We received this important advocacy alert from the American Alliance of Museums (AAM) today. Please take a few minutes to let your Congressional representatives know how important IMLS is to conservation, museums, and our cultural heritage. Note: The links below will take you to the AAM website where you can use their template tools to quickly reach your representatives. IMLS Reauthorization Introduced in Congress; Contact Senators Today!
Late last week, Senator Jack Reed (D-RI) introduced S. 3391, the Museum and Library Services Act of 2016, joined by Senators Susan Collins (R-ME), Thad Cochran (R-MS), and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY). This bipartisan legislation, which the Alliance worked with others to help craft, would reauthorize the Institute of Museum and Library Services for six years and advance many of the Principles for IMLS Reauthorization endorsed by the museum field.
“The Museum and Library Services Act of 2016 will strengthen IMLS and enhance its ability to serve museums nationwide. Our field is lucky to have a supporter on Capitol Hill like Senator Jack Reed, and I’m grateful to him for working so closely with us on this proposal,” said Alliance President and CEO Laura L. Lott. “Now, this bill and the valuable improvements it contains need our help. With the congressional calendar running short, it is an especially important time to build momentum behind this legislation.” Ask your Senators to cosponsor the Museum and Library Services Act of 2016. The legislation:
Formally authorizes a 21st Century Museum Professional Program, to improve the recruitment, preparation, and professional development of museum professionals, especially those from diverse and underrepresented backgrounds.
Maintains the agency’s existing authority to support museum activities at both the state and regional level, while adding regional museum collaboration to its “Purpose” section, akin to how state museum collaboration is currently referenced.
Adds a new emphasis on ensuring that every American has access to high-quality museum experiences to the “Purpose” section.
Maintains and augments the agency’s research, data collection, and analysis about museums and libraries.
Establishes new reporting to ensure that the agency sufficiently collaborates with museum and library organizations at the national, regional, and state level on its research and data collection activities.
Includes additional federal entities on the list of potential interagency partnerships, allowing IMLS to expand its collaborative efforts with other agencies and magnify support for museums and libraries.
Updates the agency’s governance, so that it operates more closely in alignment with other federal cultural agencies.
Ask your Senators to cosponsor the Museum and Library Services Act of 2016. P.S. Debate continues in Congress on legislation needed to keep federal agencies operating past September 30. Negotiators and analysts continue to express optimism that a deal will be struck, but the clock is running out. See AAM’s most recent advocacy alert for more details on how programs that impact museums have fared so far during this year’s appropriations process.
As summer turns to Fall and Congress moves back into session, we are entering what could be an active time for Museum Advocacy, both before and after the November election. While Congress has not yet enacted any of the 12 annual appropriations bills into law, the House and Senate have each completed some work on their Fiscal Year (FY) 2017 funding proposals. There may also be an upcoming vote on a
stop-gap bill to keep the Federal Government Open. The chart below compiled by AAM shows how the FY 2017 bills compare to FY 2016 current funding for some programs impacting museums:
AGENCY/PROGRAM
FY 2016 CURRENT
FY 2017 HOUSE
FY 2017 SENATE
IMLS Office of Museum Services
$31.3 million
$31.3 million
$31.9 million
National Endowment for the
Humanities
$147.9 million
$149.8 million
$148.4 million
National Endowment for the Arts
$147.9 million
$149.8 million
$148.4 million
NSF Advancing Informal STEM Learning
$62.5 million
TBD
$62.5 million
Smithsonian Institution
$840 million
$863 million
$860 million
State and Tribal Historic
Preservation Offices
$56.9 million
$58.9 million
$57.9 million
Civil Rights Movement sites
$8 million
$11 million
$10 million
Save America’s Treasures
unfunded
$5 million
unfunded
National Park Service Operations
$2.370 billion
$2.435 billion
$2.406 billion
Considering that the total allowable funding for FY 2017 domestic spending is essentially frozen at current levels, the numerous small increases for museum-related programs are an encouraging start. However, none of these totals have been finalized and they could all be altered significantly in year-end negotiations. Even if you have done so before, it would be helpful to let your legislators know where you stand on issues affecting museums and conservation. Visit the AAM website, where you will find many advocacy templates that you can personalize and use for this cause.
Get in touch with your representatives now to create a strong link and enhance the value of any future communications with them about legislation up for vote. Please be on the lookout for AIC advocacy alerts in the coming weeks.
