Month: February 2012

ECPN January Meeting Minutes

ECPN MEETING MINUTES

Monday, January 30, 2012

Conference Call Attendees:

Molly Gleeson (Chair)

Eliza Spaulding (Vice Chair)

Carrie Roberts (co-Professional Education and Training)

Megan Salazar-Walsh (co-Outreach Coordinator)

Amy Brost (Communications Officer)

Stephanie Lussier (Board Liaison)

Ryan Winfield (AIC Staff)

Ruth Seyler (AIC Staff)

Gwen Manthey

Robin O’Hern (CSCP)

Rebecca Rushfield (ETC)

Stephanie Porto (CAC-ECC)

Amber Harwood (CAC-ECC liaison)

Abigail Charnov (Architectural Conservators)

Genevieve Bieniosek (E&T Committee)

Lee Ann Barnes Gordon (OSG liaison)

 

1. Roll Call – Eliza Spaulding took roll.

 

2. Minutes Approval (Molly) – December meeting minutes were approved.

 

3. Welcome Abby Aldrich, our new Co-Chair of Professional Education and Training (Molly) – Replacing Amber Kerr-Allison, will serve until the 2013 AIC annual meeting.

 

4. AIC 2012 Meeting

a. ECPN Informational Meeting (Molly) – Informational meeting, open to all attendees, Tue. May 8 from 5-6 pm.  Same day as workshops and tours.  Eliza and Molly will organize it and print the agenda.  Hoping committee members, board and staff liaisons will all be there.  Can begin discussing how to promote these events.  Tue. May 8 following the meeting, 6 pm, the Happy Hour will begin.

 

b. ECPN Happy Hour (Megan) – Bar in the Hyatt, hoping for about 30-35 people.  They can accommodate up to 50 people.  There is a rooftop bar/nightclub in a neighboring hotel, with a Tue. night movie event, so it was not a good fit.  Not as conducive to conversations.  Other nearby venues were also nightclubs.  Bar in the Hyatt was the best choice.  May also get more people being located in the conference hotel.  Ruth will help, and liaise with the hotel so they are aware that this event is part of the AIC Annual Meeting.  As point person, Ruth can also help to determine the best location, because she will be visiting the venue before the meeting.  Happy Hour and time can be promoted in advance, even if venue is not final.

 

c. Portfolio Session (Carrie) – Invitation to program leaders went out last Friday.  One student already responded.  Carrie is informing interested students of the times for the session, and after all responses gathered, will discuss how to follow up.  Thursday break, 10 a.m., and lunch in Exhibit Hall from noon to 1 p.m., and then a break at 4 p.m.  The portfolio sessions will be during the Thursday breaks.  This also overlaps with the poster session at 4 p.m. and pulls traffic out of the Exhibit Hall, which is Ruth’s concern.  In the future, overlapping with just one break would be better.  At least, do not have the portfolio session over the lunch.

 

d. ECPN Poster (Carrie) – Over the past month, the poster working group has been brainstorming and gathering volunteer contributions.  There have been posts to the blog, Facebook, and CIPP, to solicit input for case studies.  Mid-February date to get back to people.  Working group will discuss follow-up in the coming week or two.  Want to have a broad range of outreach examples for the poster.

 

e. Promotion of AIC Events (Molly and Ruth) – Promote after early rate closes for registration.  The website is still in transition, so will place this content into the new website.  ECPN could start promoting events on Facebook and the blog.  Content could be written and sent to Ruth and Ryan for promotional purposes.  Amy, Anisha, and Megan can assist.

 

5. Mentorship Program Update (Ryan and Eliza) – Eliza, Ryan, Stephanie, and Molly discussed the timeline on a conference call.  Ryan has reached out to current applicants, and many still interested in being matched.  Ryan sent a follow-up survey to identify the specific projects the mentors and mentees are interested in.  That will create more targeted goals and improved matches.  Responses still coming in.  Will review that information early next week, and make matches.  Will continue to revise the program and roll out the revised program at this year’s AIC meeting.

 

6. Regional Liaisons Update (Megan and Anisha) – Have contacted potential liaisons and many have responded with interest. About a dozen (list is on the writeboard in Basecamp).  Anisha is working on a blog post to announce new ones, and put out a call for more volunteers.  Kick-off call sometime in February.  Will do a Doodle poll to find a time that works for everyone.  Give them a platform to share ideas, think about events and how to promote them, and have more experienced liaisons share tips and experiences.  Calls will be quarterly.  Will keep encouraging them to be involved.  Would love to have people post photos, announcements, etc. on the Facebook page, to let the network know.  Promote professional development opportunities across the country, and activities of allied groups.  Molly asked that Megan and Anisha copy Ruth, Ryan, Stephanie, Molly, and others on the ECPN committee to see if they want to be involved in the Regional Liaison calls as well.

