Author: Ryan Winfield

Volunteers needed to blog at the AIC’s 39th Annual Meeting.

AIC is continually striving to expand access to the stimulating and important content that is presented at our annual meeting. Last year, at the 2010 meeting, we initiated two new “firsts “:

    we had members blogging about talks and workshops (click on the Annual Meeting category on this blog page’s left hand navigation menu

    we hosted all available <a target=_blank class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://(poster presentations )”>http://www.conservation-us.org…e.ViewPage&PageID=1204 online

We received a lot of feedback that this extra information was extremely useful to those who were unable to attend, as well as those who were there, but unable to see everything that they had hoped. We are planning on continuing these services again this year in Philadelphia but we need your help!

If you are attending the upcoming AIC annual meeting in Philadelphia I hope that you will volunteer to blog from the conference on AIC’s soon to be newly relaunched blog. You need not be an experienced blogger nor particularly tech savvy. The WordPress blog format is extremely easy to use and any necessary hand-holding will happily be provided to make you feel comfortable online. There also is no pressure to be particularly witty. Although active tense, first-person and personal style are all encouraged in blog posts (this is a chance to free yourself from the writing constraints of condition reports!), the writing is expected to be more like reporting and professional in tone overall. The goal is for readers to learn more about the talk than they would gain from the abstract. More guidelines and training will be provided for all volunteers.

I am looking for 2-4 people for each specialty group session and general session and 1-2 people per workshop. If you will be attending one of the conference tours we’d love to hear from you too.

Last year our blog saw a huge increase in traffic due to annual meeting posts. We know that many colleagues are looking forward to hearing more about the conference and hope that some of you will volunteer, share your thoughts from the meeting, and take the opportunity to become more comfortable with some of the social networking tools of our present and future! If you are interested in volunteering or hearing more, please contact the e-Editor.

Some recent articles from the general press that are related to conservation

The Metropolitan Museum of Art hired a group of skilled Moroccan craftsmen who have experience in monument restoration to recreate a medieval Maghrebi-Andalusian style courtyard in its Islamic Art galleries. For two months, a reporter and a photographer from The New York Times observed and documented the craftsmen’s work. “History’s Hands”, a Times article raises two points for consideration:

–The great value for both art historians and conservators of such a thorough documentation of working methods.

— Why it is acceptable for a museum to recreate a piece of architecture, when it would be unacceptable for a museum to hire a painter to recreate a work from a certain school of painting that was not represented in its collection?

According to “Bellini Work at Frick is Seen in a New Light”, in late May, after a year of study and treatment of the painting which yielded new insights , the Frick Collection will reinstall Giovanni Bellini’s “St Francis in the Desert” in a special exhibit that will include computer kiosks at which visitors will be able to study the painting’s structure and Bellini’s working methods.

During the 2009 earthquake in L’Aquila in the Abruzzo region of Italy, many works of art were damaged. According to the Wall Street Journal “Donor of the Day” feature, “Restored Italian Statue Visits Its Guardian Angels”, in the aftermath of the earthquake, the Italian American Museum in New York City collected $110,000 in small gifts from thousands of donors. That money was earmarked for the treatment of damaged works and one of those works, La Madonna di Pietranico, has been sent to the Museum on a two-month loan as a thank you gift.

Behind the scenes: Conservation team are key figures at Milwaukee Art Museum

Chief Conservator of the Milwaukee Art Museum, Jim DeYoung, is interviewed about life behind-the-scenes working to preserve the museum’s significant collection. Jim covers a lot of ground about the daily activities of a small conservation staff (Terri White, Tim Ladwig, and Chris Nivor). From exhibit condition reporting to gallery surveys, answering public queries and keeping documentation records, hosting tours and actual treatment activities, it is all in a day’s work…or 30 years of work.

Read the interview at OnMilwaukee.com.

Conserving the work of legendary tattoo artist Norman “Sailor Jerry” Collins

To many, he’s the godfather of American tattooing, the original outsider artist.

Between 1940 and 1973, Norman “Sailor Jerry” Collins inked his distinctive tattoos on the flesh of visitors to his Hawaii shop. His distinctive style combining bold lines and careful coloration is still imitated today and can be found today on thousands – perhaps tens of thousands – of people.

“It’s pure folk Americana and it has a rich history,” said Erich Weiss, of Philadelphia, who wrote a book and directed a documentary about Collins. “People now consider tattooing as an art form, but back then they didn’t see it that way. “

Now Center City’s Conservation Center for Art and Historic Artifacts is preserving Collins’ work for prosperity with the same care they’ve put into historic documents and other masterpieces of art. They’re finishing up the project in time to mark the 100th anniversary of Collins’ birth this year.