AIC Sustainability CommitteeSeeks New Professional Member
Term: October 2016 – May 2018
The Sustainability Committee seeks a new professional member to join our dynamic, interdisciplinary team. The position is open to interim year members, Associates, PAs, and Fellows from any conservation specialty. Committee goals:
Provide resources for AIC members and other caretakers of cultural heritage regarding environmentally sustainable approaches to preventive care and other aspects of conservation practice. Resources may be provided via electronic media, workshops, publications and presentations.
Define research topics and suggest working groups as needed to explore sustainable conservation practices and new technologies.
Membership Parameters:
The committee is comprised of 8 voting members.
Members serve for two years, with an additional two-year term option.
One member is a conservation graduate student.
One member serves as chair for two years.
During the second year of the chair’s term, another member serves as chair designate, assisting with and learning the chair’s responsibilities.
As needed, corresponding (non-voting) members and non-AIC experts will be invited to guide research on special topics.
Tasks:
Monthly telephone conference calls with the committee members.
Research, write and edit the AIC Wiki Sustainability pages.
Participate in researching and writing group presentations, publications, blog posts, and social media posts.
Contribute to development and planning for the Sustainability Session at the AIC Annual Meeting.
Initiate and support committee projects to increase awareness of sustainable practices in the conservation community.
Collaborate with related committees, networks, and working groups.
To Apply:
Please submit a statement of purpose (1 page maximum length) and resume by September 21, 2016 to Melissa Tedone, Committee Chair, at mtedon@winterthur.org.
The Emerging Conservation Professional’s Network (ECPN) is excited to announce that we will be hosting a Poster Session Lightning Round during AIC’s 45th Annual Meeting next year in Chicago. This session will highlight the contributions of ECPs who are accepted to the Annual Meeting Poster Session, providing a fun and informal platform for you to share your work with ECPs and established conservators alike. Participants will give a very short presentation—essentially an “elevator pitch”—that highlights the contents of their poster with an opportunity to field questions from colleagues.
Posters are an excellent way to participate in the Annual Meeting and present research, treatment projects, new tools, and innovative techniques in a concise format; we encourage you to submit an abstract! Once final selections are made by the Poster Session Committee, ECPN will put out a call for participants.
In the meantime, submit your Poster Session abstracts by the September 12 deadline using AIC’s submission portal: http://www.conservation-us.org/annual-meeting/call-for-submissions#.V6ytE036uig
ECPN 2016-2017 Committee (left to right): Eve Mayberger, Jessica Walthew, Rebecca Gridley, Kari Rayner, Alexa Beller, and Michelle Sullivan (not pictured: Kimi Taira, Emma Schmitt, and Alyssa Rina)
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.
Credit: Sarah Stauderman
This pre-session was a joint meeting between conservation professionals and facilities engineers, architects, and administrators who belong to the International Association of Museum Facility Administrators. The topic of the day was how to foster a collegial and collaborative working relationship between conservation and facilities staff so together we can preserve collections with well-managed storage and exhibition facilities. The day was structured in three sections, each with a panel of experts and a tabletop exercise. The three of us attended, and agreed to blog together as the day was jam-packed with inspiration and useful tips. We were hoping to learn strategies for building relationships with our facilities managers, including developing common language, shared understanding of goals, and respecting each other’s areas of expertise.
The first session, Share the Risk: Collaborative approaches to facilities construction, renovation, and operation was moderated by Joelle Wickens, (Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library). Key takeaways from this session were that no one person owns a facilities problem, and monthly meetings, meaningful and well-planned monthly meetings, are a good strategy for building relationships that successfully address the inevitable problems. Out of work time is also important…sharing a beer with each other was mentioned throughout the day as a way to break down those silo walls. Image courtesy of P. Anderson
Panelists included Jack Plumb (National Library of Scotland), John Castle and Lois Price (Winterthur), Rob Waller (Protect Heritage Corp), and Deborah Potter (Tate). One of Jack’s tips was to build in an orientation for new contractors with collections care to explain the local policies and behavior expectations that might be different from one jobsite to another. Jack also has a very interesting program for doing temperature and humidity mapping research using students from Heriot Watt University doing their dissertations. I wanted to know more about this program, and how to find students that are interested in this work!
