Author: bnaugle

Job Posting: Smithsonian announces 12-month post-grad fellowships

SMITHSONIAN 12-MONTH POSTGRADUATE FELLOWSHIPS IN CONSERVATION OF MUSEUM COLLECTIONS
The Smithsonian’s Office of Fellowships and Internships has announced one-year fellowships for recent graduates of masters programs in art and archaeological conservation (or the equivalent) to conduct research and gain further training in Smithsonian conservation laboratories for conservation of museum collections.  Researchers in conservation science topics, including those at the postdoctoral level, are also encouraged to apply.  The fellowship begins in the fall of 2015. A stipend of $37,700 is being offered at the postgraduate level and $48,000 at the postdoctoral level, plus a research allowance up to $4,000.  While 12-month fellowship proposals are preferred, applications for projects of shorter duration (between 3-12 months) are acceptable, with a commensurate reduction to the stipend amounts.  The prospective fellow must first contact the conservator or scientist with whom he or she would like to work. If the potential supervisor confirms that candidacy is suitable, application must be made through the Office of Fellowships and Internships by December 1, 2014.  Program guidelines and instructions for application are available at http://www.smithsonianofi.com/fellowship-opportunities/smithsonian-postgraduate-fellowships-in-conservation-of-museum-collections-program/.  As one of the conservation laboratories in which a fellowship is offered, the Smithsonian’s Museum Conservation Institute (MCI) offers postings for treatment and research projects benefiting Smithsonian collections that make use of MCI’s excellent analytical capabilities (http://www.si.edu/mci/).
Contact:

  • Mary Ballard, Senior Textiles Conservator, 301-238-1210, ballardm@smsi.edu
  • A. Elena Charola, Research Scientist (biodeterioration, stone), 301-238-1213, charolaa@si.edu
  • Paula T. DePriest, Deputy Director (biodeterioration), 301-238-1206, depriestp@si.edu
  • Janet G. Douglas, Head of Technical Studies (analysis of cultural heritage), 301-238-1238, douglja@si.edu
  • Christine France, Physical Scientist (stable isotopes), 301-238-1261, francec@si.edu
  • Carol Grissom, Senior Objects Conservator, 301-238-1236, grissomc@si.edu
  • Jessica S. Johnson, Head of Conservation (archaeological materials), 301-238-1218, johnsonjs@si.edu
  • Robert J. Koestler, Director (biodeterioration), 301-238-1205, koestlerr@si.edu
  • Nicole Little, Physical Scientist (ICP-MS, XRD, SEM-EDS), 301-238-1243, littlen@si.edu
  • Odile Madden, Research Scientist (modern materials, plastic, Raman spectroscopy), 301-238-1257, maddeno@si.edu
  • Dawn Rogala, Paintings Conservator (modern paints, artists’ materials research/archives), 301-238-1255, rogalad@si.edu
  • Jia-Sun Tsang, Senior Paintings Conservator (research and treatment of modern and contemporary art), 301-238-1231, tsangj@si.edu
  • Ed Vicenzi, Research Scientist (microchemistry/microscopy), 301-238-1215, vicenzie@si.edu

Fellows may also be hosted in the conservation laboratories of other Smithsonian museums, with the possibility of additional facilities for analytical work available at MCI. The conservator contacts for these museums are listed below:

  • Janice Ellis, National Museum of American History (202-633-3623; ellisjs@si.edu) for books and paper
  • Sunae Park Evans, National Museum of American History (202-633-3629; evanssu@si.edu) for costumes
  • Malcolm Collum, National Air and Space Museum (703-572-4361; collumm@si.edu) for objects
  • Tiarna Doherty, Smithsonian American Art Museum (202-633-5802; dohertyt@si.edu) for colonial to contemporary paintings, paper, objects, and frames
  • Catharine Hawks, National Museum of Natural History (202-633-0835; hawksc@si.edu) for natural history objects
  • Greta Hansen, National Museum of Natural History (301-238-1306; hanseng@si.edu) for anthropological objects
  • Andrew Hare, Freer and Sackler Galleries (202-633-0370; harean@si.edu) for objects, paper, and Asian paintings; and conservation science
  • Susan Lake, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden (202-633-2731; lakes@si.edu) for modern materials
  • Nora Lockshin, Smithsonian Institution Archives (202-633-5913; lockshinn@si.edu) for archives, books, and paper
  • Dana Moffett, National Museum of African Art (202-633-4614; moffettd@si.edu) for objects
  • Lou Molnar, National Portrait Gallery (202-633-5822; molnarl@si.edu) for paintings and paper
  • Beth Richwine, National Museum of American History (202-633-3639; richwineb@si.edu) for objects
  • Suzanne Thomassen-Krauss, National Museum of American History (202-633-3347; thomassenkrauss@si.edu) for textiles