Read the full article in the Philadelphia Inquirer to find out what the conservators are doing to the unusual archives. The art Samantha Sheesley is working to preserve left an impression on her that she decided to make permanent.

Two articles in April 2011 Art & Antiques Magazine

Two separate articles in the current issue of Art & Antiques magazine make for an interesting juxtaposition.

The first article profiles the artwork and conservation of AIC Professional Associate Daisy Craddock and gives a glimpse into the work of someone who both creates and conserves paintings.

The Afterlife of Eva Hesse discusses the changes that time and inherent vice have wrought in her artwork. Conservation can only do so much.

The Virginia Conservation Association

Current President, Frederick Wallace, along with Vice President Heather Logue, share their thoughts on the Virginia Conservation Association:

Colleen Callahan presenting her textile conservation treatments at the March 2010 VCA meeting

    What is the VCA?

The Virginia Conservation Association is a regional conservation organization dedicated to the care and preservation of cultural materials. The VCA was founded in Richmond, Virginia in 1989 by a small group of conservators working in the region who recognized the value of fellowship and professional discourse. Rather than forming a guild expressly for conservators, the association purposely was established to be open to anyone wanting to learn about conservation.


The VCA provides a forum for sharing knowledge and experiences and to discuss issues and new developments relating to the conservation of art and historic artifacts. The VCA offers a variety of programs to disseminate information, provide education and training, and foster interaction among conservators, museum professionals, collectors and other parties involved and interested in conservation. Members meetings are held five times a year at various cultural sites in Virginia. Workshops, field trips and social gatherings also are organized periodically. Membership in the VCA is open to any individual by way of annual dues ($25 regular; $15 student), giving privileges to the programs and materials of the organization. Non-members also can partake in many VCA services and activities, (a fee may be required). The VCA arena of interest primarily is within the state of Virginia; however the organization also includes and serves members from the neighboring states and elsewhere. The membership roster normally numbers over 100 persons.


The VCA website is located at the internet address provided below.

http://www.virginiaconservationassociation.org


Former VCA president Andrew Baxter discusses the

treatment

of

outdoor

sculpture by Anna Hyatt Huntington

at the 2008 VCA

field trip to the Chrysler Museum

of Art, Norfolk.


VCA member Heather Logue is an “emerging conservation professional” who is a conservation technician at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. She also is a current applicant for admission to conservation graduate school. Though young to the field, Heather’s enthusiasm for conservation has resulted in her present service as VCA vicepresident. The following is a her personal reflection about the VCA.


In my opinion, what makes VCA special is that we not only meet so often,

but we are based in an area that is so rich in cultural history. I don’t think

that many other professional groups have as many opportunities as we do

to get behind the scenes and tour as many conservation sites/labs. Plus we

have so many conservation professionals here that are fortunate enough to

have a forum and to share their projects and what they learned at the meetings.

As a preprogram intern/technician, I feel very fortunate to have heard about

and joined VCA when I did- I have made many friends had many opportunities

for internships just from networking at the meetings.

Thank you Frederick and Heather! For more information, you can also check out the VCA on Facebook at Virginia Conservation Association.

Emerging conservators at ANAGPIC 2011

It’s spring, the season when North American conservation students can get out of the labs and libraries and go present their research at the Association of North American Graduate Programs in the Conservation of Cultural Property (ANAGPIC) student conference.

This year the conference will be hosted by the Winterthur/University of Delaware Program in Art Conservation (WUDPAC) in Wilmington, Delaware. ECPN will continue their tradition of sending a representative to the conference to encourage participation from the students in the committee, who will speak at 12:25PM on Saturday April 16th. This year the Emerging Conservators Committee (ECC), a similar committee for emerging conservators in the Canadian Association for Conservation/Association canadienne pour la conservation et la restauration, will have a poster presented during the poster session on Friday April 15th.

Ryan Winfield, Membership Coordinator on staff at AIC, will be representing the ECPN and will be available to answer questions and give students more information about how they can be more involved in this dynamic committee. Queens student Jennifer Robertson will be presenting the ECC’s poster on behalf of the committee, and will be happy to answer questions during the poster session about this unique organization and how to get involved in current projects.

The initial schedule looks great and the lectures should be interesting and informative. We hope everyone enjoys the conference and has a chance to sample the mushroom flatbread at Buckley’s Tavern. Winterthur is very close to the Kennet Square which has a yearly mushroom festival, always a fun(gi) time!