 

7. ANAGPIC 2012 (Eliza) – Eliza reached out to NYU.  It will be April 12-14.  Eliza asked Michele Marincola for a 10-minute presentation by ECPN.  Professor Marincola indicated that the program was very full already, but she would look for other windows for a presentation.  Eliza responded that a 5-minute talk would work, or an alternative could be a handout or flier to be included with the conference material.  Amy indicated that she did a flier for last year’s ANAGPIC.  Can be updated for this year.  This can be discussed on our next call.  Molly indicated that adding the events scheduled for the annual meeting would be great.  Genevieve mentioned that hearing Ryan talk about ECPN at last year’s ANAGPIC was valuable, and so was the flier. The idea of a poster was discussed but then dismissed, thinking that it wasn’t a good fit with the rest of the posters at ANAGPIC, which often focus on student research.

 

8. Student research database (Carrie) – Questionnaire was developed to get feedback on the concept, and gauge interest in and commitment to the project.  Questionnaire to seven programs.  Have gotten some critical feedback from three of the programs so far.  Need to see if remaining programs intend to answer the questionnaire, or intend to support the project.  Waiting for NYU, Buffalo, Penn, and University of Texas.  Busy time during applications, but important to gauge their interest.  Carrie asked if anyone could inquire with their program leader.  Megan will speak to Buffalo.  Rebecca can speak to Michele at NYU.  Molly will contact UPenn and UT. Carrie will provide all with a few summary questions to ask the programs.  Working group will schedule a call to discuss all feedback, after giving it a week to see if the summary questions can be answered.

 

9. Forum call survey (Amy and Ryan) – The idea is to hold quarterly Forum Calls where the wider ECPN network is invited to call in and participate in a discussion on a specific topic of interest.  The monthly calls, by contrast, are mostly focused on committee business, and despite the open call-in policy, it is rare to have new people calling in. A survey was developed to gauge interest in the idea, as well as ask the network to rate possible topics and scheduling options.  It will be sent out soon, perhaps this week, pending Ryan checking with Ruth on the e-blast schedule.  It will go to the ECPN interest list.  The email can be forwarded on to other emerging conservators.  Encourage people in the wider network to fill this out.  Would like to get feedback from membership before organizing topics.

 

10. Canadian Association for Conservation’s Emerging Conservators Committee (CAC-ECC): introductions and discussion of future collaboration (Stephanie Porto, Amber Harwood (Queens liaison and regional representative for CAC), Meaghan Monaghan (Co-Chair)) – Communicated with the program students at ANAGPIC last year with a poster and are contributing to the ECPN blog.  Want to let program students know that this group is active in Canada.  Will continue posting to the blog, and also looking for more ways to collaborate.  Perhaps have emerging conservators interview established conservators, and include the interview in the CAC Bulletin.  However, it’s only available to members.  Perhaps post them online also, as ECPN blog posts.  Amber is hoping to talk about the group at ANAGPIC, and will reach out to Eliza and NYU.  There will be a student poster session, but focused on research, so perhaps a flier or short talk, as ECPN was hoping to do.  Eliza will coordinate with Stephanie and Amber about promoting ECPN and CAC-ECC at ANAGPIC.

 

11. Committee positions turning over and extending – Communications Coordinator, Amy’s position, is turning over at the annual meeting.  She has served in the role since September of 2010.  This vacancy will be announced in the March AIC News, and March 1 on the blog and Facebook page.  Application deadline will be first week of April.  New officer would be announced at annual meeting, and the new officer’s term would begin just after that.  Eliza, Anisha, and Megan will extend to 2013.  Eliza will be Chair for a year after 2013.  This was done to bring ECPN officer terms in line with what is done on other AIC committees, which have positions that turn over at the AIC meeting.

 

12. Schedule date/time for next call – Tuesday, February 21, 1 p.m.  The call will be pushed from the usual Monday due to Presidents’ Day.  Amy cannot attend.  Eliza will take minutes.

 

13. Wiki Edit-a-Thon – Ending tomorrow.  Will discuss ECPN involvement on next call.

 

Next call: Tuesday, February 21, at 1 pm ET.

