The American Institute for Conservation of Historic & Artistic Works applauds The Monuments Men movie, whose cast depict some of those who served in the Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives program under the Civil Affairs and Military Government Sections of the Allied armies during World War II. This group of approximately 350 men and women protected and preserved millions of pieces of artwork, sculpture, and other cultural artifacts in Europe that had been stolen by the Nazis.
Public awareness of the heroic accomplishments of the Monuments Men is being raised by The Monuments Men movie, based on the book of the same title by Robert Edsel and being released in February. With big-name stars like George Clooney, Matt Damon, Hugh Bonneville, and Cate Blanchett in the film, we hope that while audiences enjoy the action and adventure, they will also leave the film with an appreciation for the importance of preserving cultural heritage. What few know today is that men and women continue in the footsteps of the Monument Men-protecting art for future generations.
The American Institute for Conservation (AIC) honors the Monuments Men, in addition to the profession that grew in the wake of their work. George Stout, depicted by George Clooney in the movie, was one of AIC’s founding members and a proponent of the creation of formal conservation training programs. Conservators today are highly skilled professionals, many of whom are willing and able to respond to human conflicts or natural disasters that threaten cultural property anywhere in the world. AIC members are experts in treating damaged art and educating owners and stewards of art in preservation practices. AIC’s Foundation manages a specially-trained group of experts in emergency preparedness and response (AIC-CERT), teams that respond at no cost to calls for assistance from collecting institutions and others in need following a disaster.
The Monuments Men movie creates an opportunity to highlight the incredible work that AIC members, our modern-day cultural heritage heroes, are performing on a daily basis. To connect the work happening now with the efforts of the Monuments Men in the past, AIC has created a social media campaign to help those interested in the film learn more about conservation projects and the conservators behind the work.
If you are active on social networking sites please use the movie’s hashtag #MonumentsMen, with another hashtag, #TodaysHeroes if you or your organization post on a conservation-related topic. Using both of these hashtags on microblogging and social networking platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc., will allow users interested in these topics to find out about the work that you do.
Author: Rachael Perkins Arenstein
Register Now for MuseumPests2014 Conference at Colonial Williamsburg
Most of AIC Specialty Groups have been staunch supporters of the Integrated Pest Management Working Group by funding the development of the MuseumPests.net website, enabling the site to present free information used by collecting holding institutions to prevent and combat pest infestations. Now, MuseumPests.net goes live at Colonial Williamsburg! After 10 years of creating online IPM resources for the museum, library/archive and historic site community we are partnering with the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation to hold MuseumPests 2014: Integrated Pest Management for museums, libraries, archives and historic sites a two-day conference and workshop program. Visit the conference website for full program and registration information.
Over the past decade cultural institutions have made great strides in implementing policies and procedures that protect our collections, our staff, and our environment by focusing on preventive methods and non-toxic remediation. There is still much to learn and this conference presents the opportunity to learn from and with colleagues from across the United States and around the world, including many of the leading researchers and practitioners in the field. The resources presented at the conference will be shared on the www.museumpests.net website.
In the morning sessions, keynote talks by David Pinniger and Tom Strang will be followed by papers and panel presentations centered around four themes relevant to the implementation of IPM in cultural heritage institutions of all types including:
1. Institutional Implementation of IPM
2. Monitoring & Control
3. Treatment & Remediation
4. IPM Policy, Health, & Safety
A poster session will highlight additional institutional programs with a focus on international implementation of IPM in developing countries. The afternoon sessions will allow participants to choose hands-on workshops and on-site tours for IPM practitioners of all levels of expertise.
Come meet and connect faces to the colleagues whose digital signatures you’ve seen on the PestList. REGISTER NOW to have your first choice of workshops.
New Certificate in Digital Curation at Johns Hopkins University
Conservators today, like all museum professionals with responsibilities for collections care and management of cultural heritage, a
re worried about the ongoing maintenance and documentation of digital artifacts along with the conservation of physical objects in their collections. Johns Hopkins University’s MA in Museum Studies has announced a new certificate program in digital curation starting in January 2014 to address the need for formal education in this emerging field of stewardship.
