation and Fellow in IIC. She is a principal of A.M. Art Conservation, LLC, the private practice that she co-founded in 2009. She has worked at the Bible Lands Museum Jerusalem, the Smithsonian's... Read More →

Wednesday May 28, 2014 9:00am - 6:00pm PDT
Garden Room A

Workshop, Collection Care

9:30am PDT

(Workshop) Preservation Planning for Cultural Institutions

Limited Capacity seats available

Effective stewardship does not simply happen - it must be thoughtfully planned. Every conservator should know how to develop and implement a preservation plan. An effective plan helps to optimize financial and staff resources and systematically approach preventive conservation issues and establish treatment priorities. Workshop participants will receive guidance to develop strategic, 3 to 5 year preservation plans for their collections or for institutions with which they consult. Through lecture, group activities, and discussion, workshop participants will learn about methods for assessing needs, the components of an effective plan, tools for prioritizing activities, how to establish realistic benchmarks, and how to advocate for preservation planning within their organization or with their clients. Participants will also be provided with templates for creating their own plans.

Instructor

Dyani Feige

Director of Preservation Services, Conservation Center for Art & Historic Artifacts

Dyani Feige, Director of Preservation Services at the Conservation Center for Art & Historic Artifacts in Philadelphia, works with libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural organizations to conduct needs and risk assessments, assist in disaster planning, and help develop policy... Read More →

Laura Hortz Stanton

Executive Director, Conservation Center for Art and Historic Artifacts

Founded in 1977, the Conservation Center for Art & Historic Artifacts (CCAHA) is a nonprofit conservation facility specializing in the treatment of works on paper, photographs, and books through conservation and digital imaging services. CCAHA's range of services includes educational... Read More →

Wednesday May 28, 2014 9:30am - 3:30pm PDT
Seacliff B

Workshop, Collection Care

9:30am PDT

(Tour) Seen and Heard) Electronic Media Preservation Labs Tour

Limited Capacity seats available

As this year’s Annual Meeting is in San Francisco, in the midst of Silicon Valley, what better place would there be to explore the history of Electronic Media? Interested in touring the labs and facilities used to preserve the equipment and products used to bring electronic media into the future?
Join your colleagues and fellow Annual Meeting attendees on a tour of two of the foremost facilities for electronic media preservation!

Join us on a tour of the Stanford University Labs: the Born-Digital/Forensic Lab as well as the Media Preservation Lab, two arms of the Stanford University Libraries’ Digitization Services. Following the tour, choose from one of the many local eateries*, and enjoy an outdoor lunch on the Stanford Lab grounds.

After lunch, take a trip to the Bay Area Video Coalition, one of the nation’s longest-standing non-profit video and audio preservation organizations. Take a tour through the facility, followed by a light reception, where you will be able to talk with members of the BAVC staff, and be given a more in-depth presentation on what goes into their preservation efforts.

As various art forms continue to improve and progress into the hereafter, being able to record and preserve these works will become more and more important. Bear witness to the programs who are working to make sure that that occurs. Sign up today.
*Lunch costs not included.

Wednesday May 28, 2014 9:30am - 4:30pm PDT
Bay Area Video Coalition

Tour, Electronic Media

9:30am PDT

(Workshop) Essentials of Inpainting

Limited Capacity seats available

This one-day intensive course offers an overview of the principles of inpainting, as well as tips and techniques from the instructor’s long history of successful inpainting projects. No hands-on component is included, but the illustrated talk will provide a broad overview of this complicated topic, as well as details critical for various points of the compensation process. Keys to problem solving will be offered to help conservators find appropriate and successful treatment solutions for differing inpainting situations. A multi-disciplinary viewpoint will be emphasized. Conservators from diverse specializations and backgrounds - paintings, objects, paper, etc.; traditional and/or modern - are invited to interact, sharing their knowledge and experiences, favorable and otherwise, with colleagues.

Instructor

James Bernstein-[Fellow]

Conservator of Paintings and Mixed Media, nSan Francisco, Private Practice

James Bernstein is a familiar figure in the world of art conservation. A graduate of the High School of Music & Art, NYC, he received his undergraduate degree from Brandeis University, Waltham, MA. He was awarded a Masters and Advanced Study Degree in Art Conservation from the Cooperstown... Read More →

Wednesday May 28, 2014 9:30am - 5:00pm PDT
Bayview A

Workshop, Paintings

10:00am PDT

(Workshop) Computational Photographic Techniques

Limited Capacity seats available

This workshop will provide a comprehensive overview of computation photography and its application to conservation documentation and research. The session will offer an intensive introduction to and an update on the technologies, software, photographic equipment, and methods for reflectance transformation imaging (RTI), algorithmic rendering (AR), and photogrammetry. The workshop will include lectures, demonstrations of photographic image capture for all techniques, discussions of equipment and set ups, and ample opportunity for questions. The program is suitable for those new to computational photography who as well as those who are interested in the latest software updates, research, and future development plans.

IMPORTANT NOTE: This workshop will be conducted at Cultural Heritage Imaging (CHI, 2325 3rd Street, Suite 323), which is a 12 minute Muni T light-rail line ride from the Embarcadero Muni station (in front of the conference hotel) to the 20th Street station. Directions will be provided upon registration.

Instructor

Marlin Lum

Imaging Director, Cultural Heritage Imaging

Marlin Lum is responsible for improving digital documentation techniques and raising awareness in communities and organizations concerned with the preservation of cultural artifacts and heritage locations. By applying digital documentation techniques to the cultural heritage community... Read More →

Mark Mudge

President, Cultural Heritage Imaging

Mark Mudge is President and co-founder of Cultural Heritage Imaging (CHI) and the current Chairman of the Board of Directors. Since decades Mark has worked in 3D information capture environments and digital photography. Together with Tom Malzbender he is a co-inventor of the Highlight... Read More →

Carla Schroer

Director, Cultural Heritage Imaging

Carla Schroer is co-founder and director of Cultural Heritage Imaging (CHI) a non-profit corporation that develops and implements imaging technologies for cultural, historic and artistic heritage and scientific research. Carla leads the training programs at CHI along with working... Read More →

Directions to Cultural Heritage Imaging docx

Wednesday May 28, 2014 10:00am - 5:00pm PDT
Cultural Heritage Imaging 2325 3rd Street, Suite 323, San Francisco, CA

Workshop, Photographic Materials

10:30am PDT

(Tour) A Day at Filoli – Architecture, Antiques, and Azaleas

Limited Capacity seats available

Join us for a day at Filoli. Filoli is recognized as one of the finest remaining country estates of the early 20th century, and welcomes the public to this remarkable 654–acre property, including the 36,000 square foot Georgian country house and spectacular 16–acre English Renaissance garden. Located 30 miles south of San Francisco, Filoli is an historic site of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Designed by Willis Polk and noted for its elegant interiors, the House holds an extensive collection of 17th and 18th century English antiques. Special rooms of interest include the Butler's Pantry and Kitchen with the walk-in safe, the wood paneled library, and the 1925 Ernest Peixotto paintings in the Ballroom.

The tours of the house will be led by the Collection Manager, Julie Bly DeVere, and will incorporate discussion of the house’s conservation and collection care challenges. Many members of the Bay Area Art Conservation Guild have worked on conservation projects at Filoli.

The tours of the garden will not only be breathtaking--much will be in bloom in May-- but will also showcase conservation of a historical formal garden.

10:30 am –Leave the Hyatt
11:15 am – Arrive Filoli
11:15 am to 12:30 pm – Tour of the House led by Julie Bly DeVere, Collection Manager
12:30 pm to 1:30 pm – Lunch overlooking the garden
1:30 pm to 2:45 pm – Guided Garden Tour and time on your own in the garden
2:45 pm to 3:15 pm – Don’t forget the Gift Shop and Last Looks
3:15 pm – Return to the Hyatt**

*Please note the majority of the costs for this tour have been underwritten by sponsorship from the BAACG.
** Note: if the number of tour participants warrants it, the group will be split in two, with the groups touring in reverse order. However, the groups will come together for lunch.
Maximum number is 40 people. Many tours sell out fast. Around the beginning of March, AIC will need to decide, based on the number of people registered for each tour, if a tour needs to be canceled. Register early to secure your spot and to help AIC determine interest in the tours.

Wednesday May 28, 2014 10:30am - 4:00pm PDT
Filoli

Tour, Architecture, Objects, Wooden Artifacts

12:30pm PDT

(Tour) Asian Art Museum – Conservation Labs, Storage, and Collections

Limited Capacity seats available

In this rare behind the scenes opportunity, you will tour the conservation labs and have the opportunity to discuss current and recent conservation projects with the conservation staff. Discover the conservation challenges for caring for a collection ranging from tiny jades to monumental sculptures. You will also have the opportunity to visit the storage rooms to take a peek at treasures not on display and to see how the museum cares for the collections in storage. You will also have time to view the permanent collection. This museum is a must see when you are in San Francisco.

Tentative Schedule
12:30 pm – Leave the Hyatt
1 pm – Arrive at the Asian Art Museum
1:30 – 3:00 pm –Group 1 Conservation Lab and Storage tour
3:00 to 4:40 pm – Group 2 Conservation Lab and Storage tour
Before and after your tour until 4:45pm – Time to view the collection on your own.

Maximum number is 20 people. Many tours sell out fast. Around the beginning of March, AIC will need to decide, based on the number of people registered for each tour, if a tour needs to be canceled. Register early to secure your spot and to help AIC determine interest in the tours.

Wednesday May 28, 2014 12:30pm - 5:00pm PDT
Asian Art Museum

Tour

1:00pm PDT

(Seminar) Conservators in Private Practice: Greening your Conservation Practice

Limited Capacity seats available

Headline speaker Monona Rossol will focus on health and safety in the conservation studio. Monona is a specialist in the field who has trained art conservation workers throughout the museum world. Her topics will include “Why a green studio might not be a safe studio, understanding air quality standards, selecting safer chemicals scientifically, and proper ventilation systems on a budget.” These informal and informative presentations will include plenty of time for questions and answers.

Panel discussion on Greening your Business: AIC Sustainability Committee Chair Betsey Haude (Senior Paper Conservator, Library of Congress) will present an overview of the committee’s work and Sarah Nunberg (Objects Conservation Studio LLC, Brooklyn, NY) will speak on sustainable practices in the conservation studio. Wendy Yeung will discuss the San Francisco Green Business Program, and Anna Jaeger of Caravan Studio, San Francisco, will cover web/computer related green business administration.

Greening Tips Session: Workshop participants will be invited to share ways in which they “green” their conservation businesses. Two participants in the Greening Tips Session will be selected by our panelists to win free registration for the workshop.

Speaker(s)

Monona Rossol

President, Arts, Crafts, & Theater Safety, Inc.

Currently, Monona is President/founder of Arts, Crafts & Theater Safety, Inc., a nonprofit dedicated to providing health and safety services to the arts. She also is the Safety Officer for Local USA829 of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) and for the... Read More →

Wednesday May 28, 2014 1:00pm - 5:00pm PDT
Bayview B

Workshop, Private Practice

1:00pm PDT

(Workshop) Mastering Collections of Digital Photographic Conservation Documentation

Limited Capacity seats available

Digital images have become a crucial component of conservation documentation, analysis and collections management. Museum curators and collections managers, emerging conservators and experienced professionals, and photographers providing cultural heritage services are all beginning to need tools and strategies to handle their growing collections of digital photographs.

With a single cultural heritage artifact requiring anywhere from one to hundreds of digital images, managing collections of these assets can get overwhelming quickly. And when the documentation itself needs to be documented, the only practical solution for expanding collections is to learn to make the images document themselves.

The AIC Guide to Digital Photography and Conservation Documentation recommends the use of Adobe® Photoshop Lightroom™ to manage these rapidly-growing libraries of images. Its automation and batch processing tools can ensure that collections of any size can be managed with ease. It is inexpensive and can be easily learned and used by photographers, conservators, curators and their interns.

In this workshop, participants will become familiar at a practical level with the tools and workflows in Lightroom, and the opportunities it provides to eliminate much of the struggle and tedium of managing image collections of any size. Participants will examine the key workflows, have questions answered, and receive a substantial handout for reference.

Join Lightroom power user Mike Jennings of Kept Art Restoration and Adobe's Group Product Manager Tom Hogarty, and learn:

how to establish and use a metadata tagging strategy that survives rapid growth
new tools that have become available since the AIC book was published
perform color and perspective corrections commonly required in conservation documentation
apply corrections to dozens of images in one step retrieve sets of related images instantly without knowing what the filenames are or even what folder they're in
automatically tag images with necessary data as they are captured
avoid common, frustrating pitfalls and keep your workflow running smoothly
make the image document itself!

Instructor

Mike Jennings

Imaging Technician, Kept Art Restoration

My Flickr: http://flickr.com/photos/tymcode A longtime desktop digital video expert, I have moved into photography, mixed-media and hybrid collage, and assemblage art.

Wednesday May 28, 2014 1:00pm - 5:00pm PDT
Seacliff A

Workshop, Photographic Materials

1:00pm PDT

(Workshop) Responding to Mold Outbreaks after a Disaster

Limited Capacity seats available

Workshop, Disaster Response and Recovery

Dealing with mold is nearly always part of disaster response. In addition to the direct impacts of floods and storm-driven rains, collections can become wet from fire suppression efforts or exposure to weather from earthquake or wind damage. Especially when structural damage is significant, it may be many days before access to collections is possible, and resultant extended power outages may allow mold growth. This workshop will draw from the experiences of AIC-CERT responses in New York, Haiti, Galveston, and Midwest floods to examine effective techniques for treating mold outbreaks.

Instructor

Ann Frellsen

Collections Conservator, Emory University Libraries

Ann Frellsen has just retired after nearly 27 years as the Book and Paper Collections Conservator for the Emory University Libraries. Her other specialties are training, disaster planning and response, and bookbinding.

Vicki Lee

Director of Conservation and Preservation, Maryland State Archives

Vicki Lee has worked in the book and paper specialty of the conservation field for the past 25 years. She has worked at a variety of museums, libraries and archives. Vicki has been employed at the Maryland State Archives since 2000 and has been the Head of Conservation since 2003... Read More →

Olivia Primanis

Senior Book Conservator, Harry Ransom Center

Olivia Primanis is the Senior Book Conservator at the Harry Ransom Center, University of Texas, where she performs conservation treatments and manages the book lab and special projects. She is interested in general conservation and preservation subjects relating to library and museum... Read More →

Wednesday May 28, 2014 1:00pm - 5:00pm PDT
Regency Room

1:15pm PDT

(Tour) Presidio – Preservation and Panoramas

Limited Capacity seats available

For 218 years, the Presidio served as an army post for three nations. World and local events, from military campaigns to World Fairs and earthquakes, left their mark. Come enjoy the history and the natural beauty of the Presidio. Explore centuries of architecture. The Presidio has a rich history spanning back to the time of the native Ohlone people. The Spanish arrived in 1776 to establish the northernmost outpost of their empire in western North America. The Presidio fell under Mexican rule for 24 years before the U.S. Army took control in 1846. Over 148 years, the U.S. Army transformed the Presidio grounds from mostly windswept dunes and scrub to a verdant, preeminent military post. Since 1994, the Presidio has been a part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. On this tour led by experts from the Presidio trust you will learn about current preservation efforts, and how current preservation efforts go hand in hand with efforts to develop new uses for the Army buildings. Some of the best views of San Francisco can be found in the Presidio – don’t forget your camera.

Tour Highlights will include:

Arrive at Presidio- Main Post

Introductions, History of the Presidio and Presidio of San Francisco National Historic Landmark District

History of the Presidio Trust

Outline tour

Montgomery Street Barracks

Discuss the various project in the 6 iconic barracks buildings: Disney Family Museum, Presidio Trust Main Offices, Commissary Restaurant, Swirl, Center to End Violence (all completed within last 5 years)

Preservation and conservation challenges, sustainable features

Visit to Building #97- temporary Exhibit: Andy Goldsworthy’s “Tree Fall”

Discuss partnering with artists, use of historic buildings

Visit Building 42: Inn at the Presidio-

Recent rehabilitation of a Bachelor Officers Quarters to boutique hotel

Discuss project, sustainable features

Trust Archaeology Lab and Collections Facility

Discuss recent rehabilitation of 3 garage structures into state of the art laboratory and collections facility

Discuss rehabilitation project, special considerations for Trust collections facility

Visit Trust architecture/archaeology conservation lab, discuss Trust conservation activities (in house)

Building 50- Officers’ Club- oldest building in the Presidio (1776) one of the oldest in San Francisco

Discuss current 19 million dollar rehabilitation

Focus on conservation issues- specifically adobe repair and seismic upgrade to adobe and other historic materials

Visit 2nd floor for sweeping view of San Francisco Bay (maybe have refreshment?)

Visit the National Cemetery

Visit to the Golden Gate Bridge Overlook.

Maximum number is 20 people. Many tours sell out fast. Around the beginning of March, AIC will need to decide, based on the number of people registered for each tour, if a tour needs to be canceled. Register early to secure your spot and to help AIC determine interest in the tours.

Wednesday May 28, 2014 1:15pm - 7:15pm PDT
Presidio

Tour, Architecture

2:00pm PDT

(Tour) Pacific Heights Walk

Limited Capacity seats available

General Session, Pre-Meeting Session

You will embark on a two-hour walking tour of eastern Pacific Heights, led by a representative from San Francisco Heritage, and will view examples of San Francisco’s diverse architecture. Architectural styles include several lovely Victorian homes situated on the typical narrow lots of the 19th century, featuring such details as original wrought iron fences, round and hexagonal towers, and rinceau frieze bands of wreaths. Also included are palatial homes of the early 20th century. You will see the stunning ‘’sugar palace,” built for sugar magnate, Adolph Spreckles and his wife, Alma, in 1915. Designed by architect George Applegarth in the French Baroque style, it features intricately wrought metal balconies and two-story Corinthian columns. Also on the tour is the grand 1915 Phelan Mansion, designed by Charles Weeks. Start your conference experience off right by seeing one of San Francisco’s iconic neighborhoods.

Wednesday May 28, 2014 2:00pm - 5:00pm PDT
Pacific Heights Pacific Heights, San Francisco

Tour

4:30pm PDT

(Pre-Meeting Session) Discussion Session Proposal: 'STASH Flash”

Safe storage for collections is one of the primary goals of preventive care for collecting institutions, and individuals charged with collections care and cultural institutions often face challenges in designing storage and support systems for individual items or collections. Collecting institutions report damage from handling and improper storage or enclosures as significant preservation problems, supported by the Heritage Health Index finding that only 11% of all institutions had adequate storage facilities. There are few established venues for sharing information about the fabrication of supports, containers or systems that provide options for storage and support solutions.

A successful storage solution is the result of numerous choices regarding materials, techniques, time and skill. STASH (Storage Techniques for Art, Science and History collections), a new web based resource housed on Cool, sponsored by AIC and funded by the Samuel H. Kress Foundation is based on the understanding that the best ideas for safe and sustainable storage and support come from collaborative solutions. This project was precipitated by the need to find a new way to disseminate the older but highly valuable text, Storage of Natural History Collections: Ideas and Practical Solutions, originally published by the Society for the Preservation of Natural History Collections (SPNHC), and is designed to gather, organize and solicit new storage ideas. The 42nd annual AIC Meeting on sustainable choices in collections care provides a forum for continued discussion about these topics.

The session will utilize a lightening round or “Tips” session format as well as guided, audience participatory discussion. Carefully selected short presentations will be given in a format that closely aligns with web site entries. These will be followed by small group discussions where individuals from different specialties have the opportunity to talk about the presentations, modifications, materials choice as well as creative ways to carry out these projects. The objective is to help make these solutions more sustainable by evaluating project organization, materials and construction. Members of AIC have experience with a wide range of collections, collectors and institutions, and combining short presentations with shared discussion about storage solution projects within the context of the STASH website will provide the attendees with the opportunity to truly engage in the kind of interdisciplinary conversation that often results in sustainable and conscientious choices.

During this session, participants will have the opportunity to share new solutions, ideas and materials and to develop sustainable and more effective solutions to collections care. The website project is interdisciplinary; the editorial board is composed of representatives from a wide range of allied organizations, and this session is planned to span the range of specialty groups within AIC.

Session Moderator(s)

Rachael Arenstein

Principal, A.M. Art Conservation, LLC

Lisa Goldberg

Conservator, Goldberg Preservation Services, LLC

Project leader for STASH, AIC News Editor and conservator in private practice. Lisa Goldberg is a private conservator with a focus on preventive care as well as health and safety issues. She is a member of SPNHC and AAM, and is a Professional Associate of AIC. As long time editor... Read More →

Wednesday May 28, 2014 4:30pm - 6:30pm PDT
Seacliff C-D

4:30pm PDT

(Pre-Meeting Session) “Energy and sustainability – at what cost?” - A Socratic Dialogue

The term “sustainability” is the theme of the AIC annual meeting 2014 in San Francisco. Sustainability can have a number of different meanings depending on the context in which it is used. It can refer to energy and cost savings, the “green” museum or “green” conservation, the use and disposal of environmentally friendly conservation materials and chemicals, and even the ultimate meaning of conservation and preservation themselves, that is, extending the life of objects themselves. However, at the annual business meeting 2013 the word sustainability immediately unleashed a brief but intense discussion on standards for indoor climates in museums, this related to making climate requirements less stringent and thus to reduce energy costs. This should not come as a surprise, as the idea of loosening indoor climate requirements for indoor collections has been a controversial issue for years. The controversy revolves around a number of issues including:

the desire to cut costs in museums by loosening with stringent indoor climate requirements/standards which require expensive HVAC systems
what the new requirements/standards should be
what effect these new standards would be on a (partial) collection or specific type of object.
- what is the value of efforts and methods to save energy costs for museums and indoor collections, and at what cost?
- is loosening indoor climate requirements bad for a collection?
  - what do we mean with the word sustainability?
  - what is the value of sustainability and at what cost?

Session Moderator(s)

William Wei

Senior Conservation Scientist, Independent consultant

Dr. Wei (1955) is a senior conservation scientist in the Research Department of the Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands (RCE - Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed). He has a B.S.E. in mechanical engineering from Princeton University (1977) and a Ph.D. in materials science... Read More →

Wednesday May 28, 2014 4:30pm - 6:30pm PDT
Seacliff B

General Session, Pre-Meeting Session

5:00pm PDT

Emerging Conservation Professionals Happy Hour

Please join ECPN for their annual meeting happy hour. As always, all are welcome, not just emerging conservators!

Wednesday May 28, 2014 5:00pm - 7:00pm PDT
Atrium

Reception, Emerging Conservation Professionals

5:00pm PDT

(Tour) Mission District Walk – Murals and Morsels

Limited Capacity seats available

Explore one of San Francisco’s most diverse (and flat) neighborhoods by foot led by a Barrio Tour Guides. Take the 6 block walk through Balmy Alley and along 24th Street, including St. Peter's Church and the digital murals at Galeria de la Raza. The group will also discover the iconic Maestrapeace mural at The San Francisco Women’s Building. This tour will delight all the senses – in addition to viewing the murals and hearing the “beat,” we have included tastings at some of the local food shops and restaurants. SF Heritage has identified over 100 “Legacy” restaurants, bars, cafes, and other food establishments in San Francisco. Hear more about this unique project as you take a bite out of the city.

Wednesday May 28, 2014 5:00pm - 8:00pm PDT
Mission District Mission District, San Francisco, CA

Tour, Architecture, Paintings

6:00pm PDT

(Business Meeting) Specialty Group Officers

Wednesday May 28, 2014 6:00pm - 7:30pm PDT
Garden Room

6:30pm PDT

(Workshop) Respirator Fit Test Lecture

Whether you are using hazardous chemicals or working with mold-infested artifacts after a disaster, you need to be sure you are protected by the right equipment. The lecture meets the annual training requirement mandated by OSHA, while the fit testing meets the annual testing requirement. Attend the free lecture Wednesday evening by a Respiratory Protection Program Manager and Certified Industrial Hygienist (CIH) on the care and maintenance of respirators and general information on their proper use. The lecture is open to all; those wishing to schedule fit testing appointment MUST attend the lecture. Fit testing appointments will be scheduled on Thursday in 15 to 20 minute intervals from 9:00 a.m.-6:00 p.m. Registrants for fit testing appointments MUST bring a completed and signed OSHA Medical Evaluation form with the signature of their health professional and the dates for which the evaluation is valid. The form and signature sheets are available on the AIC Health and Safety Guides and Publication Webpage at www.conservation-us.org/fittest. Registrants should bring their own respirators or select an appropriate style from AIC’s samples.

Instructor

James Roy Smith

Safety Coordinator, Smithsonian Institution

James R. Smith Jr, “J.R.”, is an Occupational Safety and Health Manager with the Smithsonian Institution's Office of Safety, Health and Environmental Management. He previously served as Safety Manager for the Smithsonian's Museum Support Center and Natural History Museum, and... Read More →

Wednesday May 28, 2014 6:30pm - 7:30pm PDT
Regency Room

Workshop, Health and Safety

8:00pm PDT

(Business Meeting) Conservators in Private Practice

Wednesday May 28, 2014 8:00pm - 10:00pm PDT
Bayview B

Business Meeting, Private Practice

7:00am PDT

(Business Meeting) Publication Committee

PubCommAgenda 2014 pdf

Thursday May 29, 2014 7:00am - 8:15am PDT
Boardroom A

8:40am PDT

(Opening Session) The Long and Winding Road …Effective Advocacy, Fundraising, Networking, and Collaboration: Promoting Sustained Preventive Conservation Globally

The preservation of collections connects humanity across an increasingly intersected and confronted global society. As nations struggle with catastrophic natural disasters, warfare, economic collapse, and other crises, the need to preserve our world’s tangible and intangible heritage is heightened.

This presentation will share lessons learned from a series of photographic preservation projects organized in collaboration with organizations, agencies, and individuals across the Middle East and in Africa, Latin America, Europe and Asia, (some documented at http://goo.gl/maps/UL5S7). In doing so, conclusions will be shared from preservation activities associated with the Middle East Photograph Preservation Initiative (1996 – 2014), the Iraqi Institute for the Conservation of Antiquities and Heritage (2008 – today), and photograph preventive conservation training in underserved regions of the world, including Sub-Saharan Africa (to start March 2014 in Benin), Columbia, Peru, and India. Recommendations will also be gathered via in-depth consultation with leading conservation professionals who have developed and managed global collections care projects outside of photographic materials.

While assessment, education, and research are essential to care for global cultural heritage, final success will ultimately be determined by our collective interpersonal, communication, advocacy, engagement, and fundraising skills. As conservation professionals we have the responsibility to engage with allied professionals, decision makers and the public, and to serve as global ambassadors.

Conservation professionals leading global collection care projects should connect preservation initiatives to reconciliation, energy, environment and economic development, collaborate with established regional partners and not operate in isolation, build visibility through marketing and social media, establish short-and long-term implementation plans, communicate repeatedly and effectively; promote respect, harness passion and creativity, and take risks. Effective collaborative partnerships and external funding are essential. We must use emerging technologies, train trainers, engage communities, build public awareness, promote shared decision making, and cost-effective preventive care solutions. Poor communication and limited accountability will deter progress. Funding proposals should be well integrated and project monies – secured via effective advocacy and networking from individuals, foundations, corporations, and government agencies - must be invested wisely to ensure sustainability.

Concrete preventive conservation measures - with a focus on education and training - are essential to protect collections that are facing limited preservation resources worldwide. By sharing on-the-ground observations and recommendations, this presentation aims to advance collaborative strategic preventive conservation projects and inspire change.

Speaker(s)

Debbie Hess Norris-[Fellow]

Chair/Professor, Department of Art Conservation, University of Delaware

Debra Hess Norris is Chair of the Art Conservation Department at the University of Delaware, and Professor of Photograph Conservation. She graduated magna cum laude with an interdisciplinary BA degree in chemistry, art history, and studio art (1977) and MS in conservation (1980) from... Read More →

Thursday May 29, 2014 8:40am - 9:00am PDT
Grand Ballroom A-C

9:00am PDT

(Opening Session) Social Participation as a Way for Sustainable Projects in Conservation of Worshiping Objects: The Case of Current Mayan Communities in Yucatán, Mexico

The paper tackles the experiences of the participative restoration-conservation projects which have been launched to deal with symbolic religious objects in rural populations of Yucatán, Mexico, mostly Mayan-speaking communities. It is posited that, in sociocultural contexts like these, it is impossible to do preventive conservation without handling the situation from a people-oriented perspective. Thus, besides material treatment, symbolic value and social function have to be taken into account, since this is the way to get the society to take charge of future conservation. Since this is the way to get the society to take charge of future conservation, and attain true short and long term sustainability.

Under this work perspective the questions are: How to preserve objects that are used daily and that are valued as symbols and not as matter? How to preserve the matter without prohibitive positions about the use and social function of the objects? How to mediate in the different visions on cultural heritage? How to generate changes that ensure the restored objects would not return to its original condition once the restorers leave the project? How to promote inherited self-management processes in the communities orientated to the future conservation of the objects? How to help without invading or to alter a socio-cultural reality to which we do not belong?

These questions were used in the project as guide to the implemented actions. For example, talks of heritage matter and conservation; talks about the sculptures as a material objects, workshops of training in preventive conservation and risks reduction; community bilingual theatre directed to the understanding of heritage and conservation; assistance and accompaniment in festivities, processions and heritage management processes; generation of bilingual leaflets on conservation and risk reduction; inclusion of children and students in the project trying to develop a new vision on conservation to the future; etc.

Through the review of these social participation actions, and its results, the paper proposes to promote and understand conservation as a socio-cultural intervention that should turn into a space for mediation. Such mediation should look for sustainable and lasting projects that go further than temporary initiatives of local heritage conservation. This, to achieve that the heritage conservation is a shared work and that all the involved actors understand the responsibility that it implies.

Speaker(s)

Giovana Jaspersen

LACS Recipient, Instituto Nacional de AntropologÃa e Historia (INAH) / National Institute of Anthropology and History

Thursday May 29, 2014 9:00am - 9:20am PDT
Grand Ballroom A-C

9:00am PDT

(Workshop) Respirator Fit Test Appointments

Limited Capacity seats available

Thursday May 29, 2014 9:00am - 6:00pm PDT
Boardroom C

Workshop, Health and Safety

9:20am PDT

(Opening Session) Sustainable Collections Care on a Budget - A new museum store for Bolton, UK

The need for a new collections store presented an opportunity to embed sustainability both environmental and economic further into Bolton’s museum practise.

The brief was to build a store, increasing access to over 40,000 objects, on a budget of well under £1million (under $1.5M). This limited budget covered the entire build, fit out, some additional staff costs and object moves, all to be achieved in less than 2 years.
This paper presents the processes, technologies and ethos used to achieve the brief, whilst improving collections care for every object. Sustainable measures included extensive insulation, re-use of old storage furniture, zoning collections within the building and installation of solar panels. The project is an example of combining modern high tech with low-tech solutions. With no funds in the new store budget identified for sustainable features they would need to be solutions that added no cost to the build. Revenue budgets of the service also had to be considered, with further local authority savings on the horizon ideally the new store needed to cost less to run than the old one.

Bolton Library & Museum Service has a wide variety of collections. Textiles and textile machinery from Bolton’s industrial history as a cotton town form a large part of the items housed at the new store. Other collections now held at the store include; Social History, Archives, Egyptology, Ethnography, Geology, Spirit Preserved items and Decorative Art. This range of objects and material types with weights varying from 10tons to less than a gram presented a number of interesting collections care challenges.
The new store is seen as hugely positive for Bolton Museum. In a time of recession and depression the Store move has boosted morale, achieved and exceeded all of its goals.

The Chadwick Resource Centre is now viewed as an excellent example of sustainable development. Lessons have been learnt which will be taken forwards in future Bolton Council projects and importantly for Bolton Museum other museums are now looking to us as leaders in sustainable collections care.

Speaker(s)

Pierrette Squires

Conservator, Bolton Museum (Lancashire, UK)

Pierrette Squires is the Conservator for Bolton Library and Museum Service. She received a BSc in Geography & Archaeology from the University of Leicester in 2001, a module in conservation during this degree inspired further conservation training. UCLâ€™s three year conservation... Read More →

Thursday May 29, 2014 9:20am - 9:40am PDT
Grand Ballroom A-C

9:40am PDT

(Opening Session) Being a Gallery in a Park – Balancing Sustainability, Access and Collection Care

The Whitworth Art Gallery, University of Manchester, founded in 1889 is home to nationally designated collections of watercolors, prints, wallpapers and textiles, and has an active collecting policy for contemporary works. It is currently undergoing a capital building development that includes a new extension and a refurbishment of elements of an historic building, increasing its footprint by 30%. As part of the University of Manchester, the Gallery is required by its funding bodies and the Heritage Lottery Fund who have provided the majority of our project funding to meet high energy efficiency and carbon reduction targets. This requirement underpinned a sustainable brief to the architects and accompanying design team that demanded a 10% overall reduction in carbon emissions, energy saving strategies, the introduction of green technologies, and a commitment to achieve an 'Excellent' rating in the UK construction industry sustainable assessment tool, BREEAM. Additionally, it provided institutional motivation to build on existing practices and further embed sustainability within all aspects of Gallery operations.

The paper will focus on four specific areas:

Re-assessment of temperature and relative humidity parameters for the storage and display of the collections
A new approach to lighting control and the management of increased daylight into gallery spaces
Use of modular re-usable display systems and local control of the recycling of materials
Management of biodiversity, corporate and educational events together with integrated pest management

The first two areas are a result of capital investment coinciding with concern for environmental targets, and providing an opportunity for collection care staff to work alongside a design team to understand and respond to the challenges inherent within the existing building, and to the collection care needs of the objects housed within it. The paper will describe a move away from expensive and unsustainable air conditioning (HVAC) systems to a passive environmental approach by reintroducing natural ventilation, installing earth tubes and ground source heat pumps, making use of the thermal properties of the building envelope and operating conservation heating.

The third area describes a long-standing ability by conservation and technical staff to make creative use of display equipment, previously driven by financial constraints, but now established as a routine reaction to green concerns. This includes the re-use of Panelock exhibition screens and picture display frames, the design and manufacture of a modular mounting system for the display of textiles, multifunctional use of all display equipment, careful waste management practices and the recycling of storage and exhibition equipment to other local cultural organizations via professional networks.

Fourth, with the Gallery located within a parkland setting, and incorporating both a green and a bio-diverse roof, as well as hosting a wide variety of events and activities (inside and outside), conservation staff find themselves treading a fine line between engaging with green initiatives, continuing to provide access to the collections to increasingly diverse audiences, while maintaining Integrated Pest Management procedures.

Throughout all these various strands, the gallery aspires to a triple bottom line approach, adding economic and environmental factors to finding a workable and sustainable balance between access and collection care. This paper will examine and evaluate the methodologies developed and successfully applied.

Speaker(s)

Nicola Walker

Head of Collection Care & Access, Whitworth Art Gallery, University of Manchester

Nicola Walker trained as a paper conservator in Newcastle, and worked in that capacity in the UK, in Oxford, Manchester and Liverpool for over 20 years, including 13 years at the Whitworth Art Gallery, The University of Manchester, working on its collections of prints, drawings, watercolours... Read More →

Co-Author(s)

Ann French

Textile Conservator and Collection Care Manager, Whitworth Art Gallery, University of Manchester, UK

Ann French has worked in the field of Textile Conservation for nearly thirty years for a variety of institutions, including the Victoria and Albert Museum, Glasgow Museums, the Area Museums Council for the South West and the National Trust for England and Wales. She has been employed... Read More →

Thursday May 29, 2014 9:40am - 10:00am PDT
Grand Ballroom A-C

10:00am PDT

Refreshment Break in Exhibit Hall

AIC's 42nd Annual Meeting features the largest U.S. gathering of suppliers in the conservation field. Mingle with exhibitors and discover new treatments and business solutions. Posters on a range of conservation topics also will be on view in the Exhibit Hall, with an author question-and-answer session.

Thursday May 29, 2014 10:00am - 10:30am PDT
Pacific Concourse

Break

10:30am PDT

(Opening Session) Precaution, proof, and pragmatism: 150 years of expert debate on the museum environment

This presentation will open with a brief historical overview of how the concept of the 'museum environment' has been understood, debated and ultimately absorbed into professional practice since the late 19th century when it was first recognized as a significant factor in the preservation of collections. The authors will review the milestone moments of technical research and experience and will examine in particular the power of expert voices– of conservators, facility managers, engineers, directors– to shape and alter the debate about the museum environment.

The main focus of the presentation will be the radical shift that has occurred in recent years not only in the nature of the debate on the museum environment, but who has instigated it. Seeking universally-accepted guidelines to facilitate loans while also meeting sustainability targets, museum directors have challenged long-held environmental norms espoused by the conservation community. The shift in the debate has placed the burden of proof on the defenders of stringent environmental targets, rather than on those committed to meeting sustainability targets.

This challenge has seen a range of responses from the conservation field internationally. Several professional bodies representing conservators at the national level have launched discussions and taken positions. However, in some areas of the profession there remains a distinct sense of uneasiness and emotion on the matter of new environmental parameters, which some see as having implications both for the safety of objects and for the integrity of the profession. For this reason, the conservation field has seen the environmental debate shift inward. But where are the main voices in this debate, and what are they saying?

The authors will look at how the field internationally is currently dividing itself on this issue and why– and how experience, perceptions, and uncertainty appear to influence and entrench positions. They will describe the three distinct positions on the 'museum environment' that have emerged, each reflecting a different view of risk: precautionary safety; proven safety; and pragmatic risk management.

Absent irrefutable scientific evidence that would justify change, proponents of the precautionary safety stance adhere to the narrowly defined set of environmental parameters which the museum field has followed for decades, seeing it as the only confirmed path to unconditional safety.

The proven safety stance argues that the conditions actually maintained by institutions have often ranged outside a narrowly defined climatic band, with very few instances of noticeable damage; these de facto conditions are therefore apparently safe.

The pragmatic risk management stance argues that the preservation goal is the minimization of loss due to many causes, and that for each cause, such as an incorrect climate, the decision-maker needs to know the quantitative interrelation between the intensity of the hazard (climate fluctuations), the damage caused (cracks), and the cost of controlling the hazard (financial, environmental, social). Although the proven safety stance can find a place within this perspective, pragmatic risk management actually goes further, recommending that resources go to reduction of the biggest risks, which may in fact not be climate fluctuations.

The authors will expand upon these positions and ask their colleagues to consider their viability in light of current challenges, including the desire for more sustainable practices and for the profession to speak forcefully, but with consensus, on a fundamental area of its responsibility.

Speaker(s)

Foekje Boersma

Senior Project Specialist, Getty Conservation Institute

Foekje Boersma is a Senior Project Specialist at the Getty Conservation Institute. From 2009 until 2013, she worked at the National Archives of the Netherlands, where she was responsible for external projects. Between 2006 and 2009 she had worked at the Getty Conservation Institute... Read More →

Co-Author(s)

James Druzik

Senior Scientist, Getty Conservation Institute

James Druzik is a Senior Scientist at The Getty Conservation Institute since 1985. His research interests have focused on preventive conservation including the origin and fate of anthropogenic oxidant air pollutants and particulates in museum environments and their control technologies... Read More →

Kathleen Dardes

Head, Collections, Getty Conservation Institute

Kathleen Dardes is Head of Education at the Getty Conservation Institute, where she has worked since 1988, first in the Training Program, then in Field Projects. She has held her current position since 2007. As Head of Education she is responsible for overseeing the Institute’s... Read More →

Thursday May 29, 2014 10:30am - 10:50am PDT
Grand Ballroom A-C

10:50am PDT

(Opening Session) A LEED primer for conservators: or, what should I do when the architect proposes daylight in our new galleries?

LEED, (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design) is a program managed by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) is the primary program that guides the design, construction and operation of high-performance green buildings. The LEED program and the Green Building Certification Institute “provide third-party verification of green buildings. Building projects satisfy prerequisites and earn points to achieve different levels of certification.” LEED certification is increasingly sought by museums undergoing renovation or new construction for the environmental benefits it brings as well as the cache it lends. LEED design goals are used as tools for fundraising and certified ratings are trumpeted in post-opening press releases. At a time when conservators worldwide grapple with reevaluating environmental control guidelines and other elements of the exhibit and storage environment, LEED guided museum projects add additional complexity to the equation of how to create and manage suitable environmental and lighting environments. As museums seek to improve their record on sustainability, it behooves conservators to understand how to work with the system. An overview of the alternate programs to LEED will also be given to familiarize conservators with the differences.

Working with a project architect to achieve platinum, gold, or silver certification shouldn’t feel like an Olympic medal event. This paper will present an overview of the prerequisites and credit systems for the LEED programs most relevant to museums, and will highlight areas which have become points of contention on museum projects. With a better understanding of the program’s vocabulary, goals and methods, conservators will be better prepared to discuss with colleagues, administrators and architects the implications of various “green” choices for the long-term care of museum collections.

Speaker(s)

Rachael Arenstein

Principal, A.M. Art Conservation, LLC

Scott Raphael Schiamberg

Associate Principal, Perkins Eastman Architects

Scott Raphael Schiamberg is an Associate Principal at the architecture firm, Perkins Eastman in New York City. Scott’s professional work has focused on the design of complex, large-scale projects across a wide spectrum of building types in the United States, Europe, Asia, and the... Read More →

Thursday May 29, 2014 10:50am - 11:10am PDT
Grand Ballroom A-C

11:10am PDT

(Opening Session) Quantifying cost effectiveness of risk treatment options (aka preventive conservation)

The Canadian Conservation Institute has developed a risk assessment method during the last 10 years in collaboration with ICCROM and the national conservation agency of the Netherlands (formerly ICN, now RCE). It is called the “ABC method” after the three components used to calculate risk. A: frequency of events or rate of the process, B: % loss of value to affected objects, C: % of collection value represented by the affected objects. In the last four years, we have done comprehensive risk assessments of various types of heritage institutions in Canada in order to discover what patterns of risk emerge for each type of institution. These patterns will guide our future advice to museums, as well as guide our institute’s research.

Our reports make recommendations for risk reduction. One to five options are identified for each risk. Remaining risk for an option is determined by analyzing the risk as if the option has been implemented. The risk reduction for that option is therefore the original risk minus the remaining risk. For each option, initial capital cost and annual maintenance cost are estimated. Initial cost is spread over the time horizon chosen for the institution (default 30 years). Cost-effectiveness is calculated as risk reduction divided by the cost. On average, for a single institution, we have analyzed about 30 risks and 60 options.

Within the three pillars of sustainability – environmental, economic, social/cultural, in business terms the so-called triple bottom line – we have at this point quantified measures to inform the economic indicator (option costs), the social/cultural indicator (risk reduction), and their interrelation (cost-effectiveness).

In the analysis done for a historic house with furniture and objects on permanent display, the method established that the overall risk to collection plus building due to incorrect relative humidity was lowest if the already minimal winter RH control was only slightly modified. This option was also low in capital and ongoing energy costs. In the analysis done for a large archive, the method allowed us to quantify the benefits of an expensive option (a new facility) that reduced many current risks, and to compare that option to ongoing digitization as a preservation strategy.

We are currently considering how environmental issues can be added in a similarly quantitative manner to the evaluation of options. Already, one is inundated with “green” marketing when researching actual building or hardware options for clients. It is also common for clients to be asking us about “green” options being promoted by their consultants and any layer of government that provides funding, e.g., special grants for switching to LED lighting, but none of this is systematic or quantified. LEED scoring is a check-list rather than a quantified accounting, and at present applies only to new construction. The obvious parameter to consider is carbon footprint, and one of our new staff (S. Lambert) brings experience with this approach.

Speaker(s)

Stefan Michalski

Senior Conservation Scientist, Canadian Conservation Institute

STEFAN MICHALSKI Senior Conservation Scientist, Canadian Conservation Institute Hon. B.Sc. in Physics and Mathematics, Queen’s University, Canada, 1972 For 35 years, Stefan has researched and provided advice on both collection preservation and object treatments. He has published... Read More →

Co-Author(s)

Irene Karsten

Preservation Development Advisor, Canadian Conservation Institute

Irene Karsten has an MSc (1998) and PhD (2003) in Human Ecology with specialization in textile conservation science from the University of Alberta (Edmonton) as well as a Diploma in Art Conservation Techniques (1994) from Fleming College in Peterborough, Ontario. She was the Conservator... Read More →

Thursday May 29, 2014 11:10am - 11:30am PDT
Grand Ballroom A-C

11:30am PDT

(Opening Session) Question and Answer Period

Thursday May 29, 2014 11:30am - 12:00pm PDT
Grand Ballroom A-C

12:00pm PDT

(Luncheon) Emerging Conservation Professionals Networking Session

Limited Capacity seats available

Luncheon Session, Emerging Conservation Professionals

AIC’s Emerging Conservation Professionals Network (ECPN) is pleased to announce an exciting new event at AIC's 42nd Annual Meeting in San Francisco. Please join us on Thursday, May 29th from 12:00-2:00pm for our inaugural lunch and networking event, which is generously being sponsored by The Getty and several AIC Specialty Groups.

The event aims to offer informal networking opportunities over lunch from 12-1pm and structured networking opportunities from 1-2pm by matching participants with up to 3 partners for 15-minute intervals to discuss topics of their choosing, some of which may include: career development, resume review, research, and outreach. Conservators and professionals at all stages of their career are welcome to join.

Session Moderator(s)

Eliza Spaulding

Paper Conservator, Worcester Art Museum

Eliza Spaulding is a paper conservator at the Worcester Art Museum. She was previously the Andrew W. Mellon Fellow in Paper Conservation at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. In 2010, she graduated from the Conservation Center, Institute of Fine Arts, New York University with an Advanced... Read More →

Thursday May 29, 2014 12:00pm - 1:00pm PDT
Atrium

1:00pm PDT

(Business Meeting) Wooden Artifacts Group

Thursday May 29, 2014 1:00pm - 2:00pm PDT
Regency Room

Business Meeting, Wooden Artifacts

1:00pm PDT

(Paintings Session) Conservation Tips

Conservators will present tips and techniques that they have discovered, invented, and found handy, in a casual, conversational "open mic" format. Many will have pre-arranged tips with projected digital images, while all are welcome to spontaneously offer a tip verbally from the microphone the day of the session. The PSG will have a raffle for various prizes donated by vendors in the Exhibit Hall; this year, we have an Optivisor from Museum Services Corporation, a set of historical pigments from Sinopia, and Caselli spatulas from Talas, among others! Any tip-giver receives extra raffle tickets per tip presented, increasing the chances for winning these great prizes. It's always fun and useful at the PSG tips session, come participate on Thursday at 1pm.

Thursday May 29, 2014 1:00pm - 2:00pm PDT
Bayview A-B

2:00pm PDT

(Collection Care Session) Simple Method for Monitoring Dust Accumulation in Indoor Collections

The accumulation of dust in museums and other indoor collections is a basic concern for collection management and conservation. Dust can be found everywhere, even in the best-kept museums with the most modern air conditioning and filtering systems. High levels of dust accumulation mean that showcases and objects must be cleaned more often, which implies higher maintenance costs for a museum, as well as more frequent treatment of objects. Dust also affects the perception of visitors as well as professionals of how well a collection is kept. In the extreme case, years of dust accumulation and poor environmental conditions can lead to degradation of materials.

In 2005, three Dutch museums reported possible problems with “too much” dust in their exhibition areas. Two of those museums were concerned about possible effects of dust raised by construction work occurring right next door, while the third was looking for the cause of a noticeable increase in dust accumulation in and around showcases, and leading to overheating of several projectors. In response to these issues, the Netherlands Institute of Cultural Heritage, now the RCE, conducted a study of dust accumulation in these three museums. An important result of this work was a simple and inexpensive method for measuring the rate of dust accumulation.

The method involves measuring the rate of change (loss) in gloss of standard glass microscope slides and using this as a measure of the rate of dust accumulation. Standard glass microscope slides (e.g. 25 x 75 mm) are placed next to objects or at locations of concern. They have the advantage of being easy to hide or are virtually invisible to visitors. The change in gloss (loss) as dust falls on the slides is measured regularly over a given period of time using a commercially available gloss meter. This data is used to calculate the rate of accumulation of dust over the measurement period.

Chemical analysis of the dust was conducted using energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS/EDX) in a scanning electron microscope (SEM) by collecting samples on conductive carbon stickers which were placed next to the slides. The area coverage of dust was also determined by image analysis of micrographs of the stickers taken in the SEM. The combination of the gloss measurements and the EDS/SEM was used to determine the source of dust during the accumulation period.

The results of the study show that the rates of change of gloss and area coverage can be directly related to changes in activity in and around the museums. It confirmed earlier research that visitors are one of the main sources of dust in museums. The effect of construction, traffic, and seasonal changes could be seen both as changes in gloss as well as changes in chemistry. Gloss measurements are simple to use, and the analysis of the results can be easily carried out using a simple program, which can be written in, for example, Microsoft Excel.

The measurements are also inexpensive to carry out, requiring only a modest investment for the glossmeter.

Speaker(s)

William Wei

Senior Conservation Scientist, Independent consultant

Thursday May 29, 2014 2:00pm - 2:30pm PDT
Garden Room

2:00pm PDT

(Architecture + Objects) Luxor Temple Fragment Conservation Project: Case Study

My talk will present an overview of the conservation work undertaken over the last 17 years treating inscribed sandstone fragments in Luxor Temple, Egypt, and concurrently managing the temple site where they were stored and later displayed. I will discuss issues unique to the project; protection of a massive number of semi-portable fragments and making them accessible at one of Egypt’s most popular tourist attractions. Finally, I will include challenges posed by Egypt’s continuing political instability.

Luxor Temple itself is located in the ancient site of Thebes which was built in the 14-13th century BCE. A blockyard on the grounds of the temple currently holds over 40,000 inscribed sandstone fragments originally used to build the temple walls and other structures in the vicinity. The fragments had been quarried and cut into small sizes for reuse as a building material from late antiquity through the 19th century. Thousands of such fragments were excavated during the 1950s and 60s by the Egyptian antiquities organization that had been stored directly on soil contaminated with saline groundwater.

During the 1970s and 80s, the Epigraphic Survey of the Oriental Institute, University of Chicago (Chicago House) documented approximately 2,000 inscribed fragments from this collection associated with the Temple. They started a conservation project in 1995 after witnessing some fragments disintegrating into piles of sand. The initial project which focused on documenting, treating and monitoring these 2,000 registered fragments rapidly expanded to include tens of thousand of inscribed fragments. Over time, the conservation project went through a number of phases to meet a variety of needs; from small scale treatment and monitoring to large scale emergency protection and finally to site management including reconstruction of temple walls and creation of an open-air museum.

Key challenges to the project were limited time, materials, treatment facilities and storage space. Adapting local resources for use on site as well as close cooperation with the local authorities contributed to the success of the project. Our belief that increasing public access and promoting understanding and respect for the site and its artifacts would have a positive impact on the site itself, was confirmed by the number and demeanor of visitors to the site.

In addition, I will briefly discuss new challenges raised by the 2011 revolution and on-going turmoil in Egypt. Like any contingency planning, a systematic, practical and sustainable site management program is even more necessary at sites vulnerable to political instability. When site management planning stresses building strong cooperative relationships with the local community and professionals, there are direct, positive effects on daily site security and long-term sustainability.

Speaker(s)

Hiroko Kariya

Project Conservator, Epigraphic SurveynOriental InstitutenUniversity of Chicago

Hiroko Kariya was trained as an objects conservator at the Conservation Center, Institute of Fine Arts, New York University. She has worked in the Conservation Department, Brooklyn Museum and other museums in the United States. She has also worked on various archaeological sites... Read More →

Thursday May 29, 2014 2:00pm - 2:30pm PDT
Grand Ballroom B-C

2:00pm PDT

(Book and Paper Session) Conservation in Action: Conservation of Mural Cartoons in the Public Eye

As written in 1942:

The high light (sic) of the Maritime Art Association convention in Fredericton was undoubtedly the session entitled “Art in Action”, at which an excited public comprising children and grown-ups of all ages had the opportunity of seeing brilliant craftsmen actually at work on their creations.

Miller Brittain was one of the New Brunswick artists featured in “Art in Action”; he worked on his cartoons for the Saint John Tuberculosis Hospital mural in a school gymnasium:

These panels [drawings] practically covered the wall, and — perched on a platform of boards supported by ladders — the figure of the artist could be seen above the heads of the crowd, at work on figures almost twice his own size! From time to time Brittain would stop and smilingly explain to the people below what he was doing, and then he would go back to work just as if he were alone in his own studio.

- Kathleen Shackleton, Maritime Art, Volume 2, No. 5. June-July 1942. p 153.

Can conservators, performing conservation treatment in front of the public, recreate the popular enthusiasm and professional openness reflected in these quotations? Can we earn public and institutional support and funds by doing so? Can we achieve our treatment goals? Conservation in Action: conservation of mural cartoons in the public eye, hopes to contribute to the discussion of these questions.

The New Brunswick Museum (NBM) Saint John Tuberculosis Hospital mural cartoons (1941-42), by Saint John New Brunswick artist Miller Gore Brittain (1912-1968), comprise a series of eleven, 9’ by 9’ drawings. The cartoons are both the crowning achievement of Miller Brittain’s pre-war career and are among Canada’s most important twentieth century art works. The size and fragility of the cartoons have inhibited public and scholarly access.

As a follow-up to Conservation of a series of mural cartoons: high hopes on a low budget, presented to the AIC in Milwaukee in May 2010, this paper continues the story of how a regional Canadian museum has struggled, found momentum and the means to complete an ambitious conservation treatment during a time of fiscal constraint:

Funding for post-graduate internships provided enthusiastic and skilled conservators to assist treatment development and to complete the conservation treatment.

The installation of the conservation treatment in an exhibition space helped to raise public awareness and maintain institutional commitment.

Using a conservation treatment as an exhibition served to bring the discipline of conservation, and the cartoons themselves, to the attention of museum visitors and the media.

The use of social media, and, scholarly and community partnerships, raised awareness of the conservation treatment and maximized the secondary benefits of the work being done.

This paper will briefly outline and contextualize the mural cartoon conservation project, and describe the methods and results of the NBM’s efforts to achieve public education, mentorship and fundraising goals. Final conclusions will explore the successes and shortcomings of the project.

Speaker(s)

Claire Titus

Conservator, New Brunswick Museum

Claire Titus is a graduate of the University of Toronto (Art History, 1986) and the Art Conservation Techniques Program of Sir Sandford Fleming College (1990). She completed internships and post-graduate fellowships in paper conservation at the Library and Archives Canada (1989-90... Read More →

Thursday May 29, 2014 2:00pm - 2:30pm PDT
Grand Ballroom A

2:00pm PDT

(Paintings Session) Notes on the Treatment of Cracks in Paintings

Some cracks and small distortions that disrupt a paint film cannot be categorized as threats to the health and stability of the entire piece, yet they can have a profound influence on our aesthetic appreciation of the artwork, particularly in abstract paintings where the subtlety of the surface is the artistry. There is little in the literature about the treatment of these small but prevalent irritations, yet in my experience during 20 years of private practice treating Contemporary paintings, it is clear that they represent a disproportionate source of anguish for artists, viewers and owners.

The talk will consist of three parts:

A brief look at the history of treating cracks by lining or other means, whether such treatments were successful, and how they have shaped subsequent treatments.

A very practical demonstration of a method for treating cracks in paint films that we have been practicing in our studio for some time, including a discussion of the chemical and physical changes wrought by the treatment, our successes and failures, and what can be learned from those. This part of the talk is an expansion of a paper given in London in 2006 (see below for link to the paper), detailing several new variations adapted to different paint surfaces and types.

Some observations on our tolerance of damage, and how that varies with the age and type of object under consideration.

Speaker(s)

Mary Gridley

Mary Gridley, Cranmer Art Conservation, LLC.

Mary H. Gridley received a BA in The History of Art, Yale University, 1980, and a Diploma in the Conservation of Easel Paintings, Courtauld Institute of Art, 1991. Mary has worked in private practice on contemporary paintings and works on paper at Cranmer Art Group since 1995. Publications... Read More →

Thursday May 29, 2014 2:00pm - 2:30pm PDT
Bayview A-B

2:00pm PDT

(Research and Technical Studies Session) An examination of light-induced color change in anoxia and hypoxia using the microfading tester

The exposure of cultural heritage artifacts to light represents one of the fundamental agents of deterioration in the museum setting. Mitigation of light damage to an artifact is typically achieved by limiting the intensity and duration of light exposure. As a consequence, the visitor’s viewing experience may be diminished by dim lighting conditions or lost when an artifact is placed in storage when nearing a pre-determined light dosage.

The housing of light-sensitive artifacts in reduced oxygen microenvironments, however, may serve to reduce the rate of light damage, for which color change is often used as a proxy. While several research groups have explored the effect of oxygen on color change for various materials, widespread use of reduced oxygen environments as a means of limiting light damage has been constrained by a) a limited dataset of anoxic color change results that has been clouded by a small sample subset which exhibit accelerated color change in such conditions, and b) the lack of readily available and affordable technology for establishing reduced oxygen microenvironments.

This study will focus on the expansion of the anoxic color change dataset by employing a micro-fading tester (MFT) to examine light-induced color change of a varied sample set in a reduced oxygen environment. Sample types exposed include organic dyes, gouaches, and natural history materials. In addition to inducing color change with the use of a high-intensity xenon lamp, the MFT is capable of simultaneous and continuous color measurement, allowing for an examination of the kinetics of color change.

The anoxic color change results obtained with the MFT will also be compared to previous results from a similar experiment in which an overlapping sample set was housed in anoxic conditions and exposed to halogen lamps using a traditional lightbox protocol. While acknowledged that the spectral power distribution and light intensities of the xenon and halogen lamps are different, a quantitative and qualitative comparison of results generated by exposure to the relatively experimental MFT and the more conventional lightbox method will advance our understanding of the relationship between the two experimental techniques.