Interventions Journal seeks submissions

intervention finalCall Extended – Submissions due October 24, 2014
Fall 2014 CALL FOR CONTENT Interventions Volume 4, Issue 1
Object Lesson: Conservation and Art History
Interventions is the online journal of Columbia University’s graduate program in Modern Art: Critical and Curatorial Studies. They are seeking content for our next issue, focusing on relationships between art conservation and art historical, curatorial, and artistic practices. Submissions can be in the form of artist projects or essays. Potential topics include (but are not limited to):

  •  Works that are open-ended, unfinished, in process, or require replenishment
  • o   Use of organic materials
  • o   Web-based works of art
  • Works that are no longer extant
  • o   Installations dismantled and/or dispersed into fragments
  • o   Performances, actions, and events
  • Works recycled or re-purposed into new works of art
  • Use of untested or volatile materials and processes
  • Exhibiting “relics,” ephemera, or documentation in lieu of works of art
  • Exhibiting copies, replicas, or facsimiles
  • Works of art that thematize physical/material change
  • Conservation of time-based media
  • o   Discontinued technologies needed to display or play back encoded media
  • Architectural preservation
  • Technical art history
  • Collaborations between conservators and artists
  • Collaborations between conservators and curators

They encourage submissions that approach this topic across artistic, critical, and curatorial frameworks. For this issue, they are specifically inviting submissions from conservators of modern and contemporary art and architecture. To submit content, please email an abstract of approximately 300 words, as well as a bio of no more than 100 words, to moda.interventions@gmail.com by Friday, October 24, 2014. Submissions will be reviewed and those whose proposals have been selected will be notified by October 31, 2014. Full texts must not exceed 4,000 words and should follow Chicago Style. Images should be 400 x 600 pixels, 72 dpi, and saved as a .jpg or .gif. Contributors are responsible for copyediting their texts prior to final submission and for attaining rights to all images provided for publication.
Interventions Journal is a curatorial platform featuring essays, interviews, web-based art projects, and experimental investigations of the implicit cross-sections between these practices. Flexible in format, the project aims to cultivate dialogue amongst a diverse body of participants including curators, artists, and art and architectural historians in order to establish a common space and archive of exchange.
Launched in 2011 within Columbia University’s graduate program in Modern Art: Critical & Curatorial Studies (MODA) by Ceren Erdem, Jaime Schwartz, and Lisa Hayes Williams, Interventions is currently edited by Béatrice Grenier, Anna Linehan, and Amber Moyles.

JAIC Editor-in-Chief Position Announcement

JAIC coversThe American Institute for Conservation of Historic & Artistic Works (AIC) is seeking an Editor-in-Chief for the Journal of the American Institute for Conservation (JAIC).

The position of Editor-in-Chief (EIC) of the Journal of the American Institute for Conservation (JAIC) primarily involves reviewing new submissions to the Journal, assigning each submission to an appropriate Lead Editor and Associate Editor (AE) in conjunction with the Senior Editor, and making final decisions based on Associate Editor and reviewer comments. Both EIC and the Senior Editor review final proofs. The EIC also requests proposals for special issue topics, writes a bimonthly column for AIC News in coordination with AIC’s Communications Director, and selects new AEs as needed. The EIC also makes final decisions about book reviews, the order of articles, and cover images for each issue. The EIC works with the AIC Communications Director, who serves an administrative role with JAIC.

JAIC publishes four issues annually, with an average of 50 submissions per year. Submissions are made via Editorial Manager and the EIC will be expected to use that program; training and assistance will be provided.

The Editor-in-Chief serves as an independent contractor to the AIC and is given an annual stipend of $8,000. Reimbursable expenses include travel, hotel, and per diem to the November IAG meeting in Washington, DC, and travel and one hotel night only to the AIC Annual Meeting. The expectation is that the EIC will attend both of these meetings as the JAIC representative.

The Editor-in-Chief reports to the AIC Executive Director and works in cooperation with the AIC Communications Director and the Board Director of Communications. Please submit a resume and cover letter describing related skills and interests to Eryl Wentworth, at ewentworth [at] conservation-us.org.