The Certificate in Digital Curation is a specialized graduate program designed to prepare museum professionals to manage the growing volume and variety of digital assets of long-term value that museums are now routinely producing, acquiring, storing and sharing. Assets that need ongoing management include born-digital media art, research data, and documentation information stored in collections management systems about physical collection objects. And because most museums are now investing significant resources in digitizing collections—new acquisitions as well as for the purpose of loan, pre- and post-conservation treatment, and presentation online—they have a growing need to preserve their digitized assets.
Digital curation is defined as the management of digital assets over their lifetime. While the term is not synonymous with the modern understanding of the role of a museum curator, it does reflect the historical definition of curator as “keeper” of collections. It is also in alignment with the growing international digital curation community dedicated to maintaining access to digital data of long-term value.
The JHU digital curation certificate program consists of six courses, including five online and one on-site internship. Class size is limited to 15-17 students to allow for stimulating discussions with classmates and faculty. The curriculum includes the following 13-week courses:
- Digital Preservation, which covers the principles of digital preservation and the basics of developing and assessing digital preservation plans;
- Foundations of Digital Curation, which particularly addresses the beginning of the digital life cycle, including topics such as appraisal and selection, metadata standards, and intellectual property issues;
- Managing Digital Information, which emphasizes the management of digital objects in museum environments, including format transformation, management of surrogates, and workflows;
- Internship in a museum or related organization, including at least 120 hours on-site and completion of a project or paper;
- An approved elective chosen from the MA in Museum Studies curriculum, OR a second internship; and
- A supervised research project leading to a publishable or presentable paper that contributes to the new literature of the digital curation field.
Admission requirements for the digital curation certificate are:
- A master’s degree in museum studies or other relevant field,
- A bachelor’s degree and at least five years full-time experience working in a museum, library, archive, or related cultural heritage organization, or
- Students enrolled in the JHU MA in Museum Studies program upon completion of 5 courses.
A grade point average of at least 3.0 on a 4.0 scale is required for admission (work experience will also be considered). International students are welcome, but please note that TOEFL for students whose native language is not English or who have not graduated from an accredited college or university in the US is required.
The deadline for applications for the spring semester (classes beginning January 22) is December 16.
We are excited about this new program, and we encourage interested conservators and other museum professionals to contact one of us! Our contact information is provided below.
Phyllis Hecht, Program Director, MA in Museum Studies, phecht@jhu.edu
Joyce Ray, Program Coordinator and Lecturer, Digital Curation Certificate, jray16@jhu.edu
http://museum-studies.jhu.edu
http://advanced.jhu.edu/digitalcuration
Course on Chemometrics for Cultural Heritage – Level 1
Location: Museum of Modern Art, New York, USA
Dates: October 31rst / November 1rst, 2013, 9am – 5pm
Target Audience: This workshop is aimed at researchers and conservators who want to be able to analyze their own laboratory data, and with a need for exploratory data analysis, development of predictive models and sample classification. No prior knowledge is required for this course.
Course Description: The course will cover the fundamentals of many commonly used Chemometric methods including Exploratory Data Analysis and pattern Recognition, Regression and Classification Methods (PCA, PLS, SIMCA,PLS-DA)and Data Pretreatment. Emphasis will be on applying these techniques in the contex
t of cultural heritage research.
The course will comprise lectures and hands-on activities. Computers will not be provided. Participants are encouraged to bring their laptops with demo versions of Solo installed. A 60 days demo license will be provided by Eigenvector to each participant.
About the Instructor: Dr. Donald Dahlberg is Professor Emeritus of Chemistry at Lebanon Valley College. Dahlberg earned a B.S. in Chemistry from the University of Washington and a Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry from Cornell University. After decades of doing research in the area of Physical Organic Chemistry, he got involved in Chemometrics while on sabbatical in 1988 at the Center for Process Analytical Chemistry at the University of Washington. There he learned chemometrics in the Bruce
Kowalski group (co-founder of chemometrics). Upon returning to LVC, he taught chemometrics to undergraduate students for over a decade. Although retired from the classroom, he continues do consulting and supervises undergraduate research in industrial chemometrics. He wrote and teaches this workshop so that those not fluent in matrix algebra can take advantage of the powerful tool of chemometrics..