Lois Price and John Castle got an NEH Sustaining Cultural Heritage Collections grant to improve their wireless building management system, and in the process, found that the working relationships between conservation and facilities staff, and each assumptions made about each other, were not so productive. So they set about doing a qualitative survey of their peers across the world, and they reported the results to us. The data set is rich, with lots of variable possible including institutional budget, frequency of joint meetings, rate of success, and decision-making rights. Their conclusions, while not statistical, point toward the fact that nothing can substitute for a good team, and the meeting more frequently can cure a number of long-standing challenges. For the skeptic who says “More meetings? I ain’t going to no more stinkin’ meetings” one merely has to say, “Let’s get you into the right meetings!”
Rob Waller talked about prioritizing different risks to collections, focusing on clearly defined goals. He explained the importance of filtering what falls under facilities managers’ ability to control. He reiterated that in many cases, the 80/20 rule applies: 20% of the risks contribute to 80% or more of the total risk, so these should be prioritized if at all possible.
Deborah Potter shared Tate’s collaborative approach to facilities planning for six sites, 72,000 works of art and a million library and archive materials. In debriefs from system failures, they discuss the impact on the collection, and approach how to prevent it from happening again, also taking a risk-based approach to collections care. Their team includes registrars, collections,, communications, and facilities staff. With a “green vision” aiming to reduce carbon emissions by 15%, they are embarking on an ambitious but doable program including energy plant and HVAC controls replacement, LED lighting, solar panels. Other sustainability initiatives include waste management, recycling, up-cycling, a flower meadow, and beekeeping! They’re not the only ones keeping bees…we found these on the roof just outside the door of the pre-session room! Image courtesy of P. Anderson
This first session ended with a tabletop exercise in which temperature and humidity parameters for an incoming loan challenge our fictitious small institution, stemming from poorly written loan agreement, lack of historical data, and lack of communication between the director and the staff. Of course we sorted it all out in 15 minutes, but with the understanding that these problems are ongoing and are exacerbated by the fact that we have no industry standards for libraries, museums and archives. One group noted that such agreements can be used as leverage to make needed upgrades.
The second session, Share the Planning: Collaborative approaches to emergency management, was moderated by Rebecca Fifield, Chair, AIC Collections Care Network, and Head of Collection Management, Special Collections at New York Public Library Image courtesy of P. Anderson
Collection Emergency Plans at Museum Victoria
Maryanne McCubbin, head of Strategic Collection Management for the Museum Victoria, presented the approach they have to managing risks in the multiple museum buildings and storage facilities where they house over 17 million state collection items. Citing recent floods that have tested their plan and preparedness, she emphasized how crucial it is for collections staff to communicate accurately and often with facilities and provide a liaison with facilities as well as emergency (first) responders (fire, police, authorities). She also commented on an often overlooked approach to managing risks, or inherent dangers, within a collection, such as hazardous substances in collections.
She stressed that a plan should be thorough yet brief. It can have appendices that provide more specific and detailed outlined activities for departments. However the plan should be developed through extensive negotiations with facilities, conservation and security. She cited a couple pitfalls for any great plan: failure to regularly induct new hires to the plan, especially in departments with high-turnover such as facilities and security; keeping contact information for key personnel up to date; reviewing incident reports to improve your plan; and practice!
The Lone Responder: Building an Emergency team with limited resources
Laura Hortz Stanton, Executive director of Conservation Center for Art & Historic Artifacts (CCAHA), discussed how crucial it is for small historic house museum, societies and municipal museums with limited staff and resources to connect with their local emergency management personnel. Reaching out to your local fire or police is important so they can become familiar with the building(s) as well as the contents, and key staff members. They can even review your emergency response plans and provide recommendations. Another key point was the importance of being prepared for the recovery after a disaster. “Who you gonna call?” A small museum that does not have a conservation and/or collections staff needs to keep an up-to-date contact list for local or regional collections professionals that can respond quickly to a call for assistance after a disaster of any size. She pointed out resources available online to help develop plans, including online templates and training, opportunities to benefit from mutual aid memberships in your state, local assistance networks, as well as AIC’s National Heritage Responders (NHR, formerly AIC-CERT). The majority of these links can be found on AIC’s website.
http://www.conservation-us.org/emergencies
NFPA Codes for Cultural Heritage Institutions
Nick Artim of Heritage Protection Group was not able to attend the session as scheduled. He did participate in the half day pre-conference session on Saturday titled Choosing and Implementing a Fire Suppression System for a Collecting Institution. (AIC Blog Link http://tinyurl.com/hhdtv6z) For more information regarding Codes and Standards for the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) see links provided at the end of this blog post.
