Month: May 2012

AIC’s 40th Annual Meeting, A Successful Treatment Method for Reducing Dye Bleed on a 19th-Century Sampler, by Katherine Sahmel and Laura Mina

Conservation of an 1832 Scottish sampler in the collection of the Philadelphia Museum of Art was begun by Winterthur student Katherine Sahmel while an intern at the PMA and continues with FIT student Laura Mina, the current intern.

This outstanding sampler is part of the Whitman collection and is notable not only for its design but also for its provenience and the existence of photographs of the main building depicted in the embroidery. Prior to acquisition, the sampler was apparently washed causing extensive bleeding of green and red dyes. It has not been exhibited due to this unfortunate condition.

The dyes were analyzed by Ken Sutherland using FTIR, identifying Indigo Carmine as the probable blue component of the fugitive green dye.

Initial tests to reduce the dye bleeding with standard solvents and surfactants were not fruitful so Ms Sahmel applied the modular cleaning system developed by Richard Wolbers. Tests on small samples of threads from the back of the sampler led to the choice of a combined cleaning solution of EDTA (ethylenediaminetetraacetate)1% and TEA (triethylanolamine) .5%.

This system for cleaning requires extended contact with the textile, minimal wetting, and protection of surrounding embroidery threads. Cyclododecane was applied to the front and back adjacent embroidery yarns. A poultice of cleaning solution in methyl cellulose was then prepared and applied to the dye bleed. After treatment the methyl cellulose was removed and flushed with revcerse osmosis water before drying the treated area under suction.

The pros to this treatment was successful removal of dye bleed with minimal effect on adjacent threads. Cons include difficulty in clearing the methyl cellulose poultice and the high ph of the cleaning solution on the wool threads. When Laura Mina took over the project she modified the poultice to use agaros gel, which is easily prepared and removed. The cleaning solution was adjusted to add more TEA.

This research has wise applications in textile conservation, and sampler conservation in ap[rticular. It is non hazardous and requires no fume hood. Stay tuned for an exhibit of the Whitman Samplers coming to the PMA.

AIC’s 40th Annual Meeting, Repair of 20th-Century Leavers Lace, by Annie-Beth Ellington

Lever’s Lace is a type of machine-made lace that provides a similar product to hand-made bobbin lace. Its structure and relatively low-status in museum collections have made it an uncommon target for conservation treatments. The author’s graduate thesis research for her MA at the University of Rhode Island both brings to light this historic textile and provides guidance in how to undertake stabilization of damaged samples.

In 1813 John Lever modified a loom to make Lever’s Lace, and subsequent addition of Jacquard technology in 1849 increased the range of the product. It was imported to the US in 1910 to make mosquito netting and other simple structures, eventually creating the decorative lace familiar to many people. Lever’s lace consists of a ground of twisted warps. Patterns or ornaments outlined by a heaver thread are accomplished with bobbins.

The author experimented with mock-ups of the structure to better understand the challenges of repairs. She then tensioned a piece of damaged lace over a black fabric-covered board. A photocopy of the pattern area was inserted beneath to act as a guide. Using a microscope, she floated 40 denier nylon threads across areas of loss following the pattern. The author quickly found that intervention could cause additional unraveling of damages areas, so she changed to using Jade adhesive on broken thread ends prior to repairs.

Repair of Levers Lace is slow and dyeing nylon thread to match colors would only add to the project time. However with further development this technique will guide future conservators.

AIC’s 40th Annual Meeting, Recovery and Conservation of the Textile Collections at the National Museum of Music, Alina Vazquez De Arazoza

Alina Vazquez de Arazoza is one of 20 Latin American colleagues who were able to join us at the 40th Annual AIC meeting thanks to funding from the Getty. Ms Vazquez requested that our colleague Amparo Ruedas read her paper to the TSG.

In 1971, a former Colonial mansion located in Havana was converted to the National Museum of Music. It contains, among its diverse collections, costumes of prominent Cuban musicians and banners from musical groups. The majority of collection dates to the 20th century, but several important 19th century items are also preserved. Among these is the glove of Perucheo Figueredo, the author of Cuba’s national anthem, and great great grandfather of Amparo Ruedas, giving added meaning to this presentation.

The renovation of the museum building provided the opportunity for the author to survey the collection, undertake conservation treatments prior to rehousing and exhibition, and do biographical research into the artists represented by the collection. She worked in collaboration with CENCREM (Centro Nacional de Conservacion, Restauracion y Museologia) which provided a facility and analytical assistance, all at no charge!