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

Amy Brost

 

 

The AIC Committee on Sustainable Conservation Practice Seeks Member

The AIC Committee on Sustainable Conservation Practice
Seeks Member

Term: May 2012- May 2014

The committee aims to:
• Provide resources for AIC members and other caretakers of cultural heritage regarding environmentally sustainable approaches to preventive care and other aspects of conservation practice. Resources may be provided via electronic media, workshops, publications and presentations.
• Define research topics and suggest working groups as needed to explore sustainable conservation practices and new technologies.

Membership Parameters:
• The committee is comprised of 8 voting members.
• Members serve for two years, with an additional two-year term option.
• One member is a conservation graduate student.
• One member serves as chair for two years.
• During the second year of the chair’s term, another member serves as chair designate, assisting with and learning the chair’s responsibilities.
• As needed, corresponding (non-voting) members and non-AIC experts will be invited to guide research on special topics.

Tasks:
• Telephone conference calls with the committee members- about once a month.
• Research, write and edit the AIC Wiki Sustainable Practices Page.
• Participate in researching and writing any group presentations or publications.
• Guide related working groups.

Please submit a statement of purpose (1 page maximum length) and your resume by March 18, 2012 to Sarah Nunberg, committee Chair.

Contact:
Sarah Nunberg
snunberg [at] aol [dot] com

A Thank You

The following has been reposted here from the Textile Specialty Group’s mailing list, TSG-Discuss, with the author’s permission.

Having been a textile conservator at the MMA for over 30 years, I confess that in some ways I kept to myself and did not always participate actively in the Textile Specialty Group endeavors,(though maintained my membership throughout my professional career.)

Now that I am preparing to teach a course on Textile Conservation at the UCLA/Cotsen/Getty Villa program on archaeological conservation, I would like to sincerely thank all of you who have put so much time, energy, professional thought and your personal and intellectual experience into what has become the WIKI– TEXTILES project.

It is a tremendous service to the field, and all of us can benefit from it.
Christine Giuntini, Susan Heald, Meridith Montague, Mary Ballard, Lucy Commoner, Kathy Francis, Deborah Trupin, Sarah Stevens, Jane Merritt,Susan Mathisen, Denyse Montegut, Sara J. Wolf and EVERYONE who contributed in the past untold hours to make this project what it is, and to those who continue to contribute now their time and effort into this project — all deserve a huge thanks and recognitition of the work that has gone into the project.

I personally and professionally truly appreciate what you have done, and think it is a great project. It is so useful on so many levels, designed with forsight and integrity, filling a big need for the profession.

I just wanted at this time to thank you all for your efforts. It is and will be a great resource for so many.
Best,
Elena

Elena Phipps
President, Textile Society of America (2011-2014)

Call for Papers: Reaching and Teaching Through Material Culture Symposium at Winterthur

On September 28-29, 2012, a symposium at Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library will mark the 60th anniversary of Winterthur/University of Delaware graduate education. Speakers are not limited to Winterthur graduates and will address the following topics:

  • What to Collect & How to Maintain: Availability, Acquisition, Responsibility
  • Technology and Accessing Collections
  • Balancing Intellectual Relevance with Popular Interest
  • The Role of Cultural Heritage Professionals in World Events.

The symposium will present subjects relevant to material culture and conservation. Speakers may be alumni of the Winterthur Program in American Material Culture, the Winterthur/University of Delaware Program in Art Conservation (est. 1974), and from other institutions and programs.

The symposium structure will explore the topics through five-minute lightening rounds, twenty- to thirty-minute presentations, and discussion with speaker panels. Please review the more detailed information on each topic at the end of this announcement.

Scholars and independent consultants, museum and allied professionals, and conservators are invited to submit a 100- to 200-word abstract for their proposed topic. Proposals are due February 27th for review by the Winterthur Fellows board; announcements will be made by March 19th. Please send abstracts via email to info@sowf.org. For general information about the symposium, please visit www.sowf.org/symposium2012.

In addition, to highlight a broad spectrum of accomplishments in the related fields, a “slide show” will present relevant institutional and individual projects either underway or completed. All are invited to apply by providing a digital image of yourself or your institution/project/publication, etc., with up to five bullet points outlining the goals/successes. Topics can relate to various aspects of cultural management, including fundraising, institutional expansion, actual or virtual exhibitions and public programs, art conservation, advocacy, publication, and more. Please send submissions to the contact information above.