42nd Annual Meeting (Objects Session 5/31/14) – "Testing and implementation of microclimate storage containers for small metals and plastics" by Dana K. Senge

Dana’s talk – the last of the Objects session talks given at AIC’s 42nd Annual Conference in San Francisco – presented the results of multiple tests conducted by the National Park Service (NPS) Intermountain Region Museum Services Program, evaluating several readily available materials for their ability to protect sensitive objects from less-than-ideal climate conditions. Tests sought to identify the best methods for long-term storage of two distinctly different categories of collections materials: archaeological metals and historic plastics. The ideal solutions would be cost effective and easy-to-use, would allow for easy monitoring and access, and could be consistently applied across all NPS sites.
Archaeological Metals
Various storage systems for archaeological metals have been employed at NPS sites in the past, including Stewart boxes, 2-4 mil polyethylene (PE) bags with twist ties, and heat-sealed Marvelseal enclosures in combination with desiccants and/or scavengers.
Following the work done by JP Brown (2010) and Alice Paterakis (2011), Dana did some short experiments to confirm that resealable PE containers with silicone gaskets held a microclimate better than similar containers without gasketing. This being established, she added data loggers and twice the calculated amount of desiccant recommended for the container’s volume, and conducted a longer test in three locations – Arizona, where storage conditions were generally dry (about 35% RH); Montana, where conditions ranged from 25-45% RH; and Texas, where conditions fluctuated around 50% RH. Even under the most humid conditions in TX, the worst-performing silicone-gasketed PE boxes only allowed an increase of 2% RH over the course of the year-long test period. Measurement of the TX test box after a second year registered only another 2.7% increase in RH. Based on this set of experiments, Dana calculates that this particular setup would only require recharging with desiccant every 5 years if a change of less than 15% RH was desired. In addition, Oddy testing of the materials involved in the system confirmed that there was nothing harmful being off-gassed.
Historic Plastics
To find an ideal solution for historic plastics, Dana started by consulting Yvonne Shashoua’s 2008 publication, Conservation of Plastics. She learned that different polymers have wildly varying requirements for safe storage: cellulose nitrate (CN) and cellulose acetate (CA) need ventilated or scavenged environments to slow deterioration, while natural rubber fares better in anoxic environments, and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) calls for only non-absorbent glass or Mylar fabrication materials. The deep trays with Tyvek covers that had been in use at NPS since the 90s were not effective, so alternatives were sought.
For use with CN and CA, several box designs were evaluated for their ability to ventilate the space and prevent dust accumulation inside the box. Acid-free board boxes were made with slatted or screened walls and were tested without lids, with Hollytex lids, or with acid-free board lids. Inside the prototype boxes, Dana placed a deteriorating CA shower curtain ring along with a sticky surface to determine how much dust found its way in, and A-D Strips to monitor for the buildup of harmful acetic acid vapors. Findings supported the use of a blue-board lid, as it prevented the most dust over a month-long period. Though screened and slatted boxes did equally well, the screened boxes were found to be easier to construct. No harmful buildup was detected by the A-D strips in any of the boxes.
As a space-saving alternative to ventilated storage, Dana next evaluated several common scavengers in conjunction with the previously described resealable PE containers. In order of their performance (worst to best), they were Kodak Molecular Sieves, a single MicroChamber board, Getter Pak, two MicroChamber boards, and Zorflex. The most effective adsorbent, Zorflex, prevented acetic acid build-up in the container for 18 days. Interestingly, each scavenger tested lowered the humidity in the box to some extent initially, though it did eventually rebound. A second round of tests that doubled the amount of scavenger found no benefit to doing so. Future work will include evaluating activated carbon cloth, and rerunning the above described scavenger tests on boxes containing a larger amount of deteriorating CA to see if the products can keep up with increased volumes of off-gassed acetic acid. She would also like to test resealable glass containers in this capacity.
Although storage for PVC objects was not extensively discussed, Dana mentioned that she has been using and is pleased with heat-sealed 1 mil Mylar enclosures. She prefers the use of a single-impulse heat sealer to a double-impulse model to make the enclosures.
Finally, Dana made a point to address a few limitations of the systems she evaluated for this paper, including size (the largest silicone-gasketed PE containers she’s been able to find only measure 9 x 12 x 6 inches) and the need for a robust monitoring/maintenance plan.
Questions/comments after the talk:

  • One talk attendee mentioned that she had found much larger gasketed PE boxes, but that they didn’t necessarily seal well because of the distance between the clamps, especially on the long edges. She recommended testing the container with water – if it’s not watertight, it won’t be airtight either!
  • A question was posed about the efficacy of these systems compared to non-gasketed PE boxes that were sealed with aluminum tape instead. Dana stated that aluminum tape was not evaluated in this round of testing.
  • Dana, though she didn’t mention brand names, cautioned that some brands of containers definitely held a better seal than others. Test your enclosures first!!!