Barnes Foundation Matisse painting undergoes analysis to explore color changes

“Golden-hued foliage has darkened to an earthy tan. A sunny yellow field has faded to off-white. In spots, the paint is powdery and has started to flake off.

Vivid colors are deteriorating in Henri Matisse’s iconic The Joy of Life, owned by the Barnes Foundation, and scientists are stepping in to help before the giant canvas is moved to its new home in Philadelphia.

Conservators presented the results Tuesday from a sophisticated chemical analysis of the painting, which will guide the effort to retard further damage and perhaps, someday, to reverse it. The research, presented at a conference of the American Chemical Society in California, was led by Jennifer Mass, a senior scientist at the Winterthur museum in Delaware who was enlisted by the Barnes.”

Francesca Casadio, senior conservation scientist at the Art Institute of Chicago, and Barnes Foundation conservators, Barbara Buckley and Margaret Little, completed the research team.

Read the full article in the Philadelphia Inquirer online edition.

Survey on Use of Social Web for Heritage Advocates

In late 2009, the Voices of the Past website first surveyed heritage advocates about how they used the social web. Since then, the number of people connecting around heritage issues online seems to have grown quite a bit. Can we now definitively say that new media engagement is measurably effective in heritage advocacy, research and networking with peers?
You can help us find out by answering just 12 questions in the 2011 version of the survey. The results of this anonymous questionnaire will be shared with the heritage community worldwide and hopefully inform our common goal to create a sustainable future for heritage resources, and the folks who work to protect them. Please help improve the results by forwarding, tweeting, blogging and listserving the link to your colleagues as well.
Find the survey at http://conta.cc/heritagewebsurvey

Thank you ECPN for helping with this survey. Once compiled the results will be posted.

February Meeting Minutes

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ECPN MEETING MINUTES

February 17, 2011

Conference Call Attendees:
Carrie Roberts

Rose Daly

Ryan Winfield

Amy Brost

Heather Brown

Stephanie Lussier

I. Minutes

a. ECPN January minutes approved

II. ECPN Co-position for Education and Training

a. Carrie Roberts takes co-position with Amber Kerr-Allison; full transition of the position to Carrie will occur at the end of 2011.

III. AIC Meeting 2011

a. Angels Project (Ryan) – no updates. Contract with the site is pending.

b. ECPN attendees – several committee members plan on going. Heather posted room-sharing notice on Facebook. One person seeking to share accommodations so far, but more anticipated as the date nears.

c. Meetings – Business meeting and dinner scheduled. Registration brochure has full page on this. Brochure is also on the website available for download.

d. Related Facebook Group – Conservators in private practice or freelance Facebook group has a posting about meeting up at 2011 meeting. Rose will mention the ECPN dinner and invite them to join. Carrie added that she is looking to create a workshop for emerging conservators just starting out and going into private practice. Rose will invite Kirsten, Amber, and Carrie to be members of this group.

e. Portfolio Session Presenters – Via email, Amber notified the group that three of the four graduate programs have committed. Buffalo has 2 students available and added that the event could be expanded to provide a full introduction to all the schools, include professors, and perhaps even be open to local pre-program students who are not attending the AIC meeting. While this idea was well received, it also seemed overly ambitious for the first year of this event. Rose suggested surveying participants in this year’s portfolio session to see how it could grow in the future. Paper survey, or possibly collect email addresses and encourage people to complete an online survey (email would make it possible to follow up with them). Keep it straightforward this year, see how it’s received, then build upon it next year if there is a good response. Ryan added that there are a number of Student AIC member registrations already in, so student attendance is expected to be good. Exhibit hall is not open to the public, so it’s difficult to have people coming who are not registered for the annual meeting. Could consider a one-day exhibit hall pass or other special registration category if the portfolio session is opened to the public in the future.

f. Portfolio Session Outreach – Will be posted on Facebook. Rose suggested emailing Student members of AIC to notify them, which Ryan said could be done.

g. Poster – Amy is working on this, but requested file specifications before going further with the design. Printing will be done by AIC, with Amy delivering the file to Morgan for production. Ryan emailed Morgan to ask that she send Amy electronic file specs and delivery requirements.

h. Flier – Amy will add Carrie Roberts and Stephanie Porto. Karen’s position of AIC Board liaison may be transitioned by the time of the meeting, so indicate that position generically on the flier. Amy will send flier with all revisions except the new Flickr page URL to Ryan and Rose. Final approval next call for 4/1 deadline. [Correction of previous minutes – flier is single-sided color, not double-sided.]