Speaker(s)

Vincent Beltran

Assistant Scientist, Getty Conservation Institute

Vincent Beltran joined GCI Science in 2002. He has been an active participant in a range of research projects including the mechanical characterization of historic materials, the effect of reduced oxygen environments on color change, evaluations of packing case performance during... Read More →

Co-Author(s)

Andrew Lerwill

Research Scientist, Image Permanence Institute

Dr. Andrew Lerwill is a Research Scientist at the Image Permanence Institute. Building upon his PhD dissertation "Micro-fading Spectrometry: an Investigation into the Display of Traditional Watercolour Pigments in Anoxia," his research interests have focused on the use of diverse... Read More →

Christel C. Pesme

Chief Conservator/ Deputy Director, Heritage Conservation Centre

Since November 2021, Christel Pesme holds the position of Chief Conservator at the Heritage Conservation Centre, the centralised purpose-built repository and conservation facility for the National Collection of Singapore. Prior to this role, she worked at M+ in Hong Kong, from... Read More →

James Druzik

Senior Scientist, Getty Conservation Institute

Thursday May 29, 2014 2:00pm - 2:30pm PDT
Seacliff C-D

2:00pm PDT

(Textiles Session) Sustaining Embedded Knowledge in Textile Conservation and Textile and Dress Collections

Textile and dress collections and textile conservation would seem to have much to celebrate at the moment. Exciting new projects are in the pipeline, such as the British Museum’s World Conservation and Exhibition Centre (opening 2014), the Victoria & Albert Museum’s Clothworkers’ Centre for Textiles, Fashion Study and Conservation (opening 2013) while the Queen Sirikit Museum of Textiles, Bangkok has recently opened its doors. Conservators also appear to be energised by an expanded vision for the role for heritage conservation, using their technical expertise and knowledge to preserve collections, enhance understanding and engage the public in this previously hidden process.

Further investigation, however, reveals a somewhat different position. Textile collections in the UK regions, despite some notable exceptions, are being adversely affected by reductions in central and local government funding. The UK Museum Association is tracking the loss of specialist curatorial posts, including textile curators. Despite the great drawing power of textile and dress exhibitions, the invisible expertise which enables such displays appears to be being eroded. This paper will therefore focus on this threat to the long-term sustainability of textile and dress collections and the risk of loss of embedded collection knowledge for curating and conserving. Without such expertise, effective planning for collection development and preventive care cannot be sustained.

This discussion of the tensions between our self-image of our profession and discipline, our changing roles and the problematic reality of institutional experience, recognition and funding is intended as a positive contribution to the debate on the future role and impact of textile conservation. It will argue that the study of textiles and dress is still not regarded as a serious discipline and explore the impact of this, including gendered views of textile collections and their audiences. Even when posts are secure, few textile specialists, either curators or conservators, become higher level museum managers so decision-making and choices about collections and recruitment are often made by those without insight into the potential of textile and dress for telling stories through objects and engaging different publics interested in history, science, trade and politics. It is all too easy for textile and dress collections, requiring specific specialist display and storage, to slip off the priorities list when museums are besieged by other pressures. Attitudes to textile conservation, still sometimes perceived as an expensive technical block rather than a skilled process, will be examined.

The paper will conclude with some thoughts on how these complex issues could start to be addressed in order to sustain embedded expertise and influence-decision making. It will be illustrated with a case study drawing on the Monument Fellowship held by the author at York Castle Museum. Designed to capture and transfer specialist knowledge from previous staff members, the ‘Talking Textiles’ Fellowship aimed to enhance understanding and encourage dialogue with, and discovery by, colleagues who had not previously engaged with these collections. This contributed to the broader aim of enhancing public understanding and enjoyment of the textiles and dress collections thus demonstrating their value to the museum.

Speaker(s)

Mary Brooks

Director MA International Cultural Heritage Management, Durham University

Following the Diploma in Textile Conservation, Textile Conservation Centre (TCC), Mary undertook an internship at the Abegg-Stiftung, Switzerland. She worked at the Fine Arts Museums, San Francisco and York Castle Museum. Here she jointly curated â€˜Stop the Rotâ€™, winning... Read More →

Thursday May 29, 2014 2:00pm - 2:30pm PDT
Seacliff A-B

2:00pm PDT

(Wooden Artifacts Session) Improving the legibility of faded handwriting on furniture by digital modification of infrared, ultraviolet and polarized-light-filtered photographs

This is a session desDuring an ongoing review of American furniture at the MFA Boston, a team of curators and conservators discovered a number of unrecorded inscriptions on the objects. In many cases, the writing was worn, abraded or unintentionally reduced by sanding of surfaces. Darkening of the wood substrate and fading of writing media added to the challenge of deciphering the handwritings. Additional technical examination was required to visualize the faded inscriptions. The information contained in these inscriptions and markings can be invaluable to our curators as they study and research the provenance of furniture in their collection.
Infrared photography has been used for years to help read inscriptions on furniture. While the technique is useful for revealing remnants of writing materials containing carbon, it appears to be less applicable for tracing other media. But cabinet makers also used chalk, ink and pointed tools to mark their work.
The search for suitable examination techniques for these less researched writing media led us to experiment with different kinds of illumination and digital modification of images. UV-induced fluorescence was found to improve legibility of faded inscriptions written in ink. An inscription of chalk, which was heavily abraded, became visible by using the relief tool available in Adobe Photoshop.
Our initial results from using various photographic techniques were put into context by comparing research of other conservation disciplines related to writing materials, and to a more systematic approach.
The experiments were undertaken mostly by using the standard digital photography equipment in our lab. Our old and cumbersome digital infrared camera was retired, and a regular DSLR camera was refitted by a specialized company to serve for near-infrared and reflected UV photography.
The general image quality of photographs was also improved by using polarized filters on lenses and light sources. This reduced the glare of the wooden substrate underneath the inscriptions, and gave a better image overall.
With these little modifications to our photography routine and minor improvements to our equipment, we achieved noticeably better raw files. Processing with imaging software benefitted from the better initial quality of the photographs.
While many conservators most commonly use image processing software for color correction and adjustment of contrast and sharpness, there are many more digital tools in software such as Adobe Photoshop. Together with professional photographers at the MFA, a variety of options was explored to further enhance traces of inscriptions captured in digital images.
The combination of different photographic and software applications improved the legibility of inscriptions handwritten in media other than pencil. Several case studies will be presented to demonstrate the results of our research.
cription.

Speaker(s)

Christine Schaette

Assistant Furniture Conservator, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Christine Schaette received her bachelor’s degree in furniture conservation from the University of Applied Sciences, Cologne, Germany, in 2006. During this time she interned at the Sherman Fairchild Center for Objects Conservation at the Metropolitan Museum of Arts, New York. In... Read More →

Thursday May 29, 2014 2:00pm - 2:30pm PDT
Regency Room

2:30pm PDT

(Collection Care Session) The LED Revolution: Reevaluating Criteria and Standards for Museum Illumination

As a result of improvements in technology, LEDs will soon replace traditional electric lighting sources in many applications. The primary drive is economic, due to the high energy efficiency and long life of LEDs. Since the cost of LEDs will continue to drop as performance rapidly improves, the question is not “if” but “when” to make the transition to LEDs. Aside from obvious economic advantages, LEDs potentially offer many options beyond those available with conventional light sources. How can these options be used advantageously in a museum setting where the importance of properly exhibiting objects is balanced by the need to preserve objects and to minimize the risk of light-induced damage?

In order to answer this question, it is useful to consider the meaning of "properly exhibiting" an object from the perspective of the visual experience. Traditionally, the three most important tools used to minimize damage due to illumination were to control the level of visible light, minimize ultraviolet radiation and the rotation of light sensitive materials. Over the last few decades, there have been significant improvements in methods for determining the relative light sensitivity of materials, and in the availability and use of UV monitors and UV filters.

With regard to the control of the level of visible light, the goal has been to maintain an average light level between 50 lux and approximately 200 lux, depending on the relative light sensitivity of the object, a rule that has remained in place for many years. These values are based on the assumption that this is an adequate level of illumination to view a light-sensitive museum artifact and any illumination above this level would cause unjustifiable damage. Is this assumption correct?

Since LEDs offer new tools for the control of color temperature, color rendering, dimming, and unique capabilities for light distribution, the introduction of LEDs provides an important opportunity for reassessing what constitutes an acceptable visual experience and how new technology can improve this experience. One of the most important issues is to more fully understand the visual implications of viewing objects at current conservation approved light levels. It is also essential to take other factors such as color temperature and relative luminance of the surround, to name just two, into account.

The goal of this presentation is to discuss the need for developing a framework for reassessing the "visual experience", based on a variety of criteria, including conservation concerns. Visual examples will be presented to illustrate the significance of various factors that must be taken into account.

Speaker(s)

Steven Weintraub

Consultant, Art Preservation Services

Steven Weintraub founded Art Preservation Services in 1988. Steven holds an MA in Art History and an Advanced Certificate in Conservation from the Institute of Fine Arts, NYU. From 1975 to 1986, he was an objects conservator at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Among his many activities... Read More →

Thursday May 29, 2014 2:30pm - 3:00pm PDT
Garden Room

2:30pm PDT

(Architecture + Objects Session) The Cultural Production of Tourism at Lake Tahoe) Exploring How Cultural Heritage Preservation is Impacted by Tourism

This paper explores the connection between tourism and cultural heritage preservation. Our goals as heritage conservation professionals use scientific investigations and research to better understand material culture itself and how best to preserve it. Education and scientific illumination is just one end result of our work. Our work, the real end result of what most of us do, is for tourists, enticing people to visit our museums, national parks, archaeological sites, and historic buildings both in reality and virtually. We are involved in the cultural production of tourism and tourists sites, though we may not conceptualize our work in this way. This paper explains and explores this connection between tourism and cultural heritage conservation. The goals are to highlight these concepts and illuminate the wide ranging impacts and responsibilities we as heritage preservation professionals have beyond the actual physical preservation of our cultural heritage.

Speaker(s)

Catherine Magee

Department of Geography, University of Nevada

Catherine Magee received her MS in objects conservation from the Winterthur/University of Delaware, Program in Art Conservation. She has worked in Asia, Central America, the Mediterranean Basin and North Africa as an Archaeological Conservator on both terrestrial and marine sites... Read More →

Thursday May 29, 2014 2:30pm - 3:00pm PDT
Grand Ballroom B-C

2:30pm PDT

(Book and Paper Session) Preserving the African American Scrapbook Collection of Emory University Libraries

Rare scrapbooks that document African American life in the United States from 1890-1975 are being preserved at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. With support from a Save America’s Treasures grant, the project is a collaborative effort with the Emory University Libraries Preservation Office, Digital Curation Center, and Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library (MARBL). The grant was awarded through the Department of Interior and the National Park Service in collaboration with the National Endowment for the Arts, National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Institute of Museum and Library Services.

In 2011, Emory began the three-year process of preserving and digitizing our African American scrapbook collection. Thirty-four scrapbooks were slated for conservation treatment, and that number has grown as more African American manuscript collections are processed. There are many more scrapbooks in our collections that deserve attention, but those created by African Americans, whether famous or not, took precedence for this project.

Scrapbooks are like the dirty little secrets of libraries and archives – often restricted from use, without conservation treatment and tucked into vaults awaiting tough decisions. Scrapbooks have been neglected, as they are complex amalgams of multiple types of artifacts assembled in a book format. Ours contained everything from half-inch thick military patches to dance cards with a pencil still attached. Papers and objects are affixed with the entire gamut of adhesives and tapes onto usually brittle pages and bound without regard to the thickness and weight of the contents. Whether turn-of-the-century constructions or 1970’s magnetic albums, these scrapbooks posed enumerable preservation questions. In working with the Emory collection, we have developed decision-making processes for treating a variety of scrapbooks.

Historic importance, current condition, and frequency of use are all considered to help inform our conservation decisions about treating the diverse materials in each scrapbook. It is common to encounter multiple adhesives and tape layers in scrapbooks. Removing these materials can be difficult or even impossible, for instance when information is written directly on the tape carrier layer. In our project, time and budget constraints of the grant helped to establish boundaries around this treatment phase, always foremost in our minds when determining the course of treatment.

The original structure of each scrapbook was digitally photographed to document the initial experience of viewing them. Many volumes required stabilization repairs before digitization could occur. Reassociating loose items, separating glued stacks of paper objects, lifting photographs that had previously hidden important information written on the back, and reformatting some of the more fragile scrapbooks into encapsulated polyester page books meant a second digital capture. Developing efficient hand-offs and documenting workflow between the three library departments was crucial to the project. Cross training in handling fragile materials and capturing metadata proved beneficial.

Every scrapbook item—covers, fronts and backs of foldouts, and each layer of (sometimes eighteen!) overlapping items—has been captured, and those digital files eventually will become available to researchers through the Emory Libraries Finding Aid.

Speaker(s)

Ann Frellsen

Collections Conservator, Emory University Libraries

Brian Methot

Digital Photography Coordinator, Emory University

Brian Methot is a member of the Digitization and Digital Curation team at Emory University Libraries. He is a member of the Save America's Treasures grant project and works very closely with the whole team to plan specific digitization processes. Among other responsibilities, Brian... Read More →

Kim Norman

Preservation Manager and Conservator, Georgia Archives

Kim Norman is the Preservation Manager and Conservator at the Georgia Archives. Kim has been co-chair of the AIC Emergency Committee, program co-chair of the Alliance for Response network in Atlanta (HERA), as well as vice-president and president of the Southeastern Regional Conservation... Read More →

Thursday May 29, 2014 2:30pm - 3:00pm PDT
Grand Ballroom A

2:30pm PDT

(Paintings Session) Unmaking Your Mark: An investigation into the removal of pencil from unprimed cotton canvas

Pencil marks present a great challenge to removal when applied, purposefully or otherwise, to textiles such as unprimed cotton canvas. This problem is relevant to textile conservation as well as the conservation of contemporary paintings, where unprimed canvas is frequently left exposed, such as in the works of Morris Louis, Robert Goodnough, and Kenneth Noland. Errant, accidental marks and those applied intentionally as acts of vandalism are equally problematic. Pencils are generally comprised of low quality amorphous graphite, an electrically conductive semi-metal allotrope of carbon, pressed together with clay. When used to write, the powdered crystalline flakes of graphite break off; when this occurs on canvas, these powdery flakes become entrapped in the fiber and thread bundles, and are difficult to remove without compromising the structure of the fabric. Methods of safe removal were tested including laser ablation, mechanical removal methods, and reversed microemulsion cleaning agents including siloxane systems. The effectiveness of the method of removal was determined by visual results, the hand of the fabric, and microscopic examination to check for fiber damage and discoloration. Mechanical removal proved ineffective and impractical, and an appropriate microemulsion system could not be found that would not compromise both the aesthetic and the hand of the canvas. Successful results were only obtained with laser ablation at 532 nm; other wavelengths tested (266 nm, 355 nm, and 1064 nm) did not give satisfactory results. Ageing tests on the ablated canvas samples are forthcoming.

Speaker(s)

Samantha Skelton-[PA]

Associate Conservator, Associate Conservator

Samantha is a paintings conservation fellow in the Winterthur/University of Delaware Program in Art Conservation. She graduated summa cum laude from the University of South Carolina in 2011, with an Honors BA in Art History and minors in Chemistry and Studio Art. She has previously... Read More →

Co-Author(s)

Bartosz A. Dajnowski

Conservator, G.C. Laser Systems Inc.

Objects conservator Bartosz Dajnowski has an MS from the Winterthur/University of Delaware Masters Program in Art Conservation. He studied art, culture, and conservation at the Jagiellonian University in Poland, Studio Art Centers International in Florence, the Loyola Rome Center... Read More →

Dr. Antoni Sarzyński

Researcher, Laser Applications Lab at the Institute of Optoelectronics, Military University of Technology

Dr. inż Antoni Sarzyński completed his studies of technical physics at the Military University of Technology in 1973. In 1992 he defended his doctoral thesis (numerical modeling of propagation and strengthening laser radiation) at the Faculty of Physics Warsaw University of Technology... Read More →

Dr. Jan Marczak

Director, Laser Applications Lab at the Institute of Optoelectronics, Military University of Technology

Dr. hab. inż. Jan Marczak (prof. MUT) completed his studies of technical physics at the Military University of Technology in 1973. He achieved his doctoral habilitation in the field of surface engineering. He specializes in laser technology and its applications in micro-technology... Read More →

Richard C. Wolbers

Assistant Professor of Art Conservation, University of Delaware

Masters degree in fine arts from the University of California (San Diego, CA, USA) in 1977. Masters degree in art conservation from the University of Delaware (Newark, DE, USA) in 1984. Associate Professor of Art Conservation in the Winterthur-University of Delaware Program in Art... Read More →

Tatiana Ausema

Conservator, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden

Tatiana graduated from the Winterthur/University of Delaware program in Art Conservation in 2003 specializing in paintings and modern materials. Since then, she has worked at the Smithsonian Institution’s Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden as conservator and researcher studying... Read More →

Thursday May 29, 2014 2:30pm - 3:00pm PDT
Bayview A-B

2:30pm PDT

(Research and Technical Studies Session) Concealable strain sensing monitoring and modeling of relative dimensional changes in art objects

A novel method has been developed to assess and to predict strain deformation of art objects responding to environmental fluctuations. The method uses a Giant Magneto-Resistance (GMR) sensor, which allows micron scale displacement monitoring with respect to a fixed small magnet, and without the intervention of a stress/strain tensor relationship. The small GMR sensor and magnet sizes make concealed sensing more practical while safer for art objects. Short and medium term weather forecasting and its impact on building indoor environment, coupled with physical models of building insulation envelope, can help predict object deformation and response to environmental changes. Thus, sensor placed near/in art object and relying on a wireless communication platform provide a powerful tool for measuring and predicting temporal deformation of wooden and textile objects in response to local temperature and relative humidity fluctuations. The discussion will focus first on a laboratory case study, in which the dimensional changes of wood test vehicles subjected to sudden humidity changes, at constant temperature, inside a controlled environmental chamber were measured. This will followed by addressing the collaboration with the Conservation and Collection Care department of the Historic Royal Palaces. The latter, aims at monitoring environmental risks for the Tudor tapestries at Hampton Court Palace, UK. The deployment of the sensors on the “The sacrifice of Isaac”, Henry VIII’s tapestry in the Great Hall at Hampton Court Palace, and current real time results will be discussed.

Furthermore, we will discuss an iterative numerical method for non-linear effects correction that provides improved accuracy and the measurement is used to generate a simple elastic model of textile deformation. The method is relevant to develop schemes and integrate them into analytic models to address risk management across different geographies and offer a tool for helping to revise existing standards.

Speaker(s)

Alejandro Schrott

Research Staff Member, IBM Research

PhD in Physics, Researcher at IBM for 28 years.

Co-Author(s)

Hendrik F. Hamann

IBM Research, Thomas J. Watson Center

Joseph Sloan

Graduate Student, Johns Hopkins University

Levente Klein

IBM Research, Thomas J. Watson Center

Mika Takami

Treatment Conservation Manager in Conservation and Collection Care, Historic Royal Palaces, UK

Mika Takami ACR is Treatment Conservation Manager in Conservation and Collection Care at Historic Royal Palaces, based at Hampton Court Palace, UK. She holds a BA in Arabic language from Osaka University of Foreign Studies. She originally began her conservation career in Japan but... Read More →

Sergio A Bermudez-Rodriguez

IBM Research, Thomas J. Watson Center

Thursday May 29, 2014 2:30pm - 3:00pm PDT
Seacliff C-D

2:30pm PDT

(Textiles Session) Blown up: Collaborative conservation and sustainable treatment for an inflatable dress

Innovative and unusual fashion design calls for innovative and unusual approaches to textile conservation. This paper will discuss one such approach which was the result of a process of consultation and collaboration, combining the expertise of several fields to develop a treatment that was not only effective, reversible, and stable, but also sustainable for the long-term use and exhibition of a piece of fashion art.

The treatment was for a “pneumatic dress” designed by Issey Miyake, circa 2000. The dress features inflatable, beach ball-like sleeves, which no longer held enough air to achieve an inflated appearance. In addition to the “normal” parameters of textile conservation, the dress came with some unique ones: first, while the dress will eventually be accessioned at the Cincinnati Art Museum, its current owner wishes to wear it a few more times, adding the challenge of wearability to its care; second, the sleeves’ materials include polyester, nylon, and polyurethane with vinyl inflation valves, adding the challenge of intrinsically unstable materials; third, as a recent artwork, it was in excellent repair except for the glaring aesthetic problem of its wilted sleeves.

The conservation treatment was a collaboration between the textile conservator, the objects conservator, the curator, and the owner, balancing the unique concerns of each and drawing on their fields of knowledge. Other conservators were consulted via the Conservation “DistList” and by phone and email. Plastics specialists were consulted on the current and anticipated future degradation of the materials. The owner contacted the Issey Miyake flagship store and another owner of a similar piece. Research and consultation continued during treatment and the treatment approach evolved in response.

Ultimately, the sleeves were filled with polystyrene beads inside a polyester gauze bladder inserted and filled through the inflation valve hole. After filling, the inflation valves were tacked back in place with skins of Beva 371. The original aesthetic appearance of the dress was regained, complete with the final touch of the original vinyl inflation valves even though the dress could no longer be inflated with air. The owner came to the museum for a fitting and the dress was declared wearable again, despite some added weight from the filled sleeves. The polystyrene bead treatment prevents the necessity for re-treatment in the future because as the polyurethane film degrades, the correct shape of the sleeves will remain, supported in position by the filling, making this a sustainable treatment for a problematic and continuously deteriorating material. The dress is stable enough to wear on an evening out on the town, but will enter the collection of the Cincinnati Art Museum as an exhibitable work of the fascinating fashion art of Issey Miyake.

Speaker(s)

Chandra Obie-[PA]

Conservator, Cincinnati Art Museum

Chandra Obie is the first textile conservator at Cincinnati Art Museum and also in private practice as Obie Textile Conservation, LLC. She studied costumes while earning a B.A. in Drama at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York, and went on to earn her M.A. in Textile Conservation... Read More →

Thursday May 29, 2014 2:30pm - 3:00pm PDT
Seacliff A-B

2:30pm PDT

(Wooden Artifacts Session) Roccoco Drama - Dry Ice Cleaning the Ormolu Mounts of the Augustus Rex Writing Cabinet

The Augustus Rex writing cabinet was made c.1750 for Augustus III, Elector of Saxony, possibly by Michael Kümmel, based in Dresden. The Victoria & Albert Museum acquired the cabinet in 1977. It had been completely restored and the ormolu mounts were regilded, though not recoated.

The cabinet’s bright appearance was at odds with the other objects in the gallery into which the cabinet was put on display. To remedy this difference, a thick layer of black-pigmented waxy material was applied to the mounts and surrounding wood. Thirty years of London dirt and grime blown in by the climate control system then settled into this layer.

In 2011 the cabinet was brought to Furniture Conservation for treatment during the renovation of the Europe 1600-1800 Galleries. As it would be one of two star objects highlighted in the Galleries, the curators wanted to bring Rex back to its Rothschild-era state of gleaming beauty.

The treatment of the one hundred and fifty ormolu mounts was particularly challenging. They are of the highest quality and detail, with incredibly fine chasing. The intractable wax was impossible to remove from the tiny crevices of the surface, and attempting to do so was not only overly time-consuming but caused damage to the regilding on the high points.

It was decided to clean the mounts with dry ice. This technique employs tiny pellets of dry ice (solid CO2) which are shot at the surface with the use of compressed air. The dry ice instantly sublimes upon contact with the surface, expanding by five hundred times and thus mechanically removing any soft surface coating. One major advantage of this technique is its ‘greenness’, as it utilises recycled CO2 instead of the gallons of solvent which otherwise would have been required.

The treatment was successful, removing the unsightly wax from the crevices of the chasing and leaving behind a clean but appropriately aged surface. Examination under magnification revealed that no damage had been caused to the gilded surface, some of which was highly burnished. In addition, cleaning of the one hundred and fifty mounts was accomplished efficiently and at low cost.

While dry ice was a good choice in this case, it is not appropriate for every surface or for every cleaning problem. Further study is warranted as well to confirm on a molecular level that no damage is being caused to the object surface.

Speaker(s)

Catherine Coueignoux

Associate Objects Conservator, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco

Catherine is an Associate Objects Conservator at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco (deYoung and Legion of Honor). Prior to this she spent seven years in the Furniture Conservation studio at the Victoria and Albert Museum, first as a two-time Samuel H. Kress Conservation Fellow... Read More →

Thursday May 29, 2014 2:30pm - 3:00pm PDT
Regency Room

3:00pm PDT

(Collection Care Session) Tracking Cumulative Light Exposure Using The Museum System

In June 2013, the Saint Louis Art Museum opened the East Building, a new wing addition designed by David Chipperfield. The LEED Gold building features skylights and floor-to-ceiling windows and adds 21 new galleries for both temporary exhibitions and permanent collection works. The use of daylight as the primary illuminant in many of these new galleries spurred a shift from using instantaneous light level limits measured in footcandles to a cumulative exposure model using kilofootcandle-hours per year. The Conservation Department established new cumulative exposure guidelines for collections materials and worked with projections from the building’s lighting designers to develop an estimate of monthly light exposure based on location. Through collaboration with the museum’s TMS administrator, TMS was adapted to create a system for tracking light exposure over time. Fields in the Conservation Module of TMS were re-purposed to accommodate new information needed to determine overall exposure, and reference documents were added as plug-ins for easy access. Additionally, a flag system was created to alert conservators, registrars, and curators of pieces that have received excess exposure. Reports for light exposure were developed to present both the exhibition history and cumulative light exposure for a specific work and the exposure status of groups of objects in the museum. The cumulative exposure model allows for increased flexibility of display parameters, including instantaneous light levels, while emphasizing the need for preventative conservation. This paper will discuss the shift to a cumulative exposure model, the challenges and benefits of working with TMS, and the progress achieved since implementation.

Speaker(s)

Ella Rothgangel

Acting Head of Registration, Saint Louis Art Museum

Claire Walker

Assistant Painting Conservator, Saint Louis Art Museum

Claire Walker is the Assistant Painting Conservator at the Saint Louis Art Museum. She earned her B.F.A in Painting at Washington University in St. Louis in 2007 and completed her Masters in Art Conservation and Certificate of Advanced Study at Buffalo State College in 2010. She has... Read More →

Thursday May 29, 2014 3:00pm - 3:30pm PDT
Garden Room

3:00pm PDT

(Architecture + Objects Session) Conservation Realities and Challenges) from Auto Regulation to Imposition at Archaeological and Historical Sites in Colombia

Through examples taken from my work experience in archaeological and historical sites, I would like to address two issues that illustrate the topic of sustainability of cultural heritage.

First, how the complex political and economic reality affects decision-making or the implementation of conservation projects, and how those realities lead to heritage sites becoming self-regulated. An example is the archaeological site of Pueblito, or sites like Fuente de Lavapatas or la Chaquira rock art site in San Agustín.

Second, how the limits imposed by the context could open different possibilities for conservation practice. An example is the mandatory cleaning of pictographs in the Archaeological Park of Facatativá that will determine how the site is managed; or the political public protests in Bogota that forced us to apply anti-graffiti coatings on outdoor sculpture and monuments, and initiate research on this topic.

Considering these arguments, it is a fact that the preservation of cultural heritage is subject to the context, not only conditioned by the so-called deterioration factors, such as the environment, human and biological activity, etc. Preservation is mostly vulnerable to political and economic decisions. Understanding these forces and being able to affect those issues can lead to more adequate management and results that will become sustainable for the preservation of heritage monuments and sites.

Speaker(s)

Maria Alvarez

LACS Recipient, Corporacion Proyecto Patrimonio

Thursday May 29, 2014 3:00pm - 3:30pm PDT
Grand Ballroom B-C

3:00pm PDT

(Book and Paper Session) The impact of digitization on conservation activities at the Wellcome Library

In 2010 The Wellcome Library, Euston Road, London, embarked on a project to digitize all of its Library’s holdings. It is now into Phase 2 of the project and plans to be finished in 2015. All treatments in preparation for digitization are undertaken with the aim of stabilizing objects for digitization. Conservation decisions and treatments are based on three basic principles, minimal intervention in the context of a research library, re-treatability and the ‘fit for purpose' principle.

My illustrated talk describes the Wellcome Library’s Conservation and Collection Care approach to the care of its collections during digitization projects. It outlines the considerations needed for the co-operation between all interested parties to facilitate the various types of digitization projects. It lays out the expected level of care and protection while fulfilling the goals of digitizing Wellcome Library’s holdings in a safe and timely manner. Condition assessment and preparation for image capture of the collection are carried out by Conservation staff at the beginning of the workflow.

There are two levels of treatment preparation for digitization. Level one can be carried out by trained digital preparers and level two by staff in the conservation studio. The treatment data are held in the Conservation and Collection Care Department consistent with the permanent retention of records related to treatment and assessment of collection items beyond the duration of the project. All conservation data related to the project, e.g. surveys of condition, assessment spread sheets, and treatment records, will be made accessible within the strands of the project.

Conservation and Collection Care is one component in a complex workflow. The greatest risk to any physical object is in the handling, and the nature of the digitization process means that objects are often handled in new ways in new contexts, or with greater intensity. It is the risk of damage or loss from handling that conservation aims to collaboratively mitigate; handling guidelines are written to elaborate on this. These aim to achieve effective communication between different collection areas and stages of the workflow by constantly sharing and updating information.

Communication with all parties involved in the digitization process is key, as is the recognition that each digitization project has a specific value for each of the following variables: the scope of the collection to be digitized; its current physical condition; the demands of the equipment to be used; the experience of the trained personnel involved. All Wellcome Library Staff involved in the digitization process share responsibility for the care and handling of the collection during digitization.

All digitization projects require conservation recommendations for logistics and handling during image capture. The Conservation Team is responsible for ensuring that the necessary training with written guidelines is provided to all personnel involved in digitization, including Wellcome collection staff and outside contractors whom we encourage to submit their own handling guidelines. In practice Conservation and Collection Care is part of the group of advisors during the initial preparation for each digital project. Collection item needs and handling training vary depending on the condition and scope of the selected projects.

Speaker(s)

Gillian Boal

Conservation and Collection Care Manager, Wellcome Library

Gillian Boal works at the Wellcome Trust in London. She is head of Conservation and Collections Care at the Wellcome Library. For most of her career she worked at the University of California, Berkeley in the Main Library as the Hans Rausing Conservator in charge of Conservation Treatment... Read More →

Thursday May 29, 2014 3:00pm - 3:30pm PDT
Grand Ballroom A

3:00pm PDT

(Paintings Session) Eclectic Materials and Techniques of American Painters) 1860-1910

During the course of writing two books on American painters’ techniques, the authors have compiled and interpreted first-hand descriptions of techniques from artists’ notebooks, painting manuals, periodicals, suppliers’ catalogues, letters, diaries, and interviews. This talk focuses on the diversity of methods used during the period 1860-1910, when increased numbers of Americans traveled to various parts of Europe for instruction, resulting in an explosion of transplanted techniques. The influence of French teachers was especially strong; painting over brown underlayers, as Thomas Couture advocated, sometimes produced problems when paint became more transparent over time. A British handbook on technique that was edited for an American audience by Susan N. Carter reflects the influence of Couture on Americans and the diversity of approaches toward adding media at this time, as well as giving insights into Americans’ special relationship with the pigment chrome yellow. The painter Elizabeth Boott wrote letters that shed light on techniques used in Couture’s studio and in William Morris Hunt’s classes in Boston, as well on Frank Duveneck’s practice, in Munich, of adding medium copiously and applying extremely glossy varnishes. Hunt and his pupil Helen Knowlton were important as teachers and authors; Hunt’s comments on the darkening of the works of William Page were perceptive, but both Hunt and Knowlton reflected the growing unfashionability of caring too much about technique as the century neared its end. Other trends of this period include changing views on the aging of paintings, and a growing love of varying techniques simply for the sake of variation.

Some of the earliest artists’ advice columns, published under the editorship of Montague Marks in the magazine Art Amateur during the 1880s and 1890s, are useful in providing details of techniques at that time. These columns document, for instance, Thomas Dewing’s use of extremely thin, matte varnishes; the growing popularity of the shellac-based Soehnée’s varnish as both a retouching and a final varnish; and the surprisingly early beginnings of the tempera revival in America. Another important, little-known source is a series of interviews by DeWitt McClellan Lockman, who asked his fellow painters the kinds of detailed technical questions about topics like varnishing, pigments, and added media that tell conservators (for once!) what we really wanted to know. The Lockman interviews give insights into many topics, including changing varnishing practices and evolving ideas about adding medium, the increasing use of kerosene and other petroleum-derived solvents, and the growing influence of the controversial French author J. G. Vibert, whose many idiosyncratic theories included a preference for petroleum solvents and for zinc white over white lead. Albert Abendschein is an author who is still little known, but who had an influence on painters of the Ashcan school among others. His 1906 book documents many trends of this period, including the growing tempera revival and experiments with wax that spilled over from murals to easel painting; wax and commercially-produced paints containing wax and/or non-drying petroleum fractions were used by a number of American painters around the turn of the century.

Speaker(s)

Gay Myers

Conservator, Lyman Allyn Art Museum

Lance Mayer and Gay Myers have recently retired from careers as independent paintings conservators for many large and small museums and private collectors. They have treated such paintings as Rembrandt Peale’s The Court of Death at the Detroit Institute of Arts, The Raising of Lazarus... Read More →

Co-Author(s)

Lance Mayer

Conservator, Private Practice

Thursday May 29, 2014 3:00pm - 3:30pm PDT
Bayview A-B

3:00pm PDT

(Research and Technical Studies Session) Accurate Measurement and the Quantification of Surface and Material Property Change Using New RTI and AR Techniques

This presentation examines new open source software that will dramatically improve the accuracy of the results generated by Reflectance Transformation Imaging (RTI) and Algorithmic Rendering (AR).

RTI and AR use the same set of empirically captured photos. This photo set is acquired with a fixed camera and subject. Each photo is taken with the illumination source in a different position. The positions evenly sample incoming light directions over the surface of an imaginary hemisphere over the subject.

Cultural Heritage Imaging (CHI) and a team at Simon Frasier University (SFU) will demonstrate new ways of using RTI data. The new RTI algorithm produces colors, self-shadowing, and specular highlights that exactly match photographic ground truth. The team removes one of the photos from the RTI set and synthetically generates a new photo from the same light position. The SFU team has used many different subjects to convincingly demonstrate their synthetically built photos exactly match the attributes of the removed photo. The new algorithm can generate accurate shadows and highlights associated with any incoming light direction.

The SFU algorithm generates highly accurate surface shape information. In RTIs, surface shape information is recorded as a field of surface normals. This field represents the spatial orientations of the subject’s surface at the locations corresponding to the photo’s pixels, which represent it. This orientation data determines the direction of light reflectance off the surface of the imaging subject, produced by an interactively pointed virtual light.

The SFU research algorithm uses a radial basis function to separate shadows and highlights and weights them according to their intensity. The algorithm also creates a third set of pixels, which have neither shadows nor highlights. The normal field is calculated per pixel using the pixel samples from this third set. The calculation of normal directions can be significantly misdirected by the presence of shadowed and highlighted pixel samples. Normal direction calculations using pixel samples without shadows and highlights produce highly accurate normal fields. These normal fields accurately represent the topology of the imaging subject's surface. These normal fields can also be integrated to create full 3-D geometry representing the subject's surface.

When this geometry is measured, it will yield accurate results. Once the subject is represented in a measurable form, subsequent RTI data sets can be transformed into measurable 3-D representations, which enable the accurate quantification of surface shape change. Measurement of surface color and material characteristics, such as shininess, can also be quantified to track their changes over time.

These new tools are being integrated into existing CHI open source software for building and viewing RTI's. CHI collaborators at Princeton University are building the photometric stereo, 3-D geometry building, open source software into the AR toolkit. An overview of new features to RTI and AR tools will also be presented.

These tools have the potential to dramatically improve the quantification of change of humanity's legacy under the stewardship of the conservation community.

Speaker(s)

Mark Mudge

President, Cultural Heritage Imaging

Carla Schroer

Director, Cultural Heritage Imaging

Co-Author(s)

Mark S. Drew

Professor of Computing Science, Simon Fraser University

Mark S. Drew is a Professor in the School of Computing Science at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, Canada. His background education is in Engineering Science, Mathematics, and Physics. His interests lie in the fields of image processing, color, computer vision, computer... Read More →

Mingjing Zhang

Graduate Student, Simon Fraser University

Thursday May 29, 2014 3:00pm - 3:30pm PDT
Seacliff C-D

3:00pm PDT

(Textiles Session) A Case Study Using Multi-band and Hyperspectral Imaging for the Identification and Characterization of Materials on Archaeological Andean Painted Textiles

Looking beyond the visible using spectral imaging techniques including infrared reflectography and ultraviolet-induced visible fluorescence have been standard practice for conservation professionals since the 1930s. These techniques are relatively accessible to many museum professionals and have become routine in research and conservation for the characterization and differentiation of materials. Some institutions with imaging and color science staff with high-end spectral imaging equipment have the advantage of creating and processing large spectral data cubes that provide complex information for the identification of materials. Combining a lower resolution hyperspectral camera with a higher resolution DSLR camera modified for multiband imaging may present a more accessible imaging option to aid identification and characterization of materials in cultural heritage objects. This paper presents a case study in the combined use of multiband and hyperspectral imaging for investigation of the materials and manufacturing techniques of four archeological Andean painted textiles from the collection of the National Museum of the American Indian. The goals of this project are to explore a more accessible spectral imaging option, present a technique that can be used on a wide variety of cultural heritage objects and investigate the possibility of offering new insights that previous routine imaging did not provide. A Surface Optics Corp SOC710 hyperspectral camera is used in addition to a modified DSLR with a variety of narrow and long bandpass filters. The four painted textiles are a subset of a larger project investigating the materials and manufacturing techniques used to create twenty-one archeological Andean painted textiles using non-invasive techniques including XRF, handheld FTIR, Fiber Optics Reflectance Spectroscopy ; and destructive techniques including micro XRD, FTIR, Raman Spectroscopy, and HPLC. These techniques are expected to support information acquired through imaging techniques.

Speaker(s)

E. Keats Webb

Imaging Specialist & SEAHA Student, Smithsonian MCI, University of Brighton & SEAHA CDT

E. KEATS WEBB is the Digital Imaging Specialist at the Smithsonian’s Museum Conservation Institute (MCI). She received a BFA in photography from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (2007). She has been working at the Museum Conservation Institute in various imaging capacities... Read More →

Co-Author(s)

Rebecca Summerour

Smithsonian Scholarly Studies Fellow, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution

REBECCA SUMMEROUR is a Smithsonian Scholarly Studies Fellow at the National Museum of African Art. She earned a Master of Arts degree with a Certificate of Advanced Study from the Buffalo State Art Conservation Department (2012). She also holds Bachelor of Fine Arts degrees in Crafts... Read More →

Thursday May 29, 2014 3:00pm - 3:30pm PDT
Seacliff A-B

3:00pm PDT

(Wooden Artifacts Session) Review and interpretation of X-rays of construction details of American seating Furniture

Over the past few years the Furniture and Frame Conservation lab at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston has taken the opportunity to X-ray furniture and particularly chairs as part of their conservation examination and treatment. This project was initially motivated as part of a study to understand the history of a pair of Philadelphia side chairs from 1760-75 possibly by Benjamin Randolph in the
museum’ s collection which have been the focus of two fascinating articles by furniture historians published in 1972 and 1998 which discuss the authenticity and possibly modifications to these chairs. Examination of the X-rays of these chairs, which revealed conventional mortise and tenon joinery, raised the issue that we had no comparative material to compare them too. We therefore decided to follow up this initial study and to continue to more routinely X-ray furniture so that over time we can build up a comprehensive database of construction techniques employed in American furniture.

This talk will illustrate some of the findings of the study and in particular the introduction of dowels during the 19th century. It will also discuss the difficulties of X-raying furniture and the problems of interpretation of X-rays which due to the nature of furniture and the placement of X-ray film often introduce distortions into the X-rays. The long term aim of this project is that as more data is collected and analyzed we may see some patterns of construction at different points in time or in different regions or shops. This would help to further our understanding and knowledge of furniture making in general but would also provide us with a database of X-rays for use during the examination and authenticating of furniture. Ultimately it would be ideal if X-rays from different museums and institutions could be compiled into a central database to broaden the depth of the study.

Speaker(s)

Gordon Hanlon

Head of Furniture and Frame Conservation, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Gordon Hanlon joined the MFA as Head of Furniture and Frame Conservation in January 2000 after 12 years at the J.Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles. After receiving his BA in Biology from the University of York he studied first furniture making at the London College of Furniture followed... Read More →

Thursday May 29, 2014 3:00pm - 3:30pm PDT
Regency Room

3:30pm PDT

Refreshment Break in Exhibit Hall

Thursday May 29, 2014 3:30pm - 4:00pm PDT
Pacific Concourse

Break

4:00pm PDT

(Collection Care Session) The Ossabaw Island Workshops – Preventive conservation training in a real life setting

Ossabaw Island, GA is a near-wilderness, 26,000 acre island. The only access is by private boat. Among the five residents is the 90-year-old former owner, who retained lifetime residency in the Main House after she donated the island to the State of Georgia. Since 2010 four workshops on preventive conservation have been held on the island, three of which have been funded by FAIC through an NEH grant; the Ossabaw Island Foundation has also given significant support for the workshops.

The goal of these workshops is to train conservation students in the precepts of preventive conservation and historic housekeeping. The workshops have used the Main House as the classroom and laboratory, with students studying the collections and conditions in the house. Since the Main House is not a house museum, the workshops have given over 20 participants (both students and instructors) an opportunity to develop and implement housekeeping plans in an historic but uncontrolled environment in a remote setting. The work requires flexibility and practical problem solving by both students and instructors.

In addition to training students, another goal of the workshops has been to train instructors. Three of the four workshops have been co-taught by “emerging professionals,” who synthesized their knowledge from graduate programs and developed teaching techniques to convey this knowledge of preventive conservation to students with much less experience. The instructors and the students share housing and cooking in another historic building on the island. As a result they develop a professional camaraderie, which deepens the learning experiences.

The proposed presentation will be a panel of past Ossabaw Island workshop participants discussing which principles and techniques of preventive conservation have – or have not -- been applicable in this setting. The Main House on Ossabaw Island is a historic house even though it may never be recognized as such by an official agency. These workshops have provided an unprecedented opportunity for intrepid conservators to learn about a collection and have input into the very beginnings of institutional conservation and preservation planning.

Speaker(s)

David Bayne

Conservator, NY State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation

Since 1992 David Bayne has been the Furniture Conservator for the New York State Bureau of Historic Sites located at the Peebles Island Resource Center in Waterford New York. David graduated from Reed College with a degree in Biology in 1976. For the next 10 years he worked as a timber... Read More →

Thursday May 29, 2014 4:00pm - 4:30pm PDT
Garden Room

4:00pm PDT

(Architecture + Objects Session) The Development of Treatment Protocol at the Watts Towers Conservation Project

Since January 2011, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) has worked under contract to the City of Los Angeles on the conservation of the Watts Towers, a National Historic Landmark sculptural site. Created by Sabato Rodia between 1921 and 1954, the Towers are considered a masterpiece of ‘outsider art.’ They consist of 8 sculptures constructed of scrap iron covered in Portland cement and scavenged glass and tile fragments, sea shells, stones, and other material. LACMA’s mandate is to update the site’s conservation and maintenance protocol through written guidance, as well as provide daily preservation maintenance.

LACMA’s monitoring program has helped identify some of the primary causes of deterioration, including vibrations and thermal stress. Cyclic patterns in the movement of cracks and fragment loss has prompted the decision to pursue flexible repair materials whenever possible. Polymer modified mortars, elastomeric crack fillers, and a range of adhesives were first evaluated offsite in terms of performance and aesthetics; the best candidates were then tested onsite in pilot treatments. Subsequent and ongoing monitoring of these treatments has allowed the team to further refine their materials selection and application methodology. The team’s approach and candidate conservation materials for mortar fills, crack fills, and ornament stabilization will be described.

Speaker(s)

Blanka Kielb

Assistant Conservator, Los Angeles County Museum of Art

Blanka Kielb is a graduate of the Queen's University Program in Art Conservation, where she earned a Master of Art Conservation degree in paintings, and currently resides in Los Angeles. Her professional interests include treatment of painted surfaces with a focus on wall paintings... Read More →

Co-Author(s)

Frank Preusser, PhD

Senior Conservation Scientist and Project Manager, Los Angeles County Museum of Art

Frank D. Preusser received his PhD in chemistry in 1973 from the Technical University in Munich, Germany. From 1973 to 1983 he was head of the scientific laboratory of the Doerner Institut in Munich. From 1983 to 1993 he worked at the Getty Conservation Institute in Los Angeles... Read More →

Sylvia Schweri-Dorsch

Associate Conservator, Watts Tower Conservation Project, Los Angeles County Museum of Art

Thursday May 29, 2014 4:00pm - 4:30pm PDT
Grand Ballroom B-C

4:00pm PDT

(Book and Paper Session) Treasure from the Bog: The Faddan More Psalter

This lecture tells the story of the recovery and conservation of Faddan More Psalter, an early medieval manuscript unearthed from a peat bog in Co Tipperary in the summer of 2006. We will look at the methodology behind the recording and dismantling of the fragmented text block and the dewatering of the saturated folia and cover. Many new and exciting discoveries were made during the lengthy and difficult task of conserving this important archeological find, which had survived in an extreme environment for over a millennium and how that same environment was somewhat responsible for its survival. In conservation terms much of the technique was developed through trials as work progressed due to the unique nature of the project, with little in the way of comparative work existing.

We will examine the content of manuscript, which contains the remains of the 150 Psalms from the Old Testament, including areas of illumination and decorated lettering. We will see the cover in remarkable original condition; possibly the only one of its kind in Western Europe with comparative structures that hails from lands as far away as Egypt. We will also look in detail at some of the surprise features from the cover that have raised more questions than answers but without doubt will play an important role in adding to the history of book making and monastic life in early medieval Ireland.

Speaker(s)

John Gillis

Senior Manuscript Conservator, Trinity College

John Gillis is a Senior Book and Manuscript Conservator. He has worked in the Library Conservation Department of Trinity College Dublin for many years. While on secondment from Trinity, he established and worked as Head of Conservation in the Delmas Conservation Bindery, at Archbishop... Read More →

Thursday May 29, 2014 4:00pm - 4:30pm PDT
Grand Ballroom A

4:00pm PDT

(Paintings Session) Conserving Spanish Colonial Painitings - Finding the Divine in Conservation

This paper will present a summary of some of the varying materials employed in the creation of Spanish colonial paintings, including support systems, image media (such as cochineal and shell inlay), and surface coatings (related to European and American paintings from comparable time periods); and will discuss possible overlap of condition issues and treatment options with other painted objects. The poor state of condition these paintings are often in will be reviewed, and examples of the examination and treatment of specific paintings presented. Finally, a suggestion of how the treatment of Spanish colonial paintings may apply to the present field of conservation in general will be offered.

Speaker(s)

Cynthia Lawrence

Paintings Conservator, Lawrence Fine Art Conservation

Cynthia Lawrence has had a private conservation practice serving museums and other cultural institutions, art dealers and galleries, and private and corporate collectors since 1996. She graduated cum laude from the University of California at Santa Barbara, earning two B.A.â€™s... Read More →

Thursday May 29, 2014 4:00pm - 4:30pm PDT
Bayview A-B

4:00pm PDT

(Research and Technical Studies Session) Unwrapping Layers in Historic Artworks: Virtual Cross-Sections with Pump-Probe Microscopy

The layering structure of a painting contains a wealth of information about the artist's choice of materials and working methods; information which leads to greater understanding of past cultures and can provide conservators with a better means of how to preserve that culture. The study of such three-dimensional (3d) structure has generally required the physical removal of a cross-section sample, which is then characterized by a plethora of analytical techniques. While current noninvasive techniques, such as x-radiography, infrared reflectography, ultraviolet visible fluorescence photography, Raman (1-3), reflectance imaging spectroscopy (4) and x-ray fluorescence intensity mapping, provide important information about a painting, these techniques cannot provide quantitative depth information. Conservation scientists are exploring 3d imaging techniques that would avoid invasive sampling, such as confocal x-ray fluorescence (XRF), absorption near edge structure imaging (XANES)(5), optical coherence tomography (OCT)(6) and terahertz imaging (7), but these are research tools and not yet in common use. Unfortunately, no single technique can provide the resolution, penetration, chemical specificity, and ease-of-use for broad use in the conservation field.
Optical microscopy is both non-invasive and yields high-resolution, but conventional linear optical contrast is limited in use for studying artist pigments due to absorption in the pigments and scattering from other materials in the paintings. In similarly scattering samples, such as biological tissues, optical nonlinear imaging has been utilized to obtain high resolution 3d images. Established nonlinear imaging, such as two-photon fluorescence and second- or third-harmonic generation imaging, has had some success in studying binders, varnishes (8), or wood in musical instruments (9), but applications in cultural heritage are sparse because most inorganic pigments do not fluoresce or generate harmonic light.

Recently we have developed an optical nonlinear imaging technique, pump-probe microscopy, to image the biological pigments hemoglobin (10), eumelanin, and pheomelanin (11) which are present in skin cancer (12) and ocular melanoma (13). Extension of pump-probe microscopy from biological pigments to artist’s pigments has yielded promising preliminary results (14), however, achieving pump-probe contrast in fine arts objects is more challenging than skin because the artist’s palette has a much greater variety of pigments than those present in skin. Here we show that by tuning to appropriate choices of wavelength and pulse parameters we can obtain in-situ 3d imaging of paintings with molecular specificity. We generated virtual cross-sections in mock-up paintings with clear distinction between mixed and layered stratigraphy with pigment specificity. We also imaged an intact 14th century painting, The Crucifixion by Puccio Capanna, leaving no visible signs of damage. Although we focus mainly on historic paintings, our approach can be applied to a wider range of cultural heritage objects, such as pottery or statuary, and provide information relevant to current areas of interest in conservation science.

Speaker(s)

Tana Villafana

Graduate Student, Duke University

I am a laser and imaging scientist excited about cultural heritage research. My focus is on creating non-invasive virtual cross-sections using a nonlinear microscopy technique.

Co-Author(s)

John Delaney

Senior Imaging Scientist, National Gallery of Art

John K. Delaney, Ph.D. is the Senior Imaging Scientist at the National Gallery of Art, where his research focuses on the development and application of remote sensing imaging methods for the study of works of art.

Martin C. Fischer

Assistant Research Professor, Duke University

Dr. Fischer’s research focuses on exploring novel nonlinear optical contrast mechanisms for molecular imaging. Nonlinear optical microscopes can provide non-invasive, high-resolution, 3-dimensional images even in highly scattering environments such as biological tissue. Established... Read More →

Michael Palmer

Conservation Scientist, National Gallery of Art

Michael Palmer received his graduate training in botany from the University of Maryland in 1979. From 1980-1985 he held the position of wood researcher at Winterthur Museum and also taught in the conservation training program. Mr. Palmer joined the National Gallery of Art in 1985... Read More →

Warren S. Warren

ames B. Duke Professor of Chemistry, Professor of Radiology, Biomedical Engineering, and Physics, Duke University

William P. Brown

Chief Conservator, North Carolina Museum of Art

William Brown is Chief Conservator of the Art Conservation Center (ACC) of the North Carolina Museum of Art (NCMA) where he is responsible the long-term preservation of the collection and the development of preventive collections care strategies. He is a leader in the field of art... Read More →

Thursday May 29, 2014 4:00pm - 4:30pm PDT
Seacliff C-D

4:00pm PDT

(Textiles) Analysis of Organic Dyes in Textiles by Direct Analysis in Real Time--Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry

The analysis of an organic dyestuff on an historic textile is met with the challenges of chromophore detection at very low concentration in a minute sample from an object of cultural significance susceptible to degradation. Historically, organic dye analysis has been achievable by methods including: high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) often coupled to additional analytical tools, surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS), and various mass spectrometric methods. The drawbacks of these methods are their requirements for either time intensive dye extraction procedures or nanoparticle preparation protocols. This presentation introduces DART-TOF (direct analysis in real time – time-of-flight) mass spectrometry as a novel method for organic chromophore analysis in natural fibers. High resolution time of flight mass spec with direct analysis in real time ionization is very rapid, possessing the requisite sensitivity to identify organic colorants in less than 1 minute. Furthermore, analysis by DART mass spec typically requires no extraction of the dye prior to analysis, and is accomplished with fiber samples less than 0.5 cm in length, weighing no more than 1 mg. In our initial exploration of the technique, we conducted analyses of dyestuffs as powder, in solution, and in botanical source materials. Further development involved the creation of dyed fiber reference materials. To date, more than 40 dye colorants have been identified by DART-TOF mass spec, representing the following classes of dyes: quinones (anthraquinones and naphthoquinones), flavonoids, indigoids, carotenoids, tannins, and curcuminoids. We have successfully identified organic dyes in situ in fibers from historic textiles including rugs, tapestries, and Huari garments. Recently, DART-TOF was used to confirm the anecdotal account regarding the dyeing history of the Civil War era Sam Davis coat in the collection of the Tennessee State Museum. These findings demonstrate that DART-TOF mass spectrometry has potential as an additional tool in the challenging analysis of organic dyes and possesses the requisite sensitivity and the advantage of simplicity without the preparatory requirements of other techniques.

Speaker(s)

Cathy Selvius DeRoo

Research Scientist, Detroit Institute of Arts

Cathy Selvius DeRoo is the Conservation Scientist at the Detroit Institute of Arts. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Michigan and was the recipient of a National Institutes of Health Postdoctoral Fellowship in biophysics. In addition to conducting analyses of the wide... Read More →

Co-Author(s)

Ruth Ann Armitage

Professor, Eastern Michigan University

My research interests involve the analysis of archaeological and historic cultural heritage materials, primarily utilizing Direct Analysis in Real Time (DART) mass spectrometry. Current research projects include: collaborative studies with the Detroit Institute of Arts on characterizing... Read More →

Thursday May 29, 2014 4:00pm - 4:30pm PDT
Seacliff A-B

4:00pm PDT

(Wooden Artifacts Session) The Conservation of “The Cattails,” a Royal Sleigh at Versailles (circa 1740)

The third WAG paper in a series on sleigh conservation at Versailles, this talk will focus on the conservation treatment of the sleigh “The Cattails.” Made for Louis XV, it was used during snowy winters in the park at Versailles as late as the reign of Napoleon I. Its unusual construction, of papier-mâché over a wood substrate, and decoration of elaborate aventurine lacquer, posed special treatment problems. Conservation involved the development of a new fill material, tested with artificial aging in 2005 at the French national Center for Research and Conservation of Graphic Documents (CRCDG).

A second program of research involved analysis of the polychrome decoration. This employed fluorescence microscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, Scanning Electron Microscopy- Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (SEM-EDS), Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectroscopy (GC-MS) and High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC). The original lacquer was seen to contain, in some areas, flakes of an alloy of silver and gold. Other areas were originally decorated with gold leaf, silver leaf, and green luster gilding. A later lacquer, also discussed in this paper, is now the visible; it likely dates to the late 18th century and has darkened with aging.

The careful conservation of the sleigh and all 18th century coatings will be discussed. This included the stabilization of wood, papier-mâché and lacquers, and the re-establishment of adhesion between all three.

The paper will also review the properties of the new fill material, containing cotton paper fibers and calcium carbonate-coated, hollow acrylonitrile micro-spheres in an acrylic emulsion. As the treatment was conducted in 2005-2006, it is now possible to re-evaluate the results of treatment after several years. As predicted by aging tests, the fill material remains stable and successfully allows movement of the wood with changes in RH, without disruption of the papier-mâché, lacquer or inpainting.

Speaker(s)

Christopher Augerson

Conservator, Augerson Art Conservation

In addition to being a Professional Associate of the AIC, Chistopher Augerson is accredited as a conservator in the UK, France and Belgium. He has conducted conservation projects for private clients and public institutions such as English Heritage, The National Trust for Scotland... Read More →

Thursday May 29, 2014 4:00pm - 4:30pm PDT
Regency Room

4:30pm PDT

(Collection Care Session) The Future of Risk Assessment) Developing Tools for Collections Care Professionals

Over recent decades, risk assessment programs have played a role of increasing importance in the preventive conservation of cultural property allowing institutions to evaluate risks of all types in a quantitative fashion and then address them through a comprehensive, rational preservation plan. The risk approach is particularly valuable as cost-effective, sustainable choices concerning collections preservation are increasingly required that are based on well-documented, quantifiable needs. Frameworks such as Waller’s Cultural Property Risk Analysis Model (CPRAM) provide museum professionals with guiding principles that can be used to develop a program customized to meet specific institutional mandates or goals. However the process of creating and implementing a program based on a generalized model remains a challenging endeavor and can often inhibit collection care professionals from adopting and applying the approach in their institutions.

Since 2005, staff at the American Museum of Natural History have pursued the ambitious goal of evaluating the entirety of the museum’s collections ¬— over 30 million specimens and artifacts in storage and on display, as well as library and archival material supporting the collection. The AMNH risk assessment program is derived from the CPRAM model, modified to address the unique needs of its diverse collections. The AMNH methodology draws heavily on extensive background information acquired through inventory and interview. This information is used to thoroughly characterize the nature of materials under assessment, and to establish statistics describing details concerning collection storage, use and documentation. These details then act as fundamental criteria used in risk estimation.

Both the strength and the challenge in this approach is the enormous amount of data that must be collected and managed. Use of templates, questionnaires, and database systems facilitates this process. A statement of significance is developed for each collection, recording a concise summary of its key values and importance to the institution and acting as a reference point in risk evaluation. Other tools, such as illustrated rubrics, can be used to establish consistent rationale and limit bias in the determination of potential loss in value imposed by each risk assessed.