I really enjoy hearing about research with practical applications. Thank you, Dana, for a well presented and interesting talk!!

Mailing lists and listservs not reaching Yahoo, Hotmail users

Subscribers to listservs and distribution lists, including AIC listservs, have been running into problems. The culprit is a new layer of security added by certain mail providers, primarily Yahoo Mail, Comcast, and Hotmail.
Many people using these email accounts have noticed that messages are not coming in or the listserv’s automated “mailman” is disabling their accounts. Reactivating the account will not work, since the new security settings are not allowing any messages through. If this issue affects you, the best solution is to switch your listserv subscription to a different email—perhaps a work email address or a Gmail account. Another solution is to log in and read the archives on a regular basis, since access to the archives should not be restricted.
Members who are affected by this will be getting weekly emails from AIC with any important announcements related to the annual meeting. We are working on a long-term solution to be enacted after the annual meeting. Please contact your Specialty Group chair(s) with any issues.
Subscribers to the Conservation Dist-List should not be affected by this problem.

Japanese television documentary features Nishio Conservation Studio

Nishio Conservation Studio staff
Nishio Conservation Studio staff, from their website

Yoshi Nishio, Kyoichi Itoh and their conservation work at The Nishio Conservation Studio were featured in a one-hour TV documentary series, broadcast on the WOWOW Cable Channel (a channel similar to PBS in the US) in Japan on March 28th and 30th, and April 7. The documentary highlights technical aspects of Asian Painting Conservation, including the type of materials used, and how Asian Paintings are conserved using traditional techniques with a modern scientific approach at NCS. The program also showed how those Japanese paintings came to the US, as well as a feature on Yoshi Nishio as an artist, educator, musician and film maker. The documentary includes location footage of the Decatur House/White House Collection, Johns Hopkins Library, North East Document Conservation Center, and interviews with their conservators. This is the second time the Nishio Conservation Studio was featured on television in Japan. These broadcast programs increase public awareness of the importance of conservation. Numerous Japanese corporations support conservation outside of Japan. The video will be available on Youtube with English subtitles later this year.
–Submitted by Yoshi Nishio

Call for Papers for the 7th Volume of Preservation Education & Research

Deadline for submission: February 15, 2014
The editors of Preservation Education & Research (PER) invite article manuscripts and Forum essays for the seventh (2014) volume of the journal.
PER disseminates peer-reviewed scholarship relevant to historic environment education from fields such as historic preservation, heritage conservation, heritage studies, building and landscape conservation, urban conservation, and cultural patrimony. The National Council for Preservation Education (NCPE) launched PER in 2007 as part of its mission to exchange and disseminate information and ideas concerning historic environment education, current developments and innovations in conservation, and the improvement of historic environment education programs and endeavors in the United States and abroad.
Examples of previously published articles include:

  • “Landscape Preservation Education in the United States”
  • “Industrial Archaeology and Brazilian Industrial Heritage”
  • “Current Trends in Historic Preservation Education at the Primary and Secondary School Levels”
  • “Meiji Restorations: Defining Preservation, Education, and Architecture for Modern Japan”
  • “‘So, Can You Revit?’ Historic Preservation Design Education and Digital Media”
  • “The Status of Professional Career Openings in Historic Preservation in the United States”
  • “The Value of a Preservation Field School Learning Experience”
  • “Reflections on Eight Semesters of Employing Service Learning in an Undergraduate Historic Preservation Course”
  • “Preservation Engineering: Framing a New Curriculum”
  • “Domesticating the ‘National Optic’ after the Third Reich: Preservation and Morale Building in Postwar West Germany”
  • “Learning Among Friends: Using Heritage-Based Educational Practices to Improve Preservation Law Pedagogy”