How to Register: A registration form can be requested by email to ana_martins@moma.org. The deadline for registration is October 7th, 2013. Cost: $400 (includes course materials and refreshments). Participants’ number is limited to 10. For registration and inquiries please contact: ana_martins@moma.org
Lichens, Biofilms and Stone at the Eagle Hill Institute, Steuben Maine
July 14-20, 2013
Maine’s Hancock and Sullivan Counties, with their rocky shorelines and inland hills, are rich with lichen species and biofilms. Buildings and structures made with granite from local quarries host lichens and biofilms. Imported grave markers of granite, marble, slate, and sandstone from other New England states and foreign countries are found in cemeteries, and these markers also host lichens and biofilms. This seminar, will study the physical, chemical, ecological, and aesthetic relationships between lichens, biofilms, and stone.
Different lichen species grow on different stone types in different environments. Lichen growth is influenced by a stone’s mineralogy and condition, and by the microclimates created by plant cover, open-air exposure, proximity to water, stone orientation, and surface topography. Biofilms also show diversity with their presence on different stone types and in different environments. The interactions between lichens and biofilms and to what extent lichens and biofilms protect or harm stone surfaces from weathering are questions that will be discussed.
Lectures will cover basic lichen morphology and species identification; biofilm “morphology;” the role of lichens and biofilms in the environment; basic geology; the history of stone quarrying, finishing, and construction; and the history and contemporary practices of preservation “treatments” for stone. Field trips are planned for forest and shore environments, a granite quarry, a gravel pit, and several cemeteries. Examination and identification of lichens, biofilms, and stones will be undertaken in the field and in the laboratory. The impact of surface manipulation of stone (cutting, polishing, and chemical “treatments”) and how these impacts may influence (or not) the growth of lichens and biofilms will also be examined. As a class project, participants will compile a checklist of the lichen species found during the field trips.
Participants are expected to represent a wide variety of disciplines and avocations; the pursuit of individual interests will be encouraged. While prior knowledge of lichens, biofilms, or stone will be useful for this seminar, it is not necessary.
Judy Jacob is a Senior Conservator with the National Park Service, Northeast Region, in the New York City Field Office. She works primarily on stone monuments and masonry buildings: evaluating conditions, preparing preservation plans, and executing stabilization and repair treatments. judithmjacob@yahoo.com
Michaela Schmull, PhD., is a lichenologist and the Research and Curatorial Associate at the Farlow Herbarium, Harvard University. Her research interests include lichen ecology, biodiversity, and systematics. She has taught classes in plant microscopy, plant identification, and lichens and air pollution. mschmull@oeb.harvard.edu
Class limit – 16 students
Daily meeting times – generally from 8:30 AM to 12:30 PM (lunch is at 12:30), 1:30 to 5:30 (dinner is at 7:00), from 8:00 onwards is optional, though most participants spend a few hours in the classroom after dinner for assignments and/or independent studies.
Activities during the week generally combine intensive field studies and follow-up work in the lab with lectures, discussions, and a review of the current literature. Evenings are free for independent studies, presentations, and follow-up discussions.
http://www.eaglehill.us/
From the Bench: Team Pachacamac Triumphs, Making Peruvian Collections Accessible
This post is part of the “From the Bench” series celebrating the work of conservators. Part scientist, part detective, they work to preserve the past for the future. This series features the voices of conservators who are working on IMLS-supported projects in museums across the United States. For more information about IMLS funding for museums see www.imls.gov/applicants/available_grants.aspx.