IV. Outreach (Heather)

a. Blog – Jason Church willing to write a post – Heather says it can be challenging to identify writers. Heather will follow up with Jason to give him the green light.

b. Webinar – can work with Jason to stage webinars from Louisiana. Possible topics include how to build a portfolio. Ask portfolio presenters at the AIC meeting about participating in a webinar.

c. Flickr – ECPN images will be moved onto the AIC Flickr page. Jason needs to move his images. Ryan handled permissions. Rose to follow up with Ryan. Rose or Ryan to provide new URL to Amy to use on the flier.

d. AIC News – article about mentoring program (Heather) – Jane is writing it with her. Lisa provided a guideline of 500-1000 words. Will include a general introduction to the program, specifics on how the program works, and then will discuss Heather and Jane’s personal experiences. Heather will send the draft to Lisa and Morgan.

V. Communications (Amy)

a. AIC News – article about ECPN at the AIC annual meeting was approved on the previous call and Ryan forwarded it on by the 2/1 deadline for the next issue.

b. Wikis – Amy to follow up with Rachael Perkins Arenstein on ECPN contributions to the SG Wikis. Rose did the Wiki training if anyone has questions.

c. JAIC Peer Reviewers – Amy confirmed that Michele Derrick had enough volunteers and that she did not want to solicit more until there was a need. Rose proposed offering ECPN assistance with book reviews. Ryan indicated that there is one book reviewer at present, so this may be an opportunity area for ECPN. Amy to ask Michele.

d. Position descriptions – Rose sent Communications position description to coordinators and requested that the coordinators develop and maintain descriptions, as this helps with evaluating progress, formalizing committee structure and workflow, and facilitates transitions.

e. Repository/archive for ECPN documents – for Katie and Jason’s notes, proposals, posters, other committee documents. Ryan reported that AIC is exploring various platforms (ie, Dropbox, Big Tent, Yahoo! Group, etc.) and will determine which will be used by all specialty groups and committees. Ryan to advise, then committee members (current and former) can provide the documents to populate it.

VI. Education & Training (Carrie)

a. Recent E&T conference call – discussed ideas ECPN has for possible workshops to develop as part of AIC, including starting a private practice (with Kirsten Travers), grant writing, and publishing (how to publish in JAIC, blogs, other journals, etc.) Setting up a private practice is a workshop that would translate well into a Webinar – Heather will follow up with Jason. Carrie has sent ideas to Stephanie Lussier. Webinars are more permanent so it is ideal to create webinars along with workshops.

b. Research Database – CoOL doesn’t have capacity and isn’t searchable – Rose suggested discussing with Walter Henry. U. of Texas database may be transitioned to AIC, which would also provide a possible platform for the research database, and it contains research already. Concern that it’s pre-populated with the research of just one program. Do not want to give the impression of skewing emphasis within the database to one training program. All programs will help with vetting, so all must be on board with how new information is brought into it. Start with the idea of populating it with research from ANAGPIC.
http://www.ischool.utexas.edu/~anagpic/studentpapers.htm

VII. ECPN at AAM

a. Rose unable to attend AAM. For the future, this is an opportunity for networking and identifying areas for collaboration.

VIII. ECPN and ECC at ANAGPIC (Ryan, Stephanie)

a. Ryan can possibly set up the poster, since Stephanie cannot come to the conference. Stephanie advised via email that there may be a Queens student who can present, and an ECC representative. Rose sent Ryan her talk from last year. Ryan will be delivering remarks and may co-present with the representative from Canada, per Stephanie’s email.

IX. Publications Committee Update (Amy)

a. Amy participated in the January conference call, which centered around electronic publishing. Specialty groups each have their own processes. Each group is providing information on how they handle electronic publishing now (ie, post prints) and this will be used to develop a best-practices document. Considerable discussion on PDF vs. XML. PDF is faster, simpler, and less expensive, but XML is more versatile, and easier to migrate in the future.

b. The Architectural Specialty Group is looking to update its Wikipedia entry with volunteer help, possibly from ECPN. Ryan can provide them with a list cross-referencing architectural conservation and ECPN. Amy posted to listserv. Can also post to Facebook page and encourage ASG to reach out to the conservation graduate programs directly. Amy will circle back with Jenn Capetto of ASG.

Next conference call will be March 17, 2011 (St. Patrick’s Day) at 1PM ET.

Respectfully submitted,

Amy Brost