The methodology in use at the AMNH has bolstered strong results that can be compared through time and across collections, and as such it has helped to ensure that all vested parties feel ownership of those findings. Still, the approach is institution–specific, leaving much to be done in the field at large if risk assessment is to be adopted as a standard approach to collection care planning. Specifically, conservators and collections managers need tools, much like those developed at AMNH that will not only organize and analyze information but will guide an evaluator through the complex risk process. These tools must be applicable to the wide range of collection holding institutions and must be readily accessible. AMNH collection care staff are working toward these goals but will call to the fields of conservation and collections care for support and involvement.

Speaker(s)

Beth Nunan

Associate Conservator, American Museum of Natural History

Beth Nunan is an Associate Conservator in the Natural Science Collections Conservation Lab. She received her MA (2009) with a Certificate of Advanced Study from the Art Conservation Program at Buffalo State College. Her responsibilities at the American Museum of Natural History include... Read More →

Co-Author(s)

Julia Sybalsky

Senior Associate Conservator, American Museum of Natural History

Julia Sybalsky is an Associate Conservator at the AMNH, where she began working in January of 2010. She was an important contributor in the recently-completed renovation of dioramas in the Hall of North American Mammals and the Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Hall. Julia's work supports... Read More →

Lisa Elkin

Chief Registrar and Director of Conservation, American Museum of Natural History

Lisa received her MA in art conservation from the Buffalo State College and since 1994 has been working as a conservator at the AMNH, first as assistant and associate conservator in the Anthropology Department, and since 2001 as Director of Conservation for the natural science collections... Read More →

Thursday May 29, 2014 4:30pm - 5:00pm PDT
Garden Room

4:30pm PDT

(Architecture + Objects Session) Developing a Modern Approach to Historic Preservation for a Modernist City: The Columbus, Indiana Story

In June of 2013, I was hired by the City of Columbus, Indiana to develop a preservation plan for the city within its newly-formed “Columbus Arts District.” This area of the city has many resources listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and three National Historic Landmarks (there are a total of seven National Historic Landmarks in the city, all of which are “Modern” and constructed after 1941).

Columbus is a remarkable city of less than 45,000 residents, and a well-recognized history of supporting Modern architecture and public art, which has continuously garnered it national attention and a solid tourism base.

Despite this, the city has no formalized mechanism for the preservation and conservation of its historic assets.

This paper will present my work developing a preservation plan for the city that balances preservation and development and keeps in mind the need to maintain a growing tourism industry.

Speaker(s)

Richard McCoy

Executive Director, Landmark Columbus Foundation

Thursday May 29, 2014 4:30pm - 5:00pm PDT
Grand Ballroom B-C

4:30pm PDT

(Book and Paper Session) Conservation of Johannes Herolt's Sermones de tempore, c. 1450

Recently acquired by The Ohio State University Libraries (OSUL) Rare Books and Manuscripts Department, Herolt’s Sermones is a mid-15th century bound manuscript on paper. Herolt (ca. 1386-1468) was a Dominican friar of Nuremberg, vicar of the Katharinekloster, and one of late-medieval Germany’s most prolific sermon writers and preachers. This volume includes Herolt’s collection of model sermons on topics and themes related to the liturgical year and cycle of saints’ festivals. This sermon collection proved to be exceptionally popular, both during Herolt’s lifetime and afterwards. It has been estimated that at least 500 manuscript copies of the collected sermons survive today (both complete and fragmentary), and as many as 186 separate editions of them were printed by the year 1500, with another 60 editions printed from the 16th-18th centuries.

OSU’s copy had been re-covered sometime in the 20th century in quarter leather and paste paper over thick mill board. Also, at some time(s) in the past 50 years a number of pages had been reinforced with various clear plastic tapes to support areas where the acidic iron gall ink was corroding the paper. In many of these areas tape had been applied to both sides of the leaves. Originally, at least two scribes worked on this manuscript (one working on the temporal cycle, and the other on the Lenten sequence), and the condition of the various inks used ranges from near pristine to extensively corroded. The acidic and deteriorating ink was present on approximately 70 leaves in the last quarter of the text block.

In the summer of 2011 the Rare Books and Manuscripts Department requested that this book be conserved, including treatment of the text for tape removal and stabilization of the ink and paper, and rebinding in 15th century German period style with leather spine and exposed wooden boards. In September 2011 conservators in the OSUL Conservation Unit began treatment that included dis-binding, tape, adhesive residue, and stain removal; mending pages; re-sewing and binding in period style as requested by the curator, using wooden boards, alum-tawed leather for the spine, metal fore-edge clasps and creation of a custom box to house the book and earlier binding components – some of which were from the original 15th century binding structure. The most significant part of the treatment was the difficult and time-consuming removal of tape and adhesives, followed by reassembly of areas of text where much ink had been lost, leaving only the paper fragments between the lines of writing.
Another interesting aspect of this project, and this presentation, is the collaboration between the conservator and a land owner in southern Ohio for the “harvesting” of the beech wood used for the boards, which was cut from a storm-damaged 150 year-old American Beech tree by the property owner who donated the wood, the milling, drying, delivery and stacking to the Libraries specifically for this project, and for potential use on future binding projects.

Speaker(s)

Harry Campbell

Book and Paper Conservator, Ohio State University Libraries

Harry Campbell is the Book and Paper Conservator for The Ohio State University Libraries (OSUL), managing the Conservation Unit of the Preservation and Reformatting Department, with a staff of two full-time employees, including an Assistant Rare Books Conservator and a Collections... Read More →

Thursday May 29, 2014 4:30pm - 5:00pm PDT
Grand Ballroom A

4:30pm PDT

(Paintings Session) Oil Paintings on metal support: study, intervention and challenges

The Paintings Conservation Laboratory of the National Center for Conservation and Restoration (CNCR) was requested to restore part of a collection of paintings belonging to the Museo O’Higginiano y de Bellas Artes, from Talca, a city in the center-south of Chile. The interesting thing was that all of them were oil paintings on metal support. This was the first time the Paintings Conservation Lab had to face the intervention of objects of this kind, so the conservation and restoration of these paintings became the opportunity to learn about an unknown topic, and also to face the challenge of performing the appropriate treatments to ensure the future existence of these works of art.

These paintings were bought in Europe by the end of the XIX century, and later donated to Talca’s Museum. Three of them are medium sized (62 x 78 cm. aprox) and the other two are smaller (25 x 19 cm. aprox). It is believed that at least three of them are Flemish paintings, since one is signed by Flemish artist Willem Van Herp (XVII century), and there is another one with very similar characteristics but not signed, while a third one is different in iconography, but similar in other aspects. The small ones could be American instead of European, but they are still being studied. The painting that is signed by Van Herp is dated in 1655, what makes it the oldest object that has been treated in the Paintings Conservation Lab.

The paintings have been photographed, non-destructive analyses were performed (UV photographs and IR reflectography), and samples were taken to identify the painting technique and materials. In addition, metal supports were analyzed through X-ray fluorescence to know its composition: four of them are copper plates and one is an iron-tin alloy.

In addition, a wide research was made to understand the technique used by Flemish artists in the making of paintings on these supports, that are so different to canvas, and to collect information on the most appropriate methods and materials to restore paintings with these characteristics. Some of the damages are distortions of the support, ground and paint film losses, abrasion, lack of adhesion to the support, corrosion, yellowing of the varnish, previous interventions in bad condition and over-paints that cover big areas. In addition, two of them had cradles, which showed lack of adhesion to the copper plate in some areas. It is believed that environmental conditions may have contributed to the damages, because Talca is a dry and hot city in summer, and cold
and humid in winter, so the paintings will be returned with recommendations on proper exhibition and deposit conditions.

In order to perform treatments in the proper way, prototypes were made with copper plates, to make tests of adhesion, consolidation, fillings and chromatic reintegration. At present we are working in cleaning and consolidation, and then the other stages of the restoration will be executed.

Speaker(s)

Monica Perez

Conservator, Centro Nacional de Conservacion y Restauracion

I studied Conservation and Restoration of Cultural Objects in 2003 and started working at the National Center for Conservation and Restoration in 2007. I participated in several interesting projects, like the restoration of a series of colonial paintings on the life of Saint Teresa... Read More →

Thursday May 29, 2014 4:30pm - 5:00pm PDT
Bayview A-B

4:30pm PDT

(Research and Technical Studies Session) A Closer Look at Early Italian Panel Paintings: Imaging Cross-sectional Paint Samples from the Walters Art Museum

The early development of oil painting techniques before the age of Leonardo has brought about questions relating to materials that were used by these early Italian painters. Recent advancements in technology and data interpretation have allowed scientists and conservators to explore inorganic and organic materials found in early Italian paintings. Sophisticated imaging techniques provide complementary information to conventional methods of analysis, such as cross-sectional staining, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), all of which are routinely employed in today’s museum and institutional laboratories. Collaborative efforts between the conservation department at the Walters Art Museum and the University of Delaware have revealed new directions in cross-sectional analysis of 15th and early 16th-century Italian panel paintings. Imaging time-of-flight secondary ion mass Spectrometry (ToF-SIMS) was used in the identification of binding media and inorganic pigments in samples collected from a total of three paintings in the Walters’s collection, ranging from Giovanni di Paolo to Raphael. While the technique does require sampling, ToF-SIMS can be coupled with high resolution spatial imaging to map pigments, proteins, and oils in paint samples that have been stored for nearly half a century. This has allowed the authors to use existing cross-sections in new research to identify paint materials, techniques, and degradation products. Spatial “maps” of binding media and pigments present in cross-sections may help to shed light on workshop practices, attributions, and other topics associated with provenance.

Speaker(s)

Dr. Kristin deGhetaldi-[PA]

deGhetaldi Fine Art Restoration, LLC

Kristin de Ghetaldi is a painting conservator who graduated in 2008 with a Master of Science degree from the Winterthur/University of Delaware program in Conservation. She recently obtained her PhD in Preservation Studies from the University of Delaware and completed a three-year... Read More →

Co-Author(s)

Eric Gordon, [PA]

Head of Painting Conservation, The Walters Art Museum

Eric Gordon has been a painting conservator at the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore since 1985 and Head of Painting Conservation since 1996. He graduated from the New York University conservation program and interned at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, the Intermuseum Conservation... Read More →

Glenn Gates

Conservation Scientist, Walters Art Museum

Karen French

Senior Conservator of Paintings, The Walters Art Museum

Karen French has been conserving paintings for over 30 years; the last 20 plus of which have been at the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore, Maryland, where she is a senior conservator of paintings. Born and educated in the U.K., she trained in painting conservation at the Courtauld... Read More →

Pamela Betts

Conservator, The Walters Art Museum

Tom Beebe Jr.

Professor, University of Delaware

Zachary Voras

Ph.D. Student, University of Delaware

Thursday May 29, 2014 4:30pm - 5:00pm PDT
Seacliff C-D

4:30pm PDT

(Textiles Session) From North to South: The conservation of Civil War Costume from the Tennessee State Museum

In November 2013 Tennessee commemorates the 150th anniversary of the death of two important figures in both the Civil War and state history; General Patrick Cleburne and Sam Davis ‘the boy hero of the Confederacy’. The Museum holds the kepi that General Cleburne was wearing when he was killed in the Battle of Franklin and the great coat worn by Sam Davis, a Confederate courier who was caught and executed by Federal Troops.

The conservation of the artifacts was supported by the Tennessee Chapter of the Sons of Confederate Veterans (SVC) for events taking place at the Museum and off site. The two objects were both in very fragile condition and their conservation was considered an act of commemoration by the SVC. This paper will detail the conservation and analysis work undertaken and the management of a project that had to balance so many stakeholders and interested parties.

General Cleburne’s kepi was the first object to be worked on. Following examination on site and the submission of a treatment proposal, in-depth discussion of the treatment protocol between the conservator and curator ensued to assess the long-term consequences of treatment. The curator was very concerned that conservation should be minimal, enough to aid future preservation but not change the character of the object, and be sustainable in terms of the longevity of the materials being used, thereby reducing the need for future interventions. Preventive conservation was of course a critical aspect of the project, as a new mount was required to fully support the kepi on permanent display and also allow easier handling when necessary.
Sam Davis served in various combat roles in the Confederate army. As a courier for Coleman’s Scouts he was captured wearing a makeshift Confederate uniform and in possession of Union battle plans. Part of that uniform was a Union wool greatcoat that had been given to him by his mother. In very poor condition, dirty, structurally unsound and having been ‘souvenired’ consultation took place to determine what condition issues should be treated and what important information should be left in place. As was the case with the kepi, there was concern that intervention be kept to a minimum and that all materials used for the conservation and the new mount be long-lasting.

Towards the end of the War, with supply routes to the South limited the use of Union uniform parts by Confederate armies became commonplace. Family lore states that Sam’s mother had over-dyed the originally sky blue Union coat with a brown dye to make it appear more like a confederate issued coat. The truth to that story has always been in question and the origin of the coat is central to the legitimacy of his eventual execution, so an integral part of the project was to try and solve the mystery using Direct Analysis in Real Time – Time of Flight Mass Spectrometry, a newly developed method for identifying organic dye chromophores in natural fiber textiles.

Speaker(s)

Howard Sutcliffe

Principal Conservator, River Region Costume and Textile Conservation

Howard Sutcliffe holds a Post-graduate Diploma in textile conservation from the Textile Conservation Centre (TCC)/Courtauld Institute of Art and an MA in Museum and Gallery Management from City University, London. Since graduating from the TCC he has held positions at National Museums... Read More →

Thursday May 29, 2014 4:30pm - 5:00pm PDT
Seacliff A-B

4:30pm PDT

(Wooden Artifacts Session) What Lay Beneath - Revealing the Original Exuberant Painted Decoration of an 18th century Painted Pennsylvania German Shrank

An example of the 17th century Pennsylvania German style of cabinetmaking, a rare painted shrank, or cupboard, discovered in 2007 proved to be a unique surviving example of the genre, and one of a few examples possessed of its original painted decoration. Acquired by Chipstone Foundation and scheduled to be exhibited in partnership with the Milwaukee Art Museum, the unique form had endured exposure to fire, a complex history of attention ranging from day-to-day housekeeping to well-intended, albeit inexpert, restorations. Shortly thereafter - in the early 1800’s - the cabinet was completely repainted using a monochrome casein-bound paint.
Cross-sectional analysis, pigment identification and micro chemical analysis aided in the characterization of object substrate and applied decoration layers. What was clearly a robust pattern of surface decoration – a structure of rich faux burl members framing white presentation panels detailed with vibrant arabesques of brush-applied color – remained obscured beneath a substantial and seemingly intractable accumulation of lead white pigment dispersed in an aged proteinaceous binder.
This presentation gives a brief history of the shrank as a particular German cabinet form, and the curatorial discussion and conservation analysis that led to the decision to remove the 19th century overpaint and reveal the painted decoration original to the ornate cupboard.

Speaker(s)

Scott Nolley

Head, Fine Art Conservation of Virginia

Scott Nolley heads the Richmond based firm of Fine Art Conservation of Virginia. He received his undergraduate degree in Art Conservation from Virginia Commonwealth University. In 1996 he earned his Master's Degree in Art Conservation from the program at Buffalo State College, formerly... Read More →

Thursday May 29, 2014 4:30pm - 5:00pm PDT
Regency Room

5:00pm PDT

(Collection Care Session) Conservation Assessment at Schloss Leopoldskron in Salzburg, Austria – Promoting Sustainable Choices for the Adaptive Re-use of the Collection and the Site

The Schloss Leopoldskron is a Rococo palace located near Salzburg, Austria. From the time of its construction as an estate of the Prince-Archbishop of Salzburg Leopold von Firmian and his family, the castle has passed through various owners, most notably Max Reinhardt. Today the Schloss serves as the setting for the Salzburg Global Seminar (SGS) and is a national historic monument of Austria.

Frequent changes in the palace’s ownership have led to the sale and loss of nearly all original art objects, except for outstanding Rococo stucco decoration and a number of paintings “set into” the walls. The current collection comprises paintings, works of art on paper, furniture, decorative objects, and outdoor sculpture acquired during the last 270 years. The condition of the objects has not been systematically documented. Only fragmentary information and photographic records were available.

The historic collection at the Schloss was the subject of an in-depth two-week survey conducted in the summer 2013 by four graduate students from the New York University and Winterthur/University of Delaware conservation programs and supervised by two faculty instructors. This experience provided the students with a unique training opportunity in conservation assessment and preservation planning. These collaborative projects strengthen the education and training of emerging conservators and should be modeled worldwide. The project was supported by the Samuel H. Kress Foundation and SGS.

The project started with developing survey forms that would allow condition assessments of the main building and a portion of the collections. This included written and photographic records to document the condition of five rooms and selected object types. Agents of deterioration and risk were assessed through a comprehensive look at IPM, storage, security, emergency plans, indoor environment, and the building envelope.

This challenging and highly collaborative project aimed to raise awareness of the Schloss’s conservation needs amongst the current owners, staff, and guests, while carefully balancing the building’s current function as a multi-use global meeting and event venue. Developing constructive recommendations associated with the need to maintain the daily functionality of this historic site was most challenging. The immediate steps required to ensure site sustainability should include the appointment of a collections manager and the establishment of guidelines for events and outside vendors. These would, for example, clearly outline restrictions, handling and use policies, supervision requirements, and regulations for the use of candles. A successful long-term adaptive reuse plan can maintain the heritage significance of the building and help ensure its survival. Sustainable economic strategies should acknowledge the proceeding decay of the artworks and therefore set priorities for conservation, for example, limit the light levels for sensitive works of art on paper and launch a conservation campaign for the most significant paintings.

The critical analysis of the collection and the site provided in this project will help the stakeholders at Schloss Leopoldskron to embrace the conflict between heritage conservation and adaptive reuse while promoting sustainable choices in collections care.

Speaker(s)

Hannelore Roemich

Scientist/Researcher, NYU Institute of Fine Arts, Conservation Center

Dr. Hannelore Roemich (PhD in Chemistry 1987, University in Heidelberg, Germany; Diploma in Chemistry 1984, University Dortmund, Germany) is Professor of Conservation Science to the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University (NYU) since January 2007. Dr. Roemich offers instruction... Read More →

Thursday May 29, 2014 5:00pm - 5:30pm PDT
Garden Room

5:00pm PDT

(Architecture + Objects Session) Preservation Planning and Mid-Century Modern Materials) Tools to Promote Strategic and Sustainable Building Conservation

The conservation of Mid-Century Modern building materials and architectural features can be challenging and unpredictable due to the experimental and non-traditional nature of many materials. Preservation planning tools such as Historic Structure Reports and Cultural Landscape Reports can provide a framework for identifying and prioritizing architectural repairs and conservation treatments. Using preservation planning to approach material conservation can prevent the loss of historic fabric and promote sustainable and fiscally-responsible treatment options.

The Village Green, also known as Baldwin Hills Village, provides an exemplary case study for how preservation planning tools can effectively manage architectural conservation on a large scale over a long period of time. Built between 1941 and 1942, The Village Green is nationally recognized as a pivotal and progressive experiment in multiple-family housing. The product of architects and planners Reginald John, Lewis Wilson, Edwin Merrill, Robert Alexander, and Clarence Stein, the site has been designated as a National Historic Landmark with 162 contributing structures. Architectural Resources Group completed a Historic Structure Report and Mills Act application for The Village Green in 2010, which was subsequently awarded a Mills Act Property Tax Abatement Program contract from the City of Los Angeles. The completion of a Cultural Landscape Report for the property is currently in progress.

The Modern era was a time of rapid technological and scientific advances, resulting in the wide introduction of many new and inexpensive, but often experimental materials. Design features were frequently changed or adapted with the intent to improve living or working conditions. The Village Green is a product of 20th-century mass production techniques, new building materials, and progressive theories of housing design and urban planning. Special consideration may be needed to provide conservation treatments that are in keeping with those materials and philosophies, and proactive preservation planning tools can efficiently address potential issues.

This paper will discuss the completion of this series of planning documents and how conservation decisions were approached within the process. Focus will be given to planning tools and documents, decision-making criteria for maintenance, conservation and repair, and specific Modern materials that pose special challenges.

Speaker(s)

Lacey Bubnash

Senior Associate, Architectural Resources Group

Lacey Bubnash is an architect and conservator at Architectural Resources Group (ARG), an architecture, planning and conservation firm in San Francisco, California. She has a comprehensive background in architecture, historic preservation and architecture conservation, and specializes... Read More →

Co-Author(s)

Katie Horak

Senior Associate, Architectural Resources Group (ARG)

Katie Horak is an architectural historian and historic preservation planner based in Los Angeles, California. In addition to being a Senior Associate at Architectural Resources Group in Pasadena, Katie is an adjunct lecturer in the University of Southern California's School of Architecture... Read More →

Thursday May 29, 2014 5:00pm - 5:30pm PDT
Grand Ballroom B-C

5:00pm PDT

(Book and Paper Session) Digital Rubbings. Monitoring Bookbindings with the Portable Mini-Dome (RICH)

The RICH project (Reflectance Imaging for Cultural Heritage, KU Leuven, 2012-2015) is creating a digital imaging tool for researching, studying, and exploring material characteristics of library materials produced in medieval and early modern times. In 2005 the module was created for reading cuneiform tablets in the department of Assyriology of the University of Leuven (KU Leuven). With the second generation of the imaging devise, the visualization of bookbinding stamps (gold- and blind tooled, on the back and on the boards of bindings) creates a sharp and exact image of the tooled surface, a ‘digital rubbing’ with the possibility to read, measure, compare and identify occasionally difficult accessible decorations on book covers.

The digital imaging device, IMROD (Imaging Module for Multi-spectral, Reflectance or 2D+) is digitizing with omnimulti-directional lighting and export the result to 2D+. The technique is based on polynomial texture mapping, also known as Reflectance Transformation Imaging (RTI), a technique of imaging and interactively displaying objects under varying lighting conditions to reveal surface phenomena. With RICH the decorative and technical characteristics of manuscripts, paper and bookbindings are documented. The module is a hemi-spherical structure with a single downward looking video camera (28 million pixels). The object to be captured ( maximum 180 to 120 mm) lies in the center and is illuminated from computer-controllable lighting directions, through the subsequent activation of multiple white LEDs. The different angles that illuminate the surface of the artifacts are revealing extreme details. Special attention is taken to produce raking light, the illumination at an oblique angle or almost parallel to the surface, to provides information on the surface topography of the book or page. For each illumination an image is taken by the overhead camera, in total 260 images for each object. After processing these 260 images, filters in de visualization system are incorporated in the software. Fine details can be highlighted by the use of specific digital filters, bringing out structures that would not be visible under single illumination ( like shade, contrast, sharpening and sketch filters). By scaling the image, a measuring tool in the software defines the dimension of the stamp and print lines unto 10 micron.

To develop the possibilities for ‘digital rubbings’, in 2013 a group of medieval and early modern bindings ( 11th to 17th century) were examined in Flemish Heritage collections ( the Museum Plantin-Moretus and Leuven University Libraries). The lecture will discuss observations captured by the visualization system, the development of the database with the online viewer, and the possibilities of ‘RICH’ as a research tool in the art technical- and in the conservation field.

Speaker(s)

Bruno Vandermeulen

Photography Coordinator, Imaging Lab at the Faculty of Arts and the University Library (KU Leuven)

Bruno Vandermeulen is the coordinator Photography of the Imaging Lab at the Faculty of Arts and the University Library (KU Leuven). He has large experience in inventarisation- and digitization projects in the field of cultural heritage (archaeology, manuscripts, early prints). In... Read More →

Lieve Watteeuw

Professor at the Art History and Conservator of Books, Manuscripts and Library Materials, University of Leuven and Illuminare - Centre for the Study of Medieval Art

Lieve Watteeuw is professor at the Art History Faculty of the University of Leuven (KU Leuven), Belgium and is since 1989 conservator-restorator of books, manuscripts and library materials. Her academic activity is concentrated in the border of medieval manuscript illumination, book... Read More →

Thursday May 29, 2014 5:00pm - 5:30pm PDT
Grand Ballroom A

5:00pm PDT

(Paintings Session) Illumination For Inpainting: Selecting an Appropriate Color Temperature

Traditionally, many conservators have preferred daylight, and specifically northern daylight, as the preferred source for inpainting. Unfortunately, the availability and control of northern daylight limits the amount of time, and the location in which it can be used as the primary source of illumination. Therefore, supplementary and alternative sources of illumination for inpainting are necessary. What are the essential characteristics of northern daylight that make it a preferred source? What criteria should be used to select viable alternative sources of illumination?

This presentation will analyze the key components that make daylight a preferred source for inpainting, including such characteristics as color temperature, color rendering and light distribution. It will also take into account the fact that many artifacts will ultimately be exhibited at a color temperature that is extremely different from northern daylight and how this should influence the selection of an inpainting light source.

A primary focus of the talk will be the importance of selecting an appropriate color temperature with adequate color rendering properties. In order to illustrate the importance of color temperature and how appearance is altered at different color temperatures, a live demonstration of this phenomenon will be presented.

The goal of the presentation is to suggest that there is an underlying technical basis for color temperature selection that takes into account the fact that objects may be exhibited in a variety of different color temperatures. Most importantly, normal conditions of exhibition generally utilize a warm color temperature source whereas inpainting with northern daylight is done at a very cool color temperature. Research published by the author in conjunction with the National Institute for Standards and Technology will be described which will provide the basis for a theory regarding color temperature preference and its significance in the selection of an appropriate inpainting source.

Speaker(s)

Steven Weintraub

Consultant, Art Preservation Services

Thursday May 29, 2014 5:00pm - 5:30pm PDT
Bayview A-B

5:00pm PDT

(Research and Technical Studies Session) Free Fatty Acid Profiles in Water Sensitive Oil Paints: A Comparison of Modern and 15th Century Oil Paints

A novel, two-step procedure using for quantifying the percentage of unbound fatty acids (free fatty acids plus pigment soaps and salts) and total fatty acids of oil paints by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) was developed. The following samples were analyzed in this study: Bocour Bellini oil tube paints; Winsor & Newton student-quality oil paints (1953-1992); paints made at the Museum Conservation Institute (MCI) with cold-pressed linseed oil (1992-1999); Winsor and Newton artists-grade oil paints (1990-1999); Duro artists’ oil paints (1960s); tube paints collected from among Clyfford Still’s studio materials which included tube paints from Bellini, Weber and Grumbacher (assumed to pre-date 1980); Clyfford Still paintings (1940-1970); and various mural and panel paintings. Marker compounds for specific drying oils were detected in Clyfford Still’s studio tube paints. All of the Bellini paints and the Weber paint sample contained 12-hydroxystearate, which is found in castor oil-derived products. The Talens tube paint contained ricinoleic acid, which is also present in castor oil, but is also used in some modern synthetic pigments. P/S values were less than 1 in all of the Grumbacher Permanent Oil Color artist’s-grade tube paints, which is unusually low

In this study, the percent fatty acids and percent hydrolysis of oil paint is reported for Bellini oil paints, Winsor & Newton student-quality oil paints that are sensitive to water, Duro oil paints and tube paints from Clyfford Still’s studio, as well as several other oil paintings including: Virgin and Saints by Ubaldo Gandolfi (1758), Annunciation by Bartolomeo Cesi (1515), Waterlillies by Monet (1914-26) and Mural by Jackson Pollock (1943). The results revealed that water sensitive modern oil paints have very little if any free fatty acids, possibly due to the presence of driers or a chemical modification. Some of the other tube paints analyzed in this study had zero percent free fatty acids, regardless of the age of the paint, and water sensitivity. Several paintings from various mural and panel paintings from the 16th to 18th century (Italian) as well as modern paintings were analyzed for free fatty acid profiles and were compared to reference data from tubes and handmade paints. The data presented here supplements the traditional fatty acid ratios for oil identification by adding an additional level of characterization from the free fatty acid profiles.

Speaker(s)

Joy Mazurek

Assistant Scientist, Getty Conservation Institute

Joy Mazurek has worked as an Assistant Scientist at the Getty Conservation Institute since 1998. She specializes in the identification of organic materials by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. She obtained her master’s degree in biology, with emphasis in microbiology from... Read More →

Thursday May 29, 2014 5:00pm - 5:30pm PDT
Seacliff C-D

5:00pm PDT

(Textiles Session) Improved Analytical Technique for the Study of Ancient Tyrian Purple

Curators and conservators need to know what they get themselves into when ordering analyses of organic colorants on culturally important heritage objects. They are often confronted with the following dilemma: to destroy or not to destroy? That is, to perform analyses that will ultimately destroy the sample analyzed or to utilize a method that does not alter the original object in any way. This is especially relevant to the study of archaeological artifacts, which often consist of small fragments. Unfortunately, some analysts’ claims that their methods involve ‘non-destructive testing’ (NDT) are in some cases either misleading or erroneous. A true NDT method can be termed ‘non-invasive’, whereas micro-destructive or nano-destructive methods – depending on the scale involved – can be simply referred to as ‘invasive’.

Additionally, museum officials should not be automatically enticed by the razzle-dazzle of impressive-sounding acronyms, such as, FAB, DESI, DART, HRMS, TOF, SERS, and even DAD, which have been used for the analyses of historic colorants. The high-tech world of sophisticated chemical instrumentation has permeated into the field of analytical research of natural colorants. However, the advancement in the sophistication of electromagnetic chemical techniques does not automatically imply that their application to the study of ancient colorant sources is also advanced, or even useful. There are fundamental problems with these spectrometric methods for the analysis of organic dyes and pigments that museum officials should understand, and these will be addressed.

The optimum analytical method to be used in the analysis of organic dyes and pigments is the high performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) technique, which must be preceded by a correct dye micro-extraction procedure. Though this method essentially destroys the sample, it is nano-destructive and more than any other method extracts the maximum information regarding the origin of the dyestuff used. This method has been successfully used on such miniscule samples as single dissected fibers from a yarn, whereby the dye quantity was on the order of a nanogram – a billionth of a gram!

This talk will emphasize the dye analysis results on molluskan-purple pigments from the following historically important archaeological sources: (a) an intricate Late Roman-Period polychromic textile from Egypt; (b) a Roman-Period Royal Purple weave belonging to King Herod found atop the Judean Desert palatial fortress of Masada in Israel; (c) a 2,500-year old marble jar of King Darius from ancient Persia; and (d) other historic examples that shed light on the fashionable colors of kings and biblical priests.

Speaker(s)

Zvi C. Koren

Director of The Edelstein Center for the Analysis of Ancient Artifacts, SHENKAR COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING, DESIGN AND ART, ISRAEL

Prof. Zvi Koren received his B.S. (cum laude) degree from Brooklyn College and his Ph.D. in physical chemistry from the City University of New York. He was Chairman of the Department of Chemistry at The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art in Manhattan. After moving... Read More →

Thursday May 29, 2014 5:00pm - 5:30pm PDT
Seacliff A-B

5:00pm PDT

(Wooden Artifacts Session) We Can Fix It But Should We? Take 2, Part two - The Treatment of Mr. Chips

This paper is the second installment of a two part paper first given at the Wooden Artifacts session of the AIC annual meeting in 2013, and will discuss the journey and decision making process that ultimately guided the treatment of Mr. Chips.

A local private collector approached the Studio of Fallon & Wilkinson LLC in late 2012 to consult on the treatment of a contemporary piece made by California based studio furniture maker and wood sculptor John Cederquist (born August 7th, 1946).
The piece, titled Mr. Chips, is a “Kosode” form two-door cabinet, and had sustained severe UV damage with significant fading of the originally colorfully dyed surface design elements. The surface decoration included a Mickey Mouse Arm using a traditional wood plane, inlaid wood shavings falling from the tool, checkerboard “parquetry”, geometric clan signs, and Japanese writing. The inside of the cabinet was protected from the UV exposure and subsequently retained the wonderful rich color and surface characteristics that had disappeared from the front of the cabinet.

The client’s request was to conserve and restore the vibrant dye and ink colors and surface topcoat to the now faded areas, particularly on the large front of the cabinet, which is shaped like a life sized kimono.

As conservators, occasionally we are asked to undertake treatments that ultimately may have complex professional, ethical and market valuation considerations, and these issues become a large part of the equation when dealing with Contemporary Art.

A year in the making, there were a series of research and technical developments that ultimately informed the treatment strategy and guided the treatment of Mr. Chips. By using a “guided studio assistant” approach, with the full cooperation of both the Artist and his Studio Assistant, Mr. Chips was additively restored and re-coated using the Artists original materials and techniques. This Paper will discuss the Artist involved process and treatment in depth.

Speaker(s)

Tad Fallon

Principal, Fallon & Wilkinson, LLC

Tad Fallon grew up around art and antiques, working within the family business, Copake Auctions Inc., prior to college. In 1991, after beginning college as a studio art major, he entered the Fashion Institute of Technologyâ€™s Restoration program in New York City and studied... Read More →

Thursday May 29, 2014 5:00pm - 5:30pm PDT
Regency Room

Business Meeting, Photographic Materials

6:00pm PDT

Opening Reception

Thursday May 29, 2014 6:00pm - 10:00pm PDT
de Young Museum

Reception

7:30am PDT

(Business Meeting) Architecture Specialty Group

Friday May 30, 2014 7:30am - 8:30am PDT
Garden Room

Business Meeting, Architecture

7:30am PDT

(Business Meeting) Book and Paper Group

Friday May 30, 2014 7:30am - 8:30am PDT
Grand Ballroom A

Business Meeting, Book and Paper

7:30am PDT

(Business Meeting) Electronic Media Group

Friday May 30, 2014 7:30am - 8:30am PDT
Seacliff C-D

Business Meeting, Electronic Media

7:30am PDT

(Business Meeting) Paintings Specialty Group

Friday May 30, 2014 7:30am - 8:30am PDT
Grand Ballroom B

Business Meeting, Paintings

7:30am PDT

(Business Meeting) Photographic Materials Group

Friday May 30, 2014 7:30am - 8:30am PDT
Grand Ballroom C

7:30am PDT

(Business Meeting) Textiles Specialty Group

Friday May 30, 2014 7:30am - 8:30am PDT
Seacliff A-B

Business Meeting, Textiles

8:30am PDT

(Electronic Media Session) Museum / University Collaborations in Media Conservation Research

Media art conservation requires many forms of research to implement strategies for long-term preservation. Standard research includes investigating original playback equipment, staying abreast of emerging audio, video, and software technologies, and communicating with artists about technologies they use and their exhibition preferences. Media conservation also requires primary research to develop strategies for new technologies that artists use in their production. Museums are well served by establishing relationships with local universities to conduct some of this research. Academic faculty and students can assist media conservation in many ways, from answering technical questions to engaging in more extensive collaborations.

In this presentation the speakers describe research relationships developed between Media Conservation at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) and New York University (NYU). Over the past seven years a number of collaborative projects and courses facilitated needed research for the museum and provided learning opportunities for students in the Courant Institute of Mathematics, the Moving Image Archive Preservation Program, the Museum Studies Program, and the Institute of Fine Arts. One case study will be featured, in which undergraduate Computer Science students from NYU researched and documented software-based works in MoMA’s collection.

Glenn Wharton will describe the research program developed at MoMA that led to these collaborative relationships. He will illustrate the first section of the presentation with examples of collaborative research projects between the university and the museum.

Deena Engel will describe the research conducted by students on software-based art, along with her work to establish the research program within the Courant Institute of Mathematics.

Speaker(s)

Deena Engel

Clinical Professor and Director, Program in Digital Humanities and Social Science, Department of Computer Science, New York University, Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences

Deena Engel is a Clinical Professor in the Department of Computer Science at the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences of New York University as well as the Director of the Program in Digital Humanities and Social Science. She teaches undergraduate computer science courses on... Read More →

Glenn Wharton

Clinical Professor, Museum Studies, New York University

Glenn Wharton is a Clinical Professor in Museum Studies at New York University. From 2007-2013 he served as Media Conservator at the Museum of Modern Art, where he established the time-based media conservation program for video, performance, and software-based collections. In 2006... Read More →

Friday May 30, 2014 8:30am - 9:00am PDT
Seacliff C-D

Specialty Session, Objects, Research and Technical Studies

8:30am PDT

(Objects + Research and Technical Studies Session) Ultraviolet Induced Visible Fluorescence and Chemical Analysis as Tools for Examining Featherwork

Feathers are found in cultural heritage and scientific research collections of tribal arts from the Americas, Africa, and the Pacific as well as in contemporary art, European and American 18-19th century fashion, and in taxidermy and ornithology specimens. While museum conservators routinely evaluate feathers by looking at insect damage and mechanical wear, as well as fading as evidence of light exposure, examination of feathers for visible fluorescence under an ultraviolet source is atypical. Recent research by both the authors and bird biologists indicate that nondestructive ultraviolet fluorescence examination can provide valuable information about the identification and pigmentation of feathers found in museum collections, but must be used with caution as both light exposure and adventitious materials may compromise fluorescence. The authors also evaluate different methods of chemical analysis for detecting light induced chemical changes in feathers.

Recent research conducted jointly by UCLA and the Getty Conservation Institute illustrated the importance of identifying feather pigmentation systems in the design of a preventive strategy. The difference in susceptibility to fading of undyed feathers can be a tenfold dose depending on the colorant systems present in the feather and the emission spectrum of the light. Feathers with color derived from the scattering of light through small scale feather structures are known to be more light stable than feathers with coloration based on biological pigments. A number of feather pigments, including psittacofulvins found only in red and yellow pigments in birds in the Psittaciforme family, as well as porphyrins found in rusty brown owl plumage, may be identified by their specific ultraviolet induced visible fluorescence. The Psittaciforme family includes culturally significant birds such as parrots and macaws and cockatoos, whose plumage comprises not only red and yellow feathers but also green feathers colored by mixtures of structural colors and psittacofulvins.

Feathers that are not directly fluorescent may still undergo appearance changes under an ultraviolet source as a consequence of light aging. Such changes are not readily measured colorimetrically as they may result in chemical and not appearance changes. The authors will describe a variety of analytical techniques applied to light aged feather samples in order to present the most sensitive methods for detecting chemical changes that parallel fluorescence changes.

Speaker(s)

Melissa Hughs

Graduate Student, UCLA

Ellen Pearlstein

Professor, UCLA

Ellen Pearlstein is a founding faculty member in the graduate UCLA/Getty Conservation Program, where she incorporates Indigenous instruction into the understanding and care of California basketry and featherwork. Her publications include edited volumes Conservation of Featherwork... Read More →

Co-Author(s)

Christel C. Pesme

Chief Conservator/ Deputy Director, Heritage Conservation Centre

Joy Mazurek

Assistant Scientist, Getty Conservation Institute

Molly Gleeson-[PA]

Schwartz Project Conservator, Penn Museum

Molly Gleeson is the Schwartz Project Conservator at the Penn Museum. Since 2012 Molly has worked in the museum’s open conservation lab, which was recently renamed “The Artifact Lab: Conservation in Action.” In the Artifact Lab, she treats artifacts in full public view, interacts... Read More →

Renee Riedler

Conservator, Weltmuseum Wien

Friday May 30, 2014 8:30am - 9:00am PDT
Bayview A-B

8:30am PDT

(Paintings Session) Aspects of Painting Technique in The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne attributed to Andrea Salai

The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne attributed to Andrea Salai, an associate of Leonardo da Vinci, came from the Hammer Museum at the University of California Los Angeles to the Paintings Conservation Department at the J. Paul Getty Museum for study and treatment in preparation for an exhibition at the Museé du Louvre. Dated to 1500-1524, it is a scale version of the same subject painted by his master now at the Louvre, and was almost certainly created in Leonardo’s studio. The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne has come down to us in remarkable condition from both a structural and aesthetic point of view. The panel has been virtually unaltered since it was constructed and the paint surface remains very much intact with only a few discrete losses. This paper will describe aspects of the painting technique for which analysis of cross-sections greatly enhanced our understanding of it. Some of the interesting findings include a methodical approach to the paint build-up with the occurrence of intermediate varnish layers, and evidence of a textile and the hand used to manipulate blue and red glazes.

Speaker(s)

Sue Ann Chui

Associate Conservator, J. Paul Getty Museum

Sue Ann Chui is an Associate Conservator in the department of Paintings Conservation at the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles where she is specialized in the conservation of panel paintings. Before joining the Getty in 2005, Sue Ann was a post-graduate intern at the Hamilton Kerr... Read More →

Co-Author(s)

Alan Phenix-[PA]

Paintings Conservator; Scientist

Alan Phenix is a paintings conservator, conservation educator and conservation scientist. Recently retired, from November 2006 he was employed as ‘Scientist’ at the Getty Conservation Institute (GCI), Los Angeles. In his first years at GCI he worked partly for the Museum Research... Read More →

Friday May 30, 2014 8:30am - 9:00am PDT
Grand Ballroom B

8:30am PDT

(Photographic Materials Session) Preserving Ernest Hemingway’s Photograph Albums and Scrapbooks at the Finca Vigía

For over ten years, the Northeast Document Conservation Center (NEDCC) has been working with conservators at the Finca Vigía, Hemingway’s house in Cuba where he lived from 1939 – 1960, providing advice, training and aid in preserving its paper-based archives. The collection includes manuscripts, letters, over 3000 photographs, scrapbooks, photograph albums, art collections, maps and a 9000 volume library that contains rare first editions of his books and those of other famous writers. Even though the entire collection is important to the home’s history, the focus of this paper is the conservation of four significant albums that document Hemingway’s acceptance of the 1954 Nobel Prize in Literature for Old Man in the Sea and the subsequent making of the movie. These include the photograph albums Homenaje Nacional and Recuerdo…1956, and scrapbooks Nobel Prize Telegrams and Drawings for Storyboard for the Movie Old Man and the Sea.

Photograph albums and scrapbooks are multifaceted items that require the expertise of not only a book conservator but also paper or photograph conservators. The conservation of these objects is complicated even when working in a climate controlled lab with abundant and available supplies. Add the traditional challenge of conserving albums to working in a tropical climate without environmentally controlled facilities, lack of space, language difficulties, and lack of material, and the challenges are magnified. This paper explores the importance of Hemingway’s albums and scrapbooks to the collection, the difficulties overcome to develop and implement appropriate and successful conservation treatments, and the satisfying partnership with our Cuban colleagues at the Finca Vigía.

Speaker(s)

Monique C. Fischer-[Fellow]

Senior Photograph Conservator, Northeast Document Conservation Center

Monique C. Fischer is the senior photograph conservator at the Northeast Document Conservation Center (NEDCC) in Andover, MA. She holds a master’s degree in art conservation from the University of Delaware/Winterthur Museum, and a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Smith College... Read More →

Co-Author(s)

Mary Bogan

Director of Book Conservation, Northeast Document Conservation Center

Mary Patrick (MP) Bogan has worked in the field of bookbinding and conservation since 1981, including eleven years at NEDCC. She also served as Head of Binding and Repair at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Libraries, and as Conservation Officer/Program Coordinator in the... Read More →

Friday May 30, 2014 8:30am - 9:00am PDT
Grand Ballroom C

8:30am PDT

(Textiles Session) Managing sustainability of light sensitive collections

Can some of the concepts that emerge from thinking about global sustainability inform our field, especially the dilemma of managing unavoidable deterioration such as light damage? Top level definitions of sustainability, e.g., the Brundtland report, are couched in terms of final goals such as intergenerational equity, very much like top level explanations of heritage conservation goals. In the end, however, sustainability does reduce to making sure that consumption of something essential is balanced by its replenishment. For the environment, this means things such as clean air, forests, and food crops. For cultural heritage, this means things such as language, historic buildings, and museums. Note that sustainable things are all abstractions, not actual objects. Sustainable “things” are types of objects, e.g., trees, food, iconic textiles, or they are object configurations, e.g., water without toxins, or they are the systems themselves (biological, economic, and social/cultural) that create the types and configurations. They are not the actual water, food, or museum collections that you “consumed” last year. These actual objects, or the actual minimal ensemble needed for maintenance of a particular species, particular language, are irreplaceable.

This examination of what sustainability means implies that heritage organizations cannot sustain actual objects, they can only sustain types of objects (“manage change” as the National Trust UK states) . There seem to be two “types” in material heritage : rare precious objects, each a singularity, and the types that have many members, e.g., “19th century quilts”. As a type, rare and precious objects can only be sustained by ensuring that the deterioration of the current members is kept slow enough to allow slow replenishment by newer rare and precious objects. Types that have many member objects may allow a different strategy. Consider a class of textile objects. From a simple risk management perspective, the following scenarios are equally risky: 1) Rotate the class of objects so that each object is “rested” half the time. 2) Display only half of this class of objects, and leave the other half in the dark. The displayed pieces will have lost roughly twice as many colors, and although one can make arguments for more and less than double the loss of value, to a first approximation one would have to say simply that half the objects have double the damage of scenario 1, half have none, so scenarios 1 and 2 are equivalent in terms loss of value to the class. It is common, and considered ethical, to “rotate” and “rest” collections. Why? Scenario 1 allows twice as many people to see that class of objects “well” but subsequent generations will never see pristine examples of the class. It not sustainability. Scenario 2 is not simple sustainability either, but it does allow the (almost) indefinite maintenance of some exemplars of the class in a pristine state, like seed banks for sustaining genetic diversity. The presentation will explore various such scenarios for textile collections, illustrated via the light damage calculator to see what kind of sustainability is possible for heritage.

Speaker(s)

Stefan Michalski

Senior Conservation Scientist, Canadian Conservation Institute

Friday May 30, 2014 8:30am - 9:00am PDT
Seacliff A-B

8:30am PDT

(Architecture Session) Student Session

Friday May 30, 2014 8:30am - 10:00am PDT
Garden Room

8:45am PDT

(Book and Paper Session) Book and Paper Conservation Tips

Back by popular demand! Join your colleagues for another fun, informative Tips Session. Expect tips that are short and sweet, and cover a wide range of topics. Time permitting, the mic will be open for discussion and impromptu tips.

Session Moderator(s)

Emily Rainwater

Conservator, State Archives of North Carolina

Emily is the Conservator for the State Archives of North Carolina. Previously, she was a post-graduate fellow for the Thomas Jefferson Bible conservation project at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History. She has an MSIS with a CAS in Conservation from the University... Read More →

Friday May 30, 2014 8:45am - 10:00am PDT
Grand Ballroom A

9:00am PDT

(Electronic Media Session) XFR STN: Operating an Open-Door Media Conservation Lab

For three months during the summer of 2013, New York’s New Museum of Contemporary Art played host to a public, open-door, artist-centered media conservation laboratory called XFR
STN. Derived from a project proposal to preserve the massive collection of video materials produced by the Monday/Wednesday/Friday Video Club, XFR STN sought to address the wide need for artist access to media migration and recovery services. Throughout its ten-week run, XFR STN offered artists the opportunity of scheduling three hour appointments with trained technicians to recover work from a wide variety of obsolete analog video and digital media formats. Moreover, the project sought to eliminate the prohibitive costs associated with such migration services, addressing the fact that many artist’s media-based materials will not survive beyond their lifetime if they have not already achieved commercial success.

The XFR STN project also inherently addressed issues of distribution, scale, and the economics of preservation for small institutions. By partnering with the Internet Archive to host all digitized material, XFR STN offered a nuanced approach to common institutional challenges surrounding the cost and maintenance of a long-term digital repository, while twinning conservation of material with widespread public access to resulting preserved content.

This paper will offer a practical case-study surveying the nuts and bolts of such a lab; detail the day-to-day logistics of running a public and appointment based service; provide background on streamlining metadata capture and processing; outline pedagogical approaches and educational outreach to artists and the public; and relate practical and technical lessons learned throughout the course of the exhibition. The presenters will also enumerate strategies by which XFR STN rallied institutional support and expertise from a wide array of cultural organizations’ preservation departments to realize the project’s equipment and resource needs. The aim is to provide guidance through which other institutions may build upon for the successful operation of similar conservation recovery services.

Speaker(s)

Ben Fino-Radin

Associate Media Conservator, MoMA

Ben Fino-Radin is a museum professional specializing in the preservation of digital contemporary art and cultural heritage. Ben serves as Associate Media Conservator at the Museum of Modern Art, as well as Adjunct Professor in NYU’s Moving Image Archiving and Preservation program... Read More →

Walter Forsberg

Media Conservator, Laboratorio Experimental de Cine, Mexico

Walter Forsberg works as a filmmaker and media conservator based in Mexico City. His films have screened widely, including at the Sundance, Rotterdam, and Toronto film festivals, and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. A graduate of NYU’s Moving Image Archiving and... Read More →

Friday May 30, 2014 9:00am - 9:30am PDT
Seacliff C-D

Specialty Session, Objects, Research and Technical Studies

9:00am PDT

(Objects + Research and Technical Studies Session) Coping with Arsenic-Based Pesticides on Textile Collections

The Arizona State Museum Conservation Laboratory has developed a protocol for testing and removing arsenic pesticide residues from textiles. Funding from a National Center for Preservation Training and Technology (NCPTT) grant partially supported the purchase of equipment, supplies, and a graduate student assistant. A team recently completed a project that included the following activities:

Scholars of Navajo textiles and Navajo weavers were consulted as the project was developed.

The entire collection of Navajo textiles was surveyed with a pXRF instrument and a protocol for the testing procedure was developed to make this task both efficient in sometimes difficult storage access conditions and useful to the project to develop a removal method.

A protocol for arsenic removal was based on the results of testing. A series of tests using arsenic treated samples (doses based on typical amounts found during the survey on ASM collections). Variations in washing technique including time, temperature, pH, agitation were tested and samples were pXRF tested before and after.

Wash water samples were also tested for arsenic and values were compared with the washed textile samples. A circulating pump system was devised to pull contaminated wash water into a capture filter for arsenic and recycle the water.

The system was tested on samples and then on a cataloged museum textile.

The results will be presented on the methodology and results of this treatment protocol.

Speaker(s)

Jae Anderson

MSE Graduate Student, University of Arizona

Martina Dawley

Assistant Curator for American Indian Relations, Arizona State Museum

My research is primarily focused on the intersection of American Indians and museums, specifically in conservation. I am working on a book based on my dissertation "An Analysis of Diversifying Museum Studies: American Indians in Conservation." I will speak on this topic during AIC's... Read More →

Co-Author(s)

Delana Joy Farley

Museum Curator, Southern Ute Museum

Delana Joy Farley is Dine from Littlewater, NM on the Navajo Nation. She is a third generation weaver and also a museum professional. She graduated with a BA from the Institute of American Indian Arts in 2006 and also with an MA from New York University in Museum Studies in 2008... Read More →

Dr. Nancy Odegaard

Conservator, Patronato San Xavier

Nancy is the Conservator Emerita at the Arizona State Museum on the campus of the University of Arizona in Tucson where she is also a Professor Emerita of Anthropology. Since 1983, she led the effort to preserve the collections of the museum through loans, exhibits, excavations, research... Read More →

Stephanie Watson

Volunteer Chemist, Conservation Laboratory at the Arizona State Museum, University of Arizona

Friday May 30, 2014 9:00am - 9:30am PDT
Bayview A-B

9:00am PDT

(Paintings Session) A Hangover, Part III: Thomas Coutures's Supper After the Masked Ball

Depicting the aftermath of a carnivalesque episode in the infamous and glamorous Maison d’Or, Paris, Thomas Couture’s Supper After the Masked Ball could be described as itself suffering from poor judgements, a tendency to excess, and weakness for immediate gratification. A painting now important to art history and notorious in its day, it nonetheless spent the last 90 years in storage, largely ignored except for episodes of invasive treatments – two linings and at least two campaigns of cleaning and restoration. The painting is once again under treatment, now at the National Gallery of Canada.

This is not an uncommon story for objects in many collections today. As art market prices rise beyond levels most museums and collectors can manage, objects with problematic histories often become an area of focus. We are frequently faced with the legacy of decisions and common practices within conservation made at a time of development, where historic, craft practices were confronted by practitioners at the limits of their understanding, employing new procedures.

In Supper After the Masked Ball, beyond at least two partial and selective cleaning procedures, the treatment sought to undo critical changes wrought by glue-paste and wax-resin linings, leaving a large painting (180 x 228cm) de-lined and not re-lined. The conservation involved a series of structural and restoration treatments to both the painting and its stretcher. Partly, this treatment occurred because the verso of the canvas was used by Couture, as was his habit, to test tint combinations and paint consistencies for other paintings, possibly in a teaching context within his atelier – information typically now lost. This treatment also occurred in part because it is common practice today – attempting to reverse changes made by our forefathers – both in the museum sector and in the realm of private practice, where recovery of ‘authentic’ objects can bring broad benefit and is seen as profitable and desirable. In doing so, we likely bring further issues, both beneficial and potentially problematic, to the fore. This presentation elucidates a methodology for confronting key structural issues clumsily sidestepped by traditional lining practices, using Couture’s Supper After the Masked Ball as a case-study.

In addition to the treatment of the painting, the original Beaux-Arts frame for the painting was also restored, having spent nearly a century off the painting, stored in its shipping crate. The restored painting and its frame will be the subject of a focus exhibition at the National Gallery of Canada and the Vancouver Art Gallery, with web-based content focusing on the essential role of conservation, and additionally on the importance of professional development of emerging conservators through sponsored fellowship initiatives. The painting is expected to make a full recovery from its hangover.

Speaker(s)

Fiona Beckett

Clowes Paintings Conservator (IMA), Indianapolis Museum of Art

FIONA BECKETT has a Master’s degree in Conservation with a specialization in paintings from Queen’s University and an Honours Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Ottawa. She has previous experience and internships at the Royal Ontario Museum, Atelier Anita Henry, the... Read More →

Friday May 30, 2014 9:00am - 9:30am PDT
Grand Ballroom B

9:00am PDT

(Photographic Materials Session) Fototeca Pedro Guerra: Conservation of the Photographic Archives

The Fototeca Pedro Guerra is part of the School of Anthropological Sciences of the Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán, México. The majority of its holdings are photographic processes from wet collodion to color negatives. There are a few prints: from albumins to gelatin printing proofs and recently, piezography prints of the Fototeca files.

One of the great challenges has been the preservation of negatives in tropical climates. The city of Mérida, Yucatán is located South of the Tropic of Cáncer, with a hot and humid climate; the average temperature is around 86 °F with RH humidity of 70% to 90% during the rainy season. The hottest months are April and May, where temperature could reach up to 104° F.

These climatic conditions represent a great challenge and take a large amount of economical resources of the institution in charge of preserving the archives. For this reason, a special archive storage area was built in 1985 to improve the environmental conditions. Two AC units and one dehumidification extractor were purchased later to keep the environmental conditions of the archive storage area at 64.4° F and the RH at about 30-40% all yearlong.

The storage area has a gate to prevent the direct entry of air. The interior has four rooms; two of them to preserve negatives on glass support, one for film and the last one has a freezer and it is where other activities take place.

In the presentation there will be a discussion of damages to negatives and the actions designed to preserve them. Additionally, there will be a discussion on freezing cellulose nitrate film and cellulose acetate film.

Speaker(s)

Cinthya Cruz

LACS Recipient, la Universidad AutÃ³noma de YucatÃ¡n

fotografía, pintura, museos, consrvación Responsible for the conservation and digitization of photographic collections. The most important projects have been: - the Digitization and freezing of a nitrate film collection, the high resolution digitization of the Pedro... Read More →

Friday May 30, 2014 9:00am - 9:30am PDT
Grand Ballroom C

9:00am PDT

(Textiles Session) Relying on the Kindness of Strangers: Gathering Information for the Treatment of a Suit of Japanese Samurai Armor

Until 1854, Japan had been completely closed to trade with most western nations for over two centuries. When the Edo Period came to an end in 1868, the new regime opened the country up to trade with the West, leading to its subsequent modernization. Beguiled by its exotic yet traditional culture, George W. Vanderbilt travelled there in September 1892 when he received a special invitation to attend birthday celebrations for the Emperor. During his ten week visit, Mr. Vanderbilt bought many souvenirs, filling thirty-two crates with objects ranging from fine Satsuma porcelains to one thousand festive paper lanterns. Amongst his prizes was a suit of Samurai armor, an object which quickly became a popular item for American collectors and whose popularity has come full circle again. The armor had been displayed at various times over the years in Biltmore house, being relegated most recently to storage. The Samurai armor was included in an exhibition, opening in spring of 2012, which highlights the many objects which Vanderbilt and his family acquired during their years of travel.

As a conservator who specializes in upholstery, this author typically relies on each piece of furniture to provide most of the relevant information concerning its treatment needs. The lack of familiarity with Samurai armor, and the culture from which it came, required going outside of the normal sources of information to identify the materials, the various components of the armor, and their relationship to each other. This paper will briefly discuss how information was gathered and the basic treatment steps which enabled this object to be brought to display condition.

Speaker(s)

Anne Battram

Upholstery Conservator, Biltmore Estate

Having had her own upholstery business in Canada for five years and, never intending to ever do upholstery again, Anne closed her shop to attend the University of Windsor in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. There she obtained an Honorâ€™s Art History Degree and then trained as an objectâ€™s... Read More →

Friday May 30, 2014 9:00am - 9:30am PDT
Seacliff A-B

9:30am PDT

(Electronic Media Session) Unstable Archives

The concept of “Unstable Archives” makes reference to archival collections assembled by artistic materials in electronic and digital media.

The notion of “Unstable Archives” suggests two types of instability. The first one is with regard to their material instability, that is, the short life span and obsolescence of “carriers” or storage devices, formats, as well as playback equipment and hardware. While the second type of instability, makes reference to their “accidental” ontology, conceptualisation and use, and by this I mean, their continuous fluctuation in the context. That is, their move from the archive to the museum, and vice versa.

This paper will introduce several examples of Unstable Archives. Each case attempts at discussing main topics with regard to the preservation of Audio-visual and Digital Heritage. The presentation is structured in four themes: General concerns in the caring of “Unstable Archives”, Digitalization, Digital Preservation, and Accessibility.