By Lynn A. Grant, Head Conservator, University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology
Our IMLS-funded post-graduate fellows, Ainslie Harrison and Fran Baas (collectively known as ‘Frainslie’) have, in one short year, totally transformed the circumstances for Penn Museum’s collections of textiles and ceramics from Pachacamac, Peru. This group of extremely important archaeological materials, excavated by Max Uhle in the 1890s, had languished due to overcrowded storage, inadequate documentation, and difficulties in access. Fran and Ainslie carried out detailed conservation surveys of 3,600 objects and moved them into better storage locations. They created customized storage solutions so the artifacts can be easily accessed and studied. They added over 10,000 images to the museum’s publicly accessible database. And they were able to treat the approximately 60 artifacts most in need of stabilization. In addition to all of this, Fran and Ainslie also blogged about the project and gave frequent specialized tours for students and museum patrons.
To have accomplished all this in such a short time is amazing. Perhaps more amazing is how they did it. ‘Frainslie’ recruited, trained, supervised, and nurtured a large cadre of volunteers, work-study students, and pre-program interns to assist them with the process. “Team Pachacamac,” as they became known, was extraordinarily productive and seemed to really enjoy the work. For two recently graduated conservators to assemble and oversee this kind of effort and to inspire near fanatical devotion to the project was incredibly gratifying in an institution that has long prided itself on its contributions to conservation education.
Their work has made a tremendous impact. As Fran wrote in her last blog post, “The primary goal of the grant was to increase researcher access, and I can proudly say that this goal was reached … Many research questions can now be answered just by searching the collections database online through the museum’s website, saving time for the curator, the collection staff, and researchers miles away. Access to the digital documentation also has an important preservation aspect since it minimizes the handling of the object. If a question can’t be answered by viewing its color digital photograph or by reading the newly added collection information gathered during the survey, the piece can be easily retrieved safely and quickly.” We wish Ainslie and Fran well as they move on to new professional challenges. Kudos to Team Pachacamac and to IMLS for making this work possible.
From the Bench: A 400-Year-Old Carpet is Restored to Show Original Persian Artistry
This post is part of the “From the Bench” series celebrating the work of conservators. Part scientist, part detective, they work to preserve the past for the future. This series features the voices of conservators who are working on IMLS-supported projects in museums across the United States. For more information about IMLS funding for museums see www.imls.gov/applicants/available_grants.aspx.
By Joseph Godla, Chief Conservator, The Frick Collection
One of the pleasures and challenges of working at a small museum is dealing with the care of objects which fall outside the area of expertise of the staff. Such is the case with the Frick’s small collection of carpets. The Frick’s conservation staff includes experts in sculpture and decorative arts, but no one specializing in textiles.
A sixteenth-century Herat carpet has decorated the Frick’s beloved Living Hall for almost 100 years. The carpet, purchased by Henry Clay Frick in 1916, is a superb example of Persian carpet making, with a wide range of pile color and a high degree of artistry in its elaborate floral design. At more than 400 years old, however, it had suffered several early campaigns of poor restoration and, though displayed behind stanchions, the edges had been further damaged by visitor foot traffic. It was clear to us that the carpet needed to be restored.
Lacking the appropriate person on staff, the Frick turned to Dierdre Windsor of Windsor Conservation, a long-time colleague of the Frick’s chief conservator. Ms. Windsor has many years of experience in textile conservation, including seven years as director of the American Textile History Museum’s Textile Conservation Center. We also sought the advice of Walter Denny, professor of Art History and adjunct professor of Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Mr. Denny is a leading expert in the field of Islamic art and was an adviser to the Metropolitan Museum of Art on the re-installation of its Islamic galleries.
The project’s goal was to stabilize the carpet. The level of previous intervention made this a large task requiring the removal of many patches and resins, hundreds of pieces of backing fabric, old repairs, and embroidered repairs with bad color matches or misalignment. Ms. Windsor estimated it would take eighteen months to complete the work required.
The treatment process began with careful documentation of the entire carpet’s specific condition issues. The carpet was then vacuumed and solvent-cleaned. Following the cleaning, old repairs were addressed. For future display and storage, a new dustcover and lining were fabricated and an archival carpet pad made for use when the textile is on display.