In general the collection was in fair condition. Items were dirty, distorted from poor storage, and dry, despite the tropical climate and lack of adequate environmental conditions. Humidity had taken a toll on some items, however, as seen by corroded metal trims, associated staining, some water damage with dye migration, and some insect damage. Much of the collection also exhibited yellowing.

The author undertook analysis of items in order to prepare a proposal for conservation. SEM results confirmed fiber content of organic and metal components. Much of the collection is hand made, though industrially produced items and commercial labels were noted and researched. The presence of prior repairs were documented, as well as types of adhesives that had been employed. Parameters of the conservation project were set out identify which textiles needed surface cleaning, aqueous or solvent cleaning, which prior repairs would be reversed.

What impressed me most about Ms Vazquez’s and her project are the advanced level of treatment skills, storage and conservation materials, analytical tools and connoisseurship compared to other parts of Latin America and the Caribbean that I have visited. This conservation project was equal in all ways to similar projects undertaken in the United States, which happily dispelled my notions of the ability of Cuban conservation professionals to achieve a high level of skill and accomplishments.

AIC’s 40th Annual Meeting- Objects and Research and Technical Studies Joint Session, May 9, 2012 “www.chemistryinart.org: Chemistry in Art Scholars– A Virtual & Real Community” by Hill and Odegaard

I’m not an educator, but while listening to this talk I was thinking “Sign Me Up!”. Dr. Hill spoke about the intensive workshop provided for educators who want to improve their science classes or start new ones. She’s a professor at Millersville University and wants conservators to know that chemistry professors are safe to connect with! The overarching program of cCWCS (Chemistry Collaborations, Workshops, and Communities of Scholars) covers many topics, but she focused on those that combine chemistry and art. You can check out their website (there was a typo in the original talk title) and find lots of materials if you aren’t able to attend the workshop or you’re just interested in finding out more about what they do. If you are thinking about starting a class or want to improve a class that you already give this 5-day intensive workshop might be for you. And it’s all expenses paid, thanks to the NSF. Their target audience is undergraduate faculty and staff and includes mainly chemists, practicing artists and art faculty. They are interested in having more representation from the conservation community. It sounds like a fun way to get the word out about what conservation is and what conservators do as there is a high degree of confusion about the difference between curators and conservators amongst this group. Also, you could potentially make some helpful contacts in the chemistry world.

The participants come from all over the country and generally fall into four categories:

  1. those how are looking for a fancy vacation (really a minority)
  2. older faculty who now have more flexibility in their schedule and are looking to pursue interests outside of their previous research and bring excitement to their students
  3. mid-career faculty who are looking for a unique area of research or trying to find their teaching niche
  4. and community college faculty who are looking for support and to bring interesting applications to students to engage them and get them more enthusiastic about science.

Vicki Cassman is an example of one of their alums who attended a session in 2010 and took what she learned back to UD for an honors seminar.

In 2009 they started an advanced workshop, the third of which will be held this summer. During this workshop they discuss ethics and understanding the questions you are trying to answer before starting analysis. Participants can bring an object that they have questions about and then they share the results with one another.

In the future they are looking for ways to broaden the community and making resources available to educators. Thanks to Nancy Odegaard and Dr. Hill for bringing this to our attention.

AIC’s 40th Annual Meeting – AIC Wiki Meeting, May 9

The AIC Wiki meeting provided active wiki Creators with the chance to connect faces with the names they’ve seen contributing over the past year, and everyone introduced themselves to the group. AIC’s e-Editor Rachael Perkins Arenstein noted that roughly half of those present were new to the wiki, and at the meeting to learn how to get involved.  She began by providing a brief background on the history of the wiki.

 

SG’s and the “Wiki Edit-a-thon”

There was an update on each specialty group’s use of the wiki.  The specialty groups shared their strategies for building participation in January’s “Wiki Edit-a-thon.”  The event was a great success, as Rachael described in the March 2012 issue of AIC News.  There were 137,000 hits to the wiki during the month, 59 new articles were added, and over 100 supplemental pages.  PMG had surveyed members and then set up two categories to populate during the event.  One day per week was scheduled as a “write-in” day, when members knew they could email each other to confer as they posted their content.  The Book Group in BPG set up a sample page for Creators to refer to, and it jump-started the creation of other pages.  EMG set up an outline and template, and then scheduled a single “write-in” day for everyone to join in.  Some groups, such as WAG, ASG, and the Paper Group in BPG, used the event as an impetus to identify people to spearhead their SG’s nascent wiki efforts.  OSG expanded their template, nearly doubled their number of Creators, and expanded content on a variety of topics, as well as adding new ones.  CIPP and TSG both realized that their Listservs had threads that would make great pages, so that will be a next step.