Thank you,
Society of Winterthur Fellows Board
The symposium is sponsored by the Society of Winterthur Fellows

 

Conservator uncovers an early 20th century fraud; debunks myth about a 19th century painting

A February 12, 2012 article in The New York Times (“Mrs. Lincoln, I Presume? Well, As It Turns Out, Portrait Is Deemed Hoax”, by Patricia Cohen) announced that the portrait of Mary Todd Lincoln owned by the Illinois Historical Society since 1976 and displayed in the governor’s mansion is a fraud. Said to have been painted in secret by Francis Bicknell Carpenter as a surprise for the President but never presented to him because of his assassination, the painting is actually an anonymous 19th century portrait of an unknown woman that was doctored in the 1920s and then sold to Lincoln’s descendants. Conservator Barry Bauman who was given the painting to clean in 2011 and who had seen it previously in the 1970s when it was brought to the Art Institute of Chicago for treatment, was instrumental in revealing the truth about the painting.

Help save Giotto’s frescoes

If plans go through and an auditorium and a multistory building are constructed close to the Scrovegni Chapel (also known as the Arena Chapel) in Padua, home to Giotto’s frescos, the stability of the building and its decorations will be compromised. An international campaign is under way to postpone the construction until the Chapel’s foundations can be fortified. English language information about the campaign can be found at http://storiedellarte.com/2012/02/save-giotto-english-version.html

Conference on Modern Chemical in the Protection of Cultural Heritage (MCTPCH)

International Conference on Modern Chemical Technology in the Protection of Cultural Heritage
MCTPCH 2012
Xi’an, China
September 21-22, 2012

Organizer: Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, China
Sponsor: School of Science, Xi’an Jiaotong University

Supported by:

Chemistry Department, School of Science, Xi’an Jiaotong
University, China

Institute of the Protection for Cultural Heritage, Xi’an
Jiaotong University, China

Rathgen Research Laboratory, the National Museum of Berlin,
Germany

The National Basic Research Program of China (973 Program,
No.2012CB720904)

The International Conference on Modern Chemical Technology in the Protection of Cultural Heritage, China 2012 (China MCTPCH 2012) will be held on September 21-22, 2012 in Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, China. The conference will focus on modern analytical technology in the conservation of cultural heritage, development and application of nondestructive detection technology, research on the protective materials, natural protective materials and traditional protective technology, the cross-discipline subjects between chemistry and other disciplines, and the development direction in protection of Culture Heritage.

Chairpersons:

Prof. Ling He
School of Science, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, China

Prof. Stefan Simon
Rathgen Research Laboratory
National Museums Berlin, Germany
Adjunct Professor of Xi’an Jiaotong University

Academic Committee (in alphabetical order of surnames):

Prof. Vincent Detalle
Laboratoire de Recherche des Monuments Historiques, Champs sur
Marne, France

Prof. Nicholas Eastaugh
University of Oxford, England

Prof. Erwin Emmerling
Technology University of Munich, Germany

Prof. Christoph HermH
Hochschule fur Bildende Kunste, Dresden, Germany

Prof. Weidong Li
Shanghai Institute of Ceramics
Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China

Prof. Haida Liang
Nottingham Trent University, England

Prof. Ling He
Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, China

Prof. Zhou Lu
Tsinghua University
Beijing, China

Prof. Hongjie Luo
Shanghai University, China

Prof. Qinlin Ma
China National Institute of Cultural Property, Beijing, China

Prof. Tao Ma
Conservation and Restoration Academy
Key Scientific Research Base of Conservation on Brick and Stone
Materials, Xi’an, China

Prof. Rocco Mazzeo
University of Bologna, Italy

Prof. Rolf Snethlage
Bamberg, Germany

Prof. Bomin Su
Dunhuang Academy
Key Scientific Research Base of Conservation for Ancient Mural
State Administration for Cultural Heritage Dunhuang, China

Prof. Xudong Wang
Dunhuang Academy
Dunhuang, China

Prof. Binjian Zhang
Zhejiang University
Hangzhou, China

Prof. Tie Zhou
Museum of the Terra-Cotta Warriors and Horses of Qin Shihuang,
Key Scientific Research Institute for Ancient Polychrome Pottery
Conservation, Xi’an, China

The Theme of the Conference: Modern analytical technology in the
conservation of cultural heritage

Development and application of nondestructive detection
technology

Research on protective materials

Investigation on natural protective materials and traditional
protective technology

Study on the cross-discipline subjects between chemistry and
other disciplines

Development direction in the protection of Cultural Heritage

Call for Abstracts and Papers

Abstracts: Participants are invited to submit abstracts before March
30, 2012.

Abstracts should be submitted in English

Papers

The manuscript should focus on the theme of this conference and has not been published or submitted elsewhere;

In the manuscript, the description of some experimental principles and data is clear and accurate;

The manuscript should include the title, authors, affiliation, abstract (200 words), key words, text and contact information (telephone, address and zipcode);

Sign the name of topics in the upper right corner of your manuscripts;

The manuscript should be saved in the native format of the wordprocessor used and the length is limited to 3000 words;

Please ensure that every reference cited in the text is also present in the reference list (and vice versa).