On the first section, I will discuss some general problems faced by the responsible of AV archives. Generally speaking, small and non-collecting cultural institutions share the same concerns, that is, they all face with the lack of enough funding, time and resources to manage their documentary collections. In most cases, there is a shortage of qualified staff, little knowledge in providing long-term access to, as well as a lack of reliable strategies for preserving technology-related documents. Often, mixed media archives have not been stored correctly nor do they have adequate management, conservation, and disaster plans. More importantly, the variety of media types and formats are becoming obsolete and inaccessible.
The second part will address the issues with regard to digitalisation. The emphasis will be placed on projects that were not well planned and how the “digitalisation fever” has lead to unsustainable choices. On the third section, I will present a basic introduction about digital preservation and the general guidelines for managing and preserving digital objects. Finally, the last part of the presentation will focus on the topic of accessibility. I will highlight the characteristics of a sustainable and robust platform to disseminate and preserve audio-visual materials.

Given the lack of professionalisation in the field of AV and Digital preservation in Mexico, it is urgent to highlight the challenges, and to address possible sustainable practices aimed at ensuring the preservation of these materials. Due to the increasingly number of archival collections that hold electronic and digital materials, institutions must develop strong, interoperable and sustainable strategies, tools and models aimed at preserving our technology-related documentary heritage.

Speaker(s)

Jo Ana Morfin

TBM Conservator, Memórica. México haz Memoria

Jo Ana holds a degree in Cultural Heritage Restoration from the National School of Conservation (ENCRyM) in Mexico City. In 2008 she obtained her Master’s degree in Curating from Sunderland University in U.K. She is currently doing her PhD at Bristol University in U.K. Her research... Read More →

Friday May 30, 2014 9:30am - 10:00am PDT
Seacliff C-D

Specialty Session, Objects, Research and Technical Studies

9:30am PDT

(Objects + Research and Technical Studies Session) Blue, Red, and Wound All Over: Evaluating Condition Change and Cleaning of Glass Disease on Beads

Glass deterioration occurs when hygroscopic alkali components of the glass migrate to the surface and form salts. The leaching of alkali components leaves a silica enriched surface layer, which is vulnerable to further deterioration. Environmental parameters, glass composition and manufacturing processes, contact with other materials, and previous use of the object can all affect the deterioration process. Glass disease is a collection wide condition issue at the National Museum of the American Indian. Two targeted collections surveys, has identified at risk beads. To assess changes in condition over time, a selection of objects originally surveyed in 1999 were re-surveyed in 2013. Ninety percent of the beads had no visible change to the deteriorated glass over fourteen years. A second survey was conducted to evaluate whether treatment options used for blue and red beads – cleaning with water, ethanol 1:1 water:ethanol, or mechanical cleaning – had different long term results. Red and blue beads with records of deterioration were chosen to create a relevant subset and because the previous condition change survey had identified those colors as most likely to deteriorate. The results of both surveys will be presented, including trends indicating which beads were most likely to develop glass disease. Several factors stood out, including color and manufacturing technique, both of which are directly related to glass composition. Wound beads – as opposed to drawn beads – also had much higher rates of deterioration, likely due to the generally lower concentration of stabilizing calcium oxide (CaO) and the use of potash (K2CO3) as the alkali constituent. Additional information about the bead compositions will be gathered through x-ray fluorescence spectroscopy. The identification of beads most likely to have or develop glass deterioration and the long term success of treatment will help prioritize conservation resources.

Speaker(s)

Robin O'hern

Conservator, Halekoa LLC

Robin Ohern is an objects conservator in private practice. She was previously an Andrew W. Mellon fellow in objects conservation at the National Museum of the American Indian (2012-2014). Robin has completed internships at the Walters Art Museum, the Straus Center for Conservation... Read More →

Co-Author(s)

Kelly McHugh

Supervisory Collections Manager, Cultural Resources Center. The National Museum of the American Indian. Smithsonian Institution

Kelly McHugh recently became the Supervisory Collections Manager at the National Museum of the American Indian. Prior she served as an object conservator, when she began working for the museum in 1996 in New York, based at the museum’s former storage facility in the Bronx. There... Read More →

Friday May 30, 2014 9:30am - 10:00am PDT
Bayview A-B

9:30am PDT

(Paintings Session) The Pied Piper of Hameli: Color and Light in Maxfield Parrish in the Palace Hotel, San Francisco

In March 2013, news broke that the Palace Hotel in San Francisco would be selling its historic 1909 Maxfield Parrish wall painting at auction in New York City. Due to the public response the owners responded to the community and made the decision to keep the painting. Already en route to New York when the reversal came, the owner decided to proceed with the previously planned surface cleaning to be done on the east coast. The conservators at Rustin Levenson Art Conservation Associates were contracted for this treatment having cleaned and conserved Parrish’s 1906 New York City wall painting, Old King Cole, in the St. Regis Hotel. The opportunity to examine and analyze The Pied Piper of Hamelin, which has never been lined or had its original varnish removed, was a rare and fruitful endeavor. New information about Parrish’s materials and methods were discovered. The surfactant used for surface cleaning was water-soluble, readily biodegradable, and is considered an alternative by the EPA’s DfE and CleanGredients, 2011. In addition, an alternative to organic solvents was found when testing methods for removal of a non-original alkyd layer.

Speaker(s)

Harriet Irgang Alden

Director/ Senior Paintings Conservator, ArtCare NYC and Miami, A Rustin Levenson Company

Harriet Irgang Alden is the Director and senior paintings conservator of Rustin Levenson Art Conservation Associates in New York City. She earned her B.A. in art history frorm Brooklyn College and her M.A. Art History with a diploma in Art Conservation from the Conservation Center... Read More →

Friday May 30, 2014 9:30am - 10:00am PDT
Grand Ballroom B

9:30am PDT

(Photographic Materials Session) Examination of an Anti-Fungal Agent to be Used on Photographs

The Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami in 2011 caused tremendous damage to photographic materials. Many of them were water damaged and left untreated for months. As a result they were found with microbial deterioration leading to the dissolution of the gelatin binder and damage to the support, at times making them very difficult to recover or conduct further treatment. As an emergency response procedure for preventing mold on photographs, the authors examined the use of Hokucide R-150 (an aqueous solution of chloromethylisothiazolinone and methylisothiazolinone), as an anti-bacterial and anti-fungal agent. It is easy to prepare and can be used as a solution either by immersion or by spray.

Anti-fungal effect of Hokucide R-150 was confirmed by inoculating standard strain of non-tonophilic (Aspergillus niger) and absolute tonophilic (Asperigillus penicilloides, Eurotium herberiorum) fungi found on photographs damaged by Tsunami. Isolated strains were inoculated and cultivated on group of paper disks treated with Hokucide R-150 and compared with untreated paper disks used as a control. As a result of cultivation, fungal growth was prevented in the paper disks treated with Hokucide R-150 solution. To obtain a satisfactory result of its anti-fungal property, concentration of 1.0% Hokucide R-150 in water is recommended. Surfactant is added to Hokucide R-150 solution for even dispersion and reducing surface tension. A survey has been done on non-ionic surfactants to be used safely on photographs and effectively with Hokucide R-150. Samples of surfactants have been tested with colloidal silver detector film.

The effect on photographs by Hokucide R-150 solution has been studied and tested. Samples used were step tablets of Cyanotype, Albumen print, Gelatin Silver P.O.P., Gelatin Silver D.O.P., colloidal silver detector film, and Macbeth Color Checker Color Rendition Chart (Chromogenic process). Reflection density and CIE L*a*b* values were measured before and after immersion as well as after artificial aging for 7 and 14 days under controlled condition. Transmission density was measured for colloidal silver detector film at same stages.

As a result of the examination, water damaged photographs can be effectively protected from fungal growth by using Hokucide R-150 solution. Artificial aging test provided acceptable results and this could be an alternative method to be used where freezing and drying may be difficult to conduct just after the disaster.

Speaker(s)

Yoko Shiraiwa

paper and photograph conservator, Shiraiwa Conservation Studio

Yoko Shiraiwa obtained a Postgraduate Diploma in Conservation at Camberwell College of Arts in 2004 and completed a Certified and Master Class at The Centre for Photographic Conservation in London. She worked at the Art Conservation Laboratory in Tokyo as a paper conservator for five... Read More →

Friday May 30, 2014 9:30am - 10:00am PDT
Grand Ballroom C

9:30am PDT

(Textiles Session) Working with limited resources: Improving storage conditions for archaeological textiles at University of Concepción

This project focused on the conservation strategy for a collection of archaeological textiles at the University of Concepción, in Chile. This was the author’s dissertation topic for the degree of MPhil Textile Conservation at the University of Glasgow.
The collection was donated to the University in the 1970s: a total of 33 textiles including both large textiles and some small fragments. A rare example of poor documentation and storage conditions, there is no information regarding the textiles’ provenance, and it is likely that they come from various different sites, due to the different characteristics of each object. Chilean archaeologists are very thorough regarding their findings; the lack of information suggests the textiles were not found by archaeologists but rather someone entirely unfamiliar with the process that decided to donate these textiles to people who could care for them.

Graduates from the University carried out a project in 2010, ‘Placing value on the University of Concepción archaeological collection’ (Puesta en valor de la colección arqueológica Universidad de Concepción). The project was funded by the National Fund for Cultural and Art Development (Fondo Nacional para el Desarrollo Cultural y las Artes – FONDART), and focused on the fulfillment of minimal preventive conservation measures for the collection of archaeological objects in store at the University. However, the textile collection was not included in this initiative, as there were no specialists available at the time and funding was very limited.

In Chile, textile conservation is a small field. There is little information available regarding current measures to improve the condition of textiles by means of preventive conservation, and usually no funding comes to this kind of projects because they are not fully understood by the people who review them. There is also a lack of available materials for use in conservation, because the market is small and no local production exists for acid-free materials or appropriate equipment. This requires the use of alternative materials that have not yet been thoroughly tested, and the importing of materials and equipment from Europe, making conservation projects more expensive than in more developed countries.

The University is once more focusing its efforts on improving the collection’s condition, and the author has prepared a conservation strategy according to the needs of the textile objects as well as the needs of the University to ensure these objects are known, valued and learned from. Not only will the storage conditions be improved, but a new database system will be designed to include the textiles in the University’s inventory as well as to allow students, scholars and the general public to access the collection.
The project is being reviewed by the relevant funding institution (FONDART) and it is hoped to receive funding and begin work by winter 2014.

Friday May 30, 2014 9:30am - 10:00am PDT
Seacliff A-B

10:00am PDT

Refreshment Break in Exhibit Hall

Friday May 30, 2014 10:00am - 10:30am PDT
Pacific Concourse

Break

10:30am PDT

(Architecture Session) Tile Conservation Project of the Sanctuary of Santa Rosa de Lima’s Convent (17th-Century): Conservation in the inner world of religious orders in historic downtown, Lima – Peru

The development of a conservation program in a museum, a gallery or a public institution has a series of special conditions according to the planned objectives and methodological goals; even the scheduling for intervention of goods should respect their spaces and functions. But when you adapt this experience to religious orders with more than 300 years old, which have lived 90% of their history in perpetual cloisters, and with populations with a different taste and valuation of art and its history, from the generational point of view, you must deal with a methodology which goes beyond the conservation procedures, strategies, and forms in order to make minority communities (some of them self-excluded from modern world) involved in ways of preventive conservation which are in line with their activities.

For such study case, we submit the Project Conservation and Restoration of Tiles and Ornamental Woodcraft in the Funeral Chapel of Santa Rosa de Lima in the Santa Rosa de las Madres Carmelitas’ convent. Santa Rosa is a very important figure for Catholic religion in Peru, as well as for the Dominican Order, since this space is the original cell where she died, which subsequently became the sanctuary chapel, the project’s objective.

By request of the Museum of the Cathedral of lima, the Sevillian tiles had to be maintained urgently, since they showed a high level of damage, due to the fluctuations of walls’ humidity, which had not been maintained for decades. Water concentrations appeared and led to the continuous emergence of chloride salts in the tiles patinas, which made the designs unclear. Likewise, the ornamental woodcraft was damaged due to fungus, rotting and xylophages, since the congregation did not prepare intervention measures during the recent years.

With the adequate intervention measures and the stabilization of walls real changes were made; the nuns perceived these changes as positive, but these changes needed to be maintained by other sustainable measures, such as the development of preventive conservation measures, based on talks and motivational operations within their daily routines.

This work proved that the sustainability, along with conservation works maintenance, should be essentially performed by those who primarily own, use and enjoy the monumental artistic goods, since these communicate their history, as well as that of several regions, a history that involves an important community for Latin America.

Speaker(s)

Erika Anticona Peche

Conservadora, Museo de Arte Religioso Catedral de Lima

Since more than 16 years ago I have been working in the Restoration and Preservation of Monuments, includes properties and Chattels. My main skill is the conservation of ‚Äã‚ÄãMural Painting and I then gained knowledge in different areas of the conservation such as Tiles... Read More →

Friday May 30, 2014 10:30am - 11:00am PDT
Garden Room

10:30am PDT

(Book and Paper Session) Conserving the Iraqi Jewish Archive for Digitization

In 2003, conservators from the National Archives and Records Administration were called in to consult on a group of records and books related to the Jewish community which were recovered from the flooded basement of Saddam Hussein's intelligence headquarters in Baghdad. The material was beginning to mold and fuse together as it had only been partially dried in the sun before being closed up in metal trunks. Given the lack of resources available in the region to stabilize and preserve the collection, the collection was shipped to the US for these activities to be carried out under the auspices of the National Archives. NARA performed an initial assessment in 2003.

With support from the Department of State to NARA, the final phase of the project was funded in 2011 to hire a team to catalog the material, digitize the rare books and archival materials, and make them available to the public on a dedicated website. Conservation treatment was carried out to permit safe handling, digital imaging, and exhibition of selected items. An exhibition in Washington, DC opened in fall 2013. This paper will discuss the challenges and lessons learned in a large scale mold remediation, conservation, cataloging, and digitization project.

When creating a treatment protocol for this collection, the authors had to consider the large volume of material in the collection, the limited time frame of the project, and the variety of binding and archival formats. The workflow was streamlined to support digitization and provide the best possible image of very compromised records. Physical challenges included widespread mold growth, severe cockling and distortion, and blocking together of pages. Legibility of the text was impaired by surface grime, ink bleeding during the water event, and staining from mold and dirty water. This project did not impose an archival arrangement on the materials, but a member of the conservation team had to establish a page sequence for digitization; a decision which was complicated by the conflicting orientations of Arabic, Hebrew, English, and other languages.

Speaker(s)

Anna Friedman

Conservator, Iraqi Jewish Archive Project

Anna Friedman came to the Iraqi Jewish Archives project at NARA from the Field Books Project at the Smithsonian Institution Archives. She worked in the book conservation lab at the Folger Shakespeare Library, and was the Book and Paper Conservation Fellow at Winterthur Museum from... Read More →

Katherine Kelly

Conservator, National Archives and Records Administration

Katherine Kelly joined the Iraqi Jewish Archive Project at the National Archives in February 2012. Previously, she has worked as Collections Care Conservator for Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa, Conservation Intern for the Harvard College Libraries, and Conservation Technician... Read More →

Friday May 30, 2014 10:30am - 11:00am PDT
Grand Ballroom A

10:30am PDT

(Electronic Media Session) 'At Your Microservices': a roadmap to preserving digital objects

Increasingly, the UCLA Library is producing and collecting a wide variety of digital objects and collections. We are the stewards of archival audio and video files digitized from analog magnetic tape; video files produced with cell phone cameras by activists; email correspondence of professors and literary authors; social media accounts; computer-aided design architectural files; amongst many other types of reborn digital and born-digital files. Along with the sundry nature of these digital collections comes a diverse set of preservation risks and needs. This session explores this wide-ranging set of preservation issues from the perspectives of the Head of Preservation at the UCLA Library, the Audiovisual Preservation Specialist, and the Special Collections Digital Archivist.

The Head of Preservation will present the organizational role of preservation and collections care in building collaborative methodologies between the various departments and expertise required for effective digital stewardship.

The AV Preservation Specialist will discuss the specific digital preservation issues stemming from the recently created in-house AV reformatting lab and large-scale outsourced AV reformatting projects. The crux of the issue is size: roughly one hour of analog video reformatted to digital files is 100 GB. With one of our recent smaller collections, this left us with approximately 11 TB of 120 digital video files to preserve. On the other spectrum, a collection of 2,000 born-digital cell phone videos was only 10 GB. With only one full-time AV staff member, one part-time graduate assistant, and a handful of interns, these files and their accompanying metadata require a detailed preservation plan that is as automated as possible.

With the aim to address digital preservation holistically, the Digital Archivist will demonstrate the “micro-curation service framework,” which offers a variety of services to meet the many needs of our organization. Micro-curation services (or micro-services) are individual automated services designated “micro” due to their granularity. This modular approach with self-contained services including metadata creation, file identity, fixity, replication, and storage, allows for flexibility in ensuring the preservation of digital objects.

Speaker(s)

Dawn Aveline

Preservation Officer, UCLA Library

Dawn Aveline recently assumed the role of Preservation Officer at the UCLA Library. Prior to this, Dawn worked as preservation specialist and library assistant in the department. Dawn holds a BA in French from Indiana University and earned an MLIS with a focus in archival studies... Read More →

Gloria Gonzalez

Library Strategist, Zepheira

Gloria uses Linked Data principles and tools to provide solutions for archives and libraries to make their collections visible on the Web. As Library Strategist for Zepheira and the Libhub Initiative, Gloria works with public and academic libraries, archives, special collections... Read More →

Siobhan Hagan

Audiovisual Archivist, University of Baltimore

Siobhan Hagan obtained her B.A. in Film and Video Production from Loyola Marymount University in 2007, and her M.A. in 2010 from New York University’s Moving Image Archiving and Preservation program. Siobhan was hired as the UCLA Library’s first Audiovisual Preservation Specialist... Read More →

Friday May 30, 2014 10:30am - 11:00am PDT
Seacliff C-D

Specialty Session, Objects, Research and Technical Studies

10:30am PDT

(Objects + Research and Technical Studies Session) Technical study and Conservation of the “Bat Wing Ship” (the Horten Ho 229V3); Background, Challenges and Surprising Discoveries

The Bat Wing Ship, also called the Horten Ho 229 v3 is a one-of-a-kind, World War 2, German jet-powered aircraft that is part of the collection of the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum (NASM). The aircraft was built as an experimental prototype, which employed an unconventional combination of the most advanced technology of the time, paired with the use of traditional materials such as plywood. Its unique design has also promoted a vibrant debate over the origins of secret war-time technology. This is due in part to its tailless design, which is similar to current aircraft, which utilize stealth technology, coupled with a published statement by designer Reimer Horten, who claimed to have added radar-absorbing carbon to the adhesive mixture in the plywood skin. Despite decades of speculation and conjecture, to date, no attempt has been made to analyze the physical evidence to support or refute this claim, or to study the many other innovative uses of experimental materials and fabrication techniques.

The aim of this research is to present tangible evidence, derived from a technical study, to clarify the historical record. Through the analysis of original materials performed in collaboration with the Museum Conservation Institute, the technical study focused on identification of the aircraft’s plywood construction, adhesives, plastics, and paints. The study utilized a variety of analytical techniques such as; Raman Spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, Scanning Electron Microscopy, Polarized Light Microscopy, Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry, and 3D-microscopy.

The technical study of the aircraft also served to develop a stabilization methodology in preparation for its movement across state lines; from its storage location in Maryland where it has been since 1952, to NASM’s new Udvar Hazy Center in Virginia, where it is slated for assembly and display. Due in part to its deteriorated condition, NASM has never exhibited this now 68-year old aircraft.

This talk will conclude with an illustration of how the Horten Ho 229 v3 fits within the established protocols that the NASM Conservation Unit has developed for defining levels of aircraft restoration. Conservation’s ethical guidelines oftentimes conflict with traditional aircraft restoration methods. This project presents an opportunity to discuss the many shades of gray that exist between the traditions of full restoration and the governing philosophies of Conservation, which value the preservation of authentic materials.

Speaker(s)

Lauren Horelick

Object Conservator, National Air and Space Museum

Lauren Horelick has a BFA in Sculpture from the San Francisco Art Institute, a BA in art conservation and anthropology from the University of Delaware, and an MA in archaeological and ethnographic conservation from University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA)/Getty Conservation... Read More →

Co-Author(s)

Jennifer Giaccai

Conservation Scientist, the Smithsonian's Museum Conservation Institute

Malcolm Collum

Chief Conservator, Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum

Malcolm Collum is the Engen Conservation Chair at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum and has been the Chief Conservator since 2008. He has a B.A. from the University of Minnesota and an M.A. and Certificate of Advanced Study in Art Conservation from Buffalo State College... Read More →

Odile Madden

Research Scientist, Smithsonian's Museum Conservation Institute

Peter Mc Elhinney

Conservation Fellow, Smithsonian Institute

Peter Mc Elhinney is the current Postgraduate Fellow in Conservation of Museum Collections at the Smithsonian Institutes National Air and Space Museum. Peter studied Conservation of Organic Materials at Camberwell College, University of the Arts, London, before working as a conservation... Read More →

Russell Lee

Curator, National Air and Space Museum

Russell Lee earned a BA at Southwest Texas State University and an MA in American History at George Mason University. Lee curates the collections of sailplanes and gliders; ultralights and hang gliders; amateur-built sport aircraft; and Japanese aircraft from World War II. Lee chaired... Read More →

Friday May 30, 2014 10:30am - 11:00am PDT
Bayview A-B

10:30am PDT

(Paintings Session) Piet Mondrian: Technical Studies and Treatment

Dutch artist Piet Mondrian was born in Holland in 1872 and trained at the Rijksacademie. His work of the 1890s was influenced by the contemporary styles of the day: the Hague school, the Amsterdam Impressionists, and Symbolism. Shortly after a 1905 van Gogh exhibition at the Stedelijk Museum, Mondrian’s work transitioned to Neo-Impressionism or “Luminism”, where he explored color and contour. By 1909 he would have his first retrospective at the Stedelijk where he was regarded as a leader of the avant-garde. Studying the style of the day he embraced the transition from Luminism to Cubism and moved to Paris in 1912. He immersed himself in the café and salon scene with fellow artists such as Léger, Rivera, and Braque. He would travel back and forth from Holland to Paris, until the outbreak of World War I would force him to stay in the Netherlands. From 1917 to 1920 he painted experimental works and wrote for van Doesburg’s De Stijl , where in an autobiographical account of his own painting career he expressed, “Only the primary colors—red, blue and yellow—filled in with white and black were required in order to express universal light.” Returning to Paris in 1919, he wrote Le Néo-plasticisme in 1920. He continued to write and to paint throughout the 1920s and 30s and was exhibited throughout Paris, Germany, the Netherlands, and the United States. As the second World War approached he moved to London in 1938 and finally New York in 1940 where he died in 1944 at the very height of his career.

With twenty five of his works, spanning from 1902 to 1944, the Museum of Modern Art holds the most comprehensive collection of paintings by Mondrian in North America. For the last 4 years the conservation department has continued to utilize ever developing technology to study Mondrian’s sixteen oil paintings through examination, documentation, technical analysis, re-treatment, and inter-museum collaboration with colleagues such as conservators and curators at the Gemeentemuseum Den Haag. Technical examination including imaging, X-radiography, Reflectance Transformation Imaging, and X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy with multivariate analysis have been carried out on the majority of the collection. This research is presenting stratigraphic elemental palette information, transitions in his type of paints and medium, a plethora of compositional changes, as well as evolutions in his paint layering technique.

Many of Mondrian’s post 1917 works have exhibited cracking and paint lifting due to intra- and interlayer cleavage of ground and paint. In the past these instabilities warranted lining treatments. The information gleaned through this technical evaluation is expected to produce data that may correlate current and past condition issues with the artist’s material choices and application techniques. Ultimately the collective documentation will be migrated to a Mondrian database to provide the MoMA as well as other institutions and art historians with a more comprehensive understanding of this critically important body of Piet Mondrian’s work.

Speaker(s)

Cynthia M. Albertson

Conservator, Philadelphia Museum of Art

Cindy Albertson is conservator the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Previously, she was at the at the Museum of Modern Art, as well as a conservator in private practice at Albertson & Nunan, Inc. She presently serves as project manager for Alliance for Response New York City, a local volunteer... Read More →

Co-Author(s)

Ana Martins

Conservation Scientist, MoMA

Ana Martins is a Conservation Scientist working in the MoMA Conservation Department since 2008. She has a degree and a PhD in Chemistry from the University of Oporto in Portugal where she taught Analytical Chemistry and Instrumental Analysis as a Professor of the Faculty of Science... Read More →

Friday May 30, 2014 10:30am - 11:00am PDT
Grand Ballroom B

10:30am PDT

(Photographic Materials Session) Digitization as a tool for preventive conservation and a key role for sustainability

Cultural institutions are committed to a long-term preservation of their collections and information that help communities to understand their heritage. The Fouad Debbas Collection, a private collection of photographs based in Beirut, Lebanon, has developed policies that guide both the management and the access to the artifacts themselves and to their information. While the latest activities of this private institution stressed on the importance of preventive conservation, especially through an optimum environment control (climate, light, housing and storage), today, the target is the public and how to meet its needs. A collection such as the Fouad Debbas Collection encompassing more than 40 000 images from the 19th and the mid 20th centuries (albumin prints in albums or gathered in portfolios, glass plates and lantern magic slides, stereoscopic views, cabinet cards, engravings and maps) is a major national asset and a legacy for future generations.

The question of sustainability is then a challenge: how can it be incorporated into the cultural areas of the Lebanese society which every generation has already suffered political instability, war and conflicts?

Lebanon, and the region at large, lacks any serious governmental structures and institutions capable of protecting and preserving the region’s cultural heritage. Moreover, the Damocles sword of a new armed conflict haunting Lebanon and the instability of the region are so many risks that threaten the Lebanese and Middle Eastern heritage. In this context, the Fouad Debbas Collection has received lately a grant from the British Library and the Endangered Archives Programme in order to digitize, catalogue and index a representative sample of the collection: the photographs of the Bonfils studio, established in Beirut from 1867 to the 1910s+. The Bonfils Debbas collection is clearly an invaluable document registering the history of a region at a crucial crossroads in the wake of great historical upheaval that was about to sweep the region and bring about the Modern Middle East as we know it.

Speaker(s)

Yasmine Chemali

Manager, The Fouad Debbas Collection

Graduated from the Ecole du Louvre in Louvre Museum in Paris in preventive conservation and Islamic arts, Yasmine Chemali had her first experiences in the Islamic department of the Louvre museum and the textile department of the museum for Asiatic arts in Paris, before being the responsible... Read More →

Friday May 30, 2014 10:30am - 11:00am PDT
Grand Ballroom C

10:30am PDT

(Textiles Session) Assessing Colorants by Light

The purpose of this research is to address light spectra of different lighting sources used in museums with special attention to colorants. For many years there has been dissatisfaction with Blue Wool standards and their role as dosimeters to predict light induced fading in the museum environment. How different spectra of light effect historic textiles is an emerging topic in conservation. This subject is especially important because of the rapid introduction of LED (light emitting diode) lighting to save energy and the renewed architectural interest in using natural light. To deal with the topic of fading and dye degradation to understand the effects of spectra on textiles, research on the dye response to light is underway.

From previous research it is known that mordant, dye stuff and fiber all contribute to the light-fastness of color on textiles. Customized dyed standards have the possibility of monitoring degradation caused by narrow band light energy. Thus, the light properties of lamps will be juxtaposed against mordants, dyes and substrates in order to reveal connections between spectrum and color degradation.

This project will examine spectral power distribution (SPD) characteristics of lamps. When an exhibit is lit, it is important to understand the characteristics of the SPD produced by a lamp and the light properties that cause degradation to the colorants. These factors are more specific than monitoring the general, total illuminance (lux-hours) of light received by textiles during the length of an exhibit. By closely examining relative energy peaks of light and the effects of spectra on dyes, a new perspective is offered to museums for bulb selection that minimizes damage to dyes. This research seeks to provide textile conservators with a means to monitor textile displays more effectively and to eliminate common misconceptions associated with LEDs.

Speaker(s)

Courtney Bolin

Postgraduate Research Fellow, Smithsonian Museum Conservation Institute

Courtney Bolin was a Postgraduate Research Fellow studying Textile Conservation, Smithsonian Museum Conservation Institute, Washington D.C. 20560-0534 bolinc@si.edu. She completed her B.S. and M.S. at North Carolina State University in the College of Textiles. She is now employed... Read More →

Co-Author(s)

Mary W. Ballard

Conservator, Smithsonian Museum Conservation Institute

EducationB.A. Wellesley (1971)M.A. and Diploma in Conservation New York University Institute of Fine Arts (1979)Additional coursework: North Carolina State University, College of TextilesResearch Specialties and InterestsInterested in coloration of textiles and in the evidence of... Read More →

Scott Rosenfeld

Lighting Designer, Smithsonian American Art Museum

For the past 19 years Scott Rosenfeld has designed lighting for museums of fine art; since 1997 as resident lighting designer at the Smithsonian American Art Museum and Renwick Gallery. (Washington D.C.) In 2006 he completed a complete renovation of the historic Old Patent Office... Read More →

Friday May 30, 2014 10:30am - 11:00am PDT
Seacliff A-B

11:00am PDT

(Architecture Session) Basilica of San Sebastian in Manila, Philippines

The Basilica of San Sebastian in Manila, Philippines, is one of few surviving all-metal cathedrals in the world. It was built in 1891 using innovative, seismic-resistant structural steel construction after the previous three masonry churches on the site were destroyed in earthquakes.

The Basilica differs from other early uses of structural steel in earthquake-proof construction in that every component of the building is composed of steel or iron, with no masonry or plaster whatsoever. To simulate a more traditional appearance, the entire building was faux painted to create the illusion that the church was built of cut stone. Trompe l’oeil figures, painted by some of the country’s leading turn-of-the-century artists, decorate the interior dome and side walls. The masonry-less construction and the resulting decorative treatment creates a spectacular effect, yet leaves both the paintings and the metal substrates vulnerable to deterioration because the highly decorative finishes serve as the only protection for the steel from the humid environment. As an unfortunate but unsurprising consequence, the structure is actively corroding, causing damage to the important decorative paintings. The size of the building and the significance of the paintings preclude many traditional treatment options, including preventing corrosion through climate control.

This paper diagnoses the specific causes of deterioration of the paint film by examining the original painting and finishing techniques, mapping and categorizing specific localized and systemic conditions, and evaluating climatic factors contributing to the corrosion of the metal. By determining the approximate rate and extent of the deterioration and by pinpointing its specific causes, this paper serves as a basis for identifying and evaluating potential conservation treatments to prolong the life of the paintings in situ.

Speaker(s)

Christine Leggio

Architectural Conservator/Historian, Johnson, Mirmiran & Thompson

Christine Leggio is an Architectural Conservator based in Philadelphia, PA. Her work on San Sebastian Basilica served as her Master’s Thesis for the University of Pennsylvania’s Graduate Program in Historic Preservation. The work, entitled “Investigation of the Deterioration... Read More →

Friday May 30, 2014 11:00am - 11:30am PDT
Garden Room

11:00am PDT

(Book and Paper Session) Salvage of Paper Materials from the Flooding of São Luiz do Paraitinga

São Luiz do Paraitinga, is a city in Brazil with a rich history and valuable and irreplaceable cultural and historical heritage of the country. Founded in 1769, its rich heritage are materialistic and non-materialistic regional culture. As a result of climate change, on January 1st, of 2010 the city was hit by a devastating flood resulting in the loss and destruction of most city. Many historical and public buildings, monuments and houses suffered damage in their structures and there were losses of documental and digital patrimony. Most of the population lost their legal identity in this disaster. Personal documentations, retirement paperwork, medical sign off certificates, maternity leave, legal records, contracts, and others that were completely damaged by the water. These documents are essential for the State Administration and for the citizens who get through these documents a legal recognition of their civil service to this country.

The Nucleus for Conservation of Public Files of São Paulo - APESP and the Nucleus of Restoration-Conservation Edson Motta, laboratory del National Service for Industrial Apprenticeship (NUCLEM-SENAI), worked in conjunction to save these documents. These holdings were comprised by three main allotments: the first two were 800 files of different thickness, with 14 linear meters of documents from the 1970s up to today with a variety of type and paper dimensions, multiple handwritten inks and printing processes, photos and reprographic copies; and the third one had 176 files with 3.52 linear meters and with similar characteristics.

Due to bureaucratic reasons, the access to the Municipal Government and Public Ministry documents was only authorized 26 days after the flooding. So, the first group of collections sent to the Archive was in an advanced state of deterioration, with all documents pasted together with fungus, debris and mud inside drawers which were also very dirty.

In Brazil there are not many references of events of this dimension as well as Portuguese literature about these subjects is rather scarce. There were no trained staff for the response operation to then work with materials so degraded nor specialized salvaging companies, nor available for drying, freezing or to use lyophilisation equipments. With limited financial resources and no time to come up with a “big plan” but only what was necessary for a practical courses of action. A completely manual method was established to recover these documents. The procedures were all compatible with technical methods and criterias of paper conservation practices thus were developed at APESP laboratory in Sao Paulo.

Due to misinformation, the documents belonging to the third allotment were kept wet in black plastic rubbish bags. They were sent to APESP after three months. As a result, the material was strongly infected by a variety of fungus. Using traditional methods to fight such a big infection, even drying the material, would certainly not give effective results. It would also jeopardize the technicians health as well as future end-users. It was also known that afterwards they would not be housed in a controlled environment which would put in danger the full collection of the place where they were. It was decided therefore, to submit the documents to gamma-rays cobalt-60 from a multipurpose compact type from the Radiation Technology Centre for Nuclear and Energy Research Institute - CTR-IPEN. A dose of disinfectant was applied to reduce the bio burden. It is well known that doses used for sterilizing are considered way too high for materials based on cellulose because it degrades them.

Comparing the third allotment with the first and second which did not receive irradiation, it was possible to notice many advantages during the recovery tasks, as well as an easier mechanical cleaning process, spores removal, separation of pasted sheets in spite of its advanced state of degradation caused by the improper storage and method of mass-stabilization.

Other advantages noticed in the ionizing radiation process are that there is no need for quarantine; no toxic or radioactive residuals are produced; it can be applied to large quantities and varieties of materials simultaneously, and to the documents transportation package; it is a fast procedure and costs are acceptable; it is an environmental friendly method. Instead of manual, the adopted processes guaranteed 95% recuperation of these documents sent to us. It allowed to give documents back to the city of São Luiz do Paraitinga in conditions that permit both manipulation and research as well as a detailed cataloging of these documents and their content. This made possible the recuperation of very important records for Luizenses citizens and the mass of the population citizenship documents were rescued and made possible for them to finally recover their legal existences.

Speaker(s)

Fernanda Mokdessi Auada

LACS Recipient, SENAI - National Service for Industrial Apprenticeship_x000D_

Graduated in History from University of São Paulo (1993), has specialty in PAPER PRESERVATION. Technical teaching at SENAI "Theobaldo de Nigris, "working on paper preservation, conservation science and education and training. Currently takes part at IPEN - Nuclear and Energetics... Read More →

Friday May 30, 2014 11:00am - 11:30am PDT
Grand Ballroom A

11:00am PDT

(Electronic Media Session) Imaging Digital Media for Preservation with LAMMP

Hardware/Software obsolescence and bit-level corruption pose a serious threat to the ongoing accessibility of digital media storage devices both magnetic (floppy and ZIP disks) and optical (CD/DVD, USB drives). The Legacy Archival Media Migration Platform (LAMMP) was developed to rescue potentially valuable digital content from rapidly aging digital media formats. LAMMP automates the generation of bit-for-bit disk images suitable for preservation as well as disk & file-level metadata for future appraisal and access. Beyond basic preservation, there is also great archival value in reliably capturing the work environments of digital content creators. Migrating media to a digital image format and ingesting into a digital repository ensures its continued authenticity for future investigation, emulation and access. Built on open-source software, digital forensics tools and a combination of modern and legacy hardware, LAMMP is low-cost and highly customizable. Along with disk image and metadata generation, LAMMP performs essential digital preservation workflow tasks such as virus checking, hash checking, and file extraction. Finally, automation via Linux command line tools and shell scripting allows for non-technical staff to perform the LAMMP preservation procedure for most common digital media formats. The paper will cover the development of LAMMP, hardware and software specifications, lessons learned and next steps.

Speaker(s)

Matthew McKinley

Digital Project Specialist, UC Irvine Libraries

Digital Project Specialist for University of California, Irvine Libraries, tasked with planning and managing curation of digitized and born-digital campus content.

Friday May 30, 2014 11:00am - 11:30am PDT
Seacliff C-D

Specialty Session, Objects, Research and Technical Studies

11:00am PDT

(Objects + Research and Technical Studies Session) Animation Cels: Conservation and Storage Issues

This paper presents the results of collaborative research undertaken to study the technical properties, degradation, and preservation of animation cels. Traditional animation came about in the early 20th century and by the end of the same century was disappearing with the introduction of the digital age and digitally-created animated films. Left behind is an art form that holds the characters of our childhood: Pinocchio, Cinderella, Snow White – painted on thin transparent polymer sheets of cellulose esters such as cellulose nitrate, cellulose acetate and more recently polyester. These plastic sheets, known as “cels”, are the artwork that was then photographed to make the animated films.

Animation cels present conservators and scientists with a host of challenges, such as buckling, yellowing and off-gassing of the plastic due to hydrolysis and oxidation, whereas the gum-based paints are prone to cracking, flaking and delamination. Cellulose ester photographic films are stored in very cold environments to slow deterioration rates, but it is not clear that these conditions would be safe for animation cels painted with gum-based paints, because colder storage may be detrimental to the paints. Another challenge is assessing whether pollutant sorbents would be beneficial for removing off-gassed products. Would microchambers such as passé-partout mounts minimize or exacerbate the impact of fluctuating external environments? Additionally, the paints and plastic sheets may respond differently to the storage conditions, resulting in delaminating and flaking of the paints. Finally, research into flaking and delamination is sorely needed to aid in developing a proven method of reattaching paint while retaining the integrity of the work.

With little systematic investigation in this area, and a significant collection of American cultural history at risk, collaborative research was undertaken to begin examining the properties and dynamics of this medium. Disney’s large collection of cels, the diversity of production years (1930’s to 1980’s) and the various cellulose materials provided ample sampling material for this study. The collection includes cels stored in uncontrolled environments, as well as cels stored between 62-65 °F.

Characterization of the cels by multiple instrumental techniques to assess polymer composition, aging behavior and plasticizer distribution was a critical part of the initial phase of this research. Identification of polymer type using Fourier-transform infrared spectrometry (FTIR) was helpful for differentiating cellulose nitrate cels from those made from cellulose diacetate, cellulose triacetate and polyester, because visual classification of cels is not always accurate. Pyrolysis-gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (Py-GC/MS) revealed unique plasticizer mixtures in the diacetate and triacetate cels, and evidence of hydrolysis of the acetate polymer and phthalate plasticizers. Estimates of the degree of acetylation by portable FTIR, bench-top FTIR and GC/MS were compared in order to assess the accuracy of the measurements and the suitability of non-invasive FTIR. Finally, the volatiles trapped inside the passé-partout mounts were studied by GC/MS in order to determine the usefulness of this storage method.
Animation cels represent an important and unique cultural legacy of the 20th century. Undoubtedly, the key preservation issue is finding the optimal environment to decelerate the degradation of this material. Further research towards that end is planned, building upon this analytical investigation.

Speaker(s)

Kristen McCormick

Art Exhibitions and Conservation Manager, Walt Disney Animation Research Library

Kristen McCormick has been at the Walt Disney Company for over a decade and a half where she has been responsible for the safe keeping, care and transport of a broad range of artworks from African Art to Animation. In her current role she oversees the conservation care of the Walt... Read More →

Michael R. Schilling

Senior Scientist, Yale Institute for the Preservation of Cultural Heritage

Michael Schilling is head of Materials Characterization research at the Getty Conservation Institute, which focuses on development of analytical methods for studying classes of materials used by artists and conservators. He specializes in gas chromatography, mass spectrometry and... Read More →

Co-Author(s)

Herant Khanjian

Assistant Scientist, Getty Conservation Institute

Herant Khanjian received his undergraduate degree in chemistry from California State University, Northridge and has been a member in the Science department of the Getty Conservation Institute since 1988. His research interests involve the detection and identification of organic media... Read More →

Joy Mazurek

Assistant Scientist, Getty Conservation Institute

Miriam Truffa Giachet

Visiting Scientist, Getty Conservation Institute

In 2011 Miriam obtained an M.Sc. in Science and Technology Applied to the Cultural Heritage at the University of Torino with a Master thesis in chemical and physical characterization of photographic material. In 2012 she worked for a year as visiting scientist at the Getty Conservation... Read More →

Thomas Learner

Scientist/Researcher, Getty Conservation Institute

Tom Learner is head of the Science Department at the Getty Conservation Institute (GCI); he oversees all of the Institute's scientific research, developing and implementing projects that advance conservation practice in the visual arts. As a GCI senior scientist from 2007 to 2013... Read More →

Friday May 30, 2014 11:00am - 11:30am PDT
Bayview A-B

11:00am PDT

(Paintings Session) Refining Style: Technical Investigation of an Early Work by Georges Pierre Seurat in the Maurice Wertheim Collection

Throughout his career, Georges Seurat devoted himself to the current color and aesthetic theories of his time. Early on, he began applying these theories to canvas, fine-tuning both his technique and selection of materials, culminating in his mature style, pointillism, around 1886, exemplified by A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte. This study investigates an early work by Seurat, Vase of Flowers, c. 1878 - c. 1879, in the Harvard Art Museum’s Wertheim Collection, painted around the time he quit the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris in 1879. A number of recent studies (Kirby, Jo. et al. 2003; Herbert and Harris 2004) have characterized Seurat’s later style, technique, and material choices; there is, however, a dearth of material about his earliest works. The goal of this study is to gain a better understanding of Seurat’s early technique and style, especially when compared to his later works.

Overall, the painted structure of Vase of Flowers is complex and shows just how much forethought and planning Seurat invested in a painting. One facet of his layering system in Vase of Flowers is prominent brushwork throughout most of the composition that has no correlation to the painted objects within the composition. Cross-sections reveal that this texture is not in the ground, but rather in between paint layers: it is part of a layering system that involved abrading the top paint layers to reveal certain colors side by side. Cross-sections, SEM-EDS analysis and mock-ups helped to better understand this process. Furthermore, compositional changes and reworking of the composition visible in the X-ray may indicate Vase of Flowers was only a study, never considered a finished work.

Seurat was a meticulous artist, using materials and methods of paint application as a means of integrating theoretical concepts into his paintings. In Vase of Flowers, he was experimenting with a number of different techniques, though there is reason and theory behind every choice. Vase of Flowers can be viewed as a stepping-stone in Seurat’s career, as he works toward Pointillism.

Speaker(s)

Dina Anchin

Mellon Fellow in Painting Conservation, National Gallery of Art

Dina Anchin is the Mellon Fellow in Painting Conservation at the National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C. She received her M.A. in Art Conservation, with a Certificate of Advanced Study in Paintings Conservation from Buffalo State College in 2012 and Post Baccalaureate Certificate... Read More →

Friday May 30, 2014 11:00am - 11:30am PDT
Grand Ballroom B

11:00am PDT

(Photographic Materials Session: Preservation of Deborah Luster's One Big Self

This talk will address some of the details of the pre-accession and post-accession process, exhibition and preservation of Deborah Luster’s One Big Self and the complexities and enthusiasm of collecting this challenging work.

Louisiana artist, Deborah Luster’s One Big Self was acquired by the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) in 2003 and was exhibited in 2004. One Big Self consists of 287 individual 4” x 5” black and white portraits of prisoners from the Louisiana prison system. Each portrait is hand-coated with liquid photograph emulsion applied to anodized aluminum plates. The portraits are displayed in three drawers of a custom-made steel desk with an attached light and one hand-made book. Each portrait is inscribed on the reverse with personal information about the inmate; including prison issued ID number, date and place of birth, number of children and their work role at the prison.
One Big Self is an interactive work. The visitor is invited to become involved by approaching the desk, opening the heavy steel drawers and removing any number of individual portraits from the drawers. The light on the desk allows the visitor to examine each portrait closely and read the inscriptions on the reverse, gaining further knowledge about the prisoner. The artist did not want the visitors to wear gloves, as this would have detracted from the intimacy involved in the visitor experience.

One Big Self reaches beyond accepted formats for the presentation of photography and presents exhibition and preservation challenges. One Big Self is unique in SFMOMA’s photography holdings because of its important interactive component. Prior to bringing this complex work into the collection, very thorough pre-accession research was undertaken to determine how SFMOMA could successfully and appropriately exhibit this work while honoring the artist’s intent that requires the individual photographs to be handled. The research involved conversations and interviews with Deborah Luster and is in keeping with SFMOMA’s initiative to actively engage with living artists. An open and on-going dialog with artists allows for a unique understanding of works entering into SFMOMA’s collection. This practice is instrumental in keeping with the artist’s intent, the integrity, exhibition and preservation of their work. The pre-accession and accession process involved conservation, curatorial, registration and the education departments at SFMOMA.

Speaker(s)

Theresa Andrews

Conservator of Photographs, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art

Theresa Andrews is the Conservator of Photographs at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and has been at SFMOMA since 1998. She holds an MA and Certificate of Advanced Study in Conservation from the Buffalo State Art Conservation Department, SUNY, 1991. She audited the Photographic... Read More →

Friday May 30, 2014 11:00am - 11:30am PDT
Grand Ballroom C

11:00am PDT

(Textiles Session) In Consideration of the Thangka

In examining the history of the storage, display, and conservation of Thangkas at the Asian Art Museum, San Francisco, one can trace a change in conservation philosophies and the growing necessity of preventive and sustainable care.
There has been a shift in storage designs from free hanging, paintings style storage, to flat drawer storage with full support. With the understanding that the paintings are not executed like stretched oil on canvas, but rather flexible fabrics painted with low binder media, overall handling of the thangkas has been significantly reduced by use of support boards for handling and display. These boards have evolved along with storage, installation, and materials concerns. Methods have shifted from stitched mounts, to pin, and currently have paused with an interchangeable magnetic system. And finally, changes in conservation approaches will be briefly touched upon.

Using the materials on hand and creating a modular mounting system that can be adapted to any current rotation reduces the need to continually purchase new materials and reduces waste at the end of any exhibition. The Thangkas are continually supported both during rotations on their magnet mounts and in storage on their horizontal shelving units. Textile components are cared for and no longer replaced when worn. Through working with the collection and institutional display needs, a routine has been developed that sustains the thankgas while at the same time reduces handling.

Speaker(s)

Denise Krieger Migdail

Conservator, Asian Art Museum

Denise Migdail has held the title of textile conservator at the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco since March 2006. Working in a multidisciplinary lab, the work is largely exhibition driven: preparing textiles for display and travel. Prior to her employment at the museum, Denise worked... Read More →

Friday May 30, 2014 11:00am - 11:30am PDT
Seacliff A-B

11:30am PDT

(Architecture Session) The Conservation of the Montgomery Monument, St. Paul's Chapel, New York City

This paper would present the conservation of America’s first official monument, the Montgomery Monument, located in the east window of St. Paul’s Chapel in lower Manhattan. The monument was commissioned by the Continental Congress in 1776 to commemorate Major General Richard Montgomery who died in the Battle of Quebec during the Revolutionary War. Originally intended for display in Philadelphia’s Independence Hall, the monument was created in France by Jean-Jacques Caffieri (“sculptor of the king” to Louis XV), working under Benjamin Franklin’s direction. The monument was then shipped to America in several sealed crates where it remained for the first decade of its life during the final years of the war, until its installation in St. Paul’s Chapel in 1787.

The monument is marble and limestone in the baroque and rococo style seen in many monuments in Westminster Abbey, London. It consists of a fine-grained, white-veined gray marble lintel with brackets in the classical triglyph motif. A coarse-grained white marble plaque containing an inscription is mounted below the lintel. Upon the lintel sits a pink breccia column flanked on both sides by limestone decorative carvings. The carvings depict trophies symbolizing liberty, strength, chivalry, and martyrdom. Atop the column sits a limestone pedestal-footed funerary urn with acanthus leaf decorations. A flat truncated variegated marble obelisk serves as the backdrop.

This was the first comprehensive conservation project to be implemented on the monument and being over 200 years old and not properly maintained, was in extreme disrepair.

The project began with archival research of the monument and a design phase investigating its materials and support structure, and their conditions. The unique installation of the monument, placed within a large window frame, provided many challenges to the conservation planning phase. Consultation with an engineer who assessed the support of the monument through impulse radar, metal detection, and fiber-optic borescope, resulted in the decision to fully disassemble it to ensure a long-term repair. Conservators conducted in situ testing of cleaning materials and methods. The approach had to take into consideration the various conditions on the numerous materials extant within the monument.

Disassembly allowed for the development of distinctive methodologies for each of these stone varieties. The individual elements of the monument were conserved on site in a temporary workshop.

Archival research and discussions with historians proved critical to understanding the original display intent for the monument and guided the conservation of the stone and metal framework. The conservation implementation, in turn, informed the historic research with physical evidence that was found during disassembly to answer some of the questions about the original appearance of the monument, the materials used, and their authenticity.

This paper will present a visual and descriptive timeline of the conservation including the methodologies and ultimate strategies employed.

Speaker(s)

Jennifer Schork

Conservator, Integrated Conservation Resources, Inc.

Jennifer Schork is an Senior Conservator with Integrated Conservation Resources, Inc. (ICR) where she designs, manages, and implements architectural conservation projects. She received a Master of Science in Historic Preservation from Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture... Read More →

Friday May 30, 2014 11:30am - 12:00pm PDT
Garden Room

11:30am PDT

(Book and Paper Session) The Conservation of Tiffany Studio Drawings: Finding New Ways to Reconstruct Complex Paper Loss

The Metropolitan Museum of Art holds a collection of over four hundred drawings from the workshops of Louis Comfort Tiffany (1848-1933). They include preparatory sketches and presentation designs for windows, interiors, mosaics, and other decorative works. When it entered the museum in the 1960’s, the collection offered a formidable challenge, for prior to acquisition it had sustained considerable water damage that resulted in extensive mold growth. In addition to this, many of these drawings are multilayered structures that include very diverse strata, including photographic and transparent papers, as well as extremely acidic and fragile elements, such as window mats and backing boards. The damage was so severe that these drawings could not be exhibited or properly studied because they posed a health hazard for the researchers, and the aesthetic and structural disfiguration was too critical.

The presentation will focus on the conservation treatment of a series of drawings. The discussion of several case studies will showcase the various strategies that the conservator employs in deciding how to best accomplish the structural and visual reconstruction of these works of art. Innovative techniques introduce new perspectives to the long existing ethical dilemma of incorporating materials into objects that have been severely mutilated by microbiological action.
One of the main purposes of these treatments is to provide stability to objects that, because of biological damage, include very large areas of different hygroscopic and mechanical behavior. Analysis will be presented that examines the nature of such behavior and the chemical principles behind the techniques that allow the conservator to stabilize the artwork.

Emphasis will be made on describing examples of reconstructions accomplished through a new method developed in the past years to create large fills of paper with paper pulp. The fill is cast separately from the object over the light table with the aid of a template and dried on the suction table. The adhesion of the cast fill, which also serves as reinforcement, is performed on the suction table.

In selecting the pulps, the conservator considers the fiber characteristics that will determine the overall final behavior of the treated art work; that is, the expansion-çontraction rate of the healthy and the damaged paper and the expansion-çontraction rate of the selected pulp. The pulp must compensate for differences between the two areas. Other variables, such as the opaqueness of the paper pulp, the nature of the adhesive and its dilution, and the amount of fibrillation achieved during blending, play a critical role in the selection of the pulp and its preparation.

Finally, several examples of reconstruction of large missing areas of color accomplished through various methods, from dying paper pulp to toning papers with airbrush techniques on the suction table, will illustrate how important it is for the conservator managing these complex conditions to sensibly understand the boundaries of restoration versus conservation on a case by case basis within the context of museum exhibition requirements.

Speaker(s)

Marina Ruiz Molina

Associate Conservator, Paper Conservation, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Marina Ruiz Molina is an Associate Conservator in the Sherman Fairchild Center for Works on Paper Conservation, the Metropolitan Museum of Art. She trained as a paper conservator at the Escuela Superior de Conservación y Restauración de Bienes Culturales de Madrid, Spain, and joined... Read More →

Friday May 30, 2014 11:30am - 12:00pm PDT
Grand Ballroom A

11:30am PDT

(Electronic Media Session) Creating a Preservation and Access Framework for Digital Art Objects

In February of 2013, the Rose Goldsen Archive of New Media Art, part of Cornell University Library’s Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, received a $300,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities to develop Preservation and Access Frameworks for the complex digital media art objects in its holdings.

The test collection includes more than 300 interactive born-digital artworks created for CD-ROM, DVD-ROM, and web distribution, many of which date back to the early 1990s. Though vitally important to understanding the development of media art and aesthetics over the past two decades, these materials are at serious risk of degradation or obsolescence, and unreadable without legacy computers and software.

The goal of our project is to create a scalable preservation workflow to ensure the best feasible access to these materials for decades to come, and also contribute to the development of coherent best practices in the area of preserving complex media collections.

In May of 2014, we will have completed our first year of the project. Our presentation will provide an overview of our project’s aims, strategies, and desired outcomes, update on progress so far, and describe some recurring and idiosyncratic technical challenges we’ve encountered along the way. Some additional topics we would be particularly interested to share and discuss with the AIC Electronic Media Group include:

• The development of digital collections hand in hand with archival respositories and complex-media delivery systems at a large-scale institutional level

• Establishing assessment criteria for emulation strategies, especially in research archives

• Determining “best feasible” access—that is to say, developing an access plan that acknowledges the real limitations of staff time and technical capacity and aims to maximize the breadth of conservation outcomes.

Speaker(s)

Madeleine Casad

Curator for Digital Scholarship, Cornell University Library

Curator for Digital Scholarship and Associate Curator of the Rose Goldsen Archive of New Media Art, Cornell University Library.

Co-Author(s)

Desiree Alexander

AV Collections Coordinator, Cornell University

Dianne Dietrich

Cornell University

Friday May 30, 2014 11:30am - 12:00pm PDT
Seacliff C-D

Specialty Session, Objects, Research and Technical Studies

11:30am PDT

(Objects + Research and Technical Studies Session) Managing Construction-Induced Vibration in the Museum Environment

In the Spring of 2012 The Metropolitan Museum of Art began a large-scale renovation of galleries, offices and storage areas in The Costume Institute, which is located directly below the galleries of the Egyptian Art Department. Vibration from construction activities poses a serious risk to museum objects, and the fragile nature of objects in the Egyptian galleries makes this collection particularly vulnerable. In order to safeguard the collection, a project team including curatorial, collections management, and conservation staff, in collaboration with a group from the Department of Civil Engineering and Engineering Mechanics at Columbia University, worked together to assess the risk to the collection on an object by object basis and developed a range of preventive conservation strategies. This presentation will discuss the methods and procedures that were developed not only to protect the artworks but also to allow visitors continued access to as much of the collection as possible during the work period.

Prior to the renovation, tests were carried out to determine the amount of vibration that would be caused by the demolition of both structural and non-structural elements in the construction zone. Different tools and demolition methods were tested in various locations to assess which would create the least vibration; at the same time techniques for mitigating vibration were evaluated. The implementation of these mitigation solutions, which included isolation of objects and pedestals with Sorbothane® and other vibration-dampening materials, will be discussed. Testing also revealed that shelf design and pedestal shape and material contributed significantly to the degree of vibration amplification. Case studies will be presented that illustrate the response of particular installations to vibration and specific solutions devised for each scenario. For some objects, isolation was not possible; de-installation decisions and logistics will be presented.

During initial testing, a monitoring system to measure vibration levels and to automatically communicate this information to the project team was developed; this system, which used wireless communication, was implemented throughout the effected galleries prior to the start of demolition. Automated alerts were sent via email or SMS (text) message to the project team when defined vibration velocity thresholds were exceeded. The corresponding vibration event signals were recorded on a central server for reference and review. The vibration sensors were placed on gallery floors, directly on objects, or on shelves and pedestals and display case decks. The rationale for the general vibration thresholds used in the project, which were adjusted depending upon the sensor location and context, will be discussed. The quantitative feedback provided by the vibration monitoring system was augmented with daily observation and regular hands-on assessment of vibration levels throughout the two-year project.

Although much information was gained through limited initial testing, the actual construction project often produced unexpected vibration and consequently mitigation solutions had to be adapted. Observations about the response of objects, installations and the building itself to various demolition and construction activities will be shared. The dynamic nature of the construction project required great flexibility, and constant dialogue between all members of the project team, the Construction Department, and contractors was essential to the overall success of this project.

Speaker(s)

Anna Serotta

Project Objects Conservator, Brooklyn Museum

Anna Serotta graduated from the Conservation Center, Institute of Fine Arts, New York University, in 2009, where she majored in objects conservation with a focus on archaeological materials. After graduating, Anna completed a fellowship in the Sherman Fairchild Center for Objects... Read More →

Andrew Smyth

Professor, Columbia University

Andrew Smyth is a Professor of Civil Engineering and Engineering Mechanics at Columbia University with a primary research focus in dynamics and structural vibrations. Prof. Smyth received his Sc.B. and A.B. degrees at Brown University in 1992 in Civil Engineering and Architectural... Read More →

Friday May 30, 2014 11:30am - 12:00pm PDT
Bayview A-B

11:30am PDT

(Paintings Session) The Reconsideration of a Reattribution: Pierre-Edouard Baranowski by Amedeo Modigliani

The attribution of the portrait of Pierre-Edouard Baranowski by Amedeo Modigliani in the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco (FAMSF) has been questioned on several occasions during its thirty-year history in the collection. Long complicated by the active market for forgeries of the artist’s work that arose soon after his death in 1919, Modigliani scholarship has been marked by a general wariness of previously unpublished works. FAMSF painting’s omission from earlier catalogues of the artist’s oeuvre, gaps in its provenance, and its relationship to another well-known depiction of the sitter cast doubt in the minds of some experts, and the portrait was formally demoted to “attributed to” status in the mid-1990s.