There were some minor changes to the original plan. For example, due to the extremely complex restoration history of the carpet, which was discovered only when the lining backing the carpet’s border was removed, the condition assessment and documentation of the carpet took longer than originally planned. While it was tempting to remove all of the early repairs, we decided to take a conservative approach rather than risk causing further damage. Removal of many of the visually distracting older repairs resulted in a much more visually consistent appearance.
Following the eighteen-month treatment, the carpet is now in a much more stable condition and can be safely put on view where viewers can appreciate the carpet’s remarkably vibrant original colors.
From the Bench: Trellised Garden with Animals on View at Memorial Art Gallery Thanks to Tapestry Initiative
This post is part of the “From the Bench” series celebrating the work of conservators. Part scientist, part detective, they work to preserve the past for the future. This series features the voices of conservators who are working on IMLS-supported projects in museums across the United States. For more information about IMLS funding for museums see www.imls.gov/applicants/available_grants.aspx.
By Nancy Norwood, Curator of European Art, Memorial Art Gallery of the University of Rochester
April 16, 2012, the day we installed the Flemish tapestry Trellised Garden with Animals in our Renaissance gallery, was one of the most rewarding days in my 12 years as curator of European art at the Memorial Art Gallery.
As is the case with many older museums —MAG celebrates its centennial next year—we have the luxury of an encyclopedic collection of world art and the challenge of preserving it. Medieval and Renaissance tapestries are among the most impressive and popular works in museums, but because of their massive size, sensitivity to light, and fragility, their ongoing preservation requires special attention. In our case, the challenge was extreme. Most of our tapestries were acquired in the 1920s and 1930s specifically for display in our great hall, where they had been exhibited without interruption for several decades. By 2000, only one tapestry was healthy enough to remain on view.
Enter the European Tapestry Initiative, a project that began in 2002 as a way to systematically evaluate and conserve the tapestries in our collection. The end goal was the treatment of a core group of our best medieval and Renaissance work and the establishment of a systematic rotation schedule for them, a formidable task considering the need for specialized conservators and considerable financial resources.
IMLS Conservation Project Support grants provided both the initial and continuing support necessary for the success of the initiative. A 2003 Detailed Condition Survey grant kicked the project into gear, allowing Marlene Eidelheit, the director of the Textile Conservation Laboratory of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City to spend four days at the museum. She carefully examined and evaluated each of our tapestries, providing treatment proposals and training staff on handling and storage at the same time. This survey was an essential first step to implementing the project.
IMLS continued to support the Tapestry Initiative when, in 2009, we received a major CPS grant that enabled the essential and exhaustive conservation of Trellised Garden with Animals, woven in Brussels by the Pannemaker workshops during the 1560s and 70s. We knew that once Trellised Garden returned to view, we needed to have a replacement waiting in the wings for rotation the following year. In 2011, we received a third IMLS CPS grant that would support the treatment of Battle of the Animals (affectionately known to staff and the conservator as “Beasts”). Once Beasts returns to MAG from the Cathedral’s conservation lab, we will install it in the place of pride left vacant by Trellised Garden, which will have been rolled and returned to storage for a well-deserved respite from the stresses of light and gravity.
For more information on MAG’s tapestry and other conservation-related grant initiatives, see http://mag.rochester.edu/aroundmag/grants-and-awards-news/
From the Bench: Upgrade of American Sculpture and Decorative Arts Storage
This post is part of the “From the Bench” series celebrating the work of conservators. Part scientist, part detective, they work to preserve the past for the future. This series features the voices of conservators who are working on IMLS-supported projects in museums across the United States. For more information about IMLS funding for museums see www.imls.gov/applicants/available_grants.aspx.
By Barbara Heller, Director and Conservator, Special Projects, Detroit Institute of Arts
With the invaluable support of IMLS, the Detroit Institute of Arts was able to upgrade storage for its American decorative arts and sculpture collections dating from the beginning of the European settlements until 1950. These objects had been located in six separate, inaccessible temporary storage spaces during the museum’s 2000 –2007 renovation and expansion project. This new state-of-the-art storeroom makes possible the safe removal, handling, and study of works by curators, conservators, educators, and scholars. Greater accessibility also facilitates contributions to the body of academic knowledge and the creation of new educational programming at the museum, and allows the public to see more of the collection. In fact the project has resulted in five articles written by conservators, curators, and educators published in professional journals and books and eight YouTube podcasts.