Please submit your abstracts and papers by email to

heling [at] mail__xjtu__edu__cn
s.simon [at] smb__spk-berlin__de

The manuscripts will be peer reviewed and selected by the scientific committee of the conference. The second announcement will be sent on late July, 2012.

Deadline for Abstracts: March 30, 2012
Notification of abstract acceptance: April 30, 2012
Deadline for papers: July 30, 2012
Notification of paper acceptance: August 15, 2012

Registration Fees (RMB): The registration fees in September 21-22,
2012 include:

Welcome reception
Coffee breaks and food
Conference Kit (Bag and Scientific Program etc)

Fees: 1200 Yuan for Chinese representative, 600 Yuan for Chinese student representative and 600 Yuan for accompanying person. Note: The invited speakers will be free of charge.

Accommodation: We will make hotel reservations for you (4-star). The rate is about 280-600 Yuan per day.

Weather: The weather in Xi’an is fine in September with a temperature range between 15 – 25 deg. C.

Organizing Committee

Ling He
+86 29 82668554
+89 13088968385
heling [at] mail__xjtu__edu__cn

Junyan Liang
+86 13572904264
junyan [at] stu__xjtu__edu__cn

Zhongmin Zhu
+86 29 82663914
+86 13709211668
zmzhu [at] mail__xjtu__edu__cn

Department of Chemistry
School of Science
Xi’an Jiaotong University,
No.28, Xianning West Road
Xi’an, Shaanxi, 710049, P.R. China
+86 29 82663914
+86 29 82668554
Fax: +86 29 82668559

BROMEC 33, the Bulletin of Research on Metal Conservation is now available online

BROMEC 33, the Bulletin of Research on Metal Conservation is now
available online at the following websites:

http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/sci/physics/research/condensedmatt/sims/bromec

http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/Metals-Conservation-Discussion-Group/

http://www.icom-cc.org/10/documents?catId=13&subId=127

Nine research abstracts and five announcements are presented,
together with the usual lists of related contacts and informative
metal research/conservation websites and discussion groups.

You will find English, French and Spanish language versions for
downloading as PDF documents.

As a reader, or potential contributor, we trust you will find this
issue informative and useful.

BROMEC Editorial Team

Anglophone Editor and Translator:
James Crawford

Francophone Coeditor:
Michel Bouchard

Hispanophone Coeditor:
Emilio Cano

Francophone Translators:

Nathalie Richard
Elodie Guilminot
Marc Voisot

Hispanophone Translators:

Diana Lafuente
Inmaculada Traver

Call for Volunteers–University College London

UCL Special Collections seek conservation volunteers to help clean
and preserve its renowned collections of rare books and archives.
This work will lead to some of these collections being digitised. If
you’d like to help us with this important programme, and thereby
gain valuable experience in the field of library collections
preservation and care, please contact:

Fred Bearman ACR
Preservation Librarian
UCL Library Services
University College London
Gower Street
London WC1E 6BT
f.bearman [at] ucl__ac__uk

Mobile Technology for Conservation

The Washington Conservation Guild is a  professional organization for conservators in the Washington DC area.  Every January we hold a mini-conference the “3-Ring” meeting which offers three series of programs on three different topics.  This year my fellow Guild member Lisa Young and I developed a “Mobile Technology for Conservation” Ring.  The capabilities of mobile technology are growing by leaps and bounds and we wanted to share the ways in which people are using mobile technology and encourage our colleagues to explore the world of tablets and Apps and perhaps report back next year.

The first presentation was by Amber Kerr-Allison, a paintings conservator at the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s Lunder Conservation Center.  Amber has been using an iPad and the App PDF Notes to do on-site condition assessments of paintings.

The second presentation was by Jenny Wiley of Heritage Preservation.  When I started looking for Apps to feature at this session, one of my first thoughts was “wouldn’t it be nifty if the Disaster Wheel was an App?”, and in a delightful coincidence, the response from Heritage Preservation was, “Yes, it’s in beta testing right now”.

The third presentation was by me and Lisa.  We talked about various Apps we had found to be useful in our daily conservation work; I like the free light meter App for iPhone and Lisa likes molecule and plastics related Apps.  I had iPads and an Asus droid tablet loaded with demo Apps for people to experiment with after the talk.  We were not trying to present a definitive list but rather ideas for getting started and exploring this rapidly growing world.