 

New Developments

The wiki software is outdated, and plans to update it are in development so that video can be embedded and the citation tool can be improved.  The wiki home page was reorganized, and there is significant interest in translating some of the wiki pages.  The first request came for a Russian translation of some of the content.  The translation will also be available on the AIC Wiki.  There’s interest in a Spanish translation of the Paper catalog.  A section on “The History of Conservation and Conservators” is in development and will include interviews from the FAIC Oral History Project.  Quality control and peer review were discussed, and what processes might be set in place across SG’s.  A working group is in formation to propose a series of headers (such as the “Draft” header currently in use) that would designate the stage of peer review for each page.  Contact Rachael (Rachael [at] amartconservation __ com) to join the group.

 

 

Getting Involved

An online tutorial is available for those interested in learning how to post content, and Rachael encouraged potential wiki Creators to get in touch with her to get added to the wiki email list.  The goal is to make the wiki a go-to resource for professional content for conservators, by conservators. One important note is that no one forfeits their rights to content they post on the wiki (the copyright agreement is what is used for post prints).  Members should feel that publishing on the wiki is a respected and valuable contribution to the field.

 

A key message of this session was this: your ongoing efforts to expand the wiki, whatever your time permits, are valued and appreciated!

 

To stay informed of updates on the wiki, visit the AIC wiki at www.conservation-wiki.com and scroll down to the Getting Started section.

 

Web-based media platforms: outreach through online communication and networking

In compiling information for ECPN’s outreach-themed poster, we felt that it would be useful to showcase some of the online tools that emerging conservators have used to reach their target audience. The number and variety of web-based media platforms available is impressive (and somewhat daunting), but as outreach tools they have helped many conservators increase their visibility. To select the right tool (or tools) it helps to understand what each platform has to offer.

Basic tools – How are they different? What do they offer?

Consider linking your social media pages to draw your target audience to your primary information platform. For example, ECPN officers often copy the URL of new ECPN blog entries and post them on the ECPN Facebook page’s wall. The same can be done if you have a professional website that you would like to make visible to a wider audience.

Finally, check out AIC’s new Public Relations Toolkit, currently in development on the AIC WIKI, for more Web-Based Media platforms and outreach strategies: http://www.conservation-wiki.com/index.php?title=Public_Relations_and_Outreach_Resources

 

Creative Endeavors and Expressive Ideas: Emerging Conservators Engaging through Outreach and Public Scholarship

Steven O’Banion speaking to students at Bishop Wordsworth’s School, UK

This is the first in a series of blog posts that will feature interviews with emerging conservators who have contributed to ECPN’s outreach-themed poster for the AIC annual meeting. The poster showcases success stories in outreach and new media that are being applied by emerging conservators, and highlights the variety of tools that are making these endeavors possible. Interviews with the contributors describe different approaches to outreach, including the tools that helped them reach their target audiences. These include public conservation treatments, as well as communication through traditional and social media. These outreach initiatives have helped emerging conservators reach many different audiences, including members of the public, prospective clients, allied professionals, and other conservators.

ECPN would like to thank the following members for their contributions: LeeAnn Barnes-Gordon, Heather Brown, Liz Chayes, Rose Daly, Emily Gardner Phillips, Tara Hornung, Melissa King, Allison Lewis, Jennifer Martinez, Steven O’Banion, Megan Salazar-Walsh, Melissa Stone; we wish you all the best in your continued outreach endeavors!

2012 Rome Prize Winners Announced

Last week, the American Academy in Rome announced the winners of the 116th annual Rome Prize Competition.

Among the 30 recipients were Elizabeth Schulte, Owner/Chief Conservator of Elizabeth Kaiser Schulte Conservation of Art and Historic Artifacts on Paper in Atlanta, Georgia, and Randall Mason, Associate Professor and Chair of the University of Pennsylvania Graduate Program in Historic Preservation.

The Rome Prize is a national competition that awards grants each year to thirty individuals who represent the highest standard of excellence in the arts and humanities. The grants allow recipients to spend six-months to two years in Rome to pursue a specific project. Awards are made in the following disciplines: Architecture, Design, Historic Preservation and Conservation, Landscape Architecture, Literature, Musical Composition, Visual Arts, Ancient Studies, Medieval Studies, Renaissance and Early Modern Studies, Modern Italian Studies.

Schulte and Mason were the two winners in the “Historic Preservation and Conservation” category. Schulte’s fellowship project is titled “Changing Views of Rome Through the Eyes of Tourists and Mapmakers: Creation, Preservation, Education.” Read more about Liz and her project by following this link.

Mason’s project is titled “Gustavo Giovannoni’s Urban Conservation”. Read more about it here.

Congratulations to both of our colleagues on this award and great honor!