Prompted by the family of the original donor to revisit the attribution of FAMSF’s painting, a new technical study took place in 2011-2012. It was found through the examination and comparison with works by the artist in other collections that many of the idiosyncrasies of the painting that were initially taken as signs that it is not authentic are the very reasons for a favorable attribution. In the course of the study, the enormous influence that bias can play in our approach toward research was recognized. In this paper, the case for the restoration of the portrait’s status will be discussed and the subjective nature of visual perception will be explored.

Speaker(s)

Elise Effmann Clifford

Head Paintings Conservator, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco

Elise Effmann Clifford is the Head Paintings Conservator at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco (FAMSF) where she has been since 2007. Prior to working at FAMSF, she was the Assistant Conservator of Paintings at the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth, Texas, and an Andrew W. Mellon... Read More →

Friday May 30, 2014 11:30am - 12:00pm PDT
Grand Ballroom B

11:30am PDT

(Photographic Materials Session) Condition documentation and monitoring of an exhibition of daguerreotypes at the State Hermitage Museum

From December 7, 2011 to February 5, 2012, the State Hermitage Museum produced a major exhibition entitled The Age of the Daguerreotype: Early photography in Russia displaying significant daguerreotypes from its collection with major loans received from the Museum of the Russian Literature Institute of the Russian Academy of Science and the Library of the Russian Academy of Arts. One of the first large-scale photography shows at the Hermitage, the exhibition was considered a breakthrough, displaying for the first time many objects of significant artistic, historical and cultural value. Curated by Dr. Natalia Avetyan of the Hermitage’s Department of Russian History and Culture, the exhibition received wide recognition and awards from the Committee of St. Petersburg Culture and the Vladimir Potanin Foundation.

This exhibition also was notable from the standpoint of being the first major display of daguerreotypes following Young America: The Daguerreotypes of Southworth & Hawes which was organized by the George Eastman House and the International Center of Photography. This exhibit traveled to three venues from June 17, 2005 to April 9, 2006 and the showed more than 160 daguerreotypes from 37 major institutions and collectors. Carefully documented, changes to some plates occurred during this exhibition, including the development of a white haze. Subsequent research led by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, a lender to Young America, demonstrated contact with chlorine-containing compounds can cause silver to be re-deposited on the surface of daguerreotype plate upon exposure to ultraviolet radiation and light.

Cognizant of this research and its implications, the newly formed Laboratory for Scientific Restoration of Photographic Materials (within the Department of Scientific Restoration and Conservation) at the Hermitage Museum, as part of its involvement in an ongoing FAIC-Mellon initiative in photograph conservation, developed and implemented a unique system to document the condition of displayed items before, during and after exhibition. This system primarily relied on precisely controlled and repeatable photographic documentation combined with a tablet computer-based system for daily inspection of the plates while on display in the galleries. This work was combined with active monitoring and recording of temperature, relative humidity, light intensity and duration. Careful examination of the documentation before and after exhibition indicated there were no obvious, visible, changes to the plates as a result of display. However, existing deterioration products on the interior of cover glasses showed changes in size, distribution and amount. This work clearly demonstrates the dynamic nature of the microclimate within a daguerreotype case or passe-partout. The presentation will focus on the documentation system, display monitoring protocols and an examination of results following exhibition.

Speaker(s)

Jiuan Jiuan Chen-[PA]

Assistant Professor, Buffalo State Program in Art Conservation

Jiuan Jiuan Chen joined the faculty in the Art Conservation Department at SUNY Buffalo State in the Fall of 2012 as the professor for Conservation Imaging, Technical Examination and Documentation. She is a graduate of Class of 2001 from the same program. She previously interned or... Read More →

Tatiana Sayatina

Head of Photograph Conservation laboratory, conservator, The State Hermitage Museum

Tatiana Sayatina is a conservator and the head (since 2011) of Laboratory for Scientific Conservation of Photographic materials of The State Hermitage Museum. Prior to this position, she worked as a conservator in the Laboratory for Scientific Restoration of Works of Applied Art... Read More →

Co-Author(s)

Paul Messier, [PA]

Head, Lens Media Lab, Yale

Paul Messier is the head of the Lens Media Lab at Yale University's Institute for the Preservation of Cultural Heritage. the LML is devoted to materials-based research on the 20th century photographic print.

Friday May 30, 2014 11:30am - 12:00pm PDT
Grand Ballroom C

11:30am PDT

(Textiles Session) Stressed about Pests? A panel led discussion on Integrated Pest Management

Integrated Pest Management (IPM) is becoming increasingly accepted by museums as a vital part of their conservation and collection care practices. IPM’s comprehensive and proactive approach emphasizes pest prevention to avoid the need for drastic remedial action. The panel members will present their own diverse experiences, and then will facilitate an audience-wide discussion about the challenges presented by pests to textile and other collections.

Patty Silence, Conservator of Museum Exhibitions and Historic Interiors at the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation (CW), will discuss the challenges of implementing IPM in a large institution with historic and contemporary structures. CW’s current program developed out of a one-year inter-departmental collaboration to develop a request for pricing (RFP) for a pest control contract and resulted in a Foundation-wide program, managed by a conservator and a full-time IPM technician. She will share how an all-inclusive, holistic program has saved money and time, reduced pesticide use, and most importantly improved conditions for collections, from individual items such as textiles and furniture to entire buildings.

Bernice Morris will share her experiences as IPM Coordinator at the Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMA). She will discuss the development of a written IPM policy and the challenge of making the best use of monitoring data. She will also present the systems put in place at the PMA for preventing infestations in its costume and textile collection.

Rachael Arenstein, currently the conservator at the Bible Lands Museum Jerusalem but a former conservator in private practice at A.M. Art Conservation will speak about challenges she has seen as a consultant working with small to mid-size museums in developing pest management programs, and the resources that the IPM Working Group has developed to meet those needs.

Session Moderator(s)

Rachael Arenstein

Principal, A.M. Art Conservation, LLC

Bernice Morris

Conservator, Philadelphia Museum of Art

Bernice Morris is the Associate Conservator of Costume and Textiles at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. She completed her MA Textile Conservation in 2005 at the Textile Conservation Centre, University of Southampton, after gaining a BA History of Art and Italian from the University... Read More →

Patricia Silence, [PA]

Director of Preventive Conservation, Colonial Williamsburg Foundation

Patricia Silence is Director of Conservation Operations at the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. She leads an extensive conservation program that includes 9 areas of specialization. Patty is a Professional Associate of AIC and co-founder of the Collections Care Network.

Friday May 30, 2014 11:30am - 12:00pm PDT
Seacliff A-B

Luncheon Session, Research and Technical Studies

12:00pm PDT

(Research and Technical Studies) Seeing Double: Leonardo's Mona Lisa Twin

It is a curious fact that Leonardo da Vinci painted two versions of what have become his most celebrated artworks. Most notable of these famous pictures are his “Virgin of the Rocks” (London National Gallery and Louvre), “Virgin and Child” (Hermitage and Munich Alte Pinakothek), and “The Virgin and Child with St. Anne” (London National Gallery and Louvre.) For centuries there has been speculation concerning the possible existence of a second Mona Lisa, as well. Countless Mona Lisa copies have surfaced through the ages and several have been advanced as the long-lost “Second Mona Lisa”, only to be dismissed after failing scientific or historical scrutiny.

Twenty-three years ago the heirs of the late Joseph Pulitzer asked me to examine a painting known as the “Isleworth Mona Lisa” that was in the family collection of fine art. This invitation was extended in response to my ten-year study of the varnishes and pentimenti of the Louvre “Mona Lisa.” My studies led to the conclusion that the intricate geometrical principles employed in the two paintings were identical even though individual features are different in both size and proportion. Thus it was clear that the Isleworth portrait was not a mere copy of the painting in the Louvre.

Subsequently, the Isleworth painting has passed every scientific test available in art conservation science from radiocarbon dating to digital-image age regression. It has emerged that Leonardo painted the Isleworth piece around 1503 and the Louvre portrait around 1513. This discovery settles a protracted debate among art historians as to whether Leonardo painted the “Mona Lisa” in 1503 or 1513. Both dates are correct, but for different paintings.

Speaker(s)

John Asmus

Research Physicist, Physics Dept., University of California, San Diego

John F. Asmus is on the Research Faculty of the Department of Physics at the University of California, San Diego and is associated with the Center for Advanced Nanotechnology. He earned his PhD. From the California Institute of Technology and is the co-founder of the Center for Art/Science... Read More →

Friday May 30, 2014 12:00pm - 1:30pm PDT
Regency Room

12:00pm PDT

(Business Meeting) JAIC Editors Luncheon (invitation only)

Friday May 30, 2014 12:00pm - 2:00pm PDT
Golden Gate Room

Business Meeting, Research and Technical Studies

12:00pm PDT

(Electronic Media Luncheon) Sustainably Designing the first Digital Repository for Museum Collections

For three years, the Museum of Modern Art has worked to design and build the first digital repository for museum collections (DRMC). The goal of the system is to assist time-based media conservators in providing sustainable collections care to variable, time-based media and digital artworks in MoMA’s collections. The DRMC’s foundation is in international standards and Best-practices for long-term digital collections management, thus sustainability has been inherent in the design of the system from the outset. This mission of long-term viability and sustainability extends to every aspect of the project from the interdepartmental and interdisciplinary team of advisors at MoMA that steered the project, to the fundamental involvement of outside field experts, and the decision to work with and adapt existing, widely-adopted open-source software. This paper will study the DRMC itself as a tool for conservators, which provides much needed digital collections care, as well as the decisions made at every stage of design and implementation that contribute to the long term sustainability of the DRMC itself.

For AIC's 42nd Annual Meeting, this paper will be presented as a panel discussion among the four co-authors, emphasizing the interdisciplinary and collaborative team that was crucial to the
DRMC’s success as a viable and institutionally sustainable resource.

An emphasis will be placed on project management, collaboration, usability testing, and standards compliance with particular attention paid to the underlying open-source software that lies at the core of the DRMC. The paper takes the position that the needs of an institution are best and most sustainably served through understanding the existing ecology of open-source development and research, and finding ways to contribute to and expand existing tools a design philosophy that extends to all facets of the DRMC. At the time of the 42nd annual meeting the DRMC will be in its first public beta phase, allowing for the a public demo of the system.

Speaker(s)

Jim Coddington

Chief Conservator, Museum of Modern Art

Jim Coddington is the Agnes Gund Chief Conservator at the Museum of Modern Art, New York. He has a B.A. from Reed College and an M.S. from the University of Delaware/Winterthur Museum Conservation Program.

Ben Fino-Radin

Associate Media Conservator, MoMA

Dan Gillean

AtoM Program Manager, Artefactual Systems

Dan Gillean serves as the AtoM Progam Manager with Artefactual Systems and provides quality assurance testing, requirements analysis, documentation, technical support, and community dialogue for Artefactual's AtoM and Archivematica projects.

Kara Van Malssen

Senior Consultant, AVPreserve

Kara Van Malssen is senior consultant at AVPreserve, where she works with clients on digital preservation/conservation and metadata management initiatives. She is also adjunct professor at New York University (NYU), where she teaches courses in Digital Preservation and Digital Literacy... Read More →

Friday May 30, 2014 12:00pm - 2:00pm PDT
Marina Room

Luncheon Session, Electronic Media

1:00pm PDT

(Business Meeting) Objects: Archaeological Discussion Group

Friday May 30, 2014 1:00pm - 2:00pm PDT
Seacliff D

Business Meeting, Objects

1:00pm PDT

(Luncheon) Sustainability Roundtable

Friday May 30, 2014 1:00pm - 2:00pm PDT
Hospitality Room

Interest Session

1:30pm PDT

(Business Meeting) Research and Technical Studies

Friday May 30, 2014 1:30pm - 2:00pm PDT
Regency Room

2:00pm PDT

(Case Studies in Sustainable Collection Care Session) Introduction to Session

Session Moderator(s)

Mary Elizabeth Haude

Senior Paper Conservator, Library of Congress

Mary Elizabeth “Betsy” Haude has been a senior paper conservator at the Library of Congress since 2003. In her daily activities she performs conservation treatments and conducts materials research on a variety of paper-based artifacts, such as art on paper and manuscripts. Betsy’s... Read More →

Sarah Nunberg

Conservator, The Objects Conservation Studio, LLC

Sarah Nunberg, principal of The Objects Conservation Studio, LLC, has been working as a conservator since 1989. She specializes in conservation of archaeological, ethnographic, decorative and contemporary art, treating objects made of wood, ceramic, stone, metal, glass, skin, leather... Read More →

Friday May 30, 2014 2:00pm - 2:10pm PDT
Grand Ballroom A

General Session, Case Studies in Sustainable Collection Care

2:00pm PDT

(Engaging Communities in Collection Care Session) Introduction to Session

Session Moderator(s)

Margaret Holben Ellis, [Fellow]

Eugene Thaw Professor of Paper Conservation, NYU Institute of Fine Arts

Margaret Holben Ellis received her Bachelorâ€™s Degree in Art History from Barnard College, Columbia University (1975) and completed her Masterâ€™s Degree in Art History and Advanced Certificate in Conservation at the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University (1979). In... Read More →

Dr. Joelle D. J. Wickens, [PA]

Conservator, Preventive Team Head and University of Delaware Affiliated Assistant Professor, Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library

Joelle Wickens is the Conservator and Preventive Team Head at Winterthur Museum & Country Estate and a University of Delaware Affiliated Assistant Professor in Art Conservation for the Winterthur/University of Delaware Program in Art Conservation. She gained an MA (Distinction) in... Read More →

Friday May 30, 2014 2:00pm - 2:10pm PDT
Grand Ballroom B-C

General Session, Engaging Communities in Collection Care

2:00pm PDT

(Exploring Sustainable Preservation Environments Session) Introduction to Session

Session Moderator(s)

Michael C. Henry

Architect/Engineer, Watson & Henry Associates

Michael C. Henry, PE, AIA, is Principal Engineer/Architect with Watson & Henry Associates. He consults on sustainable environmental management and building envelope performance for preventive conservation of museum collections. He consults throughout the United States and in Cuba... Read More →

Friday May 30, 2014 2:00pm - 2:10pm PDT
Bayview

General Session, Exploring Sustainable Preservation Environments

2:00pm PDT

(Sustainability in Public Art Conservation) An Ounce Of Prevention: The Case For Pre-Fabrication Conservation Review Of New Public Art Commissions

Works of public art are community investments that need to be cared for and shepherded through the process of construction and implementation just like any other public improvement. At present, many of the nation’s leading public art programs are over 20 years old and the fact that there was little pre-planning about maintenance and the aging of materials at the time of commissioning is coming back to haunt administrators. Particularly because many works of public art are fabricated using industrial materials repurposed for artwork (concrete, painted metals, and commercial tile to name but a few examples) there is a need for vetting of the materials and techniques of fabrication as a means of maximizing the longevity and sustainability of new public art commissions. This paper will address a program that has been implemented in several Southern California public art agencies such as the Metropolitan Transit Authority’s Gold Line to Pasadena, and the cities of West Covina, Long Beach and Santa Fe Springs to maximize the longevity and sustainability of new public art commissions by providing pre-construction review of new public art commissions by a conservator. The aim of this process is to reduce the need for costly conservation treatments by partnering conservators with artists so that public art materials can be vetted in advance of construction. The vetting process takes place after the design approval and involves a multi-phase dialogue between artist, conservator, and the agency’s representatives. The conservators chosen for the program are ones who have longstanding experience dealing with works of public art that have not aged well and cover such areas as public safety, maintainability, seismic and wind protection, as well as normally observed condition issues such as corrosion, flaking, fading, and coating issues. Developed by its authors, this program takes the onus of assuring sustainability off of the artist (who has a vested interest in convincing an agency that his/ her work is viable in the long term) and provides clear expectations about long-term expenditures to the agency that will be responsible for the care of the work.

Session Moderator(s)

Rosa Lowinger-[Fellow]

Managing Principal, RLA Conservation

Rosa Lowinger has been a conservator of outdoor sculpture and public art since 1984. A graduate of the Conservation Center at NYU’s Institute of Fine Arts and a Fellow of the American Institute for Conservation, she is the principal of Rosa Lowinger and Associates, a private sculpture... Read More →

Friday May 30, 2014 2:00pm - 3:30pm PDT
Seacliff A-C

General Session, Sustainability in Public Art Conservation

2:10pm PDT

(Case Studies in Sustainable Collection Care Session) Preserving The Future

The Royal British Columbia Museum (RBCM) has been demonstrating leadership in sustainability for decades through research, innovation, community outreach and partnerships, and concrete initiatives that result in reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and prudent use of resources.

Museum staff members have not only embraced sustainable initiatives, but many are passionate about them. Employees commute by alternative forms of transportation. Bicycle racks and a tire pump are available in the loading dock area, as well as change rooms with showers. There are transit pass discounts for employees. Webinars and web chats have replaced many long distance meetings that would have required travel, reducing the carbon footprint.

Facilities upgrades and modifications have included large scale projects such as the installation of new energy-efficient HVAC systems and lighting retrofits, to almost unnoticeable changes such as motion sensor lights and green-certified hand washing products. Widespread recycling and even composting is routine and there are now solar-powered trash compactors on the grounds. From drought-resistant landscaping to recycled paper and building products, sustainable initiatives have grown in number and popularity. A popular feature in the lobby area is a dashboard flat screen that displays the institution’s real time energy consumption.

Sustainable collections care has been a challenge. Storing, transporting and displaying collections often use a great deal of non-biodegradable materials that must be discarded when soiled. Still, foam and board recycling is now common. The collections development plan is revisited every year to identify individual objects or even entire sub-collections that are not core to the Museum collecting mandate, are duplicates or are in such poor condition that they serve no purpose. For these and other reasons, deaccessioning can have a positive impact. Likewise, more consideration is given to new acquisitions, taking into account the time and resources that each accession will cost the institution and the environment. Delivery of loans and materials are synchronized as much as possible to reduce road trips.

Revisiting temperature and relative humidity requirements for specific collections has begun with increased communications between conservation and facilities management staff, resulting in efficiencies and ideas for re-organizing collections storage. Implementation of cold storage for deteriorating archival collections greatly prolongs the life of these media, but at the same time substantially increases the Museum’s carbon footprint. To offset this, individual, older energy consuming freezers are being decommissioned and selective retention employed to ensure that only preservation copies are given the Cadillac treatment. Meanwhile, a new digitization office has been established to begin the process of replacing some media that cannot be saved even by low temperatures. Similarly, digitized conservation and collections management documentation, as well as a new digital image repository have significantly reduced demand for paper supplies.

The future of the Royal BC Museum presents even more opportunities for sustainable choices. A Master Plan for the redevelopment of the buildings was released in August 2013. Through dialogue and formal planning sessions, opportunities for on-site power generation, green roofs, grey water recycling, and so on were identified and will become reality as the architectural plans develop. Conservators and collection managers now have an unparalleled opportunity to rethink the equipment and supplies they use, as well as the physical environment in which they work and keep the collections, to further implement sustainable preservation.

As a human and natural history museum, with experts in the areas of climate change and sustainability, it is incumbent upon the Royal BC Museum to be a leader in adopting sustainable programs and facilities, as well as reaching out to the broader community to influence our colleagues and visitors.

The Royal British Columbia Museum (RBCM) has been demonstrating leadership in sustainability for decades through research, innovation, community outreach and partnerships, and concrete initiatives that result in reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and prudent use of resources.

Museum staff members have not only embraced sustainable initiatives, but many are passionate about them. Employees commute by alternative forms of transportation. Bicycle racks and a tire pump are available in the loading dock area, as well as change rooms with showers. There are transit pass discounts for employees. Webinars and web chats have replaced many long distance meetings that would have required travel, reducing the carbon footprint.

Facilities upgrades and modifications have included large scale projects such as the installation of new energy-efficient HVAC systems and lighting retrofits, to almost unnoticeable changes such as motion sensor lights and green-certified hand washing products. Widespread recycling and even composting is routine and there are now solar-powered trash compactors on the grounds. From drought-resistant landscaping to recycled paper and building products, sustainable initiatives have grown in number and popularity. A popular feature in the lobby area is a dashboard flat screen that displays the institution’s real time energy consumption.

Sustainable collections care has been a challenge. Storing, transporting and displaying collections often use a great deal of non-biodegradable materials that must be discarded when soiled. Still, foam and board recycling is now common. The collections development plan is revisited every year to identify individual objects or even entire sub-collections that are not core to the Museum collecting mandate, are duplicates or are in such poor condition that they serve no purpose. For these and other reasons, deaccessioning can have a positive impact. Likewise, more consideration is given to new acquisitions, taking into account the time and resources that each accession will cost the institution and the environment. Delivery of loans and materials are synchronized as much as possible to reduce road trips.

Revisiting temperature and relative humidity requirements for specific collections has begun with increased communications between conservation and facilities management staff, resulting in efficiencies and ideas for re-organizing collections storage. Implementation of cold storage for deteriorating archival collections greatly prolongs the life of these media, but at the same time substantially increases the Museum’s carbon footprint. To offset this, individual, older energy consuming freezers are being decommissioned and selective retention employed to ensure that only preservation copies are given the Cadillac treatment. Meanwhile, a new digitization office has been established to begin the process of replacing some media that cannot be saved even by low temperatures. Similarly, digitized conservation and collections management documentation, as well as a new digital image repository have significantly reduced demand for paper supplies.

The future of the Royal BC Museum presents even more opportunities for sustainable choices. A Master Plan for the redevelopment of the buildings was released in August 2013. Through dialogue and formal planning sessions, opportunities for on-site power generation, green roofs, grey water recycling, and so on were identified and will become reality as the architectural plans develop. Conservators and collection managers now have an unparalleled opportunity to rethink the equipment and supplies they use, as well as the physical environment in which they work and keep the collections, to further implement sustainable preservation.

As a human and natural history museum, with experts in the areas of climate change and sustainability, it is incumbent upon the Royal BC Museum to be a leader in adopting sustainable programs and f

Session Moderator(s)

Sarah Nunberg

Conservator, The Objects Conservation Studio, LLC

Speaker(s)

Kasey Lee

Conservation Manager, Royal British Columbia Museum

Kasey Lee (formerly Kasey Brewer), has worked as the Conservation Manager at the Royal British Columbia Museum in beautiful Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, for almost ten years. Kasey leads a staff of five conservators and one preservation specialist in three separate laboratories... Read More →

Co-Author(s)

Pamela Lowings

Head of Property Management & Site Development, Royal British Columbia Museum

Pam Lowings has spent more than two decades working in the property management and facilities management field. Pam leads a team of professionals who oversees property management and operations, facility rental program, shipping and risk management and security services. Pam loves... Read More →

Friday May 30, 2014 2:10pm - 2:30pm PDT
Grand Ballroom A

General Session, Case Studies in Sustainable Collection Care

2:10pm PDT

(Engaging Communities in Collection Care Session) Children as Agents for Preventive Conservation

Placing collection material on exhibit exposes it to a certain amount of risk, and yet presenting cultural heritage to the public is a part of most institutional missions. This dilemma is made more acute by changes in visitor behavior: attendance often involves large school groups, institutions appeal to new audiences (who may be unfamiliar with the fragility and/or value of collections), and our media-rich environment blurs the real and the replica. With patrons appearing to be the cause of an increasing amount of damage to collections, museum professionals search for ways to protect valuable material while maintaining some level of public access.

Traditional avenues towards a solution, such as employing more guards and docents, add to operational expenses in a time of budget constraints. Cases and vitrines can be expensive and may not align with the goals of exhibit designs. Finding a balance between preservation and access is increasingly a matter of finding a balance between resources and conservation goals.

We suggest that institutions look for allies to teach the importance of conservation and the need for public participation to a broader audience. Particular emphasis should be directed towards children, for this strategy pays at least two benefits:

Towards the goal of sustainable collections, early lessons in behavior stick with the individual and help ensure a lifelong advocate for conservation.

Children are effective teachers within the family, extending their understanding of new topics, such as conservation of collections, to parents and siblings.

Children’s programs are a vital part of most museum educational programs. Extending the curriculum to include collection care issues brings the public into a deeper understanding of museums and offers a vein of important information to mine for broad-based public programming.

This presentation explains how children can change a family’s learning and its attitude towards conservation, drawing on studies that show how an understanding of complex issues, including sustainability, can be extended from children to the rest of the family. The process could be used to help protect collections by increasing public understanding of, and sensitivity to, preservation and the limits of museum resources.

Session Moderator(s)

Margaret Holben Ellis, [Fellow]

Eugene Thaw Professor of Paper Conservation, NYU Institute of Fine Arts

Dr. Joelle D. J. Wickens, [PA]

Conservator, Preventive Team Head and University of Delaware Affiliated Assistant Professor, Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library

Speaker(s)

Jeffrey Hirsch

Architect/Engineer, EwingCole

Jeffrey Hirsch, AIA, LEED AP With over 25 years of experience as an architect, Jeff Hirsch serves as the Director of EwingCole’s Cultural practice. He oversees the design and development of all work and leads the planning of projects that involve large numbers of stakeholders and... Read More →

Co-Author(s)

Casey Gallagher

Preservation Consultant, Casey Gallagher

Casey Gallagher joined EwingCole’s Philadelphia office in 2007 as an architect with a focus in Planning. Casey has leveraged her design expertise and knowledge of environmentally sustainable practices to create flexible and high-performing spaces across core EwingCole practices... Read More →

Friday May 30, 2014 2:10pm - 2:30pm PDT
Grand Ballroom B-C

General Session, Engaging Communities in Collection Care

2:10pm PDT

(Exploring Sustainable Preservation Environments Session) Climate and Conflict – the complex question of environmental conditions in museums

The issue of sustainable environmental standards and guidelines for museums and galleries has created some divisions in the international conservation community. This paper will examine how this has come about, the background to the positions being taken, whether there really is substantial disagreement, and what can be done to move the profession forward. It will report on the latest work by the joint IIC and ICOM-CC working group on the question of broadening parameters for environmental conditions in museums.

Environmental parameters for museums have been under discussion by the conservation community for at least the last five years, promoted by conservators, building managers and directors alike. Two years ago it looked as though international agreement on the broadening of environmental conditions in museums and galleries to reduce energy consumption, whilst not compromising the preservation of collections, was close. The current reality however is that agreement is still a long way off, due to strongly held and often polarised views within the conservation profession.

It is acknowledged by many conservators and conservation scientists that existing environmental parameters for collections are based on a blanket approach, and are unnecessarily tight for all but the most vulnerable of artworks (e.g. panel paintings). Major museums and galleries worldwide are recognising this, and institutions such as The Tate, the Smithsonian and the V&A are implementing broader parameters.

However a significant proportion of the conservation profession is not convinced that the risks associated with this change can be safely managed, a position best articulated by the National Gallery in London. Accordingly, consensus amongst conservators internationally is not being achieved.

The paper will include discussion on PAS 198, the UK’s Specification for managing environmental conditions for cultural collections. It will look at how conservators can engage in more effective dialogue with building managers on achieving substantial energy savings without major capital investment and without sacrificing preservation quality, whilst safely managing any associated risks to collections. It will also discuss the opportunities for more research on sensitive materials, on microclimate cases, and on how systems can be designed and operated to meet the needs of specific collections.

Session Moderator(s)

Michael C. Henry

Architect/Engineer, Watson & Henry Associates

Speaker(s)

Julian Bickersteth

Managing Director, International Conservation Services

Julian Bickersteth is the Managing Director of International Conservation Services, Australiaâ€™s largest private fine arts conservation business, and a Vice President of the International Institute for Conservation. A furniture conservator by training, he has a particular interest... Read More →

Co-Author(s)

Jerry Podany

Senior Conservator of Antiquities, J. Paul Getty Museum

Jerry Podany is the Senior Conservator of Antiquities for the J. Paul Getty Museum. From 1999 – 2003 he served as President of AIC and from 2006 to 2012 served as President of IIC. He is an elected Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London. He was awarded the Rutherford... Read More →

Richard Kerschner

Principal, Kerschner Museum Conservation Services

Richard Kerschner is the principal of Kerschner Museum Conservation Services, LLC. He has extensive experience in preventive conservation and conservation project management and is recognized nationally for his expertise in practical and sustainable environmental control for museums... Read More →

Friday May 30, 2014 2:10pm - 2:30pm PDT
Bayview

General Session, Exploring Sustainable Preservation Environments

2:30pm PDT

(Case Studies in Sustainable Collection Care Session) Becoming ‘Fit for Purpose: A Sustainable and Viable Conservation Department at the British Library

The majority of museums, libraries and archives in the UK are heavily dependent on government funding. The British Library (BL) with a vast and varied collection, numbering 150 million items, is no exception. Funding cuts as a result of the current economic situation has led to reduced resources and capacity and an increasing emphasis on public accountability and efficiency. Whilst resources are being reduced, however, demand for Conservation services at the BL is simultaneously increasing due to digitisation programmes. The Conservation department at the British Library needed to find a solution to sustain impact for treatment of its core collections and to maintain 6 concurrent work streams that contribute to the strategic priorities of the BL.

This paper will explain the approach developed and evaluate the success of the project through statistics of items treated and feedback from BL conservators and curators.

The first step was to go back to basics asking the following:

Why are the objects being conserved?

How do they need to function?

What treatment work is required to enable this?

Can we do less treatment and still enable the object to function?

Session Moderator(s)

Sarah Nunberg

Conservator, The Objects Conservation Studio, LLC

Speaker(s)

Dr. Cordelia Rogerson

Head of Conservation, British Library

After a BA in Art History at the University of Manchester, Cordelia studied at the Textile Conservation Centre, Courtauld Institute of Art. She was employed by the Textile Conservation Centre on graduating, firstly as a practising conservator, later as researcher and lecturer for... Read More →

Friday May 30, 2014 2:30pm - 2:50pm PDT
Grand Ballroom A

General Session, Case Studies in Sustainable Collection Care

2:30pm PDT

(Engaging Communities in Collection Care Session) Heritage versus ‘Business of the House’: Conservation and Collection Care at the Houses of Parliament, UK

This talk will focus on the development of conservation and collection care at Parliament through a strong and championed heritage strategy; and by identifying some of the projects and programmes that have helped to embed the care of collections message. We will focus on how we measure the preservation impact for projects; and how we manage these through good communication, high-quality standards within short time scales and limited resources. We have found that the key to success is to be clear on requirements yet adaptable where necessary.

Core activity at Parliament, the home of UK government, is described as the ‘Business of the House’ with both the House of Commons and House of Lords demanding an easily accessible yet well preserved home for our famous legacy. The iconic and listed buildings of the Houses of Parliament that include the Palace of Westminster-is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Parliamentary Estate is also home to an extensive and historic collection of art, textiles, furniture, books and archives, including the original Acts of Parliament. There is an increasing demand for Parliament to be transparent and connect with UK citizens and the world, which is where balancing access with the need to preserve is becoming ever more challenging.

What makes it unusual is that these buildings are in their original working use, and the ‘Business of the House’ takes priority. The real challenge is managing a daily intake of upwards 7000 staff and 1000 visitors who expect to flow through the ‘corridors of power’ without hindrance. The consequence of this is that for many years conservation had been reactive and become a tool to ‘get things done’. Today the approach is more strategic and preventive – knowing the need through research, developing communications internally and externally, effective planning and resource management, managing risk, acting on findings and measuring outcomes.

More recently our focus has been to advocate and embed an awareness of conservation and preservation needs at Parliament through our recently adopted Heritage Strategy and various training and events days. Effective internal and external communications has been a vital part of our success, resulting in collection care having a strong position as the intelligent client during large scale programmes, such as the more recent feasibility study for the restoration and renewal of the Parliamentary Estate; and how Parliaments’ policy on environmental sustainability that aims to achieve ‘Green’ targets for Parliament might impact on the longevity of the collections and buildings. Overall our approach has been to maximise resources, agree standards and prioritise. Our long-term goal is to ensure the preservation of this great building and its contents for present and future generations to enjoy.

Between austerity measures and preservation challenges- Parliament has a great undertaking ahead. We are finding our way, but it is a very rewarding time to be here.

Session Moderator(s)

Margaret Holben Ellis, [Fellow]

Eugene Thaw Professor of Paper Conservation, NYU Institute of Fine Arts

Dr. Joelle D. J. Wickens, [PA]

Conservator, Preventive Team Head and University of Delaware Affiliated Assistant Professor, Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library

Speaker(s)

Lara Artemis

collection care manager, Parliament

Lara Artemis, ACR, is an accredited conservator and is responsible for managing the Collection Care team and exhibition loans registration at the Parliamentary Archives; and consults on the preservation of House of Lords and House of Commons Libraries collections at the Houses of... Read More →

Co-Author(s)

Caroline Babington

Collection Care Manager, Works of Art, Houses of Parliament, UK

Caroline Babington, ACR, took a BA Hons in Art History at the University of East Anglia, and obtained the Postgraduate Diploma in Wall Painting Conservation from the Courtauld Institute of Art, London. She then worked for English Heritage for ten years as wall paintings conservator... Read More →

Friday May 30, 2014 2:30pm - 2:50pm PDT
Grand Ballroom B-C

General Session, Engaging Communities in Collection Care

2:30pm PDT

(Exploring Sustainable Preservation Environments Session) RH Guidelines: The Risk of Rigidifying an Option

It is understood within the conservation community that no single RH range is optimal for all objects. It is difficult to know what the safe RH range is for any specific object, and it is even more difficult to provide a wide variety of RH environments based on individual needs. Therefore, it was necessary to determine a general RH condition that provides a low-risk environment for the overwhelming percent of collections on open display and in storage.

In the absence of precise information on RH-related risk, the trend was toward the implementation of a relatively narrow RH range. Over the last two decades, there has been a reevaluation, based on research regarding object response to RH and a greater concern about the negative consequences of providing tight RH control, in terms of monetary cost and impact on the building envelope.

Recently, there has been further pressure to accept a wider RH range in order to accommodate inter-museum loans between institutions that could not meet the narrower RH range preferred by many lending institutions. In addition, a wider RH range is now being considered as a potential "new" guideline for museums because of energy savings benefits.

This has resulted in the consideration within the general museum community for a new RH guideline, allowing for an annual RH range of 40-60%, with limits for allowable RH drift within this range. This guideline is also in line with the ASHRAE Museum recommendation for "A" Class RH control.

The purpose of this presentation is two-fold:

First, it is important to assess if there is an increase in risk to collections as a result of expanding the acceptable RH range, particularly from 55% to 60% RH at the high end, and to evaluate the degree of risk relative to the benefit of operating at the expanded RH range. Existing data on material behavior, and operational consequences when using a set-point of 55% RH with an allowable drift of 5% will be examined.

Second, it is essential to understand how a new guideline may be interpreted and how it will impact museum environmental system design and operation. So much depends on one's understanding of a "guideline". Is it a "recommended practice that allows some discretion or leeway in its interpretation, implementation, or use" (businessdictionary.com), or is it "a principle put forward to set standards or determine a course of action" (collinsdictionary.com)?

Ultimately, there is a tendency to oversimplify a complex subject such as risk. It is not an exact science, and there is a danger in rigidifying a recommendation so that it reads like a requirement. It is correct that an excessively restrictive RH guideline that prohibits the loan of objects which are at low risk under broader RH conditions should be reconsidered. At the same time, broadening the acceptable RH range must be carefully considered so that it does not result in a similar rigid adherence, without sufficient regard for potential negative consequences.

Session Moderator(s)

Michael C. Henry

Architect/Engineer, Watson & Henry Associates

Speaker(s)

Steven Weintraub

Consultant, Art Preservation Services

Co-Author(s)

Paolo Dionisi Vici

Associate Research Scientist, Metrpolitan Museum of Art

Paolo Dionisi-Vici is an Associate Research Scientist at the Department of Scientific Research of the MMA since 2009. He holds a PhD in Wood Science and his past activities deal with the monitoring of important wooden objects in Europe. He is mostly interested in designing self-powered... Read More →

Friday May 30, 2014 2:30pm - 2:50pm PDT
Bayview

General Session, Exploring Sustainable Preservation Environments

2:50pm PDT

(Case Studies in Sustainable Collection Care Session) Securing The Future of Collections in Zimbabwe’s National Museums through Preventive Conservation: The Case of Zimbabwe Military Museum

The overall aim of the paper was to establish sound preventive conservation practices to ensure the protection of the collections for posterity.
The objectives of the paper were:

To examine the museum’s policy on preventive conservation
To assess the storage of collections in store rooms
To assess the museum’s regulation of micro-environmental conditions in store rooms
To assess the museum’s housekeeping practices in store rooms.

Session Moderator(s)

Sarah Nunberg

Conservator, The Objects Conservation Studio, LLC

Speaker(s)

Davison Chiwara

Lecturer, Midlands State University

I have a passion in the conservation of cultural property. I am very much interested in preventive conservation. I hold an Honours Degree in Archaeology plus a Masters Degree in Museum Studies. I also have a Post Graduate Diploma in Tertiary Education. I have presented research papers... Read More →

Friday May 30, 2014 2:50pm - 3:10pm PDT
Grand Ballroom A

General Session, Case Studies in Sustainable Collection Care

2:50pm PDT

(Engaging Communities in Collection Care Session) Current Conservation Education and Practice: Are They Sustainable?

This presentation will extend the discussion of sustainability to our own practices and educational models. Several topics warrant investigation followed by recommendations for change.

Examples:

The nine members of ANAGPIC, the organization of graduate conservation education programs, graduate approximately fifty students per year. Since entry-level permanent full-time museum jobs are exceedingly scarce, many graduates are going into private practice even though they are ill-prepared, and some have difficulty making a living doing it.
Women students in many programs are 90% or more of the student body, and the AIC membership is about two thirds women.
Most of the conservation programs provide complete financial support to all students, regardless of need. Some have already indicated this may not be possible in the near future.
Students applying to the programs are “encouraged” to do pre-program internships (unpaid) before applying. These internships are often extended over two or even three years.
The field of conservation has undergone remarkable changes in the past few decades, with greater emphasis on matters other than treatments. Yet the training programs still concentrate on treatments rather than issues such as preventive conservation, environmental control, disaster recovery, and sustainability.

Some questions:

Can the profession continue along its current paths and still attract top-notch applicants?
What happens to students who apply repeatedly for training but do not get accepted?
Will graduates be able to find positions that provide them with reasonable financial return?
Will the programs be able to maintain their financial support, regardless of need? Should they?
Are graduates prepared for real-world jobs? Do the programs put too much emphasis on bench-work and not enough on the many other activities conservators now undertake?
What percentage of AIC members are graduates of programs, and has the percentage increased?
Why is the student population preponderantly female? What are the consequences of feminization of the field?

It is time for us to take a critical look at how we educate conservators and how current cultural and financial trends affect our profession.

Session Moderator(s)

Margaret Holben Ellis, [Fellow]

Eugene Thaw Professor of Paper Conservation, NYU Institute of Fine Arts

Dr. Joelle D. J. Wickens, [PA]

Conservator, Preventive Team Head and University of Delaware Affiliated Assistant Professor, Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library

Speaker(s)

Paul Himmelstein

Conservator, Appelbaum & Himmelstein

Paul Himmelstein has been a partner in the New York conservation firm of Appelbaum and Himmelstein since 1972. The firm carries out conservation treatments on paintings, painted textiles and objects, and consults for institutions and private collectors on matters related to collections... Read More →

Friday May 30, 2014 2:50pm - 3:10pm PDT
Grand Ballroom B-C

General Session, Engaging Communities in Collection Care

2:50pm PDT

(Exploring Sustainable Preservation Environments Session) Seeing HVAC requirements and shortcomings through a risk analysis lens

Three decades of experience striving to set sensible environmental specifications, and responding usefully to out of specification incidents, was accompanied by confusion and frustration. Through that time learning to see HVAC specifications and deviations through a risk analysis lens led to recognizing three kinds of issues. Understanding the differing natures of decision processes related to those three kinds of issue reduced both confusion and frustration. Two issues, set points and fluctuations, are recognized in relevant standards such as ASHRAE 2012 and PAS198:2012. However, a third kind of issue, excursions to extremes, has neither been incorporated into existing standards, nor brought into our general way of thinking about environmental risk to collections.

The January 1998 ice storm affecting Ontario, Québec and New England resulted in a three-day interruption of electrical power at the Canadian Museum of Nature collection holding facility now known as the Natural Heritage Center (NHC). This resulted in a large upward excursion in temperature in a cool storage facility holding large pelts. In the early summer of 2002, the NHC experienced a single 12-hour excursion to 100% RH.

The latter event was an exceedingly rare, hopefully unique events, brought on by an extraordinary alignment of conditions and operational failures. Nevertheless, recognizing the reality of these sorts of HVAC failures leading to what are termed here as “excursions to extremes” not only makes our understanding of environmental risks to collections more complete, but also sheds light on how we should best think about assessing and managing the other two issues: set points and fluctuations.
Excursions to extremes are easily seen as risk events for which combinations of likelihood and severity of expected events can be calculated through established risk analysis methods. In contrast, set point or annual average T and RH, or more precisely Time Weighed Preservation Index (TWPI), can equally be seen as a an opportunity for increasing a “good” (preservation) or decreasing a “harm” (deterioration). Which reference frame is adopted may depend on the decision context. Fluctuations, or repeated deviations within or beyond specifications, are intermediate in frequency between the continual (or seasonal) issue of set point and the issues of rare excursions to extremes.

Fluctuations can be managed as a “good”, in which case avoidance of fluctuations is the good and more avoidance is better. Adopting this choice is equivalent to adopting the precautionary principle whereby anything that conceivably could cause damage should be managed as if it will cause the perceived damage, until such time as there is clear proof that there is no danger of damage. Alternatively, fluctuations can be managed as a “harm” to be avoided. In this case, an understanding of the vulnerability of a collection to a given T or RH deviation, or pattern of deviations, is required to assess and manage the risk they pose.

Session Moderator(s)

Michael C. Henry

Architect/Engineer, Watson & Henry Associates

Speaker(s)

Robert Waller

President and Senior Risk Analyst, Protect Heritage Corp.

Specializing in cultural property risk assessment and management. Strong background in natural sciences, preventive conservation, material science and conservation science. Accredited by Canadian Association of Professional Conservators.

Friday May 30, 2014 2:50pm - 3:10pm PDT
Bayview

General Session, Exploring Sustainable Preservation Environments

3:10pm PDT

(Case Studies in Sustainable Collection Care Session) Case Study: Implementing a research-driven, sustainable, preventive conservation solution developed during an extended grant-funded project

George Eastman House International Museum of Photography & Film is implementing a sustainable preventive conservation solution based on real-time emergent scientific research that portends to dramatically redress an intractable conservation and preservation challenge. This paper specifically charts the progression of a Save America’s Treasures award (NEA-2008) to rehouse its endangered collection of 1,250 daguerreotypes made by the Boston partnership of Southworth & Hawes. Considered to be masters of this first photographic medium, the Museum’s Southworth & Hawes collection is the largest holding from a single daguerreotype maker in the world. The grant was straightforward: to survey and photo-document the collection; fabricate 2008 best practices plate packages; place them in high quality cabinetry; and install them in a newly constructed vault with climate control and filtration systems to maintain low relative humidity and ultra-filtered air.

The project has changed dramatically since 2008. The Museum continues to pursue the essential goal of the grant: to provide the best possible preservation conditions for the Southworth & Hawes daguerreotypes. As it turns out, the best possible preservation conditions for the daguerreotype is an inert gas environment. Concurrent scientific research by the Museum, in conjunction with the University of Rochester through an NSF-SCIART award that began in 2010, has conclusively revealed that daguerreotypes are subject to nano-level deterioration, often biological in origin that progresses in a standard air environment, no matter how filtered or well controlled. Considering these results and the sub-standard conditions that were compromising the collection, the Save America’s Treasures grant was challenged, mid-stream, to respond to these emerging research results, and responsibly consider the benefits –if not the necessity– of an oxygen and moisture free environment for this project. This research spurred the Museum to innovate a low cost argon charged item-level enclosure system. The specifications include: inert materials throughout; construction design for long-term argon retention; functional ease for access to the interior and safe placement of the daguerreotype; full visibility of the daguerreotype –front and back; an aesthetic appropriate for research and access in an archive setting; durability for handling and access; an external monitoring system to ensure argon retention; and an efficient purging and argon charging design, or re-charging, when deemed necessary by the monitoring data.

The details of this innovation are significant, but the theme of this paper is on the dynamics of adjusting course within a project, within an institution, and the challenge of incorporating emergent research into new sustainable preventive conservation solutions that are without precedent at this scale. Not only is this case-study appropriate to sustainability (ideal environment, economics, and no additional energy demands), but its reach may help embolden our profession to make decisive assessments and adopt new standards and modalities –and especially consensus– in treatments and preservation strategies accordingly. Conservation, in our profession, semantically invokes both conserve and conservative. As demands for sustainable conservation practices increase, we must not let reflexive conservative thinking hinder rapid translation from innovation to adoptable practice. This requires a new paradigm for the field.

Session Moderator(s)

Sarah Nunberg

Conservator, The Objects Conservation Studio, LLC

Speaker(s)

Ralph Wiegandt

Project Conservator, George Eastman House

Ralph Wiegandt began his career in conservation as an objects conservator. Following his graduate training at the Buffalo State College Art Conservation Program (in Cooperstown, NY) he took a position at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan, and then the Rochester Museum... Read More →

Co-Author(s)

Nicholas Bigelow

Lee A. DuBridge Professor of Physics and Optics, University of Rochester

Dr. Nicholas Bigelow is a Professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy, the Material Science Program, and is Professor of Optics at the University of Rochester. His primary research is in the area of quantum physics and ultracold quantum gasses. He was the Principle Investigator... Read More →

Friday May 30, 2014 3:10pm - 3:30pm PDT
Grand Ballroom A

General Session, Case Studies in Sustainable Collection Care

3:10pm PDT

(Engaging Communities in Collection Care Session) Teaching preventive conservation: preparing conservators for understanding sustainable choices in collection care

While conservators of art and archaeology are traditionally charged with the examination, material analysis, preservation, and treatment of cultural and artistic heritage, today they must also be prepared to engage with specialists in other disciplines on sustainable solutions for a wide variety of situations ranging from energy usage in built museums to preserving historic houses to managing archaeological sites. In order to succeed, conservators must be thoroughly versed in the concepts and practices of conservation, but also be able to understand the complex context of interdisciplinary decision making.

Since 1960, the Conservation Center of the Institute of Fine Arts (IFA-CC), New York University, has prepared students for careers in conservation through a four-year graduate program. Preventive conservation has been identified as an essential professional competency and has become an important focus of all graduate programs in art conservation in the US (Defining the Conservator: Essential Competencies, ratified by the American Institute of Conservation (AIC) Board on May 20, 2003). At the IFA-CC, preventive conservation emphasizes environmental management for storage and display conditions, monitoring the environment, prioritizing preservation needs in large collections, and risk assessment. To balance theory and practice, there is a class project on refurbishing show cases focusing on current and new techniques for evaluating leakage, controlling microclimates, controlling pollutants and energy-efficient lighting such as LEDs.

Teaching preventive conservation cannot be based on a one-dimensional approach. It requires an understanding of a multitude of intersecting disciplines. In addition to the traditional role of recommending safe environmental parameters for collections, today's conservator must work even more closely with facilities managers, engineers, registrars, and architects on establishing conditions that are sustainable in terms of energy and preservation. New lighting technologies require a close collaboration with the exhibition and lighting team. New methods for evaluating and implementing microclimates rely on an understanding of leakage testing and proper use of active and passive RH control systems, an area of expertise that primarily falls within the responsibilities of the conservator. The challenge for training in preventive conservation is to familiarize students with both the decision making process and the application of technical tools to meet these complex demands for selecting sustainable choices in collection care.

Session Moderator(s)

Margaret Holben Ellis, [Fellow]

Eugene Thaw Professor of Paper Conservation, NYU Institute of Fine Arts

Dr. Joelle D. J. Wickens, [PA]

Conservator, Preventive Team Head and University of Delaware Affiliated Assistant Professor, Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library

Speaker(s)

Hannelore Roemich

Scientist/Researcher, NYU Institute of Fine Arts, Conservation Center

Steven Weintraub

Consultant, Art Preservation Services

Friday May 30, 2014 3:10pm - 3:30pm PDT
Grand Ballroom B-C

General Session, Engaging Communities in Collection Care

3:10pm PDT

(Exploring Sustainable Preservation Environments Session) Sustainable Collections Care - Integrated modelling to address the demography of library and archival collections

The Collections Demography project (2010-2013)1 broke new ground by developing a collection model based on the impacts of material composition, environment and use, and by integrating aspects of how collections are valued by users, for improved decision-making. It is clear that this links closely to the need for institutions to assess the needs of their collections within the current setting of economic, local and global environments, and societal challenges, to proactively address issues of sustainability. International collaborative research involving 6 institutions brought together environmental and material research and integrated this with the societal concept of values we attach to heritage. While there is a substantial body of published research on collection materials and environments, there is a significant need to understand the dynamics of change on collections. In the Collections Demography project the research explored new methodologies of assessing the value of objects in the context of different uses of collections, both qualitatively and quantitatively, to better understand user expectations in relation to library and archival collection care.

A crucial component of the project was a comprehensive public engagement element: interviews with visitors and an attitude questionnaire2, distributed at The National Archives (UK), English Heritage, Library of Congress and the Congress Visitor Center. The analysis of 543 responses provides key data on the reflections of stakeholders on the significance of collections, future care and sustainable use of collections. The results indicated how stakeholders defined the lifetime of objects, and their views on the desired lifetime of collections. This provided important input into the Collections Demography model in view of damage thresholds, and helped to define a suitable planning horizon in collection management.

The collections modelling also built on the solid body of existing research on chemical degradation of historic paper and on the impact of the environment. Innovative research was performed to understand the interactions between the environment and paper-based collections, and new quantitative relationships ('isoperms') were developed linking permanence with environmental data and inherent material properties. New research was undertaken to explore the build-up of wear and tear, enabling collection managers to assess the effect of physical use of collections on the accumulation of damage. The dynamics of these processes was captured quantitatively in ‘isochrones’ that describe the expected collection lifetimes. Additional new research was undertaken to understand the effect of climate change on collections, and demonstrated with two case studies: Brodsworth Hall (English Heritage) and The National Archives, Kew.

The environmental, materials and value research provided evidence to inform the development of a comprehensive collection demographic model, using concepts from economic modelling. As a key deliverable of the Collections Demography, the tool informed the development of holistic collection management guidelines. The collected data informed the collection model of library and archival collections, which are seen as dynamically changing entities. The stock (population) model enables examination and optimisation of different collections management scenarios (with respect to the environment, use or intervention), as suggested in recent environmental management guidance.

Session Moderator(s)

Michael C. Henry

Architect/Engineer, Watson & Henry Associates

Speaker(s)

Fenella France

Library of Congress

Co-Author(s)

Carlota Grossi

Senior Research Associate, University of East Anglia

Catherine Dillon

Research Associate, Centre for Sustainable Heritage, The Bartlett School of Graduate Studies, University College London, UK

David Thickett

Senior Conservation Scientist, English Heritage

Eva Menart

PhD Student, Centre for Sustainable Heritage, The Bartlett School of Graduate Studies, University College London

Gerrit De Bruin

Head of Conservation, Nationaal Archief,The Netherlands

Jinghao Xue

Lecturer, University College London, Department of Statistical Science

Kalliopi Fouseki

Lecturer, Centre for Sustainable Heritage, The Bartlett School of Graduate Studies, University College London, UK

Kostas Ntanos

Head of Conservation Research and Development, National Archives, UK

Kostas Ntanos studied Conservation of antiquities and works of art in Athens, Greece, before he completed a 3-year MA at the Royal College of Art in London in Conservation Science. He joined The National Archives in 2005 and has been Head of Conservation Research and Development since... Read More →

Matija Strlic

Senior Lecturer, Centre for Sustainable Heritage, The Bartlett School of Graduate Studies, University College London, UK

Matija Strlic is Senior Lecturer in Sustainable Heritage at the UCL Centre for Sustainable Heritage. He is also Course Director of the new MRes Heritage Science at the Centre. In the last 15 years, he has been involved in more than 30 research projects, focussing on the development... Read More →

Nancy Bell

Head of Collection Care, The National Archives

Nancy Bell is Head of Collection Care for The National Archives, and has led the development of a new environmental standard for cultural heritage collections. She believes in the potential of science research evidence to shape policies and practices affecting cultural heritage... Read More →

Peter Brimblecombe

Professorial Fellow, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK

William Lindsay

The National Archives

Friday May 30, 2014 3:10pm - 3:30pm PDT
Bayview

General Session, Exploring Sustainable Preservation Environments

3:30pm PDT

Refreshment Break in Exhibit Hall

Friday May 30, 2014 3:30pm - 4:00pm PDT
Pacific Concourse

Break

4:00pm PDT

(Case Studies in Sustainable Collection Care Session) Solvents, Scents and Sensibility: Sequestering and Minimizing

A simple review of solubility theory will be presented to put the discussion of solvent substitution into context. The three component forces that are active and make solvents liquid rather than gases will be reviewed as will the concept of aromaticity.

The thermodynamic underpinnings of solubility theory (Hildebrand solubility theory) will be very briefly introduced as a preface to discussion of Hansen solubility parameters.

The three dimensional Hansen space will be discussed where solvents are represented as points in the space and solutes are represented as spheres. Mixtures of two solvents are represented by a line between the two points and mixtures between three and more points will be discussed and demonstrated.

The Teas diagram, solvents and mixtures of solvents will be discussed. The advantages and limitations of the Teas diagram will be presented and demonstrated.

Solvents will be briefly introduced with a summary of their relative health and environmental dangers. Absent mechanical controls to protect the conservator (but not necessarily the
environment) from exposure, we all strive to use the safest solvents/solvent systems in the safest way and yet still function. Applying Hansen solubility theory to the task of finding solvent mixtures that can be used to substitute for the least bio-friendly solvents will be presented and discussed.

Session Moderator(s)

Sarah Nunberg

Conservator, The Objects Conservation Studio, LLC

Speaker(s)

Chris Stavroudis

Conservator, Chris Stavroudis, Paintings Conservator

Chris Stavroudis is a private paintings conservator in West Hollywood, California. He developed the Modular Cleaning Program in 2002 as an off shoot of the work of Richard Wolbers and the Gels Cleaning Project at the Getty Conservation Institute.Chris obtained undergraduate degrees... Read More →

Friday May 30, 2014 4:00pm - 4:15pm PDT
Grand Ballroom A

General Session, Case Studies in Sustainable Collection Care

4:00pm PDT

(Engaging Communities in Collection Care Session) Using Webinars to Tackle Conservation Misinformation in Ontario’s Community Museums

Misunderstandings of basic conservation concepts can form a considerable barrier to collection care. Anecdotally, conservators know this to be true. In Ontario, Canada, a recent exercise demonstrated the prevalence of conservation misinformation in the province and its links to challenges in collection preservation. Two webinars were conceived to clarify a selection of conservation concepts and to help museums implement sustainable preventive conservation strategies.

From 2011 to 2013, Ontario’s Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport audited recipients of museum operating grants to determine whether eligibility criteria were being met. These criteria include basic preventive conservation practices as outlined in the Standards for Community Museums in Ontario. The 190 museums in the grant program completed questionnaires on their adherence to the Standards and submitted them to the Ministry for review. The museums’ responses revealed a number of common misunderstandings. These included:

Conservation in museums consists solely of treatment, with no reference to preventive conservation

Reducing the risk of light damage consists solely of eliminating ultraviolet, with no reference to visible light or exposure time

Fluctuating and cool temperatures are inevitably harmful to collections

All collections need year-round 50% relative humidity

Monitoring and controlling are interchangeable terms and actions

Acid-free materials stay acid-free forever

Controlling pests involves the use of pesticides

Session Moderator(s)

Margaret Holben Ellis, [Fellow]

Eugene Thaw Professor of Paper Conservation, NYU Institute of Fine Arts

Dr. Joelle D. J. Wickens, [PA]

Conservator, Preventive Team Head and University of Delaware Affiliated Assistant Professor, Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library

Speaker(s)

Fiona Graham

Adjunct Professor, Queen's University, Art Conservation Program

Fiona Graham is a conservator specializing in preventive conservation and with an interest in metals conservation dating back to her graduate research on bronze patinas. She has a Master's degree in Art Conservation (Artifacts) from Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario and is accredited... Read More →

Friday May 30, 2014 4:00pm - 4:20pm PDT
Grand Ballroom B-C

General Session, Engaging Communities in Collection Care

4:00pm PDT

(Exploring Sustainable Preservation Environments Session) Sustainability And Environmental Control For The Conservation Of The Collections At The Bahia Sacred Art Museum

When it comes to museums and collections the idea of sustainability should cover actions ranging such as selecting materials using renewable raw materials, and/or low energy consuming materials for their manufacture, rationalization and reuse of materials and supplies for packaging and storage of the collection, its maintenance, safety and continuous preventive conservation. The studies presented in this paper were carried out in the Sacred Art Museum of the Universidade Federal da Bahia (UFBA) complying with the recommendations from the Conservation Assessment. This assessment, undertaken to guarantee the conservation of collections in hot and humid climates, was held in 1998 in a concerted technical cooperation action among UFBA, The Getty Conservation Institute, CECOR/ UFMG and VITAE – Support to Culture, Education and Social Promotion.

Among the projects carried out we highlight those with environmental adaptation which comprised three different objectives: the treatment of exhibiting halls, the increase of the thermal comfort of the nave of the church, and the environmental control for preventive conservation of the collections storage area. In the exhibition halls three specific and complementary actions were carried out aiming to correct natural lighting conditions of the displayed collection by inserting elements of control in the window openings to block the direct solar radiation and filter the diffuse solar radiation.