The session concluded with a tabletop exercise titled An 88-year old dam and a hurricane on the way! Teams were tasked with emergency planning for the fictional Decoy Museum, a small museum located on the coast of Maryland with a history of flooding. The museum is down river from an 88 year old dam and a hurricane is quickly approaching. Teams were shown a photograph of the exterior of the building and it’s proximity to the water, history of the site as it has fared in previous storms, images of the interior and a description of the collection. We were also told that our emergency plan is out of date and the only copy stored on a computer. Using the expertise at our individual tables we were asked to review our emergency preparedness and how we would respond in our respective roles. As the clock counted down we were provided with updates on storm progress, a status report on rising flood waters, and given a 24 hour evacuation notice to see how circumstances would affect our strategies.
Although initial discussions were focused on collections, most teams concluded that the safety of the public and staff came first, followed by securing collection data (hard drives/ records), securing the building, and initiating organization for return and recovery. Two key takeaways from the exercise included a discussion around FEMA’s Incident Command Structure and the concept of “dead” building. ICS is a standardized approach to the command, control, and coordination of emergency response. ICS offers flexibility to respond to small to large incidents, defining key roles to be filled rather than strictly identifying individuals. “Dead” building is a term used by facilities professionals to describe a full building shutdown and disconnection from utilities. As part of your plan it is important to know how long it will take to shut down your building as well as bring it back online.
The third session, Share the Responsibility: Collaborative approaches to selecting appropriate environmental guidelines, was moderated by Patricia Silence, Director of Preventive Conservation, Colonial Williamsburg. Image courtesy of P. Anderson
Select Guidelines and Standards
Selecting guidelines and standards can’t be boiled down to just a number because it depends on factors such as the building envelope, outside air temperatures, HVAC equipment, climate, etc. and how well their interaction matches capability of building and environment. The speakers discussed using guidelines and not standards as a basis for procedures and policies, and how to maintain the notion that the indoor environment is a fundamental component to preservation of collection. Other key points made by this panel included:
Consistent monitoring leads to meaningful conversations
Environmental control includes lighting, ventilation, and pest control in addition to temperature and RH
Customized specifications should be developed for each institution and collection, looking for “parameters in lieu of more science” and reinforcing the point that “70/50 is no longer an appropriate, practical, sustainable, or useful set-point.”
In the aftermath of the major earthquake that struck the Port-au-Prince region of Haiti in 2010, the Smithsonian Institutional Haiti Cultural Recovery Project was formed in partnership with the government of Haiti. The partnership was established to assist local professionals in the recovery of their cultural heritage. The 2010 earthquake was the most destructive event in Haiti’s history and resulted in the collapse of museums and historic structures. Stephanie Hornbeck
The project was launched in 2010 and continues to be highly successful. The efforts began by defining a plan for the partnership, both within the Haitian government and the cultural sector. Funding, provided from both public and private donors including AIC, exceeded three million dollars and was used in finding a facility that would house the 100,000 objects endangered as well as hiring a staff that worked to rehouse, document, and treat this collection.
The Cultural Recovery Center staff included local and international conservators, 54 international conservators and collection managers, and local assistants including 13 full time students. Ideal volunteers came with an open-minded attitude and willingness to help wherever needed.
Conservation priorities were established for the endangered collection, which included West and Central African tradition, Historic Haitian Art, and Contemporary Haitian Art. Some of the artifacts recovered include broken panels and paintings, crumpled and torn paper, broken sculptures, and built heritage in total collapse. Conservation and preservation professionals faced numerous challenges including working in a tropical climate, lack of written and photographic inventories, and a general absence of basic collections care practices. The country has faced decades long problems with discontinuous electricity and many museums didn’t have covered windows. The presenters emphasized that their goal was not to establish priorities within the collection, but to aid in stabilizing and treating the collection items that locals deemed a priority. This commendable attitude proved to be quite difficult at times, as many museums did not have their collections prioritized prior to the earthquake.