New powder coated cabinets line the room. The glass doors allow for visual monitoring of the collections. Fixed wall screens provide vertical hanging space for heavy metalwork, mirrors, and frames. The wide aisles provide adequate space to move works of art. Racks and platforms installed against the back wall accommodate larger sculptures and three-dimensional objects. These include Daniel Chester French’s three large plasters for the Samuel Francis DuPont Memorial Fountain, which are barely visible in the photograph on the bottom left behind their polyethylene sheeting and are fully accessible in the upgraded storeroom shown on the bottom right.
Also housed in this room are bronze sculptures by Frederic Remington, marbles by Hiram Powers, and decorative arts pieces such as glass by Louis Comfort Tiffany. A total of 2,749 objects were relocated to this room, of which 1,561 were rehoused with stabilization mounts. Digital photographs were taken of objects that had not been photographed, before placing them into their new cabinetry.
During the project period, more than forty-six objects, including silver by Paul Revere, were rotated into the DIA’s American galleries or loaned to exhibitions at other institutions. The museum conserved forty pieces—twelve received new mounts—and nine new collection acquisitions were processed. Additional documentation information for 383 objects and 1,200 new digital images were entered into the museum’s collections management database, allowing for new images to be linked to the DIA website. Renewed access has allowed the museum’s curators to review and research the silver collection. A new installation showcasing DIA’s early American silver and decorative arts is being funded by the Americana Foundation and scheduled to open by the end of 2012.
From the Bench: Preservation Project Protects 65 Million-Year-Old Fossilized Leaves for Scientific Study
This post is part of the “From the Bench” series celebrating the work of conservators. Part scientist, part detective, they work to preserve the past for the future. This series features the voices of conservators who are working on IMLS-supported projects in museums across the United States. For more information about IMLS funding for museums see www.imls.gov/applicants/available_grants.aspx.
By Jude Southward, Conservator and Museum Conservation, Department Chair
Denver Museum of Nature and Science
It’s fall, and the trees are shedding their leaves, making playful swirls on the ground. Have you ever wondered what happened to leaves that fell to the ground around 65 million years ago? At the Denver Museum of Nature & Science (DMNS), we are rehousing beautiful fossil leaf specimens from Denver Basin excavations that date from that time period. The specimens are remarkable because so many of them retain a cuticle. The cuticle is the waxy protective coating on living leaves, and it allows researchers to investigate past carbon dioxide levels. It is just one of the ways the museum is helping to study our changing climate.
With help from a Conservation Project Support grant from IMLS, DMNS is providing optimum storage conditions for the 8,900 fossil leaf specimens housed at DMNS. The leaf fossils are preserved on mud, silt, and clay matrices that are not strongly cemented together. Even though these are fossil specimens, they are prone to damage from handling or from prolonged exposure to water, which could occur during fire suppression. If the cementation fails, the fossil breaks apart. This project is helping us protect these specimens against both physical and water damage. Many museum staff members are working on the project including conservators, curators, collections managers, and a dedicated crew of volunteers in the museum’s Earth Sciences Department. The team is working together to place the specimens in standard trays with customized supports. The specimens and their trays will then being placed in new, high-quality, closed cabinets.
As part of the project, staff conservators are completing condition reports on the 800 type specimens in the collection. These type specimens are the most significant taxonomic fossil leaves in our collection because they are the specimen on which a new species description is based. They have the highest curatorial and conservation priorities for closer examination, which allows us to see the remarkable structure of the leaves.
In addition to the rehousing and condition reporting by conservators, the effort entails work by project staff to conduct collection management activities, such as reviewing taxonomy to determine correct storage location, inventorying specimens, and creating storage labels. Finally, all inventory and condition report information is being entered into the collections database.
I have had the opportunity to work on more than a dozen IMLS-funded projects. I truly appreciate the impact of the agency’s commitment to collections preservation.