In addition, to ensure natural ventilation in the exhibition halls, the system allowed natural light into the halls, thus reducing the use of artificial lighting. A new system of artificial lighting was also implemented, controlled with the help of motion sensors and rationalization of the lamp power, thus ensuring energy saving and conservation of the collection by decreasing the time/lux on the displayed pieces. This also contributed as reduction elements of specific degradation processes in light-sensitive works of art such as polychrome items.

Another action carried out was the development of a mixed ventilation system, both passive and mechanical, aiming to ensure thermal comfort for visitors by decreasing sensation of heat and increasing ventilation; this has also contributed to increase evaporation by convection, allowing the reduction of the moisture content of the air inside the rooms, assisting in preventive conservation of displayed collections.

Also, another step addressed the improvement of environmental quality within the nave of the Santa Tereza Church, creating a passive system of ventilation, by pressure difference, or chimney effect, through the eight round window openings existing in the dome of the transept of the nave, which is still aided by the eight windows surrounding the observation tower that covers it. The proposed passive ventilation aimed at modifying the conditions of the relative humidity, excessive inside the nave and the walls of the altars, as well as providing better environmental conditions for human comfort during events which are held there.

The third proposal relates to the environmental control developed for the implementation of the new Storage Room making use of passive and mechanical conditioning, by taking advantage of the construction. The major points of leakage and thermal gains were addressed, that is, ceilings, doors and windows. Also some routines were established in order to take advantage of the external environmental conditions in case they were favorable, or otherwise its blockage, in addition to the interspersed use of ventilation and / or mechanical dehumidification to ensure environmental levels recommended to a preventive conservation of the collection.

Additionally the whole system of packaging and storage of the collection was carried out within the most rigorous methods of rationalization and reuse of materials.

Session Moderator(s)

Michael C. Henry

Architect/Engineer, Watson & Henry Associates

Speaker(s)

Griselda P. Klüppel

Assistant professor, Federal University of Bahia

Graduated in Architecture and Doctor in Architecture and Urbanism with a focus on Conservation and Restoration at the Federal University of Bahia, is also a specialist on Environmental Design. Since 1998 has been working directly on preventive conservation of buildings and collections... Read More →

Friday May 30, 2014 4:00pm - 4:20pm PDT
Bayview

General Session, Exploring Sustainable Preservation Environments

4:15pm PDT

(Case Studies in Sustainable Collection Care Session) Boxes inside of Boxes: Preventative Conservation Practices

Chemical treatments are an inevitable part of conservation practices. However, stabilization of an object is also achieved through other methods. By making the conscientious choice to pursue these avenues, conservators have the ability to protect cultural heritage as well as the environment. Preventative conservation often involves creative and critical thinking about an assemblage or individual object. Climate control and in situ conservation are two of the best known examples. Custom housing used on a daily basis is not always considered a part of preventative conservation, rather as a means of storage. This paper will explore the use of custom housing at the Ah-Tah-Thi-Ki Museum as an avenue of preventative conservation in concert with climate control.

Speaker(s)

Robin Croskery Howard

Objects Conservator, North Carolina Museum of History

Robin P. Croskery Howard is the Objects Conservator for the Ah-Tah-Thi-Ki Museum on the Big Cypress Reservation in Southern Florida. She is currently finishing her Masterâ€™s Degree in Maritime Studies, with a concentration in the conservation of waterlogged material objects... Read More →

Friday May 30, 2014 4:15pm - 4:30pm PDT
Grand Ballroom A

General Session, Case Studies in Sustainable Collection Care

4:20pm PDT

(Engaging Communities in Collection Care Session) The Vivekananda Program for Museum Excellence at the Art Institute of Chicago

In 2012 the Art Institute of Chicago began a four-year partnership with the Indian Government to develop an educational program for mid-career museum professionals, with the goal of improving collections care within Indian museums. The Vivekananda Program for Museum Excellence was named in commemoration of Swami Vivekananda, a revered Indian philosopher who delivered an important speech at the Art Institute of Chicago during the World Parliament of Religions in 1893. Two main topics were chosen as the focus of the program: preventive care and computerized collections management. Working together with the Indian Ministry of Culture, the Art Institute has developed a series of short seminars held in India each summer, as well as longer three-week workshops held at the Art Institute of Chicago each fall, attended by a select group of Indian fellows. Six fellows from major Indian museums and the Archeological Survey of India were chosen by the Indian Ministry of Culture to attend the first workshop in September 2012. This unique, groundbreaking partnership with India has offered many surprises, but ultimately many rewards. This paper will describe the design of the preventive care portion of the Vivekananda Program in detail, including lessons learned from planning the Chicago workshops, and our experiences teaching the first two groups of Indian fellows.

The Conservation Department plays a key role in the development and implementation of the Vivekananda Program: conservators deliver lectures, lead hands-on workshops, provide tours of storerooms, galleries, mechanical rooms, conservation laboratories, and local museums, to introduce participants to a holistic approach to caring for a museum collection. To prepare for the specific interests and needs of each fellow, we designed a comprehensive survey that is completed by program participants in advance of their visits. This aids our understanding of their collections, buildings, staffing, policies, and climate. A key component of the preventive care program is a self-assessment workshop that gives the fellows the tools to carry out a thorough evaluation of their home institutions and to prioritize short-term and long-term improvement projects.

Upon their return to India, the fellows are required to complete tasks related to both the preventive care and collections management portions of the Vivekananda Program. Their progress is monitored through monthly conference calls and emails with Art Institute staff. This allows us to offer ongoing support and encouragement, and also provides fascinating insights into the challenges faced by our Indian colleagues as they attempt to modernize their institutions. Due to the success of our initial year, the Indian government is sending 8 new fellows for the second workshop to be held in October 2013. Additionally a group of Indian museum directors will be joining the fellows for the initial week of the Vivekananda Program – an important indication that our Indian colleagues value the program and that there is administrative support for implementing positive changes within the participating institutions.

Session Moderator(s)

Margaret Holben Ellis, [Fellow]

Eugene Thaw Professor of Paper Conservation, NYU Institute of Fine Arts

Dr. Joelle D. J. Wickens, [PA]

Conservator, Preventive Team Head and University of Delaware Affiliated Assistant Professor, Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library

Speaker(s)

Rachel Freeman-[PA]

Associate Paper Conservator, Art Institute of Chicago

Rachel Freeman is an Assistant Paper Conservator at the Art Institute of Chicago. As the museumâ€™s sole conservator dedicated to the treatment of Asian prints and paintings, she has been involved with the conservation of Japanese prints, East Asian scrolls and screens, ancient... Read More →

Allison Langley

Paintings Conservator, The Art Institute of Chicago

Allison Langley is Director of Paintings and Frames Conservation at the Art Institute of Chicago. Since joining the Art Institute in 2002, her treatments and research have focused largely on 20th Century paintings. She has published and presented on the artworks of Picasso, Braque... Read More →

Friday May 30, 2014 4:20pm - 4:40pm PDT
Grand Ballroom B-C

General Session, Engaging Communities in Collection Care

4:20pm PDT

(Exploring Sustainable Preservation Environments Session) Creating Sustainable Preservation Environments – Funding, Process, and Practice

Over the last decade, the challenge of creating an appropriate preservation environment for cultural collections has been made even greater as collections professionals are increasingly faced with the need to balance environmental conditions against budgetary shortfalls and institutional sustainability efforts. Even as energy expenditures on the environmental aspects of preventive conservation have come under closer scrutiny, recent research into materials and mechanical systems have highlighted opportunities and strategies to reconcile the seemingly disparate goals of energy efficiency and a quality preservation environment. Started in 2009, the Sustaining Cultural Heritage Collections (SCHC) program of the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) has become one of the key resources available for cultural institutions looking for funding and guidance to simultaneously improve the quality and the sustainability of their collections storage and display environments. Since then, a number of grant recipients have used the funding to carefully analyze and dissect the operation of their preservation environments and the mechanical systems that create them, to build stronger working relationships with their facilities and maintenance colleagues, and to identify opportunities for improvement in both preservation and sustainability.

This session will concentrate on exposing participants to three different perspectives of the grant program and its projects – those of the funding agency, the applicant institution, and an outside consultant – and will reflect on lessons learned and the larger impact of the work done over the last four years. Laura Word, a Senior Program Officer in the Division of Preservation and Access, has been a strong advocate for the program since its inception, and will discuss NEH’s goals in offering the SCHC grants, features of strong proposals, and the impact the program has had on participating institutions. Erin Blake, the Curator of Art & Special Collections at the Folger Shakespeare Library, and the Project Manager of the Folger’s successful 2009 and 2012 Planning and Implementation projects under the SCHC program, will discuss the Folger’s own experiences, from the inception of the project goals and plan, to building a project team with internal and external partners, to using the results of the project to advocate for and improve both preservation and energy consumption. Jeremy Linden, a Senior Preservation Environment Specialist at the Image Permanence Institute, has served as the primary consultant on a number of SCHC projects, including the Folger’s, and will discuss the practice of environmental optimization and how improved preservation environments and reduced energy usage can be achieved in a variety of institutions and settings.

The aim of the session is to introduce participants to the possibilities and opportunities that exist for holistic environmental management in a changing climate, to provide them with greater knowledge on what it takes to craft a successful proposal to this unique program, and to reflect on what we have learned as a profession on the potential of marrying preservation and sustainability.

Session Moderator(s)

Michael C. Henry

Architect/Engineer, Watson & Henry Associates

Speaker(s)

Jeremy Linden

Principal/Owner, Linden Preservation Services, Inc.

Jeremy Linden has been the Principal/Owner of Linden Preservation Services, Inc., since 2017.He is an active educator and consultant with more than two decades of experience in culturalheritage, the last decade of which have been focused on enhancing preservation environmentsand sustainability... Read More →

Co-Author(s)

Erin Blake

Senior Cataloger, Folger Shakespeare Library

(Photo and bio copy-and-pasted from Rare Book School's Faculty page because I'm all about re-purposing existing data) Erin Blake is the Senior Cataloger responsible for art and manuscripts at the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, DC, the world’s largest Shakespeare collection... Read More →

Laura Word

Senior Program Officer in the Division of Preservation and Access, National Endowment for the Humanities

Laura Word has been a Senior Program Officer in the Division of Preservation and Access at the National Endowment for the Humanities since September 1991, where she has been responsible for many of the division’s preservation grant programs, including Preservation Assistance Grants... Read More →

Friday May 30, 2014 4:20pm - 4:40pm PDT
Bayview

General Session, Exploring Sustainable Preservation Environments

4:30pm PDT

(Case Studies in Sustainable Collection Care Session) The role of LED lighting in an energy-efficient museum

Solid-state lighting (SSL) has quickly evolved over the past decade into a competitive alternative to conventional incandescent lamps, by providing comparable lumen output at higher efficiency. In addition, life cycle assessments (LCA) performed by independent sources, manufacturers, and the U.S. Department of Energy indicate that the total environmental impact of LED bulbs from manufacture to recycling after end-use is significantly lower. Energy use over the life-cycle of an LED is estimated at 3-4 times less than that of an equivalent number of halogen bulbs, and currently similar to compact fluorescent (CFL). The energy savings and reduced overall toxicity offered by SSL technology is extremely attractive for a socially conscious museum striving to minimise environmental impact, while caring for their collection. Reducing energy consumption is also necessary for institutions aiming for LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification through new building construction or retrofit projects. In addition to focusing on energy savings, it is important to carefully compare the performance specifications given by manufacturers with the strict lighting requirements in a museum environment.

The need for high colour quality in museums and galleries inhibited the early adoption of LED bulbs; however, products have recently emerged with visible spectra that closely match incandescent lamps without emitting ultra-violet or infrared energy. The combination of exceptional light quality, lower electrical load, and recent incentives to curb energy consumption has made the transition to LED lighting a benefit for many institutions. For others, the switch to SSL technology has been less rewarding due to the high capital cost and lower than expected performance observed for some products: rapidly diminishing intensity, colour shift, flickering, and general hardware incompatibilities. Many of these negative qualities are avoidable through careful product selection, and proper implementation of SSL; however, the true long-term performance of even the best LED bulbs remains uncertain. The longevity of LEDs will become clearer in the following years as institutions begin to observe lamp performance over a time-scale longer than that currently used for bulb life predictions.

A review of the current state of LED lighting is provided in the context of the needs and expectations of museums. Specifications related to colour quality, light intensity and lamp life, are discussed with respect to manufacturer warranties and third party testing.

Session Moderator(s)

Sarah Nunberg

Conservator, The Objects Conservation Studio, LLC

Speaker(s)

Eric Hagan

Senior Conservation Scientist, Canadian Conservation Institute

Eric Hagan earned a PhD in mechanical engineering from Imperial College London through a doctoral fellowship at Tate (2005-2009), after completing the Master of Art Conservation program at Queen’s University (2004). He has worked at the Canadian Conservation Institute (CCI) since... Read More →

Friday May 30, 2014 4:30pm - 4:45pm PDT
Grand Ballroom A

General Session, Case Studies in Sustainable Collection Care

4:40pm PDT

(Engaging Communities in Collection Care Session) Sustaining the Cultural Community - The Stewardship Resource Center as a Model for Preventive Conservation Training

Holistic, strategically planned collections care initiatives can help institutions make fiscally and environmentally responsible preservation decisions. For more than a decade the Conservation Center for Art & Historic Artifacts (CCAHA) has guided Philadelphia-area cultural institutions in making thoughtful preventive conservation decisions through its Stewardship Resource Center (SRC). The SRC provides consultation, training, preservation resources, and networking opportunities to participating organizations and in doing so has fostered economically and environmentally sustainable preservation practices throughout the region’s cultural community.

Since its founding in 2002 the SRC has worked with more than 70 museums, libraries, archives, and historic sites in the Philadelphia area to define and prioritize preventive conservation needs. Working with CCAHA staff, participating institutions map out their goals through the program’s four tracks: Needs Assessment, Preservation Planning, Emergency Planning, and Policy Development. One-on-one consulting is combined with series of structured workshops, allowing staff at the institutions to gain basic preventive conservation knowledge.

Through formal surveys, focus groups, and anecdotal conversations the session presenters have gathered information on how the SRC has fostered economically and environmentally sustainable preservation practices in the Philadelphia region. Data has showed that tiered recommendations help institutions to meet their goals and that the definition of sustainable practice can vary greatly from one organization to another. The collaboration and resource-sharing at the heart of the SRC have created a sense of community and common purpose among varied organizations while allowing individual institutions to meet their specific preservation needs. Participating institutions assist one another with emergency preparedness and response, volunteer cross-training and sharing, and collaborative grant-funded projects for conservation. This successful resource-sharing has helped institutions achieve their individual preservation goals while strengthening the cultural community as a whole.

Based on SRC recommendations, local cultural institutions have evaluated and upgraded their environmental systems, invested in protective housing materials, and deliberately reorganized their collections storage spaces. Such projects have made these organizations more economically and environmentally sustainable. Short video interviews with staff members from participating institutions will illustrate the value and impact of the program.

This presentation will also discuss how the SRC model can be adapted by conservators in a variety of professional settings. Conservators and preservation staff working in private practice can pursue similar strategies with the various institutions with which they work; staff from larger institutions can find motivation to be leaders in their communities; and staff from small to mid-sized institutions can explore their own opportunities for collaboration, resource sharing, and other cost-saving measures to increase economic and environmental sustainability.

Session Moderator(s)

Margaret Holben Ellis, [Fellow]

Eugene Thaw Professor of Paper Conservation, NYU Institute of Fine Arts

Dr. Joelle D. J. Wickens, [PA]

Conservator, Preventive Team Head and University of Delaware Affiliated Assistant Professor, Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library

Speaker(s)

Laura Hortz Stanton

Executive Director, Conservation Center for Art and Historic Artifacts

Co-Author(s)

Dyani Feige

Director of Preservation Services, Conservation Center for Art & Historic Artifacts

Friday May 30, 2014 4:40pm - 5:00pm PDT
Grand Ballroom B-C

General Session, Engaging Communities in Collection Care

4:40pm PDT

(Exploring Sustainable Preservation Environments Session) A Technology Platform for Managing Micro-Climatic Conditions in a Museum Environment

Wireless sensing technology has made real-time monitoring and management of a museum environment through assessment of the impact of humidity and temperature fluctuations, air pollution, and visitorship on art objects much more feasible. Combining real time analytics tools with high spatial and temporal density sensing, such a wireless platform can provide information over an extended period of time of the environmental fluctuations in the museum galleries. The results can be used to develop predictive models for optimal art preservation in response to the micro climatic conditions and may also useful to identify the most suitable locations for the display of sensitive art objects. The platform supports physical and statistical models to quantify and to correlate the short and long term responses of objects to environmental fluctuations. A description is provided of the sensing and modeling capabilities of IBM’s Low Power Mote platform, a system successfully installed at “The Cloisters”, New York’s medieval branch of The Metropolitan Museum of Art. For the last two years, more than 2 million measurements across 5 galleries have been made monitoring changes in air quality, temperature, relative humidity, and visitor flow. Analytical models combined with real time data from sensors placed around art objects enables quantified three dimensional representations of gallery environmental conditions. In particular, an air quality analysis, derived from corrosion rates measured by a sensor array and correlated with outdoor conditions and concentrations of gaseous pollutants (SO2, ozone), will be presented, and a connection with the distinct geographical and operational conditions at The Cloisters will be proposed. In addition, the impact on temperature and humidity fluctuations due to visitorship in a selected gallery will be discussed.

Session Moderator(s)

Michael C. Henry

Architect/Engineer, Watson & Henry Associates

Speaker(s)

Alejandro Schrott

Research Staff Member, IBM Research

PhD in Physics, Researcher at IBM for 28 years.

Co-Author(s)

Andrew Winslow

Senior Departmental Technician, Metrpolitan Museum of Art

Hendrik F. Hamann

IBM Research, Thomas J. Watson Center

Levente Klein

IBM Research, Thomas J. Watson Center

Lucretia Kargere

Conservator for The Cloisters, Metropolitan Museum of Art

Sculpture conservator

Marc A. Robbins

Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education, Stanford University

Marco Leona

David H. Koch Scientist in Charge in the Department of Scientific Research, Metropolitan Museum of Art

Masahiko Tsukada

The National Museum of Western Art

Paolo Dionisi Vici

Associate Research Scientist, Metrpolitan Museum of Art

Sergio A Bermudez-Rodriguez

IBM Research, Thomas J. Watson Center

Friday May 30, 2014 4:40pm - 5:00pm PDT
Bayview

General Session, Exploring Sustainable Preservation Environments

4:45pm PDT

(Case Studies in Sustainable Collection Care Session) Fountains, Art, Design, Preservation and Sustainability

Fountains are popular and engaging forms of civic architecture, reflecting a desire to celebrate community, as well as an urge for beauty, imagination and creativity in our lives. Fountains are also expensive, and the costs can escalate when a sculpture or other artwork is added to the water feature. Water usage, wastage, pool chemicals, and the maintenance of these water features as art raise concerns about diminishing natural resources. Ultimately inspirational design goals need to be balanced with the ability to preserve and sustain our environment. This paper will address evolving approaches to maintenance, sustainability and design implications for four very different water features at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art.
The museum, located in Kansas City, Missouri, which proudly calls itself the City of Fountains, has three indoor fountains and one outdoor fountain, all with accessioned art placed in a purpose-built structure. The oldest piece is a seven-foot diameter Roman marble Fountain Basin, 220 C.E. (31-98). It stands in a working fountain designed in 1932 and is located in a former outdoor courtyard that now serves as a restaurant. While the ancient basin has received conservation treatments over the years, the museum maintenance department cleans the fountain. The circulating water tank is fed from the city water without additional water treatments, and interestingly, this fountain requires relatively little maintenance. A bronze fountain sculpture by Harriet Whitney Frishmuth, Joy of the Waters, ca. 1911, cast after 1945 (F96-38/1) was installed in a modern stone and terrazzo pool, with a distilled water tank providing the re-circulated water. This fountain is also in the care of the maintenance department, though the conservation department advised in the construction of the fountain and looks after the sculpture. The museum’s most complex fountains include the indoor sculpture by Isamu Noguchi, Fountain, 1987 (F99-33/72 A,B) and the large exterior reflecting pool with One Sun / 34 Moons, 2002 (2002.6), a collaboration between artist Walter De Maria and architect Stephen Holl. These two artworks were installed as part of a new addition to the museum in 2007, and a co-operative approach to planning allowed for considerable conservation input regarding mechanical design and preservation issues. The Noguchi sculpture is maintained with distilled water, chemicals, UVC lamps, filtration and elbow grease, while the De Maria’s water depends on filtration, some chemicals and pool sweeping. The maintenance of these two pools is shared by the engineering and conservation departments with the primary goal of preserving the art work placed in the water. This has required constant monitoring, re-design, cleaning, chemical adjustments and staff-time in an effort to make the preservation of these works more considerate of our resources. Each case study underscores how conservators can and should articulate preservation goals, collaborate with designers, and incorporate sustainable practices, while setting realistic expectations for preservation.

Session Moderator(s)

Sarah Nunberg

Conservator, The Objects Conservation Studio, LLC

Speaker(s)

Kathleen Garland-[Fellow]

Conservator, Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art

Kathleen M. Garland received her BA in Art History from Brown University, and her MA in Art Conservation from the State University of New York, Cooperstown. She completed her internship in the Sculpture Conservation Department at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. From 1986-89... Read More →

Friday May 30, 2014 4:45pm - 5:00pm PDT
Grand Ballroom A

General Session, Case Studies in Sustainable Collection Care

5:00pm PDT

(Case Studies in Sustainable Collection Care Session) Question and Answer Period

Session Moderator(s)

Sarah Nunberg

Conservator, The Objects Conservation Studio, LLC

Friday May 30, 2014 5:00pm - 5:30pm PDT
Grand Ballroom A

General Session, Case Studies in Sustainable Collection Care

5:00pm PDT

(Engaging Communities in Collection Care Session) Question and Answer Period

Session Moderator(s)

Margaret Holben Ellis, [Fellow]

Eugene Thaw Professor of Paper Conservation, NYU Institute of Fine Arts

Dr. Joelle D. J. Wickens, [PA]

Conservator, Preventive Team Head and University of Delaware Affiliated Assistant Professor, Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library

Friday May 30, 2014 5:00pm - 5:30pm PDT
Grand Ballroom B-C

General Session, Engaging Communities in Collection Care

5:00pm PDT

(Exploring Sustainable Preservation Environments Session) Question and Answer Period

Session Moderator(s)

Michael C. Henry

Architect/Engineer, Watson & Henry Associates

Friday May 30, 2014 5:00pm - 5:30pm PDT
Bayview

General Session, Exploring Sustainable Preservation Environments

5:30pm PDT

(Happy Hour) Research and Technical Studies

Friday May 30, 2014 5:30pm - 7:30pm PDT
Marina Room

Reception, Research and Technical Studies

6:00pm PDT

(Reception) Architecture and Wooden Artifacts

http://www.sfheritage.org/haas-lilienthal-house

Friday May 30, 2014 6:00pm - 8:00pm PDT
Haas Lilienthal House

Reception, Architecture, Wooden Artifacts

6:00pm PDT

(Reception) Book and Paper Group and Photographic Materials Groups

http://www.univclub.com

Friday May 30, 2014 6:00pm - 8:00pm PDT
University Club San Francisco 800 Powell St, San Francisco, CA 94108

Reception, Book and Paper, Photographic Materials

6:00pm PDT

(Reception) Objects Specialty Group

http://www.lamarcebicheria.com

Friday May 30, 2014 6:00pm - 8:00pm PDT
La Mar Restaurant Pier 1.5 The Embarcadero, San Francisco, CA 94111

Reception, Objects

6:00pm PDT

(Reception) Paintings Specialty Group

Friday May 30, 2014 6:00pm - 8:30pm PDT
California Historical Society 678 Mission St, San Francisco, CA 94105

Reception, Paintings

6:30pm PDT

(Reception) Textiles Specialty Group

http://www.restaurantlulu.com

Friday May 30, 2014 6:30pm - 8:00pm PDT
Restaurant Lulu 816 Folsom St, San Francisco, CA 94107

Reception, Textiles

8:00pm PDT

(Reception) Graduate Programs in Art Conservation

Friday May 30, 2014 8:00pm - 10:00pm PDT
Atrium

Reception

7:30am PDT

(Business Meeting) AIC Membership

Be sure to attend the 2014 Member Business Meeting! Below you will find all you need to be informed about the meeting and the discussions that will take place.

Meet your colleagues for breakfast on Saturday, May 31, in Grand Ballroom A, and to learn about current AIC and FAIC activities and a variety of initiatives being planned. Come early, at 7:00 a.m., to drink coffee and chat with board members and the executive director. Between 7:30 and 9:45 a.m., AIC Board President Pam Hatchfield will guide you through the business of the meeting, drawing on some of our many volunteers to assist. Time for discussion and questions is built in. Come join us and play an active role in your professional organization!

Handouts

Saturday May 31, 2014 7:30am - 9:45am PDT
Grand Ballroom A

10:00am PDT

(Collection Care + HVAC Session) Introduction to Session

Speaker(s)

Patricia Silence, [PA]

Director of Preventive Conservation, Colonial Williamsburg Foundation

Saturday May 31, 2014 10:00am - 10:10am PDT
Pacific Concourse D-E

10:00am PDT

(Health and Safety Session) Controlling Hazardous Collection Materials

When considering the sustainable care and management of collections, the health and safety of the conservator and other collections stewards should be a primary concern. Studies have demonstrated that the potential for adverse effects associated with exposure to artifacts with inherent or acquired toxicities can be mitigated through preventative measures, engineering controls, and proper training. Hazardous objects include those made with toxic materials (e.g., under-bound heavy metal based pigments, radioactive minerals); materials that may become more toxic once they are deteriorated or damaged (e.g., tin-mercury amalgam in mirrors, asbestos art plaster, degraded medicinals); objects with acquired toxicity (e.g., pesticide residues, mold), and objects with flammability or physical restrictions (e.g., gunpowder, heavy artwork, sharpness/breakability).

Conservators working with these objects should be aware of the risk and be able to assist in providing a safe environment to anyone who may come in contact with them. An Occupational Safety and Health Plan, developed and supported by both managers and staff, can protect persons from task and collection-based risks by ensuring that staff relies on disciplined safe working practices.

The AIC Health & Safety Committee has outlined specific procedures to help create a collections-based risk management plan for the safe handling of hazardous objects. A plan must include: 1) known or suspected inherent or acquired hazards, including post-collection treatments or legacy hazards, 2) methods for alerting users that objects are hazardous, 3) conditions requiring access restrictions for cabinets or collections, 4) legal requirements for disclosing known or suspect hazards to the recipient of an object including repatriated items, 5) legal rights to request hazard disclosures from lenders or collectors, 6) decontamination and/or disposal of hazardous materials, 7) effective storage area cleaning, 8) prevention of inadvertent contamination, and 9) alteration of treatment goals based on the known hazards.

In developing and implementing a risk management plan, it is important to recognize that collections management offers workplace exposure scenarios that are unique and often well below the radar of most safety experts. Therefore, clear dialogue is necessary to best describe museum operations and conservation tasks to health professionals and discuss how specific test methods can be used without damaging collections. Once the commitment is made to create a proactive safety program, the technologies of hazard control are well-developed, often inexpensive, and easily accessible. Numerous public health and safety resources exist to help conservators assess hazards, develop, and implement a risk management plan. These include easily accessible web-based information, such as directories of professional organizations’ safety consultants, information on pro-bono services, and links to occupational medical clinics. Safety investments are not just a legal requirement, but also a positive factor in productivity.

Speaker(s)

Kathryn Makos

Industrial Hygienist (Retired), Smithsonian Institution (Ret.)

Kathryn Makos, Certified Industrial Hygienist, Masters of Public Health (University of IL), retired (2013) from the Smithsonian Institution's Office of Safety, Health and Environmental Management, where she was responsible for developing industrial hygiene programs and conducting... Read More →

Kerith Koss Schrager

Head of Conservation, National September 11 Memorial & Museum

Kerith Koss Schrager is an objects conservator and Head of Conservation at the National September 11 Memorial & Museum. Kerith specializes in occupational health and safety for cultural heritage workers and completed an M.S. in Environmental Health Sciences through the Division o... Read More →

Anne Kingery Schwartz-[PA]

Principal Objects Conservator, Kingery Conservation LLC

Anne Kingery-Schwartz is an objects conservator in private practice in Washington DC. Since starting her business in 2011, sheâ€™s worked for various Smithsonian museums, other local institutions, and private clients. Prior to going into private practice, Anne worked at the Philadelphia... Read More →

Saturday May 31, 2014 10:00am - 10:30am PDT
Pacific Concourse F-G

10:00am PDT

(Architecture Session) Protection of Cultural Sites: The Case of San Pedro y San Pablo Teposcolula, Oaxaca

Cultural nominations are meant to safeguard the recipients; however they do not always bring the intended protection. To be successful nominations need to be the first steep of a continuous and permanent conservation process, more so when dealing with vulnerable urban contexts. The particular characteristics of each monument or site as well as the commitment of the stakeholders, contribute to what happens after the nomination. Heritage protection responds to social realities and to economic and political priorities; in places where there is an array of needs, conservation stops to be considered necessary and nominations do not suffice to spare the cultural heritage of being neglected or even lost.

Oaxaca is a state rich in culture, however, it only possess two sites recognized by the Mexican government as historic heritage sites, one of them being the City of San Pedro y San Pablo Teposcolula. The fact that Teposcolula is, besides the capital of the state, the only site that has received a government nomination as historic heritage site, reflects its relevance in the region. Teposcolula´s physiognomy, landscape, architectural characteristics and urban structure in general, and its XVI century Dominican religious complex in particular were its outstanding attributes that had already been officially acknowledged in 1930. Teposcolula’s religious complex contains an open chapel unique in the novo Hispanic religious constructions. Nevertheless, being nominated was not followed by a strategic plan but by some unconnected actions. The transformation processes and evolution proper to urban settlements have put at risk some of those attributes that were supposed to be protected. Currently the heritage that has survived is being lost or damaged and an institutional plan has as yet still to be developed.

This contribution is part of a project that aims to have a positive impact on the care of the heritage of San Pedro y San Pablo Teposcolula. It presents the first results of a study that focuses on the architectural heritage of Teposcolula. The study includes the identification, registration and cataloging of the heritage as well as a historic analysis carried out to understand the processes that have generated the urban landscape and preservation conditions observed currently. The relevance and impact of nominations as single actions is questioned and the special characteristics of the community that include poverty and migration are discussed.

Speaker(s)

Vera De La Cruz Baltazar

LACS Recipient, Facultad de Arquitectura â€œ5 de Mayoâ€, Universidad Autonoma Benito Juarez" de Oaxaca"

Dr. Vera De La Cruz is a Professor at the School of Architecture of the State University of Oaxaca, Mexico, where she is also the coordinator of the PhD Program. Vera obtained her B.Sc. in Chemistry with specialization in biochemistry and microbiology at the National Autonomous University... Read More →

Saturday May 31, 2014 10:00am - 10:30am PDT
Garden Room

10:00am PDT

(Book and Paper Session) Investigation of Historical Japanese Paper: Experiment to Re-Create Recycled Paper from 18th -19th century Japan

This presentation will discuss the physical characteristics of recycled paper used for Japanese printed books from the18th to 19th century, exploring their production methods and historical developments based on the collaborative experiments with the University of Iowa’s Center for the Book (UICB).

The majority of conservation practices and studies of traditional Japanese paper-based artifacts have focused on the high end arts such as screen paintings and scrolls, luxuriously printed books (such as Sagabon), and certain ukiyoe prints and paintings. Conservators generally have limited knowledge about the printed books and materials used; however, they are the most commonly found traditional Japanese artifacts in the collections of American cultural institutions. Many of these printed materials were mass-produced and made of poor quality paper, such as recycled paper. Making recycled paper required different source materials (waste paper) and lower papermaking skills than those involved in producing the high quality paper.

Conservators’ unfamiliarity with these printed materials has a direct impact on their treatment. For instance, conservators might attempt to treat severely damaged covers of the printed books by disbinding, washing, and lining. This treatment will result in altering the softness and texture of the recycled paper used for the covers. It also destroys the evidence of the subtle embossed cover decorations which are worn-out on the recto and only traceable on the verso of the covers.

This talk will highlight the findings from my experiment to re-create recycled papers and certain cover decorations with the help of Timothy Barrett and his graduate student Anne Covell at UICB. This experiment was designed to investigate the recycled papermaking processes including preparation methods of raw materials (waste paper), use of additives such as tororoaoi (viscosity agent), ink-removal methods, sheet formation and drying methods. We studied the literature to find information about recycled papermaking processes. We then analyzed the physical traits of traditional Japanese books and interviewed Japanese papermakers for their comments. After a series of trials using Thai kozo to determine recycled papermaking processes, we finally made recycled paper using the 19th century Japanese books as raw material. Sample papers and video recordings from this experiment will be part of my presentation.

This project demonstrates a unique benefit of collaboration with conservators and papermakers. My knowledge of historical paper and chemistry complimented Anne’s practical knowledge and experience with papermaking. When the research is limited to a few sketchy historical documents and the remaining artifacts, this type of collaborative experiment is one of the most effective research approaches.

Finally, this research can help us better understand traditional Japanese papermaking in general, its products and its conservation. Our experiment found recycled papermaking could produce relatively high quality paper which was white in color and had a similar texture to the paper made of kozo plant. These findings provide evidence that many paper-based artifacts in the 18th-19th century were most likely made of paper mixed with kozo fiber and waste paper. My research is a step to investigate these important artifacts, and will stimulate further study.

Speaker(s)

Kazuko Hioki

Conservation Librarian, University of Kentucky Libraries

Currently Kazuko Hioki serves as the Conservation Librarian and Asian Studies Liaison Librarian at the University of Kentucky Libraries. She has worked at the New York Public Library and the Library of Congress. She is a recipient of the 2012 FAIC/Samuel H. Kress Conservation Publication... Read More →

Saturday May 31, 2014 10:00am - 10:30am PDT
Grand Ballroom A

10:00am PDT

(Electronic Media Session) Sustainable Digital Preservation for Audiovisual Content

Preserving digital time-based media and born-digital art is resource-intensive. Digital content can be the result of analog to digital transfers, or be born-digital. To preserve these works into the future, conservators must be familiar with proprietary file formats, systems used to create and render content, and production workflows behind content creation. Performing managed digital preservation actions are more complex than with static content: files are larger, making fixity checks and storage requirements intensive; the analog-to-digital preservation process must be carefully tracked through metadata; and proprietary formats must be migrated to newer generations or open formats while being mindful of content file interdependencies. Many museums and custodial institutions, as well as the creators themselves, lack infrastructure and staff expertise to perform managed digital preservation actions on this content. This paper will provide an overview of the issues surrounding preserving digital time-based media, and describe the Audiovisual Archive Network (AVAN), a non-profit digital preservation service for educational, arts-based, cultural heritage, and government organizations and also for individual creators.

Speaker(s)

Linda Tadic

Executive Director, Audiovisual Archive Network

Linda Tadic is Executive Director of Audiovisual Archive Network, an independent non-profit digital library and preservation service for historical sound and moving image collections. She consults and lectures on digital asset management, audiovisual and digital preservation, and... Read More →

Saturday May 31, 2014 10:00am - 10:30am PDT
Seacliff C-D

10:00am PDT

(Objects Session) Collaborative study and preservation of coastal Alaskan Native material culture with university students, museum staff, Alutiiq scholars and artists, and the visiting public

In 2010, the Alutiiq Museum and Archaeological Repository in Kodiak, AK and the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology in Cambridge MA began a jointly conceived grant project to conserve Alaska Native ethnographic items. During an earlier project which involved NAGPRA implementation, Alutiiq representatives and Museum staff identified the potential for collaboration in the care and treatment of significant and threatened Alaska Native items. This presentation will share some of the challenges and solutions. For example, overcoming the physical distance of the two cultural institutions, finding fiscally sound approaches to ensure public-accessibility to project activities, and integrating academic learning opportunities with the projects methods and theoretical framework . The project was shaped to include two on-site visits with Alutiiq consultants and frequent electronic communications through Skype sessions. Through a seminar course, University students interacted and explored new ways of learning through a variety of avenues: class lectures, research into historical and contemporary anthropological museum studies, readings and discussions on ethics of museum stewardship and one-on-one exchanges with Alutiiq consultants. Students researched donor and collection histories of objects, participated in indigenous technology hands-on workshops as well as conservation presentations and practicums on collections care issues, documentation and materials research. Native Alaska consultants were likewise involved in their local Alaska communities in sharing resources and knowledge from the developing study of the Alutiiq collections and this was reflected back in their involvement at the Peabody Museum.

A working space within an exhibition gallery was designed to serve multiple purposes three afternoons each week for two years, conducive for student classes and exchange with consultants, professors, museum staff and with the visiting public. Students’ object-based research papers were developed and shaped by interactions with all participating constituents. Conservation methods were likewise directed in new ways through available perspectives of the Alutiiq consultants, analytical results from approved material sampling and by the students’ research papers. Project flexibility ensured ongoing sharing between and with Peabody conservators and Alutiiq colleagues about respectful preservation and conservation approaches. Conservation stabilizations and treatments of kayaks and kayak-related objects were collaborations with our colleagues. Conservators collaborated to implement goals of the Alutiiq colleagues to better characterize or identify wood, plant, hair and skin materials. Some of the resulting and ongoing connections could not have been envisioned at the outset especially as regards analytical research results. Strengthening technical investigation of cultural material through broad inclusivity across physical, structural and cultural differences has achieved greater synthesis creating a framework for focusing resources and perspectives for continuing collaborations. The project and ongoing partnership has created a process of collaboration that continues to serve our communities and mutual goals as educational and research institutions.

Speaker(s)

T Rose Holdcraft-[Fellow]

Senior Conservator and Head of Conservation, Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology at Harvard University

T. Rose Holdcraft (Fellow, American Institute for Conservation; Graduate Certificate, Special Studies in Administration and Management, Harvard University; M.A., Art History, University of Cincinnati) is head conservator at the Peabody Museum since 1992. She has been a conservation... Read More →

Co-Author(s)

Ellen Promise

Conservator, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum

Ellen Promise (MS, Art Conservation, Winterthur/University of Delaware, 2012) was a third-year conservation intern at the Peabody Museum in 2012 and conservation assistant in 2013 focusing on MALDI analysis (peptide mass fingerprinting). She is currently a Samuel H Kress Conservation... Read More →

Fran Ritchie

Conservation Fellow, National Museum of the American Indian

Fran Ritchie is a 2013 graduate of the Buffalo State College program in Art Conservation. She is the current Andrew W. Mellon Fellow in objects conservation at the National Museum of the American Indian. Her past experiences working in natural history collections cultivated an interest... Read More →

Judy Jungels

Conservator, Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University

Judy Jungels, (MA, CAS, Art Conservation, State University College at Buffalo; MFA, SUNY Buffalo; BFA, Alfred University) joined the Peabody Museum in 2005 and currently serves in the position of Conservator. Prior to working at the Museum, she held a position at SUNY Buffalo in the... Read More →

Patricia Capone

Associate Curator, Peabody Museum

Sven Haakanson

Associate Professor, Department of Anthropology; Curator of Native American Collections, University of Washington-Seattle; Burke Museum

Saturday May 31, 2014 10:00am - 10:30am PDT
Grand Ballroom B

10:00am PDT

(Paintings + Wooden Artifacts Session) Lost for One Hundred Years: The Conservation of a Unique Polychrome Neoclassical Pulpit in Upstate New York

The picturesque stone Fort Herkimer Church is the oldest church remaining in the “Leatherstocking” district of upstate New York. Although the church likely began its existence as part of the original defenses of Fort Kaouri (Fort Bear), assembled around the homestead of the Herkimer family during the French and Indian War, the current structure began as a single story stone building in 1767.

During the Revolutionary War, Fort Herkimer was rebuilt as a defensive stone and earthwork perimeter to protect the church. Later, in the years between 1812 and 1814, a second story was added to the church and the interior was refitted. At that time a new church pulpit was installed. The church is located on the south side of the Mohawk River/ Erie Canal, and during the construction and later reconstruction of the canal, the surrounding defensive walls were dismantled and repurposed in the canal works.

By the 1960’s the church had reached a state of neglect and deterioration. However, a local funeral director named Donald Fenner recognized the historic value of the site and began a forty year long program of restoration beginning in the 1970’s. By 2006, largely through private funding, the church had been carefully stabilized and decayed architectural elements restored.
As one of the last tasks of this long project, the pulpit was being prepared for a new coat of white paint using disk sanders, when the painting crew began to uncover a complex polychrome decorative scheme. Excited by this discovery the crew continued working, uncovering much of the original paint layer before realizing that the process was not without collateral damage.
This presentation will discuss the challenges of removing the remaining white lead overpaint and identifying and restoring the original, and unique, polychrome surfaces.

Speaker(s)

Alexander M. Carlisle

Supervising Conservator, Historic New England

Alexander M. Carlisle is currently Supervising Conservator at Historic New England following eight years in private practice as A.M. Carlisle Art Conservation. He was Program Chair in the Wooden Artifacts Group in 2010 and served as Chair 2011-2013.

Saturday May 31, 2014 10:00am - 10:30am PDT
Bayview A-B

10:00am PDT

(Photographic Materials Session) Key Components of the Recent Major Revision of ISO 18902 Imaging Materials — Processed Imaging Materials — Albums, Framing and Storage Materials

ISO 18902:2013 Imaging materials — Processed imaging materials — Albums, framing and storage materials is a recent and major update to ISO’s specification for selecting non-reacting enclosures for hardcopy image collections. Due to the many revisions of the document over the last five decades, the standard had become difficult to understand as well as implement. Rotating committee memberships and evolving imaging technologies over time has led to deviations in the standard’s original purpose, audience, and scope. Past revisions have been iterative with provisions being inserted, modified, or removed often without full consideration to the overall usability of the document by all stakeholders. The results have been specifications that are sometimes redundant (e.g. KAPPA Number and alpha-cellulose content), unclear (e.g. no upper limit for buffer concentration in papers), or required tests without clearly defined pass/fail limits (e.g. no minimum tear resistance value). Additionally, supplemental questions such as the applicability of the standard’s provisions to digital hardcopy or if recycled papers are safe (either pre- or post-consumer) needed to be addressed. Finally, ISO specifications usually detail a specific protocol for reporting; however, the previous ISO enclosures’ standards have not. Material suppliers were therefore allowed to present information as they saw fit making comparisons between products often difficult. A two year project within the ISO committee on Physical Properties and Permanence of Imaging Materials led to the most recent version with significant improvements that address all of these problems. It is hoped that these improvements will encourage greater usage by both the producers of storage and display materials as well as end users. This can only benefit all parties involved. The purpose of this talk will be to review the changes and discuss the ways these may impact how institutions select and use their enclosures.

Speaker(s)

Daniel Burge

Senior Research Scientist, Rochester Institute of Technology

Daniel M. Burge, Senior Research Scientist, has been a full-time member of the Image Permanence Institute (IPI) staff for the last 25 years. He received his B.S. degree in Imaging and Photographic Technology from the Rochester Institute of Technology in 1991. He managed IPI's enclosure... Read More →

Saturday May 31, 2014 10:00am - 10:30am PDT
Grand Ballroom C

10:00am PDT

(Research and Technical Studies Session) Development and Testing of a Reference Standard for Documenting Ultraviolet Induced Visible Fluorescence.

Near ultraviolet induced visible fluorescence (UV/visible fluorescence) is a non-invasive characterization technique used extensively by conservators across all media and specializations. Among many applications in the field of conservation and beyond, this technique is commonly used to identify variations in surface, reveal previous restorations, date materials, and identify resins and pigments. Documentation of this work provides an important record of cultural material and is a powerful tool for guiding conservation treatment and historical research.

Despite extensive use and application, standardization of UV/visible fluorescence documentation presents challenges due to numerous inherent variables. Variations in hardware, software, radiation sources, filtration, workflows and user interpretation pose significant challenges. As a result, there is little basis for comparing UV/visible fluorescence documentation across institutions and conservation labs.

This presentation will discuss the development and beta-testing of new reference standards and imaging protocols that have been formulated and tested by UV Innovations Inc., (a project of Paul Messier, LLC), to address the need for standardization. Under development since 2006, the Target-UV™ and UV-Grey™ are useful for the calibration of documentation equipment and accounting for all significant variables. The system uses a set of grey values, in the form of a UV/visible fluorescent grey card and documentation target, to set white balance and correct exposure. Prototypes were completed in January 2013 and tested to determine efficacy and the potential for standardization. Eight institutions in the US and Europe participated in a round robin blind test. Each site was sent the prototype reference standards, filters, and the same set of items to document using UV/visible fluorescence. Resulting images were compared visually and using RGB data.

Testing confirmed there is a high degree of variability in current approaches to UV/visible imaging and that documentation made to existing standards is almost meaningless in terms of comparison across sites. The test also demonstrated that the calibration of imaging equipment, using the UV-Grey™ and Target-UV™, in conjunction with standardized filtration, provides more accurate documentation of fluorescent color and intensity as well as permitting disparate sites and users to create comparable images. Data derived from the resulting images show a four to five fold reduction in image variability across the test sites. Additional discussion will focus on next steps including potential options for manufacturing and marketing the reference standards.

Speaker(s)

Jennifer McGlinchey Sexton, [PA]

Conservator, McGlinchey Sexton Conservation, LLC

Jennifer McGlinchey Sexton is an independent Conservator of Photographs and works on paper in Colorado Springs, CO. Jennifer holds a BFA in Photography from Massachusetts College of Art and Design. In 2010, she earned an MA in Art Conservation from Buffalo State College with a concentration... Read More →

Co-Author(s)

Jiuan Jiuan Chen-[PA]

Assistant Professor, Buffalo State Program in Art Conservation

Paul Messier, [PA]

Head, Lens Media Lab, Yale

Saturday May 31, 2014 10:00am - 10:30am PDT
Seacliff A-B

10:10am PDT

(Collection Care + HVAC Session) A Sustainable Future at Tate

NMDC and Bizot Guiding Principles

National Museum Directors’ Council (NMDC) agreed in 2009 a set of guiding principles for rethinking policy and practice with the aim of minimising energy use. The Bizot Group adopted the Guiding Principles and Interim Guidelines in 2010 and at subsequent meetings they have been further discussed and revised. The last revision was following a meeting in June 2012 when Tate met with conservation colleagues in New York.

The Guiding Principles is to review policy and practice, specifically regarding loan requirements, storage and display conditions, building design and air conditioning systems, with a view to reducing carbon footprints.

Current Approach at Tate

Tate recently endorsed the Guiding Principles and Interim Guidelines of the International Bizot Group in their galleries with Tate Collection. We are working to maintain a stable environment while being more pragmatic and widening the parameters for temperature and relative humidity. We are working to the following parameters in the galleries; temperature 18-24oC, 21oC+/-3 and relative humidity 40-60%, 50+/-10 with a maximum cumulative fluctuation of 10% in any 24 hours.

We are implementing an environmental strategy which is appropriate for both the individual buildings and for our collection. Our sites which are Tate Britain, Tate Modern, Tate Liverpool, Tate St Ives and two storage sites all present very different challenges and include a range of buildings. The Conservation and Building Estates Departments at Tate work closely to develop a bespoke control strategy for each building and to implement localised improvements at each site. Our current focus is on Tate Modern; during 2010-2011 we implemented a control strategy with incremental changes to the setpoints on a monthly basis linked to the external environment. We have revised this approach and during 2012 have implemented a control strategy which reviews the internal and external environmental conditions on an hourly basis during the day and in response the Building Management System makes adjustments on an hourly basis during the day and then holds the environment during the night. We are currently reviewing and revising this strategy and will present fully.

Energy Use and Carbon Reduction at Tate

Maintaining the traditional environmental standards of temperature and relative humidity within museums and galleries is energy intensive. We estimate that one third of our total electricity consumption is used to cool, humidify and circulate air in our gallery spaces. Reductions in energy use and carbon footprint at Tate have been achieved through using more efficient air-conditioning plant, upgrading controls and reviewing control strategies. In the future, the use of renewable and low carbon energy sources within for example the planned extension to Tate Modern, will reduce carbon emissions from gallery conditioning further. However, revising the approach to environmental control standards has the potential to bring the most significant carbon and cost savings both to the organisation and the environment, investigating ways to move forward with this.

Joint UK Estates & Conservation meetings

Very successful bi-annual meetings have been convened by Tate since April 2011, with the aim of enabling open dialogue on energy reduction between Conservation and Estates colleagues and to move forward on sustainability issues. This is a very useful forum and model to use. We are currently working on Bizot energy questionnaire to gather more energy and carbon data and would present on our findings.

Speaker(s)

Deborah Potter

Head of Conservation, Tate

Deborah Potter is the Head of Conservation at Tate, in post for over 6 years. Previous organisations have included; National Army Museum, Glasgow Museums, University of Leicester, Linen Hall Library, Royal Naval Museum. Qualifications include; AMA (Associate Membership of the Museums... Read More →

Saturday May 31, 2014 10:10am - 10:30am PDT
Pacific Concourse D-E

10:30am PDT

(Collection Care + HVAC Session) The Road to Sustainable Environmental Management of Storage Conditions at The National Archives

In 2006 the Collection Care Department (CCD) launched a series of initiatives that continue to inform the environmental management at The National Archives (TNA). This chain of events was the catalyst for a positive step change in environmental control, and with this a reduction in energy use.

The comprehensive climate mapping of TNA’s repositories in 2006 and the subsequent deployment of an extensive radio telemetry environmental monitoring system in 2007 provided the evidence to improve environmental conditions in storage, whilst meeting government targets for a reduction in CO2 emissions and energy use.

Given the large number of variables that influence environmental conditions in the repositories, in 2009 TNA embarked on a collaborative project with the Centre for Sustainable Heritage, University College London to create a computer model of TNA’s 3 largest repositories.

The aim of the project was to develop and deliver a computer based building energy and environment (temperature and relative humidity) simulation model of the Q1 repositories at TNA site in Kew. The purpose of the model was to examine options in maintaining an appropriate preservation environment while reducing the building energy load in line with TNA’s sustainability targets and capital investment strategy.

Sixteen different scenarios were examined using the model, from adjusting the operation of the HVAC system, to blocking windows and increasing the amount of material in storage. The model predicted that adjusting the thermostat and the humidistat set points seasonally, there was the potential to reduce energy load by an estimated 43%, while at the same time improving the quality of the preservation environment. This was considered the most favourable and feasible scenario, and was implemented in combination with weekend shutdowns of the HVAC system.

TNA’s Estates & Facilities Department (E&F), in close collaboration with the Collection Care Department upgraded and developed the HVAC and Building Management System to deliver the proposed changes. By early 2013, 3 years after the project was initiated the target of 25% reduction in CO2 emissions by 2015 was exceeded.

The close working collaboration between CCD and E&F is the cornerstone of successful environmental management of the repositories.. Evidence gathered in support of decision making for environmental management, coupled with willingness to learn new specialist’ languages, made what could have been an ineffective relationship, a very successful one.

This presentation will discuss the changes that were implemented and the evidence that were used to support them, the difficulties encountered and the outcomes of the new environmental control strategy.

Speaker(s)

Kostas Ntanos

Head of Conservation Research and Development, National Archives, UK

Saturday May 31, 2014 10:30am - 10:50am PDT
Pacific Concourse D-E

10:30am PDT

(Health and Safety Session) Unintended Consequences of Persistent Residual Vapor-Phase Chemicals within Collection Storage

USEPA Method TO-15 monitoring, via specially-prepared evacuated canisters and analysis by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry, detected thirty-nine ambient volatile/semi-volatile organic compounds within several hundred collection storage cabinets at the National Museum of Natural History. Both empty and filled cases, with different pesticide treatment histories were selected, representing anthropology objects, vertebrate zoology specimens, photographs, collection documentation, and periodicals. All concentrations detected were in the parts per billion (ppb) range. Possible sources include both past treatment chemicals and structural/atmospheric agents: pesticides/fumigants; preparatory preservatives (ethanol, benzene, chlorinated degreasers); wood degradation; varnishes, paints, cleaners; freons; and halogenated and aromatic hydrocarbon byproducts.
Persistent residual vapor-phase chemicals, even at the ppb level, poses often unintended adverse effects, not only on the objects and specimens, and their users, but on the storage furniture itself. Some pesticides such as paradichlorobenzene (1,4-dichlorobenzene) and naphthalene re-crystallize on collections and storage equipment, resulting in a continual vapor equilibration within a cabinet and a potential inhalation exposure upon case opening. Both are classified as “reasonably anticipated to be a carcinogen” by the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services, National Toxicology Program. Organic chemicals penetrate and absorb into wooden storage furniture and paper-based storage supplies, and adsorb on metal, glass, and other non-absorptive materials. Data suggests that empty cases can be a detectable “sink” for these chemicals long after initial contamination. One type of collateral damage from these chemicals is a sticky residue that adheres insect carcasses and other frass onto the surfaces of storage furniture. This stubborn residue requires intensive post-treatment labor to remove from storage equipment, or if unsuccessful, results in expensive cabinet replacement.

The survey data warrant the need for a conservation science analysis of the detected chemicals to determine the most likely sources in order to develop targeted and efficient mitigation plans.

Responsible and sustainable collection care practices include a sound Integrated Pest Management (IPM) program with pro-active risk reduction to prevent infestations. Use of toxic chemical pesticides should be banned or severely restricted, as lasting residues not only impact life safety and collections, but also contribute to environmental pollution. Pest inspection, quarantine and treatment of incoming collections before they enter storage, and where warranted, measures such as freezing, heat treatments (with vapor capture filtration) and anoxia are activities well documented as to their efficacy in pest eradication.

A management-endorsed safety plan for preventing adverse human exposures to legacy chemicals would emphasize Chemical Hazard Communication, safe handling methods, HEPA-filtered vacuum cleaning of case interiors and workspaces, and minimizing exposures by removing objects to an examination table instead of working inside the opened cases. These measures also reflect good collection care practices.

Recommendations also include accelerated disposal of cases, particularly porous wooden cases, that house or formerly housed objects treated with hazardous chemicals, and segregated re-housing of treated objects from non-treated ones to prevent cross-contamination.

Speaker(s)

Catharine Hawks

Conservator, NMNH, Smithsonian Institution

Catharine Hawks is an objects conservator specializing in natural history collections. Before becoming the museum conservator for the Smithsonianâ€™s National Museum of Natural History (NMNH), she was in private practice for over 20 years, working with nearly 100 institutional... Read More →

Kathryn Makos

Industrial Hygienist (Retired), Smithsonian Institution (Ret.)

Saturday May 31, 2014 10:30am - 11:00am PDT
Pacific Concourse F-G

10:30am PDT

(Architecture Session) Preserving an Endangered Lighthouse: Balancing the Needs of Natural and Cultural Resources

A Texas Gulf Coast lighthouse provided an opportunity to explore options for preserving an historic cast iron structure in an environmentally sensitive area. The lighthouse is located on a barrier island that is co-owned by state and federal agencies and operated as a wildlife management area. Constructed of cast iron plates in 1852, the history of the lighthouse is noteworthy. It was dismantled during the Civil War, and then rebuilt in1873. Restoration work on the lighthouse, completed in 2003, included construction of a new foundation, rebuilding the lantern and roof, and applying new protective coatings. However, concerns about severe corrosion of the cast iron plates prompted a non-profit “friends” group to seek our advice.

Our involvement with the lighthouse project began with a review of its history, including documents related to the 2003 restoration work. During March, 2013, we visited the site to inspect conditions and discuss possible treatment options. Corrosion of the cast iron plates and peeling and flaking paint were observed on exterior and interior locations. Several types of corrosion were present, including pitting, exfoliation and crevice corrosion. Conditions were severe in many areas. Based on our inspection and additional research, we developed a report outlining possible preservation treatments, and provided our recommendations for moving forward.

We discussed relocating the Matagorda Island Lighthouse, but cautioned the friends group that relocation destroys the relationship between the historic structure and its site. However, our report acknowledged that relocating the Lighthouse to a less vulnerable site would help to stabilize corrosion and extend its service life.

Mothballing – or temporarily closing the lighthouse – was also outlined. Our discussion of this option emphasized the importance of recoating exterior cast iron in areas with corrosion and paint loss to prevent moisture intrusion. As a third option, we outlined procedures for removing all existing coatings and applying a new primer and finish coat system to protect cast iron plates of the Lighthouse.

For the fourth option, we discussed dismantling the lighthouse to investigate existing corrosion before moving forward with restoration work. We emphasized that understanding the sources of deterioration would help determine the best materials and methods for stabilizing and protecting the historic structure. Disassembly also would facilitate paint removal and repair or replacement of severely deteriorated cast iron plates.

Although the fourth option was the most costly, our report stressed the importance of further investigation, and strongly recommended dismantling the lighthouse. This presentation will review the options that were described in our report, and consider a project that required balancing the future of an endangered historic structure with the environmental concerns of the state and federal agencies responsible for a wildlife management area and limited funding provided by a nonprofit friends group.

Speaker(s)

Frances Gale

Conservation Scientist, UT Austin School of Architecture

Saturday May 31, 2014 10:30am - 11:00am PDT
Garden Room

10:30am PDT

(Book and Paper Session) Made of Paper: Robert Motherwell's Collage Materials in the 1940s

The American artist, Robert Motherwell (1915–1991), had a passionate relationship with collage, producing nearly 900 works over the course of his career. He first experimented with the medium following an invitation by Peggy Guggenheim (1898–1979) to participate in her groundbreaking 1943 collage exhibition at her New York gallery, Art of This Century. Motherwell was instantly drawn to collage and continued to experiment with the process, creating a unique and very personal group of early works in the 1940s.

A technical study of Motherwell’s early collage materials was conducted in conjunction with a 2013 exhibition, Robert Motherwell: Early Collages, organized by the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York. This study identifies a refined palette of different papers, paints, and adhesives that Motherwell used extensively during this initial period of discovery. Motherwell’s choice of materials and the techniques he used are also discussed in relation to his experiences as a young artist and the growing shift toward Abstract Expressionism in America in the 1940s. In addition, Motherwell’s thoughts on visual changes to his work and the potential for conservation intervention are also presented.