We also encourage readers with an interest and expertise in the topics covered in previous PER volumes to consider writing a PER Forum essay. The PER Forum contains short essays (800-1000 words) that respond to or critique reports or articles in previous volumes of the journal and encourage a constructive and scholarly dialogue. The deadline for PER Forum contributions is May 1, 2014.
All manuscripts and Forum essays should be submitted by email as an MS Word or PDF attachment to the co-editors of PER: Jeremy Wells (jwells [at] rwu.edu) and Rebecca Sheppard (rjshep [at] udel.edu). Refer to the journal’s publication guidelines at www.ncpe.us/publications/manuscript-submission-guidelines for more information. All manuscripts are peer reviewed in a double-blind process while Forum essays may be subject to peer review on a case-by-case basis. Manuscripts are accepted on a rolling basis throughout the year, but submission by February 15, 2014 will help assure that accepted manuscripts are published in the next annual volume of PER.
PER is currently indexed in the Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals and the EBSCO database; the full-text of articles is available from EBSCO and the NCPE web site (www.ncpe.us/publications). For more information about NCPE and PER, visit www.ncpe.us.
-Jeremy Wells, Roger Williams University
Co-editor, PER
jwells [at] rwu.edu

JAIC is Journal of the Month, visit now!

JAIC
The Journal of the American Institute for Conservation, or JAIC, has been selected by Maney Publication as its “Journal of the Month” for January 2014. This showcase position is used to give all Maney’s readers an in-depth preview of the organization and its journal, and also offers 3 years’ worth of content available free to all for the duration of the month. The page is now available at www.maneyonline.com/page/jotm/jac.
The featured link on Maney’s new publishing platform clicks through to the JotM page containing information about AIC and JAIC, including:

  • Commentaries on the conservation of textiles, archaeological artifacts, electronic media as well as sustainability and a review of the archive
  • Video interviews with Michele Derrick (Editor-in-Chief) and Pamela Hatchfield (President of the Board of Directors, AIC)
  • ‘Best of the archive’: 10 articles hand-picked by the Editor are free to download
  • 20% discount on institutional subscriptions

This is a great opportunity to share the Journal with your colleagues, show your friends and family a little more about what you do, promote the benefits of AIC membership to nonmembers, and encourage your library or institution to subscribe. Remember, all of this content is only available until February 15th, so make the most of it while you can! And please spread the word to friends and colleagues who may be interested.

Contract Objects Conservator – Walters Art Museum

Contract Objects Conservator
Walters Art Museum
The Walters Art Museum is seeking to hire an assistant-level objects conservator for a 3-year, full-time position. Funded by an IMLS Museums for American Stewardship grant, the conservator will treat 18th and 19th century objects from the Doris Duke Collection of Southeast Asian Art. The objects, including manuscript cabinets and sculptures are primarily made of lacquered and gilded wood or copper alloys, that require documentation, analysis, cleaning, stabilization and some compensation.  Developing a treatment protocol and undertaking a technical analysis of a painted textile banner will be a smaller part of the project.  Work will be conducted both in the laboratory and in public space.
Requirements include a master’s degree in art conservation with specialization in objects conservation and at least one year of experience treating objects after graduation. Some experience with textiles is desirable and interest in public outreach is a plus. The conservator will work under the supervision of the head of objects conservation and with conservation staff members. Interaction with other museum departments and the public is part of the job. The conservator will be responsible for documentation, examination, treatment proposals, hands-on treatment and technical research with the museum scientist and in consultation with curators.
The candidate must have good verbal and written communication, organizational and team skills. Proficiency in digital photography and processing and strong computer skills are required (Microsoft Office Word, Adobe Photoshop). The museum uses the TMS database.
Salary is commensurate with experience plus benefits and generous travel stipend.
For consideration, send your resume, cover letter and salary requirement to jobs@thewalters.org. Deadline for application is Dec. 30, 2013.

BROMEC 35 – Call for metal conservation research abstracts

BROMEC, the Bulletin of Research on Metal Conservation, requests research abstracts (max. 400 words) and professional meeting announcements (max. 75 words) for BROMEC 35, to be published online.
BROMEC continues to keep you up to date with metals conservation research activities between the triennial ICOM-CC Metal Working Group meetings.
Submissions can be made in English, French or Spanish – the BROMEC Editorial Team will translate and publish submissions in the three language versions of BROMEC. Refer to BROMEC 28 at www.warwick.ac.uk/bromec, where you can freely access all the previous issues of BROMEC. And for subscription to BROMEC: www.warwick.ac.uk/bromec-subscription.
We trust these simultaneous multilingual issues will increase communication across a greater cross-section of the world’s metal heritage conservation research community.
The final submission date is Wednesday, December 11, 2013, and contributions should be emailed to bromeceditor [at] gmail [dot] com.
–Submitted by James Crawford, PhD student, University of Warwick