Some of the conservation activities included assessing and improving facilities, providing guidance and support during the stabilization of damaged collections, training volunteers and staff to process and stabilize a high volume of damaged works, and treating a selection of culturally important and badly damaged works. The treatment stage included the stabilization of 35,000 works from 20 institutions.
The presenters gave reasons for why stages of the Haiti Cultural Recovery Project were successful or unsuccessful. Less successful situations arose when establishing an agreement with the National Bureau of Ethnology, negotiating with ISPAN for the construction of the conservation center on public property, and managing the transition from one government to another. In addition, the speakers stated that it was difficult to have the Haitian government to be proactive and take ownership of the project. Success was attributed to the core set of values shared between the six types of partners. When translated into the management of the situation, these principles lead to a mutually understanding, which ultimately lead to the success of the project.
Providing assistance in war-torn areas in Syria and Iraq is a complicated matter. The humanitarian crisis has resulted in protests in Syria against the government while a civil war led to the emergence of extremists groups, the most active threat being daesh (ISIS/ISIL). Collateral damage to the area has resulted in the militarization of archaeological sites and historic neighborhoods being obliterated. Organizations such as the ASOR Cultural Heritage Initiatives (CHI) are continually working on meeting the challenges of this cultural heritage crisis. Through diligent monitoring, CSI is able to assist the nations by documenting damage, promoting global awareness, and planning emergency and post-war responses.
LeaAnn Barnes Gordon gave an insightful presentation into the complications of providing international support to local residents and institutions. A highlight of Gordon’s presentation was showcasing CHI’s extensive digital mapping of over 7,800 cultural heritage sites. These maps help to assess the affects on cultural heritage by analyzing different types of damage as well as current and prospective threats. By utilizing satellite imagery, CHI can monitor changes over time in areas that have been damaged by military occupation or that have been illegally excavated. Information is compiled into reports using photographs and textual records of observations; some of these records are currently available online and others are being added regularly.
CHI is standardizing documents and terminology to avoid ambiguity during documentation (e.g. threats vs. disturbances). In the presentation, Gordon provided examples of types of documents utilized including field guide assessment forms, photo-documentation guides, and technical advice in Arabic to assist those currently living/working in Syria and Iraq. In addition, CHI is providing resources and funding for local institutions for efforts such as cleaning and removing debris and erecting temporary structures.
The presentation discussed ongoing CHI projects as well as general challenges faced when attempting to protect cultural heritage in conflict zones. Constant monitoring allows CHI to identify potential damages and share this information with conservation/preservation specialists in the area. These measures help prevent and decrease future damage to culturally rich sites and collections as well as helping to create standardized documents that can be used in other areas of conflict zones.
To learn more about CHI and the important work they are doing, please see: http://www.asor-syrianheritage.org/
To promote awareness and a clearer understanding of different pathways into specializations that require particular training, the Emerging Conservation Professional Network (ECPN) is conducting a series of interviews with conservators in these specialties. We are kicking off the series with Chinese and Japanese painting conservation. We’ve asked our interviewees to share some thoughts about their career paths, which we hope will inspire new conservators and provide valuable insight into these areas of our professional field.