Speaker(s)

Jeffrey Warda

Senior Conservator, Paper and Photographs, The Solomon R Guggenheim Museum

Jeffrey Warda is Conservator, Paper, at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York. He was chair of both the Electronic Media Specialty Group (EMG) from 2006 to 2008 and the Digital Photographic Documentation Task Force of AIC from 2007 to 2008. His is co-author and editor of The... Read More →

Saturday May 31, 2014 10:30am - 11:00am PDT
Grand Ballroom A

10:30am PDT

(Electronic Media Session) The California Audiovisual Preservation Project) A Statewide Collaborative Model to Preserve the State’s Documentary Heritage

National studies of the issues related to preservation and access of media holdings by the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR), the Library of Congress as well as the research survey of special collections and archives conducted by OCLC Research Group underscore the magnitude of the challenges facing cultural heritage institutions. Primary source sound and moving image recordings of the 20th century are seriously endangered by physical deterioration, lack of playback equipment, and rapidly advancing format obsolescence. Preserving them, including addressing metadata needs, potential rights issues, and technological complexities of audiovisual materials and the digitization processes, can be intimidating. Few institutions have the staff resources to begin preservation planning and very few have in-house facilities to accomplish audiovisual preservation work.

The California Audiovisual Preservation Project (CAVPP) is a preliminary example of how a collaborative model can work as one proactive solution to many of these challenges. It is the first statewide initiative in the country to collaboratively facilitate access and accomplish audiovisual preservation work most individual organizations are unable to undertake. The Project helps libraries and archives move from the analog to the digital age. Perhaps most importantly, it teaches libraries and archives how to help themselves with their audiovisual preservation challenges. Based on best archival practices for moving image and sound preservation, the CAVPP establishes low-cost, practical, standards to guide partner institutions through the preservation planning process, from collection assessment to selection to description to digitization to metadata management to quality control to long-term storage and online access, and brings to light hidden media collections via the Internet Archive (IA), a repository that is freely available for non-profit, educational use. To date the California Light and Sound (CLS) collection includes 700 previously endangered, historically significant audiovisual recordings, contributed by 23 museums, archives and libraries across the state.

This session would discuss how the CAVPP is developing a collaborative, increasingly sustainable, statewide audiovisual preservation infrastructure.

Speaker(s)

Pamela Jean Vadakan

California Audiovisual Preservation Project Coordinator, California Preservation Program

Pamela Jean Vadakan has served as Coordinator of the CAVPP from its inception. With more than nine years of archival experience, including handling, repair and description of film, video and sound materials, she has created preservation plans for numerous mixed collections within... Read More →

Saturday May 31, 2014 10:30am - 11:00am PDT
Seacliff C-D

10:30am PDT

(Objects Session) Pine Pitch: New Treatment Protocols for a Brittle and Crumbly Conservation Problem

The use of Pine Pitch as a coating has a long tradition. Various trees of the Pinus genus exude a thick liquid that can be heated and applied hot as a coating to American Indian baskets to make them water tight.

An item-by-item conservation survey and storage upgrade project funded with a Save Americas Treasures award provided access to over 4000 ethnological and over 20,000 archaeological baskets in the Arizona State Museum collections. Within the ethnology collections, over one hundred pitch coated baskets were survey examined. Nearly all were determined to be extremely unstable due primarily to severe oxidation of the pitch. Surfaces were characteristically, cracked, crizzled, brittle and crumbly. Entire surfaces at risk of imminent loss often accompanied by small zip-locking bags of crumbs placed inside the baskets revealed an urgent conservation need.

To prevent ongoing surface loss, these baskets were given conservation treatments mid-survey as triage. The treatments allowed the baskets to be moved on and into their new storage location without further damage and loss. This improved curatorial access for cultural location determination and initiated a study of further analysis and research on the materials of this technology by the conservation lab.

Designing a conservation treatment for so many similar examples prompted the development of protocols. A fine mist of ethanol was tested and used effectively to reactivate the damaged pitch and stabilize the basketry surfaces. Efficient and effective techniques for cleaning and securing the difficult surfaces during the process involved the use of brushes, Teflon film coated swabs and Kimwipes saturated with ethanol.

Self-sampled particles from all baskets were analyzed with Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). Standardized protocols were developed to analyze bulk samples, resinous extracts and inorganic fillers to note correlations with cultural, regional, temporal and stylistic differences that were collected with documentary information in the conservation database during the survey.

Conservation surveys have evolved greatly over the years at the Arizona State Museum. The conservation database provides more reliable information for researchers, curators, and conservators than the old catalog cards and the collection information system database. This is because the standardized information has been entered recently and by conservators focused on the entire basket collection. The survey, treatment, and analysis of the pine pitch baskets has allowed us to see patterns of manufacture among different cultural groups; changes in weaving techniques, container shape, and design use over time and geography; and sense of the expected forms of deterioration within museum collections. The project also informed our examination of archaeological examples of pitch coated items.

Speaker(s)

Christina Bisculca

Student, Materials Science and Engineering Heritage Conservation doctoral program, University of Arizona

Dr. Nancy Odegaard

Conservator, Patronato San Xavier

Marilen Pool

Project Conservator, Arizona State Museum

Marilen Pool is an Objects Conservator specializing in ethnographic and archaeological artifacts. She is currently working as the Project Conservator on the IMLS funded “Conservation of Southwest Ceramic Vessels” phase of the Pottery Project. She has worked previously in the... Read More →

Co-Author(s)

Brunella Santarelli

Student, Materials Science and Engineering Heritage Conservation doctoral program, University of Arizona

Gina Marie Watkinson

Conservation Lab Manager, Arizona State Museum, University of Arizona

Madeleine Neiman

Graduate Student Intern, Arizona State Museum

Saturday May 31, 2014 10:30am - 11:00am PDT
Grand Ballroom B

10:30am PDT

(Paintings + Wooden Artifacts Session) Painted Totem Poles at the American Museum of Natural History: Treatment Challenges and Solutions

Object conservators at the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) conducted a project focusing on the treatment of a large collection of monumental wooden carvings from the Northwest Coast (NWC) from 2011-2013. Approximately 80 carvings, many of which are painted, were collected between the 1880s and 1920s and have been in open display in the museum for over a century.

Many of the carvings had significant condition issues resulting from of a combination of factors, including deterioration due to original installation in the wet environment of the NWC, and long term open display at AMNH without climate control or protective barriers. Heavy dust accumulation resulting from high visitorship necessitates regular surface cleaning of fragile wood and painted surfaces. Previous undocumented interventions by museum staff prior to the establishment of a conservation laboratory had also contributed significantly to both structural and surface problems.

Because of its scope, this project posed a number of practical and logistical constraints requiring both creativity and adaptability to successfully address. Planning and execution were often complicated by staff and budget limitations and the large size and number of objects involved. Challenges encountered and solutions generated will be addressed, including addressing ethical issues appropriately with limited resources, development of efficient documentation and low-tech rigging and moving techniques, and investigation of complex structural and surface issues within the limitations of the project. Treatment procedures that adapted and streamlined standard wood treatment protocols for consolidation and fills were developed, as were controllable cleaning systems for the fragile and complex painted surfaces.

Speaker(s)

Samantha Alderson

Assistant Director of Conservation, American Museum of Natural History

Co-Author(s)

Gabrielle Tieu

Associate Conservator, American Museum of Natural History

Gabrielle Tieu has been an Associate Conservator of Objects at the American Museum of Natural History in New York since 2010, working on the museum’s ethnographic and archaeological collections. She holds a BA in Art History and Archaeology from the Ecole du Louvre in Paris (1998... Read More →

Judith Levinson

Director of Conservation Emerita, American Museum of Natural History

Judith Levinson is Director of Conservation Emerita in the Division of Anthropology, American Museum of Natural History, where she was employed for 47 years. Working with the museum’s archaeological and ethnographic collections, she also has extensive experience with the museum’s... Read More →

Karl Knauer

Collections Conservator, George Washington's Mount Vernon

Karl Knauer is Collections Conservator at George Washington's Mount Vernon. He previously worked in the Anthropology Division Conservation laboratory at the American Museum of Natural History and trained at the Winterthur University of Delaware Program in Art Conservation.

Saturday May 31, 2014 10:30am - 11:00am PDT
Bayview A-B

10:30am PDT

(Photographic Materials Session) Technical Investigation of Environmental Concerns for the Exhibition of Diazotypes at The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Diazotype prints are known to exhibit significant color change over time, which presents concerns for prints held in museum collections that may enter the exhibition rotation. The nature of the color change is not well understood, although it is presumed that both light exposure and environmental factors play a role. Given the relative absence of technical study on this subject, research was carried out at The Metropolitan Museum of Art to better understand how these factors influence change in diazotypes. Student interns Greta Glaser and Margaret Wessling carried out separate experiments on historic and modern diazotype samples leading up to the important exhibition of Francesca Woodman’s mammoth diazotype print, Blueprint for a Temple. The experiments focused on the effects of light and humidity on color change in the diazotype samples, quantified by spectrophotometric measurements with an X-Rite 968 spectrophotometer. Microfading was performed on the historic and contemporary samples to determine whether results varied when light was isolated as the factor of change. Finally, color and environmental monitoring were performed on Blueprint for a Temple before and after exhibition, and the real-time data were compared with the experimental results.

The presentation will outline both experiments performed on the historic and contemporary diazotype samples and present the results and conclusions. The results from microfading tests will also be delivered, along with the real-time results from the exhibition of Francesca Woodman’s, Blueprint for a Temple. All of the data will be considered for the development of exhibition recommendations for diazotype prints in museum collections.

Speaker(s)

Greta Glaser

Owner, Conservator, Crescent City Conservation

Greta Glaser earned her M.S. in Art Conservation from the Winterthur/ University of Delaware Program in Art Conservation with a major concentration in photographic materials and a minor concentration in works of art on paper. While at Winterthur she completed internships at the University... Read More →

Margaret Wessling

Morse Fellow in Paper Conservation, Museum of Fine Arts Boston

Margaret (Maggie) Wessling is the Claire W. and Richard P. Morse Fellow for Advanced Training in Conservation of Works of Art on Paper at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Maggie holds an M.A. and a Certificate of Advanced Training in the Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works... Read More →

Co-Author(s)

Katherine Sanderson

Assistant Conservator of Photographs, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Katherine Sanderson is Assistant Conservator of Photographs at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. After receiving her B.A. from Wesleyan University in American Studies and Material Culture, she worked for Christie's and later spent several years as a Collections Care Specialist at the... Read More →

Saturday May 31, 2014 10:30am - 11:00am PDT
Grand Ballroom C

10:30am PDT

(Research and Technical Studies Session) Recommendations for the Standardization of Digital Radiography of Cultural Heritage Materials

Digital radiography is a technique developed and advanced by the medical and nondestructive evaluation and testing (NDE and NDT) industries. This has included the articulation of standards for the handling, storing, and transmitting of information produced by medical and NDE imaging – Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM) and Digital Imaging and Communication in Nondestructive Evaluation (DICONDE), respectively.

As it has done with other techniques developed in scientific contexts, the conservation field has adopted digital radiography as a tool for non-destructive investigation of cultural heritage materials. Without the funding and demand coming from the medical and NDE fields, however, we have not had the resources to create and develop our own standardization. We do have the option of adapting the previously established DICOM and DICONDE to create standards that support conservation and cultural heritage imaging work.

This presentation outlines an effort to initiate the conversation about the development of standardization in digital radiography, as applied to the imaging of cultural heritage materials. Information on setups and workflows gathered to-date from museums currently using digital radiography, as well as aspects of DICOM and DICONDE as models for metadata standards and other key components, will be discussed. The goal would be to create a resource for cultural heritage professionals using digital radiography, and a reference for museums transitioning from film-based radiography to this powerful digital imaging tool.

Speaker(s)

E. Keats Webb

Imaging Specialist & SEAHA Student, Smithsonian MCI, University of Brighton & SEAHA CDT

Co-Author(s)

Blythe McCarthy

Andrew W. Mellon Senior Scientist, Freer|Sackler

Blythe McCarthy is the Andrew W. Mellon Senior Scientist at the Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery of the Smithsonian Institution. She received her doctorate in materials science from Johns Hopkins University and has held fellowships at the Getty Conservation Institute... Read More →

Saturday May 31, 2014 10:30am - 11:00am PDT
Seacliff A-B

10:50am PDT

(Collection Care + HVAC Session) Sustaining Collections: Putting Theory into Practice

In September of 2012, Winterthur received a grant from NEH’s Sustaining Cultural Heritage Collections, the culmination of a year of intensive planning involving Winterthur’s Conservation and Facilities Departments, Limbach Engineering & Design Services and the Image Permanence Institute. The Winterthur Museum had undertaken several efforts over the last decade to develop energy saving protocols, but was consistently frustrated by the inability of monitoring systems to provide reliable real-time environmental information that would insure collection safety. The preparatory year involved an extensive general survey of Winterthur’s HVAC systems undertaken by Limbach that resulted in a proposal with specific mechanical, monitoring and control upgrades. Due to the size of the project, Winterthur funded most of the mechanical upgrades and turned to NEH to help fund the monitoring and control segments. Our ambitious NEH proposal committed Winterthur to:

Survey, document and upgrade antiquated monitoring and control systems throughout three major collection buildings.

Make real-time data and controls on all mechanical system components available wirelessly to all networked staff 24/7.

Use the real-time wired and wireless environmental data automatically loaded into IPI’s e-Climate Notebook to effectively monitor environmental conditions in collection areas making data available to all networked staff 24/7.

Use the mechanical and environmental data collected to develop significant energy saving protocols that also maintained collection areas within environmental parameters that would not compromise long-term preservation.

As we near the end of the project, AIC provides an opportunity to present preliminary findings, results and challenges from the perspective of the four major participants: Lois Olcott Price, Director of Conservation, John Castle, Director of Facilities, Limbach, and Jim Reilly, Director of IPI. The interactive format of panel presentations followed by discussion will allow other institutions considering similar, highly beneficial projects, to benefit from Winterthur’s experience in both planning and implementation. Major findings include:

The labor-intensive HVAC system survey revealed many surprises to both facilities and conservation staff and explained issues noted by staff in the past. Limbach has commonly found similar unidentified but critical issues in other conscientious and well-maintained institutions.

The importance of an accurate real-time monitoring and control system for museum systems that, with chillers and reheats, is inherently highly inefficient without active, real-time control strategies.

Collection staff and other participants must learn each other’s language and collaborate closely to develop effective energy saving protocols that also insure the safety of the collection. Inevitable “trade-off” decisions must be made jointly.

The project should NOT depend upon pre-set environmental parameters or use them as project goals.

With energy savings projected at over 20%, this project has the potential to significantly reduce Winterthur’s carbon footprint and allow resources to be used for other mission critical activities that enhance its ability to improve collection access and deliver meaningful exhibits and programs to its audience as well as to protect its collections.

Speaker(s)

John Castle

Director, Facilities Services, Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library

John W. Castle is Director of Facility Services at Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library, where he manages the facilities of the 1,000 acre estate including museum and collection buildings, 150 historic structures, wastewater treatment, gas, electric and potable water systems, as well... Read More →

Lois Olcott Price

Adjunct Senior Conservator, Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library

Lois Olcott Price is the retired Director of Conservation for the Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library. She graduated from the Winterthur/University of Delaware Art Conservation Program (WUDPAC) where she majored in paper conservation and interned at the Library of Congress. She served... Read More →

James Reilly

Founder and Director, Image Permanence Institute

James M. Reilly is the founder and director of IPI. He has made important contributions to image preservation, environmental management, and sustainable preservation practices. During its tenure, Jim was Co-director of the Advanced Residency Program in Photographic Conservation, a... Read More →

Don K. Rowe

President, Green Energy Controls

Tom Sherwood

Senior Account Manager, Limbach Company

Thomas A. Sherwood is Senior Account Manager, Limbach Company, Philadelphia Branch where he has extensive experience in HVAC systems with a specialization in HVAC mechanical systems efficiency analysis and improvement measures and in energy management systems, integration, and advanced... Read More →

Saturday May 31, 2014 10:50am - 11:10am PDT
Pacific Concourse D-E

11:00am PDT

(Health and Safety Session) Solvents, Scents, and Sensibility: Swapping - Solvent Substitution Strategies

New and modified cleaning systems can sometimes replace traditional solvent cleaning. A number of such systems will be presented and discussed.

The simplest approach to minimizing solvent use in testing is to simply mix very small amounts of solvents very precisely to minimize waste and exposure. The discussion will progress to introducing or re-familiarizing conservators with lesser known and less used solvents that are safer for us and the environment.

A number of very toxic solvents are present as contaminants in many of the solvents we use. These can be present either deliberately, as in the case of denatured alcohol, or as a consequence of the difficulty of separating very similar materials as in the case of ethylbenzene in xylenes.

More sophisticated approaches to cleaning systems will be presented. By modifying water we can occasionally create a cleaning system that can replace a solvent. More often, a hybrid system combining water and solvents in an emulsion can solve a cleaning problem, minimize the amount and exposure to the solvents and often allow safer solvents to be used with the same or better results.

Specifically, oil in water emulsions based on Pemulen TR-2, and water in oil systems like Velvesil and silicone-based microemulsions, all introduced to conservation by Richard Wolbers, will be presented and discussed.

These systems are hybrid and while they expose us and the environment to much less solvent, disposal of these systems requires more planning and care. As emulsions contain solvent, they cannot be discharged down the sewer. As they contain water, they should not be put into conventional solvent waste containers. Solvent waste is traditionally stored or disposed of in steel drums. The presence of water in solvent waste must be avoided to prevent corroding of the storage container.

Speaker(s)

Chris Stavroudis

Conservator, Chris Stavroudis, Paintings Conservator

Saturday May 31, 2014 11:00am - 11:30am PDT
Pacific Concourse F-G

11:00am PDT

(Architecture Session) Two Views Through the Same Window: Long-Term Preservation Goals for Stained Glass Windows Within the Context of Historic Buildings

This paper aims to present challenges encountered when the conservator must consider building requirements in equal measure to the conservation of a stained glass window.

The preservation of leaded art glass windows, referred to in this paper generally as “stained glass windows” has always been multi-faceted. Broadly placed in two categories: museum objects or functioning components of historic buildings; the criteria of conserving these works of art are project-specific. First and foremost, the windows must be stabilized in order to survive and be appreciated by future generations. But beyond that baseline, the necessities of the two are divergent.

Unlike a museum object that will be conserved once and its condition maintained mostly by a controlled environment with guards or barriers preventing physical interaction with the public; stained glass in an architectural setting must function as a window. As such, it inherently experiences exposure to the public and weathering, which means it will require treatment in the future.

How does one therefore approach these objects with sustainability in mind? Knowing the cyclical nature of this type of preservation, a conservator can make some informed decisions on how to extend times between actions. Conditions of the building immediately surrounding the window, particularly supporting framework, must be considered as integral to the window’s longevity; especially in deciding the order in which needs are addressed. Multi-phase treatments should be components of a whole, rather than conceived and executed in isolation; even if separated by years.

Key factors discussed will be:

Evaluating the condition of all stained glass windows in the building as a whole, before embarking on treatment of just one – The values of a survey

Protecting the windows from the environment, while maintaining natural light sources and aesthetics – Is exterior protection necessary? If so, what type?

Weighing the potential of up-front costs with future return on investment - Cycle: which window is the best project catalyst? |funds are procured | more windows treated| greater awareness by the public

Using three case studies as examples, we will explore preservation strategies for stained glass that seek to balance the potential conflict between art object and building component.

The “St. Cecilia” window of St. Boniface Church in San Francisco; part of a series of windows created specifically for the church shortly after the 1906 earthquake by the Ludwig von Gerichten Studios of Ohio. The church is a city Historic Landmark.

Stained glass windows at St. Vincent de Paul, built by Century Stained Glass Studios of San Francisco in 1948.

Two stained glass windows designed and built by Bruce Porter for the Swedenborgian Church, established in San Francisco on March 17, 1895 and designated a National Historic Landmark in 2004.

All three churches open to the public and based in San Francisco. They welcome tours to AIC Members during the conference.

Speaker(s)

Ariana Makau

Conservator, Nzilani Glass Conservation, LLC

Ariana Makau has been involved in the field of conservation for over 20 years. She is the president and principle conservator of Nzilani Glass Conservation, Inc. Ms. Makau trained in the Antiquities Conservation Department at the J. Paul Getty Museum and received a Masters in Stained... Read More →

Saturday May 31, 2014 11:00am - 11:30am PDT
Garden Room

11:00am PDT

(Book and Paper Session) Corita Kent: A Technical Study of a Group of Screen Prints

The Harvard Art Museums hold a collection of 79 screen prints by Corita Kent published between 1964 and 1969. It is intended that nearly all of these prints will be included in a group exhibition entitled, Corita Kent & the Language of Pop, scheduled for Fall 2015. The prints in the collection span an important period in Corita’s life and artistic career. In 1968, after thirty years in the Immaculate Heart community, Corita resigned and moved to Boston to devote herself full-time to printmaking. This moment also marked Corita’s decision to use a professional printer to edition her works.

Many of the prints in the collection have daylight fluorescent inks not commonly used by fine art printmakers of the period. Some are also printed on Pellon- a non-woven material containing acrylic, a support unusual to printmaking that presents specific condition issues.

This paper investigates Corita’s approach to printmaking and the stability of the materials she used. The research attempts to ascertain suitable display parameters for the collection and examines the efficacy of using a Micro-fading Tester to predict the light fastness of the daylight fluorescent inks. The use of this equipment with such inks presented some unexpected challenges that will be presented, including the role temperature may play.

Speaker(s)

Harry Metcalf

Craigen W. Bowen Fellow in Paper Conservation, Harvard Art Museums

Harry Metcalf is the current Craigen W. Bowen Fellow in Paper Conservation at the Straus Center for Conservation and Technical Studies, Harvard Art Museums. Harry received his M.A. in the Conservation of Works of Art on Paper from Camberwell College of Art, London, in 2006, and has... Read More →

Saturday May 31, 2014 11:00am - 11:30am PDT
Grand Ballroom A

11:00am PDT

(Electronic Media Session) Filling in the Gaps: Finding Your Way to Conscientious Curation and Preservation of Born Digital Collections and Objects

The OCLC has, since 2012, released three reports that attempt to “Demystify” born digital for collection managers. The release of these reports and the positive response to them offer more proof that the archive and conservation world is not on the brink of but is, rather, firmly facing the challenge of how to deal with born digital collections and objects. This is no surprise to many collection managers, but it is a reminder that plans need to be made immediately to start appropriately caring for this material.

Media archivists predict that legacy video and audio formats provide preservationists a 10-15 year window to safely and completely migrate content to a more manageable form. Data – floppy disks, hard disks, USB drives, CD-Rs, etc. – is at least as volatile – if not more – than heartier media formats that came before it. Knowing that the clock is ticking can be motivating, and the OCLC reports attempt to foster that motivation into a plan. They, however, are just the starting point, and overworked collection workers who are, perhaps, not keen on learning command line operations at a born digital workstation may not put these quickly degrading, already obsolete (in terms of software) collections at the top of their list to process appropriately and quickly. While they are incredibly helpful and provide an overview of mandatory tools for born digital curation and preservation, they are written for a broad audience and, because of that, do not address some of the finer points of this potentially confusing, time consuming, and, thus, often passed-over work

This presentation, which will draw from a two-year born digital curation initiative at NC State which started in 2013, attempts to fill in the gaps for institutions and individuals who know there is a problem, who have read varying reports, and have stopped short at creating their own born digital workflow because of the complexity of the issue. It will discuss the reality and reliability of readily available tools and how to tap in to the expertise of a relatively small but growing Community of Practice. A discussion of digital media storage, born digital workstation creation, ingest workflow, appraisal, arrangement and description, access, and keeping the objects safe while performing this work at NC State will give just one example of how one institution has begun dealing with the challenge that born digital presents. Unfortunately, machine and software obsolescence will not wait for us to solve this problem, and this is not a problem that will be resolved easily or quickly. Luckily there are enough resources – both written and in the form of librarians, archivists and conservators working hard to mitigate these issues – to address this challenge head-on.

Speaker(s)

Jason Evans Groth

Digital Media Librarian, North Carolina State University Libraries

Jason Evans Groth is a Digital Media Librarian at NCSU Libraries. As part of the Learning Spaces and Services department he helps to support the eleven audio and video production suites and several other high-tech creative multimedia spaces. He earned his MIS/MLS from the School of... Read More →

Saturday May 31, 2014 11:00am - 11:30am PDT
Seacliff C-D

11:00am PDT

(Objects Session) Conservation at 33 1/3 RPM: the treatment of an Attic trefoil oinochoe

Ancient vessels missing a third of their original fabric present complex ethical and technical challenges to conservators; such was the case with a 5th century BCE oinochoe in the collection of the Harvard Art Museums. The decorative painting features a woman playing a barbitos, a type of lyre associated with leisure and revelry. Its modern history begins sometime before 1903, when Henry Hucks Gibbs, Lord Aldenham of England, acquired it and lent it that year to an exhibition at London’s Burlington Fine Arts Club. The vase scholar John Beazley described it in 1939 as having “a mouth and neck hardly original, which had disappeared when I saw it, in bits, some years ago; was sold at Sotheby’s the year before last; and has since been cleaned and restored.” It is likely that he was describing the condition in which the vessel entered the Harvard museum’s collection.

Now unstable and with substantial, broadly overpainted losses in the body, close examination revealed that the neck, shoulders and handle were all fabrications of an earlier restoration. Removal of the overpaint also revealed considerable damage inflicted by previous restorers to the original slip painted decoration, by filing down the surfaces and edges of numerous sherds in an effort to make them fit together.

In different kinds of institutions and collections an object with such substantial losses could legitimately be treated in several different ways. The author discusses the rationale for several different possible approaches to treatment that were considered. Curatorial research and documentation of a similar vase by the same potter in the collection of the British museum helped establish convincing evidence of the vessel's original form. Armed with scale drawings and photographs, the oinochoe was reconstructed to a high state of completion and finish. A combination of conventional and novel techniques were used to re-create the complex neck, trefoil spout and handle, based upon a close study of their original material and techniques of formation. The techniques to be discussed and demonstrated in video clips include methods for the assembly and alignment of poorly fitting sherds, shaping and forming of replacement elements using a 1970's record turntable--complete with pitfalls to be avoided-- the mold-making and casting of elements with complex inner and outer shapes in simplified, one piece molds, and inpainting techniques and strategies. The rationale and methods of compensation for damage caused by earlier restorers will also be discussed.

Speaker(s)

Anthony Sigel

Senior Conservator of Objects and Sculpture, Straus Center for Conservation and Technical Studies

Tony Sigel is the Senior Conservator of Objects and Sculpture at the Straus Center for Conservation and Technical Studies, Harvard Art Museums, and is responsible for the treatment of sculpture and three dimensional objects of all materials from pre-history to post-modern. He was... Read More →

Saturday May 31, 2014 11:00am - 11:30am PDT
Grand Ballroom B

11:00am PDT

(Paintings + Wooden Artifacts Session) Modern Materials and Practice in Gilding Conservation

This paper wants to share with colleagues how the guiding principle of reversibility has been translated into the practice of frame and gilding conservation during the past quarter century at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. With a plethora of synthetic materials available it is often hard to see the forest for the trees. It sometimes leads to overly complicated approaches, or to clinging to just that one favorite material even though the case at hand may not call for just that.

In a field where art history and material sciences overlap, different opinions about treatment approaches and end results are inherent. This is not a problem but a pleasure to participate in. The presented case studies will touch upon the technical aspects of restorations as well as frequent communications with other conservators and with curators. Collaboration with colleagues has traditionally taken place within a rather large forum of conservators and curators, especially within the paintings department at the Rijksmuseum.

The presentation intends to shed light also on reasoning and common sense that have lead to the choice of contemporary media for gilding restoration like for example aquazol, plextol and acrylics in combination with traditional materials such as rabbit skin glue, shellac, dextrin or gum Arabic. Economy of means is important, not just in terms of the cost of labor and materials, but also as a process with its own beauty and appeal. Usually there is more than one approach possible to approach a conservation project. Individual preferences and talents of the conservator are also valid factors in deciding on a treatment approach. For example, in restoring or part of a sculpture, or ornamentation, one colleague prefers to restore by carving a missing piece out of wood while another is more expedient at modeling it out of paper mache. The end result of both approaches can be equally effective and convincing if done with skill and finesse.

Case studies include the conservation and restoration of picture frames and a gold ground panel painting by Lorenzo Monaco (Stigmata of the Holy St. Francis of Assisi; ca.1420). Some frames are still original to their paintings. The discussed frames are connected to works by the following painters Cornelis Kruseman (Piety; frame & painting 1823), Georgius Johannes Jacobus van Os (two large pendant still lives; frames & paintings 1817 and 1818), Pierre Prud’hon (Portrait of Jan Schimmelpenninck and His Family; frame & painting 1801-1802), Ludolf Bakhuysen (frames 1661), Cornelis Engebrechtsz (Christ in the House of Mary and Martha; frame & painting 1515-1520), Master of the Conversazione di Santo Spirito (Madonna and Child; frame last quarter 15th C.).

With special thanks to Camille Marchand from The Netherlands, David Beaudin from North Carolina, Lea Wegwitz from France and Satu Rantala from Finland, who contributed to the work in several of the case studies to be presented.

Speaker(s)

Hubert Baija

Senior Conservator of Frames and Gilding, Rijksmuseum Amsterdam

As a senior conservator at the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam Hubert Baija is responsible for the conservation of 7000 antique picture frames. He studied at the University of Amsterdam and at the State Academy of Fine Arts in Amsterdam. Hubert teaches gilding conservation, historical technology... Read More →

Saturday May 31, 2014 11:00am - 11:30am PDT
Bayview A-B

11:00am PDT

(Photographic Materials Session) The Kodak Dye Transfer Process - How Eliot Porter Captured Color

The Kodak Dye Transfer process was the most successful and popular variation of photography’s dye imbibition, three-color assembly process. Materials were manufactured from 1945 until 1993, after which practitioners were limited to either using stockpiled materials, or trying to produce their own. Today, Kodak Dye Transfer prints are highly valued and considered to be relatively stable, but only a handful of practitioners remain.

A study was conducted at the Amon Carter Museum of American Art on the Kodak Dye Transfer process and the archive of American color photographer Eliot Porter (1901-1990). Porter used the process as his primary medium for the entire period it was being developed and improved, thus making his archive an ideal sample group for the study of Kodak Dye Transfer materials.

This presentation will focus on the technical development, characterization, and conservation treatment of Kodak Dye Transfer materials. It will discuss the changes in manufacture of the paper base and dyes, and physical characteristics associated with these changes, such as paper surface textures and gloss, UV fluorescence, and baryta content. Results will be presented on tests of the effects that various common treatments potentially have on Kodak Dye Transfer materials; treatments such as surface cleaning, tear mending, and reducing planar distortion.

Findings from this study will provide conservators, archivists, and curators with historically interesting and practical information. The goal is to help the community more precisely identify and characterize Kodak Dye Transfer and other dye imbibition type prints, and inform conservation treatment of these kinds of materials.

Speaker(s)

Tatiana Cole

Conservator, Private Practice

Tatiana Cole has a private practice in the Greater Boston area, in addition to holding a position at the Boston Athenaeum. Previously, she was Associate Conservator of Photographs at The Better Image in NYC, and Fellow in Photographs Conservation at the Amon Carter Museum in Forth... Read More →

Saturday May 31, 2014 11:00am - 11:30am PDT
Grand Ballroom C

11:00am PDT

(Research and Technical Studies Session) X-ray Micro Tomography Analysis of Western Red Cedar Secondary Phloem

The secondary phloem of the Western red cedar (Thuja plicata) is used by Native American and Canadian First Nation communities of the Pacific Northwest coast in the production of cultural material. Analysis of Western red cedar secondary phloem tissue identified bio-mineral distribution patterns and variations in the structure of inner and outer tissue which may contribute to condition issues encountered in historical cultural material. X-ray micro-tomography of secondary phloem tissue identified known mechanisms of deterioration not readily visible with other examination techniques including cleavage of phloem layers along linear, tangentially arranged parenchyma and sieve cell tissue, and disruption of parenchyma and surrounding cells in semi-functional middle tissue and non-functional outer tissue. The data also indicated the presence of a relatively dense material distributed throughout phloem ray parenchyma and intercellular spaces, and concentrated in areas of cell disruption. In an effort to further characterize this dense material, transverse sections of phloem samples were analyzed with SEM-EDS; spectral peaks for calcium, likely indicative of calcium oxalate crystals were identified in these areas. These data suggest a link between bio-mineralization and abscission mechanisms in Western Red cedar phloem tissue, which may play a role in the shedding and tissue deterioration typically associated with movement and manipulation of historical material.

Speaker(s)

Peter Mc Elhinney

Conservation Fellow, Smithsonian Institute

Co-Author(s)

Benjamin Ache

Production Manager, Micro Photonics, Inc.

Nicole Little

Physical Scientist, Smithsonian Museum Conservation Institute

Nicole Little is a Physical Scientist at the Smithsonian Institution’s Museum Conservation Institute. She received both her B.A. and M.A. in Anthropology from the University of Missouri-Columbia, where her master’s research dealt with the compositional analysis of Mayan ceramics... Read More →

Saturday May 31, 2014 11:00am - 11:30am PDT
Seacliff A-B

11:10am PDT

(Collection Care + HVAC Session) Question and Answer Period

Speaker(s)

Patricia Silence, [PA]

Director of Preventive Conservation, Colonial Williamsburg Foundation

Saturday May 31, 2014 11:10am - 12:00pm PDT
Pacific Concourse D-E

11:30am PDT

(Health and Safety Session) Speaker Q&A and Yoga Stretches

Saturday May 31, 2014 11:30am - 12:00pm PDT
Pacific Concourse F-G

11:30am PDT

(Architecture Session) White Marble in Exterior Environments - Observations of Weathering and Treatments over the Past Fifteen Years

Over the course of the last fifteen years, I have worked on numerous marble monuments and buildings and in that time, have gained tremendous insight into the relationships between weathering, lichens, biofilms, and treatments.

In locations where fine-grained white marble is exposed to frequent rain, surfaces are slowly eroded. Marble in urban and industrial environments, subject to historic rainfall far more acidic than that of today (prior to the Clean Air Act of 1970), is noticeably more eroded than marble in rural environments. In northern locations, marble subject to a winter covering of snow is noticeably less eroded than that left uncovered.

Over time, with erosion and daily and seasonal temperature fluctuations, the cohesive mass of fine-grained white marble becomes weakened. Surface fissures indicate this condition and fragments of gravestones lying on the ground are often the result of a catastrophic failure where the gravestone could no longer support itself. Often the repair methods used to unite such fragments contribute to another catastrophic failure.

The “pitting” created by surface erosion, and the associated periods of increased surface wetness, provides an environment attractive to lichens and biofilms. Lichen species are environment specific (urban, rural, marine, etc.) and the makeup of a biofilm (algae, fungi, and bacteria cells) is also environment specific. Determining the potential contribution to erosion caused by lichens and biofilms, and the potential protection offered by their covering are topics that are the subject of current on-going studies. Observations suggest that in the Northeast, lichens and biofilms do not have an impact on the deterioration of marble.

“Cleaning” marble, whether to rid a surface of atmospheric soiling or lichens and biofilms, is an erosive action. The use of soft scrub brushes and low pressure water will remove calcite crystals—amounts depending upon the extent of surface erosion—from the stone mass. The extent to which “cleaning” removes deteriorative agents and the extent to which it contributes to erosion are also the subjects of current on-going studies.

Climate change, bringing warmer temperatures and more frequent storms, will have an impact on the erosion rates of marble. As conservators, addressing the need to lower our carbon footprints will have an impact on all treatment decisions. In this presentation, I will be discussing my observations of the relationships between weathering, lichens, biofilms, and treatments and how these relationships can affect treatment decisions. I will also discuss how climate change will affect these relationships and treatment decisions.

Speaker(s)

Judith M. Jacob-[PA]

Senior Conservator, National Park Service

Judith M. Jacob is a Senior Conservator with the National Park Service (NPS), Northeast Region, Historic Architecture, Conservation, and Engineering Center. She provides conservation support for NPS buildings, structures, and monuments. Her responsibilities include planning and administrating... Read More →

Saturday May 31, 2014 11:30am - 12:00pm PDT
Garden Room

11:30am PDT

(Book and Paper Session) Indian Coloured Drawings: Modern Repair Techniques for an Album of 19th Century Paintings on Mica

Like many uniquely composed albums found in library collections, the two volume Indian Coloured Drawings from The New York Public Library (NYPL) prompted a multifaceted treatment plan to safely stabilize and preserve complex materials. Composed from different unknown early 19th century sources, the first volume contains 135 paintings executed in opaque watercolors on mica while the second volume has 44 prints and watercolors on paper. The brittle materials and handling of the library-bound album structures contributed to physical damage and catastrophic media loss, particularly with the attachment methods of the fragile mica paintings. This presentation will describe the application of treatment techniques and materials more commonly used in other conservation specialties, the establishment of handling protocols to safeguard future access to these unique objects, and the complexities of changing formats from grouped albums to individual housings.

Indian Coloured Drawings depict traditional Indian costumes, religious ceremonies, and historical scenes. A hybrid of traditional Mughal and Western styles, paintings on mica were produced in India during the East India Company era (ca. 1780-1858) by unknown local artists for Western patrons as exotic novelties. Few contextual clues regarding their creation, age, arrangement, or manner of entry into the NYPL collections exist. The current two-volume album set, previously unlinked bibliographically in the NYPL catalog, was created by the NYPL bindery during the 1920s or 1930s. Cyclical humidity fluctuations during storage and physical stresses during handling have caused extensive damage and loss to the paint layers, lining adhesive, mica, and paper supports within volume one. Volume two also exhibited damaging attachment methods and brittle paper. Though the contents of both volumes are visually stunning and have high research value, these condition issues prevented safe access without assuring further catastrophic damage and loss.

The prints and watercolors on primary paper supports in the second volume were successfully treated using traditional paper conservation methods. However, conventional paper repair materials lacked the necessary refractive index, solubility, and adhesive properties appropriate for treating the mica paintings in volume one. After extensive research, materials such as Aquazol [poly (2-ethyl-2-oxazoline)], Paraloid B-72, and BEVA 371 film which are more commonly used in other conservation specialties were selected to ensure that pigment color, saturation, and transparency remained unaltered while paint-mica adhesion and mica-mica cohesion were reinforced. These materials are not only compatible with the original materials but also easily reactivated enabling future conservation intervention or exhibition preparation.

Conservation treatment has physically stabilized the watercolors on paper and mica to remove disruptive linings of paper and paste that were symptomatic of early 20th century binding and institutional fashion. Customized individual polyester encapsulations for the paper items and window mats for the mica paintings now protect the fragile media surfaces and allow for safe access by researchers. Though their physical formats have changed, the two volumes have been digitized and are now conceptually reunified in the NYPL catalog and web-based Digital Gallery.

Speaker(s)

Sarah Reidell

Margy E. Meyerson Head of Conservation, University of Pennsylvania

Sarah is the Margy E. Meyerson Head of Conservation at the University of Pennsylvania Libraries and AIC Board Director of Communications. A peer-reviewed Fellow of AIC, she specializes in the conservation treatment of books, paper, and parchment. She has held previous appointments... Read More →

Saturday May 31, 2014 11:30am - 12:00pm PDT
Grand Ballroom A

11:30am PDT

(Electronic Media Session) Sustaining Playback Through Techno-Archeology: A VTR Refurbishment Project

To those archivists working with magnetic media, it is apparent that all analog tape formats face veritable extinction in the long term. Not only are the physical carriers at risk, but the machines used to play endangered tapes are also facing extinction.
Audiovisual archives may have access to legacy videotape machines, but no way of restoring them for use in video reformatting. Using a recently completed refurbishment project at Stanford Media Preservation Lab as an example, the presentation will focus on how archivists can take steps to refurbish their old videotape machines, enabling them to handle the antique video in their collections, as well as consider acquisition of new collections containing valuable but at-risk videotape. Through detailing the process of refurbishing an EIAJ videotape machine (Sony AV-3650), attendees will gain insight into why these old machines are costly and problematic to repair and maintain. It will also cover basic processes related to the handling, treatment and playback of this open-reel video format still commonly found in archival media collections.
Based on examples from the project undertaken at SMPL, the presentation will highlight some of the pitfalls in finding parts and repairing or making new parts, as well as the advantages of working with legacy equipment specialists.
Adding capability for in-house playback of these machines can have a direct effect on the way that money is allocated for video reformatting work in archives where there isn't funding available for outsourcing to a vendor. Replicating the work examples from the session would require an in-house reformatting program, however, for those without a working video lab, the presentation will offer a valuable look into the challenges faced by media preservation vendors and other institutions.

Speaker(s)

Michael Angeletti

Moving Image Digitization Specialist, Stanford University Libraries

Michael Angeletti is the moving image digitization specialist at the Stanford Media Preservation Lab. He began working with video as a broadcast news photographer and master control operator for network and cable news stations in northeast Kansas. After moving to New York City in... Read More →

Saturday May 31, 2014 11:30am - 12:00pm PDT
Seacliff C-D

11:30am PDT

(Objects Session) Restoration by other means: CT scanning and 3D computer modeling for the re-restoration of a previously restored skull from the Magdalenian Era

The Cap Blanc skeleton was discovered in France in 1911 by a workman who struck it in the head at least once with a pickaxe while lowering the floor of the recently excavated rock shelter at Cap Blanc. The skeleton proved to be a Magdalenian era human and was subsequently acquired by the Field Museum in 1927. The skeleton was initially displayed with the fragmentary skull, but, in the early 1930's, the skull was reconstructed under the direction of Dr Gerhardt von Bonin of the University of Illinois.

In 2012, we were able to use a mobile CT scanner to image the bones of the skeleton, including the skull. Upon examination of the scans, it became apparent that some features of the skeleton's splanchnocranium (sloped brow, small orbital cavities, and projecting nasal bones with large nasal opening) were anatomically incorrect, perhaps due to a self-consciously primitive restoration of the skull. We briefly considered reversing the 1930's reconstruction and using the original skull fragments to produce a more anatomically realistic reconstruction, but the importance of the specimen and the robust nature of the adhesive and gap-fill used in the 1930's reconstruction made the risk of damage while reversing the restoration unacceptably high. We therefore attempted to restore the skull to a more anatomically feasible state by converting the CT scan to a 3D software model showing each fragment in its current alignment, and then repositioning the fragments in software to produce a new restoration which could be viewed in software. We then 3D-printed the new reconstruction for further study. In this paper we discuss the methods and software used for segmentation and repositioning the fragments, the problem of arriving at a definitive reconstruction by this method, some commentary on 3D printing as a long-term preservation problem and our final results.

Speaker(s)

JP Brown

Regenstein Conservator for Pacific Anthropology, Field Museum

JP is the Regenstein Conservator for Pacific Anthropology at The Field Museum, Chicago. He holds degrees in both Archaeological Conservation and Computer Science. He started working on 3D imaging of museum collections in 2006 and has been doing CT, laser scanning, and photogrammetry... Read More →

Co-Author(s)

Robert D. Martin

A. Watson Armor III Curator of Biological Anthropology, Field Museum of Natural History

Saturday May 31, 2014 11:30am - 12:00pm PDT
Grand Ballroom B

11:30am PDT

(Paintings + Wooden Artifacts Session) An Historical Overview of Panel Paintings and their structural treatments at the Walters Art Museum

Almost a quarter of the Walters Art Museum’s approximately 2500 paintings are on wooden panel supports. These range from the early 12th up to the 19th Century and come from Northern and Southern Europe, Ethiopia and Thailand. A number of the panels are in a fairly pristine state but most have received a variety of structural treatments by many different hands over the years. Some had undergone major work in Europe prior to entering the collection, while others received treatments at the Walters both before and after the introduction of climate control to the buildings; including the infamous “wax tank” treatments. Damage to the substrate caused by these treatments, sometimes in combination with inherent vice and climate issues, often had a harmful effect on the paint layer resulting in paint loss. Several of these treatments have resulted in increasingly challenging problems for the conservator as we look for practical solutions to structural problems with panel paintings.
Surveying the Walters panel collection allows for an historical overview of structural treatments to panel paintings, both in Europe and North America, and illustrates the evolution of more conservative methods of treatment concomitant with the development of better climate control and a new philosophy that recognizes the importance of the wooden support to the artwork as a whole.

Speaker(s)

Karen French

Senior Conservator of Paintings, The Walters Art Museum

Saturday May 31, 2014 11:30am - 12:00pm PDT
Bayview A-B

11:30am PDT

(Photographic Materials Session) A Comparative Study of Handheld Reflectance Spectrophotometers

There is an increasingly varied selection of handheld spectrophotometers available on the market with multiple configurations and price points. Although having more choice is generally a positive development, determining the right piece of equipment to purchase can be challenging, particularly when faced with the problem of data continuity when replacing an older unit.

This talk presents a comparative study of a group of handheld reflectance spectrophotometers manufactured by two leading companies, X-Rite and Konica Minolta. The impetus for the project comes from two sources. One is to determine the best unit to replace the spectrophotometer still in use in the Photograph Conservation Lab at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. The other is to evaluate the variation in data gathered using multiple spectrophotometers on a standardized set of measurement samples with the goal of better understanding the practical margin of error among this range of instruments. An additional objective of this work is to establish standard in-house practices for spectrophotometer use leading to improved color communication between departments within the Museum and, potentially, between institutions.

The group of spectrophotometers comprises units with 0°/45° and spherical configurations, as well as a range of apertures. Measurements will be taken with each spectrophotometer on a range of samples. For data comparison, the older spectrophotometer will also be included in the measurements, as well as a bench-top spectrophotometer equipped with an external remote diffuse reflectance accessory probe in the Department of Scientific research at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Measurement samples include the 130 color squares represented on the X-Rite Digital SG Color Checker, a standard X-Rite ceramic tile, and a group of photographic and painted samples with a variety of surface characteristics. Associated software will also be evaluated.

Speaker(s)

Katherine Sanderson

Assistant Conservator of Photographs, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Saturday May 31, 2014 11:30am - 12:00pm PDT
Grand Ballroom C

11:30am PDT

(Research and Technical Studies Session) Elemental identification of pigments used in traditional bark paintings from Arnhem Land, Groote Eylandt, and the Tiwi Islands

Harvard Art Museums are undertaking a major investigation into traditional bark paintings from Arnhem Land, Groote Eylandt and the Tiwi Islands; locations in the Northern Territory of Australia. This study is focusing on the pigments used by Aboriginal artists and is the first major analytical survey of bark paintings from the late 19th to 20th century.

These naturally occurring pigments contain a wide range of elements in varying amounts, characteristic of pigment types such as ochres, clays and mineral blacks. An earlier study conducted at the University of Western Australia demonstrated that laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) can be used to group pigments from various regions around the Australian continent according to the distribution of trace elements. Our study focuses on the trace element differences in a more closely defined region of Australia, namely the Northern Territory. To identify the pigments we are using LA-ICP-MS alongside complimentary techniques, including scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Raman and Fourier transform infra red (FTIR) spectroscopy.

The samples in this study include natural deposits of pigments, obtained from recorded historical expeditions and collected directly by the authors in consultation with local artists, as well as approximately 200 samples from 50 bark paintings collected from galleries and museums from Canberra, Sydney and Melbourne. The paintings were all chosen because they used traditional methods and materials and spanned over 100 years, with the location and date of painting being known for some examples. For instance, Melbourne University’s sampled paintings all come from the same community on Groote Eylandt and date to 1941-1945. A sample of each paint color present was collected to provide a statistically valid database of the range of natural pigments available from the 1870s to 1980s. The opportunity to compare samples from paintings with samples of natural raw materials from sites around Arnhem Land, Groote Eylandt and the Tiwi Islands provides us with a unique opportunity to trace the geographical origin of the pigments. It is anticipated that this will shed new light on the movements of raw materials through trade.

Initial results from a small selection of paint samples have illustrated subtle differences in elemental composition. This has given us the ability to differentiate between pigments of the same color with different mineral compositions, and identify regional differences within black pigments. Groote Eylandt has large manganese ore deposits and samples of black pigment from the region are uniquely rich in manganese. Variation in manganese content has also been observed in red and yellow pigments from different regions and may indicate use of different shades, as observed elsewhere with natural sienna or umber pigments. The study is ongoing and will be included in the catalogue for an upcoming exhibition at Harvard Art Museums opening in January 2016.

Speaker(s)

Georgina M. Rayner

Associate Conservation Scienctist, Straus Center for Conservation and Technical Studies

Georgina Rayner is the Associate Conservation Scientist at the Straus Center for Conservation and Technical Studies, Harvard Art Museums. Prior to this role Georgina was the Andrew W. Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow in Conservation Science at the same institution. Georgina holds a Masters... Read More →

Co-Author(s)

Andrew J. Shortland

Cranfield Forensic Institute, Cranfield University

Katherine Eremin

Patricia Cornwell Senior Conservation Scientist, Harvard Art Museums

Katherine Eremin is the Patricia Cornwell Senior Conservation Scientist at the Straus Center for Conservation and Technical Studies at the Harvard Art Museums. Katherine studied Natural Sciences at the University of Cambridge and received a PhD in metamorphic petrology from the University... Read More →

Narayan Khandekar

Director, Straus Center for Conservation and Technical Studies, Harvard Art Museums/Straus Center for Conservation and Technical Studies

Narayan Khandekar leads the Straus Center’s conservation and research activities, as well as those for the Center for the Technical Study of Modern Art. Specializing in the scientific analysis of paintings and painted surfaces, he has published extensively on the subject. His laboratory... Read More →

Rita Giannini

Cranfield Forensic Institute, Cranfield University

Saturday May 31, 2014 11:30am - 12:00pm PDT
Seacliff A-B

12:00pm PDT

(Business Meeting) Education and Traning Committee Luncheon

Saturday May 31, 2014 12:00pm - 1:30pm PDT
Boardroom C

12:00pm PDT

(Luncheon) Wiki Edit-a-thon Luncheon

Limited Capacity seats available

Help us expand our AIC knowledge base available on the AIC wiki (www.conservation-wiki.com)! Join colleagues in our second annual live, in-person, edit-a-thon event to add and edit content. If you are not already trained on MediaWiki, feel free to contribute content on a flash drive and our trained wiki creators will help you put it up. If you are already a contributor, enjoy the opportunity to work collaboratively, face-to-face on a topic of your choice. Lunch is provided during this 90-minute session, led by AIC e-Editor Rachael Perkins Arenstein.

Instructor

Rachael Arenstein

Principal, A.M. Art Conservation, LLC

Saturday May 31, 2014 12:00pm - 1:30pm PDT
Hospitality Room

Luncheon Session

1:00pm PDT

(Book and Paper Session) Art on Paper Discussion Session: 'Reintegrating Design/Deceiving the Eye: Compensation Issues for Works on Paper'

Compensation for damage and loss in works of art on paper encompasses a broad range of approaches, from the nearly invisible and often intrusive interventions of Max Schweidler in the early 20th century to contemporary innovations. The nature and extent of compensation is the subject of ongoing debate and ethical reevaluation. During this year’s APDG session paper conservators representing diverse philosophies and techniques will give brief presentations on their approaches to compensation. It is our hope that these presentations will help contextualize and clarify the decision-making process, lead to greater introspection about aesthetic issues in paper conservation, and encourage lively discussion about treatment decisions and techniques.

Aesthetic decisions in conservation inevitably are influenced by the philosophy of a period and culture. In the second half of the 20th century, the pursuit of increased transparency in the field and the development of written ethical standards encouraged a shift to greater restraint, which at times may be at odds with the practical demands that conservators face. Clearly many factors influence the extent and intent of compensation. These include audience and use, cultural traditions, and established aesthetic conventions, such as the pristine quality sought in contemporary works compared with the accepted “patina” of age in older works. Moreover, whether we abstain from visual compensation, insert a toned fill, or inpaint on the original support may affect not only the monetary value of a work but how the work is valued—as art object or cultural artifact.

Decisions connected with material limitations and the tenet of reversibility may have broader impact; for example, the divergent conventions regarding compensation in paintings and works of art on paper—e.g., extensively-compensated easel paintings versus comparatively conservatively-compensated paintings on paper. While these conventions certainly are influenced by the limitations of the materials, the pursuit of “invisibility” can be appropriate and achievable in paper conservation. Questions remain, however, about how invisible is “appropriate,” and what are the implications of virtually undetectable repairs on scholarship or our understanding and appreciation of the work.

Other persisting issues include the recreation of missing and unknown design elements, the discrete removal of original material toward the goal of stabilizing or visually improving the object, and the dilemma of covering or camouflaging disfiguring stains. Furthermore, a decision to remove old compensations that interfere with the original must be informed by the historic significance and quality of the repair, and any risk to the object during removal. Finally, in recent years paper conservators increasingly are exploiting approaches that may reduce or remove the physical hand of the conservator. Such methods may utilize digital techniques to recreate design elements or employ temporary overlays or fills. Even subtly adjusting display lighting may be the solution chosen to meet the aesthetic needs of an object with only limited conservator intervention. We are eager for your participation in the discussion of this challenging topic and invite you to join us!

Session Moderator(s)

Nancy Ash, [Fellow]

Senior Conservator of Works of Art on Paper, Philadelphia Museum of Art

Senior conservator of works of art on paper at the Philadelphia Museum of Art since 1991. Previously at CCAHA and National Gallery of Art. Co-author of Watermarks in Rembrandt Prints, 1998, systematic study of papers used in Rembrandt's etchings; and of Descriptive Terminology for... Read More →

Scott Homolka, [Fellow]

Conservator of Works of Art on Paper, Philadelphia Museum of Art

Saturday May 31, 2014 1:00pm - 2:30pm PDT
Grand Ballroom A

1:30pm PDT

(Collection Care + HVAC Session) Introduction to Session

Speaker(s)

Patricia Silence, [PA]

Director of Preventive Conservation, Colonial Williamsburg Foundation

Saturday May 31, 2014 1:30pm - 1:40pm PDT
Pacific Concourse D-E

1:30pm PDT

(Architecture Session) Lime-Metakaolin Grouts for Conservation

Fluid, lime-based grouts for the conservation of historic masonry, mosaics and plasters have been mentioned infrequently in the literature, and with relatively few details of the experimentation that led to their formulation and use. For non-hydraulic limes, the fundamental dilemma is, of course, that limes cure by carbonation, and cavities to be grouted are places in walls where little or no air is available. Our work of the past several years has therefore focused on the use of pozzolanic admixtures, and in particular on dehydroxylated clay.

The paper describes the technical challenges associated with the development of a lime-metakaolin grout, initially created as part of an engineered “port” anchor system for structural stabilization of deformed walls. Among these challenges are the competing requirements of fluidity and shrinkage, the latter requiring the incorporation of ultra-fine aggregates. Also discussed in detail will be the laboratory evaluation of both plastic and hardened properties, a subject of particular interest in the light of the recent publication of a testing manual by the Getty.

The first engineering use of this low-strength grout was in the fall of 2012, on a massive church tower in the northeastern United States. Since then, a second formulation was created for smaller-scale use by conservators of architecture and sculpture. Study of both lime-metakaolin formulations is on-going, with the potential to create a range of conservation materials, including surface-applied crack fillers, adhesives and repair mortars.

Speaker(s)

Norman Weiss

Conservator, Integrated Conservation Resources, Inc.

Norman R. Weiss is the Director of Scientific Research at Integrated Conservation Resources, Inc. As ICR’s Director of Scientific Research, Norman Weiss draws on more than thirty five years of practical experience in architectural conservation, to provide technical support to our... Read More →

Saturday May 31, 2014 1:30pm - 2:00pm PDT
Garden Room

1:30pm PDT

(Electronic Media Session) The A/V Artifact Atlas: Creating a Common Language for Audiovisual Errors

For original archival audiovisual materials, the recorded signal must be reformatted in order to remain accessible. During playback and reformatting, errors become apparent, but how can we determine if an error is inherent to the original recording, was the result of an imperfect transfer, or the result of file corruption? How can we tell if it is a sign of equipment malfunction or media damage and how do we know if it can be remedied?

Conservators working with audiovisual content need to be able to reliably identify such errors, but often lack formal training in audio and video engineering and may not be familiar or comfortable with its terminology. The need to understand and communicate about technical anomalies is particularly important when working with reformatting service providers.

The A/V Artifact Atlas (AVAA) addresses these challenges. Originated by the Stanford Media Preservation Lab and the Bay Area Video Coalition (BAVC), the A/V Artifact Atlas is a community-oriented living glossary of video and audio reformatting errors and artifacts, with vetted descriptions, proposed remedies, and the goal of producing a common language for media preservation professionals. The AVAA URL is: http://preservation.bavc.org/artifactatlas.

In this session we will present the AVAA, highlighting special efforts underway, including a NEH-grant funded initiative led by BAVC, to enhance the Atlas contents and extend its utility as a resource for educators, students, and practitioners. We will also give a brief demonstration of QCTOOLS, an open-source software tool developed to identify common reformatting errors, which is being developed in conjunction with the AVAA.

