We are happy to introduce the officers of the Emerging Conservation Professionals Network for the 2016-2017 term! The new and returning officers are very grateful for the dedication and service from the outgoing officers of the 2015-2016 term: Elyse Driscoll, Anne Schaffer, and especially our fearless outgoing chair, Fran Ritchie. We wish you all the best and look forward to your future endeavors in AIC and ECPN!
Meet the 2016-2017 ECPN Officers:
Michelle Sullivan, Chair
Michelle Sullivan is an Assistant Conservator in the Department of Paper Conservation at the J. Paul Getty Museum. She earned an M.S. and C.A.S. in Art Conservation from the Winterthur/University of Delaware Program in Art Conservation, specializing in works on paper with a minor concentration in photographic materials. She has completed graduate internships at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., Smithsonian American Art Museum, and the J. Paul Getty Museum. Michelle previously served as ECPN’s Vice Chair (2015-16) and Professional Education and Training Co-officer (2013-15).
Rebecca Gridley, Vice Chair
Rebecca holds a BA in Art History from Yale University, and is currently working towards an MA in Art History & Archaeology and an MS in Conservation at The Conservation Center at the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University (expected 2017). She is currently completing a summer internship at the Brooklyn Museum, and will begin her fourth year internship in the Objects Conservation Department at The Metropolitan Museum of Art this September. She has held internships at The Museum of Modern Art, The Frick Collection, and the American Museum of Natural History. Before graduate school, she worked as a National Account Manager at The Conservation Center in Chicago and completed pre-program work at private practices in New York. She previously served as Communications Co-Officer for ECPN (2015-16).
Jessica Walthew, Professional Education and Training Co-officer
Jessica is an objects conservator focusing on archaeological and ethnographic materials. Her research currently addresses the use of digital tools for documentation and technical analysis of artworks. She is currently completing an Andrew W. Mellon foundation fellowship at the Metropolitan Museum’s Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas and will begin a teaching/research Mellon fellowship this fall at the Bard Graduate Center and American Museum of Natural History. Jessica Walthew is serving a second year as co-officer for Professional Education and Training.
Emma Schmitt, Professional Education and Training Co-officer
Emma Schmitt graduated from the College of Wooster in 2010 with a BA in Archaeology. She held pre-program jobs and internships at ICA- Art Conservation, The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and Harvard Art Museums (2011-2012). Emma attended the Centre for Textile Conservation and Technical Art History at the University of Glasgow (2012-2014). During this time she interned at the Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford UK, The Cleveland Museum of Art, Glasgow Museums, and the Victoria and Albert Museum. Upon returning to the US, she worked for Windsor Conservation before taking up her current position as Andrew W. Mellon Fellow in Textile Conservation at the Denver Art Museum. This is Emma’s first year serving ECPN.
Kari Rayner, Webinar Coordinator
Kari graduated with a BA in Art History and a second major in Art Theory and Practice from Northwestern University. She holds an MA in Art History and Advanced Certificate in Art Conservation with a specialization in paintings conservation from the Conservation Center, the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University. Kari has previously interned at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; the Wallraf-Richartz-Museum in Cologne, Germany; and Modern Art Conservation in New York, NY. She is currently a post-graduate intern at the Hamilton Kerr Institute, Cambridge University, and she will be returning to the National Gallery of Art in the autumn of 2016 to begin an Advanced Fellowship in Paintings Conservation. This is Kari’s first year serving ECPN.
Kimi Taira, Outreach Co-officer
Kimi is an Assistant Conservator for Works on Paper at the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco. She earned her BA in Studio Art from Mills College and an MS from the Winterthur/University of Delaware Program in Art Conservation, specializing in paper with a minor in library and archive materials. She has served various positions and internships at Zukor Art Conservation, the Conservation Center for Art and Historic Artifacts, the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, the Cleveland Museum of Art, and the UCLA Library Conservation Center. Her interests include conservation ethics, community-centered preservation initiatives, and the relationship between tangible and intangible heritage. This is her second year serving as an ECPN Outreach Officer.
Evelyn (Eve) Mayberger, Outreach Co-officer
Eve holds a B.A. in Art History with a concentration in Asian Art from Wesleyan University (2010). In 2016, Eve graduated with a M.A. and M.S. degrees in art history and conservation at the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University where she specialized in objects conservation. She has worked in the conservation departments of the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Historic Odessa Foundation, Small Collections Library at the University of Virginia, National Museum of the American Indian, Worcester Art Museum, and the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology (fourth-year internship). In addition to museum work, Eve has participated in excavations at Sardis (Turkey), Selinunte (Sicily), and Abydos (Egypt). In November, Eve will start a Mellon fellowship at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. This is Eve’s first year serving ECPN.
Alyssa Rina, Communications Co-Officer
Alyssa graduated with a B.F.A. in Visual and Critical Studies from the School of Visual Arts (2013) and worked at Jim Kempner Fine Art in Chelsea (2014) before discovering art conservation and becoming a pre-program student. Since then, she has studied Chemistry and French, and completed additional studio courses like: ceramics, mold making, three-dimensional printing, and book binding. Alyssa has completed pre-program jobs and internships with private conservators at Francavilla Paper Conservation, The Better Image, and Cultural Preservation and Restoration. Recently, Alyssa has been completing a pre-program summer internship in outdoor sculpture and Ancient Greek objects at The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Alyssa is most interested in object conservation, but continues to seek opportunities that will diversify her experience across most conservation specialties. This is Alyssa’s first year serving ECPN.
Alexa Beller, Communications Co-officer
Alexa holds a BA in History, a BFA in Painting, and a minor in Chemistry from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (2013). She is currently a third year student in the Winterthur/University of Delaware Program in Art Conservation majoring in paintings conservation with a minor in murals. She is in Paris this summer conserving murals by Delacroix and Roger and will be spending her third year internship at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum and within the private practice of Gianfranco Pocobene. She has had previous internships or positions at the Western Center for the Conservation of Fine Art, the private practice of Ria German-Carter, Architectural Conservation Inc., the Chicago History Museum, the Spurlock Museum, and the University of Illinois Library Conservation Unit. This is her second year serving as an ECPN Communications Officer.