In our first interview, we spoke with Sara Ribbans, Assistant Asian Paintings Conservator at the Cleveland Museum of Art. She earned her BFA from York University and Master’s of Art Conservation from Queen’s University where she concentrated on paper conservation. Sara Ribbans – Assistant Asian Paintings Conservator, Cleveland Museum of Art [Photo: Howard Agriesti]
ECPN: Please tell us a little bit about yourself. Sara Ribbans (SR): I began my training in paper conservation but by the end of my program I was intent on traveling to Japan and concentrating on Asian paintings conservation. I had never really traveled much prior to getting into conservation, but throughout my Master’s degree, I had never stayed in one place longer than 9 months so the idea of packing up and moving to Japan was not strange. I helped reconstruct a section of a 400 year old castle, restored the wall paintings in a large Buddhist temple, and remounted hanging scrolls, handscrolls, folding screens, and panels. It gave me the opportunity for a great deal of hands on work and the ability to create something in the process, which–coming from a fine arts degree–really appealed to me. ECPN: How were you first introduced to conservation, and why did you decide to pursue conservation? SR: While I was studying fine arts, I had come to realize that I really wanted to learn more about techniques and materials, not just what made a pleasing composition. Luckily, York University in Toronto, Canada, had a course on historical techniques taught by Srebrenka Bogovic-Zeskoski who had studied paintings conservation. Throughout the course, she would mention this idea of the permanence and degradation of materials and the conservation work done to preserve different artworks. It was the first time I had even heard of art conservation, and I quickly decided that I was more suited to conserving artwork than I was to creating a career out of being an artist. Final Lining Replacement [Cleveland Museum of Art, 2015.85; Photo: Joan Neubecker]ECPN: Of all specializations you could choose from, what contributed to your decision to follow Japanese art conservation specifically? SR: The only way that I really became aware of Japanese paintings conservation was through the tools used in paper conservation. We would have lectures on Japanese papermaking, use Japanese brushes when pasting out paper, and even wheat starch paste comes from the Japanese tradition. But what really pushed me to learn more was a really difficult lining of a large poster. It was clear that while paper conservators knew the theory of lining an artwork on paper, the technique was very rarely practiced therefore complications were hard to deal with. I decided to do an internship with a Japanese paintings conservator to get a better grounding in the materials, tools, and techniques that had found their way into paper conservation. I loved the work so much, though, that I never looked back. ECPN:What has been your training pathway? Please list any universities, apprenticeships, technical experience, and any related jobs or hobbies. SR: I started as a Fine Arts student at York University, Toronto, Canada. From there I got my chemistry requirements from Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada and Athabasca University, Edmonton, Canada, before doing my Master’s in Art Conservation at Queen’s University, Kingston, Canada where I concentrated in paper conservation. During my Master’s degree I did internships at the National Archives in Kew, England, the Oxford Conservation Consortium in Oxford, England, and Nishio Conservation Studio in Washington, D.C. Through this last internship, I was introduced to Japanese paintings conservators, which led to a one year apprenticeship with Kentaro Tominaga in Kumamoto, Japan. This was unpaid, but teaching English at night and on the weekends helped me pay my way. When my apprenticeship was complete, he introduced me to the studio where he had trained, and I found my first job as a Japanese paintings conservator at Usami Shokakudo Co. Ltd. in Kyoto, Japan. ECPN: Are there any particular skills that you feel are important or unique to your discipline? SR: While a grounding in paper conservation was really important there are aspects of Asian paintings conservation that incorporate objects and textiles as well. Carpentry, or an ability to work with wood, and sewing are actually two skills that are very useful to have when it comes to Asian paintings and their mountings. The lattice cores in screens and panels are made out of wood, as are the roller rods and hanging rods. This means that you need to be able to saw, plane, whittle, sand, and generally manipulate wood. Certain parts of the scrolls are sewn, such as the decorative hanging strips at the top of the hanging scroll. If you have never done any of these things then developing the skills while also learning all the parts to mounting Asian paintings can be time consuming. ECPN: What are some of your current projects, research, or interests? SR: Right now I am fully concentrating on the remounting of a portrait painting on silk from the Kamakura Period (1185-1333). This painting has been lined overall with silk rather than paper, probably as a quick and easy way of compensating for loss to the silk substrate. The problem is that silk-to-silk adhesion is poor and therefore the lining delaminated. The mounting was also quite soiled and worn. Over the next couple of months, I will be doing a dry lining removal and filling the losses with silk which has been artificially aged. I am also working with a silk weaver in Japan to create a reproduction of the gold brocade used for the inner border of the scroll mounting as the pattern is no longer available and we like to maintain as much of the old mounting aesthetic as possible. Remounted Hanging Scroll [Cleveland Museum of Art, 1985.273; Photo: Joan Neubecker]ECPN: In your opinion, what is an important research area or need in your specialization? SR: I feel that Asian paintings conservation, whether it is the Chinese or Japanese tradition, is not very well understood and could benefit from some promotion to the general public and to students interested in entering the field of conservation. There is a great deal of Asian art in collections throughout the world, and there are very few people who understand their construction and are trained to deal with their deterioration. This does not always mean packing up your life and traveling to Asia for extended training to become a mounter as well as a conservator. There is also the need for conservators who understand the materials and the construction of Asian paintings who may not be able to remount a painting but who are able do remedial treatments, such as flattening and reinforcing creases, consolidating pigment, replacing cords, etc. ECPN: Do you have any advice for prospective emerging conservators who would like to pursue this specialization? SR: Everyone who has entered this specialization, both conservation and Asian paintings conservation, has done so from such different directions that it is hard to hand out advice. I would say to talk to as many people in the field as you can because they can be a great help in getting you where you are going. Spending some time interning with a studio in the US can be a great introduction to the field and will give you necessary skills to draw on. Look for grants and scholarships to help you start out. There is a developing interest to train young and emerging conservators in the specialization of Asian paintings, both in the Chinese and Japanese traditions. Finally, getting a basis in the language of the country you are moving to would be really useful as English speakers are rare. I managed to learn Japanese as I went along, and picked up a lot of technique from watching, but the ability to communicate effectively would have certainly made things go more smoothly. ECPN: Please share any last thoughts or reflections. SR: I would just like to say that anyone who is interested in becoming an Asian paintings conservator should go for it and not let themselves be discouraged. It is, of course, a lot of work, and living in a different country is challenging–but I would say that all of the students emerging from programs throughout the US are very capable of facing challenges. It is an incredible experience and will add to their skills no matter what they end up choosing.