Speaker(s)

Hannah Frost

Associate Director, Digital Library Services, Stanford University

Kristin MacDonough

Coordinator for the AV Artifact Atlas, Bay Area Video Coalition

Kristin MacDonough is the Coordinator for the AV Artifact Atlas, a community-based online resource for the audiovisual archiving field used to identify and describe visual anomalies found in audio and video signals. The AVAA is hosted by the Bay Area Video Coalition. She serves as... Read More →

Moriah Ulinskas

Preservation Program Director, Bay Area Video Coalition

Moriah Ulinskas provides leadership, vision, and direct management of BAVC’s Preservation program, one of the only nonprofit audio/ video preservation programs in the United States. Ulinskas is also the chair of the Association of Moving Image Archivists’ Diversity Committee... Read More →

Saturday May 31, 2014 1:30pm - 2:00pm PDT
Seacliff C-D

1:30pm PDT

(Paintings + Wooden Artifacts Session) Long-Term Hygromechanical Monitoring of Panel Paintings

In the debate about safe climate ranges, the majority of scientific literature concerning the reactivity of wooden objects which supports the new proposed guidelines has been carried out in laboratory conditions, assuming that the characteristics of the sample can be safely extrapolated to real size objects. Some field measurement campaigns have been carried out in an attempt to detect the most irreversible damage element, the crack, although there is probably more to investigate regarding the long term warping of real objects under fluctuations. This paper will focus on the latter aspect.
Case studies monitoring long-term warping of panel paintings have been conducted for many years. The mechanical monitoring has been combined with microclimatic logging, in order to provide quantitative information directly related to the environmental conditions; these data are useful to validate mathematical models that eventually may predict the long-term behaviour of objects.
The climate fluctuations can have both temporary and permanent effects on hygroscopic objects and they are a potential cause of damage.
Although there is long-term evidence of the generally positive effects of a microclimate within the standard range of allowable fluctuations, we lack wide experimental data regarding the effects of broader ranges on real objects over a long period of time.
Panel paintings are useful in representing the complexity of possible reactions.
Due to the specificity of each artwork, both from its structural point of view and from its previous microclimatic history (for the most part totally unknown), the analysis of an artifact’s response to short- and long-term variations can supply useful information about its “individual” sensitivity to the exhibition microclimate, suggesting the adoption of more or less rigid parameters.
The benefits of such an approach are many, both from the preventive conservation point of view and as a support for conservation interventions. The methodology can be useful in monitoring objects in transit and to evaluate the effects of structural interventions.
Due to the size of the instruments employed, the methodology is minimally invasive. Since it is placed on the back of the support, the device can also be used while the object remains on exhibition without disturbing visitors and, thanks to recent improvements, it can be easily detached and exactly repositioned without affecting the quality of measurement.
From the scientific point of view, widening the data-base of monitoring experiences would benefit the understanding of this sensitive issue in the conservation of panel paintings.

Speaker(s)

Paolo Dionisi Vici

Associate Research Scientist, Metrpolitan Museum of Art

Saturday May 31, 2014 1:30pm - 2:00pm PDT
Bayview A-B

1:30pm PDT

(Photographic Materials Session) Characterization of a Surface Tarnish Found on Daguerreotypes Under Shortwave Ultraviolet Radiation

A characteristic fluorescent tarnish can be observed on some daguerreotypes under shortwave ultraviolet radiation. The fluorescence can be seen in several distinct patterns: edge tarnish, rings, and continuous films. The tarnish has been observed on the fronts and backs of daguerreotypes on electroplated and roll-clad plates. The tarnish also can be seen on the backs of brass mats and on mat bevels. The fluorescent tarnish was observed on heavily tarnished plates as well as plates that showed minimal tarnish. In some cases the fluorescence corresponded to brown staining on the daguerreotype under normal and specular illumination. Test plates were created based on early experiments by Lee Ann Daffner (1996) and Claire Buzit Tragni (2005). A fluorescent tarnish, similar to the tarnish seen on historic plates, formed on bare copper plates exposed to a solution of sodium cyanide. Dispersive Raman spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and X-ray diffraction (XRD) were applied to characterize and identify the fluorescent compound on the test and historic plates. Raman spectroscopy identified the characteristic peak for copper cyanide, CuCN, at 2172 cm-1. Elemental k-ratio maps of the SEM analysis indicated an increase in copper, carbon and nitrogen in the area of fluorescence. Powder XRD was capable of identifying the copper cyanide compound on a test plate but was not sensitive enough for detection on a historic daguerreotype. Cyanide could have been introduced to the daguerreotype process by at least six different historical procedures in its creation as well as restoration. Shortwave ultraviolet radiation thus can be added to the methods of characterization in any long term monitoring program of daguerreotypes’ stability.

Speaker(s)

Krista Lough

Graduate Student Intern, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Krista Lough received a Bachelor’s of Fine Arts with Emphasis in Art History, Theory and Criticism from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, where she focused on photography and art history. Two years after completing her undergraduate degree she returned to school to receive... Read More →

Saturday May 31, 2014 1:30pm - 2:00pm PDT
Grand Ballroom C

1:30pm PDT

(Health and Safety Session) Medical Evaluations for Museum and Collection Care Professionals

Museum and collection professionals work with a number of well-known health hazards and conditions that can cause health risks and disease. Most physicians are poorly informed about the hazards faced by these professionals and may have little understanding of the workplace risks they face. A growing body of literature is available to help improve this understanding.

This session will focus on evaluating collection and conservation workplace hazards, with an emphasis on maintaining work histories, methods and records of chemicals used, in order to best communicate that information to a healthcare provider. This information is an important tool in designing and scheduling an appropriate health care surveillance to assess and prevent health problems related to these exposures. The session will also look at appropriate physician groups for these evaluations, including the field of Occupational Medicine. Several case studies from The Field Museum, Chicago, will be presented illustrating the benefits of collaborating with health care professionals.

As was common practice in the 19th and 20th centuries, residual pesticides were applied to collections in efforts to protect the collections from, primarily, arthropod and rodent damage. A number of Field Museum conservators over the last 25 years contributed to a history of pesticide usage at the museum, particularly the Anthropology collections. Safety procedures were developed by the Museum collections and conservation staff and the Museum occupational health and safety officer, and relied heavily on procedures used in other institutions with similar collections. Tests and evaluations by conservators, industrial hygienists and medical professionals over the last 12 years have led to a better understanding of what pesticides are likely to be found, where pesticide hazards are likely to be found, what exposure levels have been detected in staff and facilities, and what improvements in staff procedures can further reduce risk. The program was a cooperative effort between medical professionals and museum staff, who provided information on pesticide history, collection handling and personal protection procedures, results of all prior testing, and access to observe staff work environment and procedures. Medical professionals developed and implemented the test programs, provided and interpreted results, and prepared recommendations on improvements in facilities and work practice. Communication during test development, implementation and sharing of results was critical to the effectiveness of the program and the comfort level of staff both during testing and in the results.

Another case study addressed the problem of lead-based paint on a Maori House which is on open display and is culturally intended to be touched. A mitigation program was developed, involving conservation treatment to isolate lead paint, and a testing program to monitor treatment effectiveness. Conservation staff, industrial hygienists, the Museum safety officer and medical professionals successfully collaborated to solve a health and safety problem with additional layers of public exposure prevention and working with traditional owners (the Maori community).

Speaker(s)

David Hinkamp

Co-Director Health in the Arts Program, School of Public Health, University of Illinois at Chicago

David Hinkamp MD, MPH (University of Michigan) is Board Certified in Occupational & Environmental Medicine. Dr. Hinkamp founded and serves as co-director of the Health in the Arts Program in the University of Illinois at Chicago and Cook County Hospital. This program works to prevent... Read More →

Ruth Norton

McCarter Chief Conservator, Field Museum

Ruth E. Norton FIIC FAIC, MS Art Conservation, University of Delaware 1978. She practiced and provided conservation training at the Bishop Museum, Honolulu; the National Museum of the Philippines, Manila; University of Sydney excavation at Pella-in-Jordan; Museum of Applied Arts and... Read More →

Saturday May 31, 2014 1:30pm - 2:20pm PDT
Pacific Concourse F-G

Interest Session, Conservation Education

1:30pm PDT

(Business Meeting) Objects Specialty Group

Saturday May 31, 2014 1:30pm - 2:30pm PDT
Grand Ballroom B

Business Meeting, Objects

1:30pm PDT

(Interest Session) Syllabus Sharing Session

Similar to ECPN’s portfolio session, this session is for conservation educators to discuss their conservation education ideas by sharing each other’s syllabus’.

Saturday May 31, 2014 1:30pm - 3:30pm PDT
Pacific Concourse B-C

1:30pm PDT

(Interest Session) Charting the Digital Landscape of the Conservation Profession

Funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, this session is an opportunity to learn about information being gathered as part of the planning process and to join in the discussions. Additional information will be disseminated prior to the Annual Meeting.

Saturday May 31, 2014 1:30pm - 4:00pm PDT
Regency Room

Interest Session

1:40pm PDT

(Collection Care + HVAC Session) Managing Collections Environments in Historic Buildings in the Arizona Desert

Speaker(s)

Teresa Moreno

Associate Conservator, Arizona State Museum

Dr. Nancy Odegaard

Conservator, Patronato San Xavier

Saturday May 31, 2014 1:40pm - 2:00pm PDT
Pacific Concourse D-E

2:00pm PDT

(Collection Care + HVAC Session) Establishing Sustainable Preservation Environments at the Library of Congress

The need to balance cost, sustainability and preservation stewardship is a primary and ever increasing concern at collecting institutions throughout the world. The US Library of Congress is addressing this concern by evaluating environmental requirements for collections storage throughout the institution, while identifying opportunities to adjust mechanical system operations to reduce energy consumption without compromising long-term collections preservation.

Since January 2010, the US Library of Congress Preservation Directorate has worked collaboratively with facility managers and external consultants, to conduct a mechanical system modification in two, nearly identical, large stack areas of the John Adams Building, which together hold approximately 13,000,000 volumes on 12 deck levels. By piloting a programmed shut-down of all mechanical system operations for 7.5 hours each night, coincident with automated lighting shut-off, we have identified an opportunity to save up to 31% on HVAC operating costs per year without significantly reducing long-term preservation or exposing the collections to immediate risks associated with climate extremes. In addition in one area we extended the shutdown to include a full 24-hour shut down on Sundays when the Library is closed thereby significantly enhancing the potential yearly operating savings. After four years we have collected and analyzed data that confirm that the nightly shut down modification results in minimal meaningful impact on preservation quality of the collection storage environment when all components of the HVAC system are operating properly. Conversely we have identified operational reasons for adverse environmental trends that are not related to the shut down and have identified methods of reviewing data to determine whether operational fault or the shut down itself is responsible for the excursion from target climate conditions. Finally, Preservation staff are collaborating with facility managers and consultants to review other collection areas in the Library's Capitol Hill complex to identify the risks, benefits and limitations (duration or seasonal) in adopting additional shut down operations to save energy.

This presentation will provide an overview of the environmental assessment program in place at the Library of Congress and show how data collected over time was used to identify locations for the first shut down locations described and to weigh the preservation consequences of mechanical adjustments. The presentation will also provide details of critical factors investigated before and during the trial, describe how we achieved the level of interaction needed between preservation and facility staff, and discuss our method of projecting preservation outcomes and savings potential.

Speaker(s)

Nancy Lev-Alexander

Head, Collections Stabilization, Conservation Division / Library of Congress

Nancy Lev-Alexander has served as a supervisor in the Conservation Division of the Library of Congress for 14 years where she leads the Collections Stabilization Section whose eight members focus on preventive needs of the Library's wide variety of special collections. The Section... Read More →

Saturday May 31, 2014 2:00pm - 2:20pm PDT
Pacific Concourse D-E

2:00pm PDT

(Architecture Session) Assessment and Evaluation of Consolidation Methods on Serpentine Stone at the 19th Street Baptist Church, Philadelphia, PA

Serpentine (serpentinite) is a notably unique building stone from Chester County, Pennsylvania that enjoyed regional popularity. Residential and institutional buildings in and around Philadelphia, New York, Washington, and Baltimore have all been built using serpentine stone from the West Chester quarries. A hydrous magnesium silicate metamorphic rock, its unusual green color and luster expanded the Victorian palette and love of polychromatic masonry popular during the last quarter of the nineteenth century. However, its generally poor weatherability in the city environment and discontinued availability now argue for greater study of its conservation possibilities. This research examines the composition and performance of weathered serpentine at the 19th Street Baptist Church in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to determine the possible efficacy of ethyl silicate consolidation treatments in improving stone performance and resistance to weathering.

The 19th Street Baptist Church is an early and important ecclesiastical design by the famous Philadelphia architecture firm of Frank Furness and George Hewitt and one of only a few serpentine buildings that survives in and around Philadelphia due to the deteriorative nature of the stone. Expansive and expensive attempts usually involving replacement with custom pre-¬‐cast cementitious renders have been performed in the past to retain the appearance of the stone, yet little research has been conducted on methods to retain the stone itself. The serpentine poses a challenge due to its complex mineralogical and textural composition, narrow range of use, and lack of previous scientific research conducted on the material.

Examination suggests that intrinsic deficiencies in the stone of the 19th Street Baptist Church led to severe exterior and interior building failures. Sections of the exterior serpentine veneer have lost their unit integrity and deterioration of the serpentine appearing as friability and gross dimensional loss, as well as veneer destabilization. Research and testing was informed by a detailed conditions survey of the exterior stone of the church as well as characterization of the stone through petrographic thin section analysis, SEM analysis, and wet chemical methods (acid solubility and salt tests). Physical testing of the stone properties (durability, absorption rates, porosity, etc.) were measured before and after consolidation through water absorption, water vapor permeability, freeze/thaw resistance, and strength by resistance drilling. Considering the nature of the serpentine stone, consolidation was tested to restore material integrity by recreating the inter-¬‐granular cohesion the stone lost through weathering without aesthetic alterations. The results of this test program provide recommendations for future conservation options for the 19th Street Baptist Church and other serpentine buildings throughout metropolitan areas in the Mid-¬‐Atlantic and South Atlantic regions.

Speaker(s)

Kathryn E. Brown

Architectural Conservator, Dan Lepore & Sons Company

Katie is an architectural conservator at Dan Lepore & Sons Company, a masonry restoration and construction firm in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Katie earned her Master of Science in Historic Preservation with a concentration in Conservation Science from the University of Pennsylvania's... Read More →

Saturday May 31, 2014 2:00pm - 2:30pm PDT
Garden Room

2:00pm PDT

(Electronic Media Session) Life After Tape: Collecting Digital Video Art

The shift of artist video towards file-based formats and the approaching obsolescence of digital videotape challenge collecting art institutions in regard to the preservation, storage and display of contemporary video artworks. In the previous era of digital videotape, the museum’s choice of master formats, migration cycles and storage parameters was guided by established archival standards and best practices. Importantly, tape formats also defined the image geometry of the recorded video and ensured its compliance to broadcast standards and its compatibility to standardized playback and display equipment.
In art production today, many artists make use of the rapid advancement of consumer technology and no longer rely on (semi-)professional, vendor-supported production and post production. As a result, artist video files arrive at the museum in an abundance of different codecs, containers, frame rates and pixel resolutions. Artists’ use of proprietary formats, especially of proprietary codecs, raises the concern of limited file sustainability. In addition, the quality of mastering of artist video can reflect differing levels of technical expertise, and in some cases artist-provided files might be operational only on a computer, but are incompatible with standardized video playback and display equipment in the galleries. The latter can necessitate reformatting the artist-provided, native master files—a measure that touches on the notion of authorship and authenticity and can create an ethic dilemma for the conservator. In this context it has to be discussed how far the museum interferes with the artistic process when making sustainable format recommendations or stipulations regarding acquisition deliverables.
Regardless of the question which file-formats to acquire, museums must develop protocols and implement workflows for quality and condition checking video files. Not only may the artist’s video lack established standardization, but different playback and display environments have a severe impact on the visual rendering of digital video. Thus, when defining a reference for the quality and condition of video artworks, conservation has to consider determining factors such as the computer’s graphic card, the player software and the display technology. In addition to evaluating the video content, conservation must adopt digital preservation standards and establish procedures for metadata creation, checksumming and redundant server storage.

This paper is based on a joint research initiative between the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and the University of the Arts Bern (Switzerland). It identifies the challenging factors of collecting video art in digital file form and discusses possible approaches and tools the museum can employ to ensure the quality and integrity of the digital video material that enters its collection.

Speaker(s)

Agathe Jarczyk

Conservator, Atelier für Videokonservierung

Agathe Jarczyk is a Conservator of Modern Materials and Media. Since 2008, Jarczyk is the owner of the “Studio for Video Conservation“ in Berne, Switzerland. Her studio focuses on conservation treatment and caretaking of video artworks for numerous Swiss and international museums... Read More →

Joanna Phillips

Senior Conservator of Time-based Media, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum

Joanna Phillips is the Senior Conservator of Time-based Media at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York, where she founded the media art conservation lab in 2008. At the Guggenheim, Phillips has developed and implemented new strategies for the preservation, reinstallation, and... Read More →

Saturday May 31, 2014 2:00pm - 2:30pm PDT
Seacliff C-D

2:00pm PDT

(Paintings + Wooden Artifacts Session) Recent Developments in the Evolution of Spring-Loaded Secondary Supports for Previously Thinned Panel Paintings

Warped panel paintings were commonly treated in the 19th and early 20th Centuries by thinning the panel to increase flexibility and to obtain a flat surface on which to attach a cradle. As is well known, the sliding cross-members frequently became blocked and accumulated stresses eventually caused cracking, splitting, and other deformations of the panel. Subsequent treatments often require removal of the cradle in order to repair the splits and adjust the surface curvature. After treatment, the panels are often too fragile on their own without additional secondary support to increase stability. The need for increased stability while still allowing for expansion, contraction, and cross-grain flexing of the panel during humidity fluctuations eventually led to the use of springs.
Springs were first used in the design of secondary supports for panel paintings in Italy in the mid 1970’s. Research began at the Istituto Centrale del Restauro in Rome and later continued at the Opificio delle Pietre Dure in Florence.
In recent years, new designs for controlling movement in wood panels have been developed at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. This paper will review the most recent designs of the spring mechanisms themselves as well as refinements to certain characteristics of the support strainers.

Speaker(s)

M. Alan Miller

Assistant Conservator, Metropolitan Museum of Art

Alan Miller is an Assistant Conservator at The Metropolitan Museum of Art specializing in the structural conservation of panel paintings. He received an M.A. degree in Art History from the University of Washington (Seattle) and Postgraduate Diploma in the Conservation of Easel Paintings... Read More →

Co-Author(s)

George Bisacca

Conservator, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Mr. Bisacca trained in conservation in Italy, working for five years at the Palazzo Pitti in Florence before joining the Paintings Conservation Department at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1983, specializing in the structural treatment of paintings on solid support. During his... Read More →

Saturday May 31, 2014 2:00pm - 2:30pm PDT
Bayview A-B

2:00pm PDT

(Photographic Materials Session) Retouch Practices Revealed in The Thomas Walther Collection Project

This presentation will discuss the results of a four year study of materials practices of photographers in The Thomas Walther Collection Project at The Museum of Modern Art. A wide variety of retouch was observed on photographs dating between 1911 and 1942, some of which appeared to be original, others that may have been added later. Materials and techniques will be discussed and the findings shared and the resulting impact of these findings on current scholarship reviewed.

Speaker(s)

Lee Ann Daffner

Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Conservator of Photographs, The Museum of Modern Art

Lee Ann Daffner is the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Conservator of Photographs at The Museum of Modern Art in New York City since 1998 and is responsible for all aspects of the preservation, conservation and materials research for photographs in all the Museumâ€™s collections... Read More →

Saturday May 31, 2014 2:00pm - 2:30pm PDT
Grand Ballroom C

2:20pm PDT

(Collection Care + HVAC Session) Developing Sustainable Storage for the Science Museum Group UK- the Hemcrete Museum Store (HMS)

The Science Museum, the National Railway Museum and the National Media Museum have their main storage facility on a repurposed WWII airfield an hour west of London, in Wiltshire. Here are stored large and mid-sized objects from the science, technology, industrial, communications, transport, space and medicine collections as well as textiles, fine art, archives and library materials.

Collections are stored in eight 1930’s hangars, two 1940’s brick buildings and one 1990’s purpose-built store on the 545 acre site. The hangars are unheated and only one has any insulation. The brick buildings have been upgraded with added insulation and wood-chip boiler heating. The purpose-built store has insulation, vapour barriers and oil- fueled conservation heating. High relative humidity levels are an issue in the unheated hangars but can also be a problem in the other buildings.

A small Conservation and Collections Care team on site is responsible for the preservation, remedial treatment, storage and movement of the objects; the buildings and systems are maintained by the national Estates team.

Performance indicators, based on the ‘10 Agents of Deterioration’ (Robert Waller 1994) and updated UK environmental standards (PAS198:2012), are used to assess storage conditions. Storage areas are graded for materials and types of object. Rehousing objects based on this system has meant that many of the less stable have been stored in more suitable conditions without increasing need for air conditioning and mechanical systems. Resources have been directed at targeted areas in an attempt to save money without reducing standards of care.

In 2010 it became essential to develop an environmentally-controlled yet sustainable store on the Wroughton site. Suitable space was needed for a nationally important archive as well as eighty large wooden ship models, twenty-five horse-drawn carriages and the Science Museum’s framed art collection.

A conventional store had been built inside a hangar to house archival materials; heated by a wood-chip boiler, it has been costly to run with poor relative humidity control. With knowledge of passive building techniques gained from workshops, lectures and research, an innovative use of traditional building materials was chosen for the new build, to go in the remaining hangar space. A much-reduced heating and ventilation system was installed after modelling supported the decision. The building was completed in June 2012 and, although there were a number of issues, predominately with the building management system, by May 2013 it was running at less than a third of the cost of the conventional store. From May to September 2013, the building itself moderated the relative humidity without recourse to the air handling system, with an average 60% RH and fluctuations of less than 2% over 24 hours.

To date, HMS has won three major awards in the UK for sustainability and innovation in building and heritage.

Research into sustainable building methods for museum storage continues at Wroughton with the development of the University of Bath BRE Centre for Innovative Construction Materials’ new research park and a part-time PhD presently being undertaken by the author.

Speaker(s)

Marta Leskard

Conservation and Collection Care Manager, Science Museum, UK

Marta Leskard received an Master's in Art Conservation from Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, in 1982 following on from a 1st class Honours BA in Classics (Greek & Latin) and an MA in Archaeology (Minoan & Mycenaean). With 32 years experience as a conservator and conservation... Read More →

Saturday May 31, 2014 2:20pm - 2:40pm PDT
Pacific Concourse D-E

2:20pm PDT

(Health and Safety Session) Sustainability for the Conservator) Mold Remediation

Whether it's a musty basement or a natural disaster, mold is a common challenge for the conservator that should be approached with care. This talk will highlight the key steps conservators need to take to protect themselves when working with mold or moldy artworks. The AIC Emergency Committee will present lessons learned and techniques used for Hurricane Sandy recovery at the Cultural Recovery Center in Brooklyn, New York.

Speaker(s)

Chris Stavroudis

Conservator, Chris Stavroudis, Paintings Conservator

Saturday May 31, 2014 2:20pm - 3:00pm PDT
Pacific Concourse F-G

2:30pm PDT

(Architecture Session) Comparative Study of Commercially Available Rust Converters

NCPTT’s Materials Research Program’s current research project is a continuing comparative study of rust converters. Rust converters have wide stretching usage in conservation, they are used from the stabilization of iron based museum artifacts and collections to iron architectural elements and iron outdoor sculpture.

Rust converters are designed to be only a single part of an overall coatings system. However, for this study it was decided to only test the converter by itself. This decision was made for two reasons; the first is many museums use the converter as a single coating, especially for outdoor farm and military equipment. The second reason is to evaluate the strength of the converters themselves without the added protection of a paint system.

For this study we used naturally weathered mild steel coupons cut with a mechanical sheer (as to not alter the surface of the metal) to 3”x6” the size of the QUV sample holders. Each of the front face of the plates was wire brushed to remove loose rust them treated with a rust converter, tested weathered and tested again. The products were evaluated and ranked by rate of failure.

The samples were evaluated by a variety of techniques before being treated with the rust converter, after being treated, and every 250 hours (a total of 1000 hours) of artificial weathering in a Q-lab QUV Weatherometer. The samples were also mounted to a roof top outdoor exposure rack and tested each 30 days. The comparison of outdoor and indoor accelerated weathering was done to try and give some correlation between the weathering types. Samples were exposed to a salt mist in both the outdoor and indoor weathering situations. The salt mist they were exposed to mimics the salt exposure of an Atlantic coastal setting. The methods for testing the samples are; XRD, laser profilometery, thickness coating measurements, gloss, color, photography, and finally visual ranking.

This presentation will give a brief description of this study Phase 1 (presented at AIC/ASG in 2010) and the final results. However the highlight and bulk of this presentation will be this studies’ Phase 2. In Phase 2 of the study we evaluated the best convertor from Phase 1 and added four more commercial available convertors. All samples were exposed to a salt mist to test the rust convertors effectiveness in a marine environment.

The goal of this study is to provide the end user be it home owner, museum conservator, or site manager with the knowledge needed to make an informed decision when selecting a rust converter in both an inland setting and a coastal environment.

Speaker(s)

Jason Church

Materials Conservator, National Center for Preservation Technology and Training (NCPTT)

Jason Church is a Materials Conservator in the Materials Conservation Program at the National Center for Preservation Technology and Training (NCPTT) in Natchitoches, LA. NCPTT is a research and training office of the National Park Service. Jason divides his time between original... Read More →

Co-Author(s)

Anna Muto

Intern, NCPTT

Mary F. Striegel, [Fellow]

Chief of Materials Conservation, NCPTT

Mary F. Striegel is Chief of Materials Conservation at the National Center for Preservation Technology and Training. She heads up basic and applied research that focuses on evaluation of preservation treatments for preventing damage to cultural resources. She and her staff undertake... Read More →

Sarah Hunter

Historic Preservation-Student, University of Texas at Austin

Saturday May 31, 2014 2:30pm - 3:00pm PDT
Garden Room

2:30pm PDT

(Electronic Media Session) Conservation of Time-based Media Before Acquisition or) How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love HD Video

Sustainable choices in collection care, when applied to time-based media, are constantly evolving. This technological area requires the collaboration and active engagement with a variety of individuals and industries. Focusing on the ever-shifting medium of digital video (in particular, so-called "high definition"), this presentation will highlight how working closely with curators, artists, and media professionals at the pre-acquisition phase is imperative to the long-term storage and care of this material. Case studies of recent acquisitions by different curatorial departments at The Museum of Modern Art will highlight the variability of this media and how to make sustainable conservation decisions before the work even enters the collection. In addition, attention will be paid to particular workflows and best practices in both the acquisition and long-term conservation phases in the life of such artworks, as well how these phases are dependent on each other.

Speaker(s)

Peter Oleksik

Assistant Media Conservator, Museum of Modern Art

Peter Oleksik is an Assistant Media Conservator at The Museum of Modern Art in New York. He holds an MA in Moving Image Archiving and Preservation (MIAP) from New York University, where he is currently an Adjunct Professor teaching video preservation. His past work includes the access... Read More →

Saturday May 31, 2014 2:30pm - 3:00pm PDT
Seacliff C-D

2:30pm PDT

(Objects Session) Conserving Stringed Sculpture: The Treatment of Henry Moore's Mother and Child

Objects with tensioned string elements are found in many types of collections, ranging from fine arts sculpture to scientific and historic models. Deterioration and damage to these vulnerable elements in the form of fraying, breakage, and loss of tension can render these pieces undisplayable. This paper presents the treatment of Henry Moore’s stringed sculpture Mother and Child in the collection of the Harvard Art Museums. Upon entering the collection, the string elements were in very poor condition, with eleven of the twelve strings broken and one large section missing. This paper discusses aspects of the sculpture’s fabrication and outlines the complex considerations involved in deciding whether to replace or repair the original strings. The development and execution of a treatment technique that retains the original strings and meets both conservation and curatorial standards for exhibition is also presented in detail.

Speaker(s)

Nicole Ledoux

Harvard Art Museums, Harvard Art Museums

Nicole Ledoux is the Samuel H. Kress Objects Conservation Fellow at the Straus Center for Conservation and Technical Studies at the Harvard Art Museums. She received her M.A. in Conservation of Archaeological and Ethnographic Materials from the UCLA/Getty program in 2012 and her A.B... Read More →

Saturday May 31, 2014 2:30pm - 3:00pm PDT
Grand Ballroom B

2:30pm PDT

(Paintings + Wooden Artifacts Session) Panel Painting or Furniture? Ethical and Philosophical Conundrums in the Treatment of a Wooden Chest Lid from Germany

The collection of the Wallraf-Richartz-Museum in Cologne, Germany includes a late medieval panel painting depicting Scenes from the Life of Jesus Christ: The Two Banquets. Originating from Cologne and dated around 1450, the panel once formed the cover of a wooden chest, and its two sides are today extraordinarily different in appearance, function, and condition. The recto, which would have been on the inside of the chest and only visible upon opening the lid, resembles an altarpiece depicting highly detailed figurative scenes from the life of Christ; the verso, or outside of the chest, is painted more modestly and consists simply of a monochromatic red paint layer with decorative gilding.

Owing to its exterior position and functional nature, the decorative verso has sustained a greater amount of wear and shows significant signs of use. Moreover, when the lid was separated from the body of the chest, the hinges were removed from the verso, the panel was framed as a painting, and the recto with the figurative scenes was treated as the primary work of art: this side has been carefully preserved and retouched. Meanwhile, the verso was subjected to sub-par treatments, poor-quality conservation materials, and neglect.

For the double-sided display of the panel in the context of its original function in the exhibition „The Painters’ Secrets: Cologne in the Middle Ages” taking place from September 20 2013 - February 9, 2014, the verso required treatment during the summer of 2013. The extreme discrepancy in condition between the two sides necessitated the methodical development of a restoration concept prior to treatment.

The major questions throughout the treatment centered on the level of intervention appropriate in order to reflect the functional nature of the object, while bringing the verso to a condition more akin to that of the recto and to a state of preservation more consistent with the other works within the exhibition. Treatment decisions were required that reflect the work’s original function as well as its recent history as a painting, while acknowledging the physical changes it has experienced over time. Specific challenges included developing a philosophy of retouching exposed ground, exposed raw canvas, large areas of loss, and loss to the gilded pattern.

This paper will treat the historic use and context of the object and provide information regarding its materials and construction. More importantly, it will develop an overview of the ethical and practical considerations of the restoration of this object, as well as present a summary of several similar case studies. The treatment philosophy is proposed as a potential model for complex objects with similar challenges.

Speaker(s)

Kari Rayner

Intern, National Gallery of Art, Washington DC

Kari Rayner is a student at the Conservation Center of the Institute of Fine Arts at NYU specializing in paintings conservation. She will begin her fourth year internship at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. in September. She graduated in 2011 with a double major in... Read More →

Saturday May 31, 2014 2:30pm - 3:00pm PDT
Bayview A-B

2:30pm PDT

(Photographic Materials Session) Laszlo Moholy-Nagy: Characterization of his photographic work at the Art Institute of Chicago and his working practices

A fundamental understanding of the history of László Moholy-Nagy’s body of work is incomplete without a thorough understanding of his working practices. Photography was central to his aesthetic and gave the direction to many of his non-photographic activities. Hence, this project encompasses a comprehensive study of his photographic work. This study includes the characterization of the physical properties and the materials analysis of the prints, crossing paths with historical and archival research. The characterization is achieved by making use of different illumination sources and observation tools. Non-invasive scientific analysis with X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (XRF) and reflectance Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) (In collaboration with the Conservation Science Department at AIC) complements these observations. This study aims to establish the basis for the history of the materials choices and working practices made by the artist throughout his life.

Moholy-Nagy, groundbreaking artist and one of the precursors of the German Bauhaus, came to Chicago in 1937. He was invited by the Association of Arts and Industry to direct the New Bauhaus, which later became the Institute of Design. There, he created a stimulating, experimental environment for the photographic arts. His legacy and the influence he had on the students remain to this day, as he is a key figure in the history of American Photography.

The Collection at the Art Institute of Chicago has a modest, but representative group of Moholy-Nagy’s photographic work; ranging from straight photographs, solarizations, photocollages, cliché verre to and most significantly, photograms. These photographs show a wide variety of formats, tonal ranges, finishing surfaces, coatings, paper tints, notations and signatures. Why is Moholy-Nagy’s body of work so diverse? Which photographic processes did he use to express particular ideas? What were the motives for his material choices? What was the master’s influence on his pupils (whose work is also reflected in the AIC collection)? These are some of the questions that have been tackled by this investigation.

The procedures and results of more than two years of research carried out during an in-depth study at the AIC on this topic will be shared in this talk.

Speaker(s)

Mirasol Estrada-[PA]

Photograph Conservator, Private Practice

Mirasol Estrada is a private consultant photograph conservator. She’s gained considerable experience in the care and treatment of fine-art photography and in exhibition procedures. Her primary focus as the Mellon Fellow at the Art Institute of Chicago was the study of László Moholy-Nagy’s... Read More →

Saturday May 31, 2014 2:30pm - 3:00pm PDT
Grand Ballroom C

2:30pm PDT

(Book and Paper Session) Library Collections Conservation Discussion Session: 'Options for Sustainable Practice in Conservation'

This Library Collections Conservation Discussion Group (LCCDG) will explore methods of lightening the ecological and economical footprint of conservation work. The discussion will incorporate voices from both profit and non-profit facilities, and will include both theoretical concepts and practical advice for project implementation.

Discussion Topics

Better management of conservation materials to reduce waste and improve reuse of scrap
Implementation of green waste and/or recycling programs
Identification of recyclable and/or reusable materials commonly used in conservation
Reduction of energy consumption and the physical footprint of a lab or studio
Adaptation of wide scale green initiatives to the conservation lab
Exploration of recycling myths and realities

It is easy to consider ecological conservation too large or too expensive a problem to be tackled by the everyday conservator. This LCCDG will discuss not only the ecological benefits of sustainable practice in collections conservation, but also the financial benefits to the conservator.

Presentations will include:

"Recycling Might be Good, but Conservation is Always Great!"
Brian BairdVice President of Library ServicesBridgeport National Bindery

"Everything but the Kitchen Sink: A Case Study in Bindery Recycling"
Danielle CreechAssociate Conservator and Operations ManagerECS Conservation - Midwest

"The Mixed Paper Project: Recycling, Waste Reduction, and Creative Scrap Reuse at Emory University's Preservation Office"
Julie NewtonCollections ConservationEmory University

"Sustainability Initiatives of the University of Michigan Library Green Team"
Marieka KayeConservation Librarian and Book ConservatorUniversity of Michigan Libraries

Session Moderator(s)

Danielle Creech

Associate Conservator, HF Group/ECS Conservation

Justin P. Johnson

Conservator, University of Washington Libraries

Justin Johnson, Senior Conservator at University of Washington Libraries, has been working in conservation professionally for 10 years. He earned an M.A. in Conservation Science from the University of Sussex and West Dean College in Chichester, United Kingdom, and a B.A. from the... Read More →

Saturday May 31, 2014 2:30pm - 4:00pm PDT
Grand Ballroom A

2:40pm PDT

(Collection Care + HVAC Session) Some trends in examining six-years of utility and climate data at the Museum of Modern Art

Seasonal trends in New York City weather patterns are compared to the museum’s consumption of electricity, gas, and steam between 2006 and 2013. Two locations are compared: the main campus in Manhattan on 53rd street and its storage facility in Long Island City, Queens. The former uses primarily electric and steam while the storage facility electric and gas. Climate data was obtained during the same time period with a frequency of at least twice an hour from a weather station in Central Park operated by the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). For the period examined there is a relatively abrupt rise in relative humidity in the Spring and a more gradual drop to lower humidity beginning in late summer and continuing through most of winter. Using conversion factors recommended by the local utility it was possible to plot the three different energy sources on a single graph in terms of kilojoules (KJ). At the museum’s main campus the highest consumption of energy takes place during the winter to provide heat and humidity. However, at the storage facility the largest amount of energy is consumed during the summer and is primarily related to reheating dehumidified air.

Speaker(s)

Jim Coddington

Chief Conservator, Museum of Modern Art

Ana Martins

Conservation Scientist, MoMA

Chris McGlinchey

Conservation Scientist, Museum of Modern Art

Chris joined the Museum of Modern Art in 1999 to setup the science section of the conservation department. Prior to that he worked in the paintings conservation department at the Metropolitan Museum of Art where he assisted with technical analysis of the collection and the development... Read More →

Saturday May 31, 2014 2:40pm - 3:00pm PDT
Pacific Concourse D-E

3:00pm PDT

(Collection Care + HVAC Session) Research on Mechanical System Shutdowns in Collection Storage Areas

This session will discuss the methodologies and final results of a four-year experiment into the use of mechanical system shutdowns as a method to achieve significant reductions in energy use in cultural institutions without compromising the preservation quality of collections environments. Research has shown that environmental conditions (temperature and relative humidity) are the most significant factors that impact the lifespan of cultural materials held by institutions. Mechanical systems in cultural environments are therefore frequently designed to run continuously in order to maintain the desired environmental conditions, often resulting in a high cost both monetarily and in energy consumption. Altering these conditions through changes in HVAC operating schedules is a risk many institutions have been hesitant to take.

The findings of the research show that the impact of shutdowns varies depending a number of factors, including geographic location and building structure, but that at each experimental site a shutdown routine was found that could successfully reduced energy consumption – sometimes by as much as 40% ¬– without sacrificing the quality of the preservation environment. In addition the research identified practices that informed a number of related subsidiary questions, including how to identify good candidate spaces for shutdowns, identifying the tools and methodology necessary for energy and preservation environment analysis, and the efficacy of various process management models. In addition to the final findings in both preservation and energy impact, this session will also discuss some of the unexpected lessons learned during the process as well as some beneficial side effects of the research and energy analysis at several of the institutions.

This four-year experiment was federally funded by the Institute for Museum and Library Services, and conducted by the Image Permanence Institute (IPI) at the Rochester Institute of Technology and their partner Peter Herzog, principal of Herzog/Wheeler & Associates, a Minnesota-based energy consulting firm. The experimental partners for the research were the Birmingham (AL) Public Library, Cornell University, the New York Public Library, the University of California, Los Angeles, and Yale University.

Speaker(s)

Jeremy Linden

Principal/Owner, Linden Preservation Services, Inc.

Saturday May 31, 2014 3:00pm - 3:20pm PDT
Pacific Concourse D-E

3:00pm PDT

(Architecture Session) The Effect of Primers on the Durability of Paint on Historic Exterior Wood

Primers and paint make up the protective surface of most wood structures. It is often a struggle to keep paint from peeling, blistering, or lifting from old wood, in part because of changes in temperature and humidity, but also because of poor adhesion to an aged, weathered surface. A more durable coating can mean a reduction in maintenance time and costs, and often less wear on a surface due to less intervention.

This study examined the performance of latex and oil-based primers and a water borne wood stabilizer/conditioner using three commercially-available brands: Pittsburg Paints, Sherwin-Williams, and Zinsser. Benjamin Moore’s low lustre finish acrylic paint was used as the top coat in all but the trial that used an all-in-one primer and paint product. White top coat was used in all trials to eliminate color as a variable. The coating systems included one coat of oil-based primer with two coats of paint, one coat of latex primer with two coats of paint, one coat of wood stabilizer with two coats of paint, two coats of an all-in-one primer plus paint, and one coat of paint (without primer.) All coatings were applied by brush to salvaged, historic wood siding (approximately 70 years old). The wood was cut into 4.5 by 7.5 centimeter samples and any loose paint was removed from the samples using a simple paint scraper, followed by light sanding. Each coating was allowed to dry according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Four trials were conducted for each application. Surface properties of the samples were measured before and after artificial weathering using a QUV Accelerated Weathering Tester. Laboratory tests included the use of a gloss meter, colorimeter, Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrometer (FTIR), contact angle goniometer, and scanning electron microscope (SEM). In addition, 20 individuals examined the samples visually and provided opinions on the condition of the samples after artificial weathering.

Speaker(s)

Carol Chin

Joint Faculty, National Center for Preservation Technology and Training

Carol S. Chin is a joint faculty researcher with the National Park Service’s National Center for Preservation Technology and Training (NCPTT) and a chemistry professor at Northwestern State University. She has 27 years of experience as a marine geochemist. She has been involved... Read More →

Saturday May 31, 2014 3:00pm - 3:30pm PDT
Garden Room

3:00pm PDT

(Electronic Media Session) Establishing Time Based Media Conservation at the National Galleries of Scotland; Creating More in Times of Less

The National Galleries of Scotland (NGS) houses a collection dating from the Renaissance to the modern day over three main sites in the city of Edinburgh, Scotland. Six conservators working across paper, paintings and frame conservation care for over 85,000 objects including 20 time based media works in the core collection. In 2012 the opportunity arose for one of the paper conservators to begin to establish time based media within the disciplines covered by the department. This paper will look at the approach taken and the aims, challenges and solutions proposed and addressed along the way.
With no history of this discipline at NGS, the initial challenges were for the conservator involved to gain the specialist knowledge required to enable rapid yet sustainable decision making and to create an effective conservation role where one previously did not exist as this area of the collection was being actively acquired and displayed by curatorial colleagues. In times of financial constraint, economically viable choices and solutions needed to be found within the boundaries of existing work programs to address not only the backlog of documentation and preservation decisions but to deal with new acquisitions and loans into the collection. Documentation formats needed to be developed alongside correct NGS procedures and these processes needed to be integrated into core working practices across all departments involved. An organic, rolling program of development was created and a multi-disciplinary working group established, chaired by the conservator, to bring together key staff with the aim of establishing the necessary lines of communication essential to the success of the project. The conservators’ role has often been to ensure that all parties involved are communicating effectively and making the best ethical decisions possible.
The Media Matters in Art project website was used as a key source of guidance and from this documentation templates and draft processes were evolved to meet the NGS specific context. Trials of the documentation and procedures are being undertaken using the loan and exhibition program and the related opportunities are being used as training for the conservator involved. Creative solutions have been found for the necessary professional development and next steps include creating a preservation management plan.
This paper will describe the process to date and present several models currently being considered for further development including use of a shared services scheme with the National Library of Scotland, access to further professional development through a shared collection with Tate, an Equipment Sharing Network currently being piloted at NGS and the use of a professional freelance register.

Speaker(s)

Kirsten Dunne

Paper Conservator, National Galleries of Scotland

Kirsten Dunne graduated from Edinburgh University in 1998 with a first class MA degree in History of Art. She then went on to study an MA in Conservation of Fine Art, specialising in works of art on paper at Northumbria University, graduating with a distinction in 2002. Her first... Read More →

Saturday May 31, 2014 3:00pm - 3:30pm PDT
Seacliff C-D

3:00pm PDT

(Objects Session) Testing and Implementation of Microclimate Storage Containers for Small Metals and Plastics

National Park Service (NPS) museum collections in the Intermountain Region include artwork, historic objects, prehistoric and historic archeological objects, and natural history specimens. Included in these collections are metals and plastics that sensitive to the environment. Microclimates have been used in various forms to protect these material types on exhibit and storage. Conservators in the NPS Intermountain Region Museum Services Program have been reassessing microclimates currently used and researching improved methods, including reviewing microclimate storage methods used in museum collections in the United States, Canada and Europe. Research has included examining accessibility to materials to create microclimates, ease of creation, ability to maintain a climate, ease of use to access objects inside, and maintenance. This paper summarizes research and testing to date.

Speaker(s)

Dana Senge-[PA]

Objects Conservator, National Park ServicenWestern Archeological and Conservation Center

Dana K. Senge is the Senior Conservator for the National Park Service's Intermountain Region Museum Services Program based in Tucson, Arizona. Dana holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Studio Art from Western Washington University, a Masters degree in Art Conservation from Buffalo State... Read More →

Saturday May 31, 2014 3:00pm - 3:30pm PDT
Grand Ballroom B

3:00pm PDT

(Paintings + Wooden Artifacts Session) Window of Opportunity: The Restoration Project of the Ghent Altarpiece

The Ghent Altarpiece by Jan and Hubert van Eyck (1432) is one of the most iconic works of Western Art as it embodies the birth of new skills and vision. It is still housed in Saint Bavo Cathedral (Ghent), the site for which it was created. Here it is seen by thousands of visitors a year. In October 2012, a five-year 1.2 million Euro restoration project by a team of conservators from the Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage (KIK-IRPA) began for this work.

A painting with this level of cultural importance could not be taken off view for an extended period of time. The decision was therefore made to conduct the three-phase treatment in a gallery in the Museum of Fine Arts Ghent behind a large glass window so the public could follow every step. This approach created the need to inform the visitors who are not accustomed to witnessing conservators at work. The window maintains a barrier but with its transparency, it creates new opportunities for engagement. How can the demystification of conservation work influence the perceived value of painting conservation and collection care? In what new ways can information exchange happen in this specific situation? Are there chances for misunderstanding or negative misinterpretation on the part of the museum visitor?

This paper will address the early experiences of conservators who, by working in the public eye, take on unforeseen responsibilities and challenges. These conservators must find the equilibrium between assisting with public outreach and conducting the treatment; all this while maintaining constant dialogue with the different partners and safeguarding a strict deadline for the project.

The author will explore these experiences in this very specific and complex project in the hope they can be useful and instructive for similar undertakings in the future.

Speaker(s)

Bart Devolder

Onsite Coordinator for the Restoration of the Ghent Altarpiece, Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage

Bart J. C. Devolder received his M.A. in painting conservation in 2002 at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp, Belgium. He held internships at the Akademia Sztuk Pieknych Krakow, Poland, the Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage (KIK-IRPA), Brussels and at the Musée du Louvre... Read More →

Saturday May 31, 2014 3:00pm - 3:30pm PDT
Bayview A-B

3:00pm PDT

(Photographic Materials Session) Technical Characterization of the Diane Arbus Archive

This talk will provide an update of research on the Diane Arbus Archive, acquired by The Metropolitan Museum of Art in December 2007. Primary objectives of this project include an overview survey, identification of treatment needs, characterization of photographic papers used by Diane Arbus, and further investigation into Arbus’ use of stabilization processing. Working closely with colleagues in other institutions on characterization techniques, we hope to create a resource for a deeper technical understanding of the work by this important American artist. Existing written documentation by the artist, oral history and research into the technical literature will be combined with physical evidence, paper fiber sampling and analysis, micro-raking surface mapping, macro RTI, XRF analysis of image and baryta layers, to shape a thorough history of the artist’s oeuvre from a technical viewpoint. The entirety of this artist’s archive offers an unparalleled opportunity to create a thorough technical resource of great importance to the history and preservation of the Archive a well as to photographers, collectors, conservators, and photography dealers internationally. This project will serve as a model for other institutions with photographer’s archives in need of characterization and preservation.

Speaker(s)

Janka Krizanova

Research Scholar in Photograph Conservation, Metropolitan Museum of Art

Janka Križanova is the current Research Scholar in Photograph Conservation at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Prior to this fellowship she taught photograph conservation and the recreation of historic photographic processes in the Conservation Department of the Academy of Fine Arts... Read More →

Co-Author(s)

Nora W. Kennedy

Sherman Fairchild Conservator in Charge, Photograph Conservation, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Photograph Conservation

Nora Kennedy is the Sherman Fairchild Conservator in Charge of Photograph Conservation at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. During her tenure at the Met she has worked on over 100 photograph exhibitions and continues to expand the Museum's initiatives in education and... Read More →

Saturday May 31, 2014 3:00pm - 3:30pm PDT
Grand Ballroom C

3:00pm PDT

(Health and Safety Session) Ergonomics in Collection Care

Ergonomics, the study of humans and the workplace, has been an important contributor to the understanding of the causes of musculoskeletal disorders in the workplace. These disorders including strains, sprains, tendinitis and related injuries are under-recognized hazards of collections work and are made worse by some aspects of museum workplaces and tasks.

Collections professionals often work in awkward and sustained positions in order to assure the integrity of collections. These positions and stresses have been recognized in manufacturing and service industries as major causes of musculoskeletal and neurological disorders that can cause temporary and permanent disabilities. Unlike employees in these other industries, collections workers may not have access to training, equipment and information to prevent these disorders. In addition, collection professionals have been known to disregard symptoms and safety concerns in order to meet exhibition or other deadlines (“The Show Must Go on Syndrome”).

Basic lessons from ergonomics about risks and prevention of these disorders in office work and specialized collections settings include understanding musculoskeletal cumulative trauma disorders (pathology and inflammatory reactions), their causation, and prevention. Case studies illustrate the ergonomic issues and recommended solutions in collection care activities.

Speaker(s)

David Hinkamp

Co-Director Health in the Arts Program, School of Public Health, University of Illinois at Chicago

Saturday May 31, 2014 3:00pm - 3:40pm PDT
Pacific Concourse F-G

3:20pm PDT

(Collection Care + HVAC Session) Question and Answer Period

Speaker(s)

Patricia Silence, [PA]

Director of Preventive Conservation, Colonial Williamsburg Foundation

Saturday May 31, 2014 3:20pm - 4:00pm PDT
Pacific Concourse D-E

3:30pm PDT

(Electronic Media Session) From Infancy to Adolescence) Growing an Electronic Media Conservation Program at the Denver Art Museum

Since 2006, the staff at the Denver Art Museum have been working towards establishing a comprehensive program for the care of its variable media collections. This paper will focus on electronic media, namely the preservation of video, audio, digital image, and software-based artworks in the collection, the initiatives and accomplishments to date, and future goals, as well as how institutional support for the program was garnered.

The Denver Art Museum holds electronic media in both its fine arts and design collections. There are 64 video, audio, digital image, and software-based artworks in the fine art collections. The majority of these artworks were given to the museum by collectors, so few were acquired directly from galleries or artists. The works came to the museum beginning in the 1980s in a variety of formats and states of preservation.

In addition, there are 600+ electronic media works in the design collection. These came to the museum through an agreement made in 2007 with the American Institute for Graphic Arts. Since then, the DAM has been the repository for the award-winning entries made to the AIGA‘s annual competitions, dating back to 1984. The digital-based holdings are anticipated to grow considerably with each annual gift.

Rigorous steps towards establishing protocols began in 2010 for Blink!, the exhibition in which 55 electric and electronic media artworks were on display. Of those works, 38 were drawn from the museum’s collection. The experience of preparing the works for Blink! both reinforced the need for a systematic preservation program for this class of artworks and really moved the program forward.

Since Blink!, the museum has dedicated space and equipment to an electronic media preservation lab and a systematic migration program for video works in the fine arts collections has begun. Collaboration with a range of colleagues of varying expertise has been crucial in establishing protocols for documentation and preservation, including Non-Exclusive Licensing Agreements, review of media and determining formats for preservation and display, as well as developing relationships with outside vendors.

Speaker(s)

Sarah Melching-[PA]

Silber Director of Conservation, Denver Art Museum

Sarah Melching received her M.A.C. in paper conservation from Queen's University. She also had additional training at the Library of Congress, National Gallery of Canada, and the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. From 1992-2007, Sarah was in private practice in the Pacific Northwest... Read More →

Kate Moomaw

Conservator, Denver Art Museum

Kate Moomaw trained in objects and modern materials at the Conservation Center of the Institute of Fine Arts at New York University, graduating in 2007. She has completed a graduate internship at the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam and postgraduate fellowships at the Tate in London... Read More →

Saturday May 31, 2014 3:30pm - 4:00pm PDT
Seacliff C-D

3:30pm PDT

(Paintings + Wooden Artifacts Session) The Analysis and Removal of an Intractable Coating for the Panel Painting by Lluis Borrassa, Christ before Pilate

The deterioration of an early 15th century panel painting (originally from an altarpiece since dismembered) attributed to the Spanish artist Luis Borrassa, has been studied to devise a method to remove intractable restoration materials from the painting, particularly on the blue robes of the Christ figure, which appeared black.

Many panel paintings from the 14th to 16th centuries have come down to the present day with the original colors altered by previous restoration. This is especially true in the blue robes of Christ or the saints in which lapis lazuli or azurite blues are the primary pigment. Historically, the blue pigments are loosely bound and easily abraded when subjected to traditional solvent cleaning methods typically used for the removal of soot, wax, and natural resin varnishes. Often compounding the problem is the consolidation of the paint layer with animal glues and later with drying oils, which have often cross-linked and darkened, in some cases to almost black. This is further complicated by the addition of restoration paint and glazes to cover losses and abrasion.

This is the case with the Borrassa, where the blue robe of Christ looked essentially black. A half century ago in an unsuccessful attempt to correct the problem and conceal additional damages to the painting, a restorer applied a pigmented varnish of a dark amber color. The toned varnish imparted an overall uniform tone to the painting and cosmetically obscured the existing damages. In the current treatment, solvent methods were effective in removing the toned varnish from the painting, but not the composite layer of old consolidant, cross-linked drying oil, and restoration from the blue robes and other blue passages in the composition.

After extensive analytic studies the intractable restoration layer was identified by conservation scientists from the University of Pisa in conjunction with Duke University using GC/MS, FTIR, Scanning Electron Microscope and Microanalysis. The materials in the composite layer were identified as a combination of cross-linked drying oil and animal glues combined with natural resin varnish tinted with pigment. Testing was carried out successfully with the Er:YAG laser and the encrustation was removed or substantially reduced leaving intact the original lapis pigments.

This presentation will consider the analytic findings and demonstrate the Er:YAG laser methods for removing intractable materials without causing damage to the original surface. The Er:YAG laser operates at 2.94 microwatts, using pulsed laser energy to vaporize debris. The laser energy is confined to a surface depth of no more than a few microns, providing a natural barrier to energy penetration into underlying layers.

Speaker(s)

William P. Brown

Chief Conservator, North Carolina Museum of Art

Prof. Adele de Cruz

Associate Aj.Professor, Duke University

Painting conservator, Conservation scientist, Inventor of use of Er:YAG laser in fine arts conservation.

Saturday May 31, 2014 3:30pm - 4:00pm PDT
Bayview A-B

3:30pm PDT

(Photographic Materials Session) Characterization of Platinum Prints: Comparative Study of Platinum Prints in the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston Collection And the Early 20th Century Kodak Platinum Print Samples

Nine platinum print samples produced by Kodak in the turn of the 20th century are studied using a variety of photographic documentation techniques, micro-raking texture analysis, X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (XRF), and spectrophotometry. These are commercial samples of platinum print papers Eastman Kodak Company marketed between c.1902 and c.1910, and they are identified by their product names printed within the image or stamped on verso. Ten platinum prints from the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston are selected for comparative study. Based on the characteristics of the papers identified through a series of analysis, the print by Gertrude Käsebier, Lucille Tomajon is found to be a close match with the Kodak Etching Sepia, Smooth paper.

Speaker(s)

Saori Kawasumi Lewis-[PA]

Assistant Conservator, Photography, Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art

Saori Lewis is a photography conservator at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City, MO. She earned Bachelor of Arts in English Language from the Seinan Gakuin University in Fukuoka Japan, Bachelor of Fine Arts in photography from Kansas City Art Institute in Kansas City, MO... Read More →

Saturday May 31, 2014 3:30pm - 4:00pm PDT
Grand Ballroom C

3:40pm PDT

(Health and Safety Session) Speaker Q&A and Yoga Stretches

Session Moderator(s)

Kathryn Makos

Industrial Hygienist (Retired), Smithsonian Institution (Ret.)

Saturday May 31, 2014 3:40pm - 4:00pm PDT
Pacific Concourse F-G

4:00pm PDT

(Closing Session) The Great Debate

Are you ready for San Francisco and all that goes with the AIC Annual Meeting?

The one thing I know I am ready for is the 2014 AIC Great Debate (4:00 – 6:00 pm on Saturday, May 31). And this one is going to be bigger and better than ever! Again, I will have my crew, Kristen Adsit and Laura Kubick on hand to help emcee the event. And again there will be a cash bar to keep things running smoothly. Will I be the only one wearing a bow tie? We’ll just have to see on that one.

But this time around I wanted to shake it up a little and have a topic debated by teams of “Rookies” (current graduate students) and another topic debated by teams of “Veterans” (folks that have been in the field for many years). With the added twist that rookies got to choose the debate topic in which the veterans have to debate, and vice versa. I thought this would be a good way to see the topics that each side wanted to hear about from the other.

While the old fogies, er veterans, quickly came up with their topic for the rookies to debate, it took the rookies a lot longer to come up with a solid topic for the veterans. Maybe the rookies were nervous, busy with graduate school, or maybe they wanted to take their time and come up with a topic that would make the veterans sweat a bit. In any case, this is whole thing is meant to show that conservators are clever enough to not take themselves so seriously, and that we can see both sides of any topic.

I created the Great Debate to be a fun, intellectual exercise and a place where debaters are challenged to debate from a position that they may not represent, or agree with (it’s not really a place to represent your institution, company, or any kind of official view point). And remember, a team wins the Debate by convincing you, the folks in the audience, to change your mind about the topic.

2014 AIC Great Debate

The rookies will be the first to debate and then the veterans will take the stage for the main event. So without further ado, here are the topics, teams, and sides:

Rookies Debate Topic:

“The most important aspect of conservation practice is no longer the treatment of cultural property.”

Rookies Team 1: Affirmative

Marie-Lou Beauchamp
Jena Hirschbein
Alexandra Nichols

Rookies Team 2: Negative

Tessa Gadomski
Tom McClintock
Kari Rayner

Veterans Debate Topic:

“AIC is successfully promoting the advancement of recently-graduated conservators in today’s work force.”

Veterans Team 1: Affirmative

John Burke
Thomas Edmondson
Paul Himmelstein

Veterans Team 2: Negative

Margaret Ellis
Rick Kerschner
Joyce Hill Stoner

If you want some background info on the Great Debate, here are links to the articles I wrote for the past two Debates in this blog: 2013 Great Debate, 2012 Great Debate.

See you San Francisco!

-Richard McCoy

Saturday May 31, 2014 4:00pm - 6:00pm PDT
Grand Ballroom A

General Session, Closing

9:00am PDT

Angels Project

Limited Capacity seats available

Since 1988, as part of its Annual Meeting, AIC works with local conservators to develop an Angels Project. The primary goal of an Angels Project is to promote a broader understanding of the importance of cultural preservation while providing meaningful assistance to important local collections. Sites for past projects include the Naval Historical Center in Washington, D.C. and the American Alpine Club in Golden, Colorado.

Sunday June 1, 2014 9:00am - 5:00pm PDT
California Historical Society 678 Mission St, San Francisco, CA 94105

9:00am PDT

(Tour) Napa Valley – The Art of Wine

Limited Capacity seats available