A site-specific artwork to span the distance of a corridor which joins the two central thematic halls was commissioned for the National September 11 Memorial and Museum, which was awarded to Spencer Finch for his proposal,“Trying to Remember the Color of the Sky on That September Morning”. The museum’s exhibition staff worked with the artist to design a suitable mounting understructure, which only revealed problems within days of the official opening. The underlying structure proposed by the exhibition staff was to mount the 2,983 pieces of heavy watercolor paper that make up the composition onto a steel mesh grid using bulldog clips. However, the artist’s desire was for the watercolors to appear to float, with a varied distribution – the clips restricted positioning to a linear grid, so the team worked to create a more randomly positionable mounting strip using earth magnets, contained in small coin enclosures affixed to the back of each component piece.
The work had to be installed during construction phase, and so when completed, the team wrapped it entirely in polyethylene sheeting. Despite these precautions, when checked prior to opening day, it was noted that a circular pattern of dirt, focused around the underlying magnets, had appeared upon pieces of the art work, which would be come to be called the “owl eyes” phenomenon.
For a quick fix, the visible dust was lifted in-situ with low-tack masking tape, but the team kept watch and eight weeks after opening, they repeated the cleaning upwards to a distance of eight feet from the floor level, based upon the ladder height. Due to high profile and high numbers, all exhibit maintenance has to be done after hours, and the work cannot be blocked from use or view, so scheduling and moving the scissor lift was prohibitive.
Knowing that repeated intensive cleanings were not a solution for an installation expected to last five years (and likely longer), the team considered a new mounting protocol for reinstallation that would reduce the attractive force of the magnets to atmospheric dust. The first intervention mocked up placed greater distance between the primary support and the magnet by embedding the mounting magnet into Velcro attached to the emptied magnet pocket but it was ultimately unsuccessful due to differential relative humidity causing curl of the papers away from the pressure sensitive adhesive on the back of the hook tape attached to the envelopes; the hook portion remaining attached to the loop up on the grid.
The dust/dirt were tested by both air sampling and particulate identification. The museum has a regular health and safety sampling protocol due to a high level of nuisance dusts from entries, and potential of asbestos release from the collections themselves. Interestingly, no iron was detected in the air sample, potentially because the deposition settles at a rate too slow or is too diluted over a volume for an eight hour test. Conversely, particle identification showed that seventy-five percent of the dust were definitively iron particles. Environmental sources for airborne iron in cities such as include vehicular traffic exhaust, brake dust, incinerators and more. (An aerial view of the site was provided to show adjacent high-contaminant zones, and sources of pollution near the intake vents.) Although the intake air for the museum is filtered, there are many sources of these at the densely settled and circulated location at the tip of Manhattan that can also enter via the access doors, loading dock, and on dust carried by visitors and staff. The thought that dust was one-time construction related was disproved, from having noted that other objects in cases that mounted with magnets around the same time do not have the same problem.
Therefore, with cooperation from the artist, elimination of the magnets was decided to be the best solution. In the full intervention, the team sliced away the leading side of the coin pockets, removed the magnet, and placed the pressure sensitive adhesive Velcro onto the remnant pocket, a total of 11,932 instances, which was performed in overnight shifts over four weeks. Unfortunately, within a few weeks, this was shown to be ultimately unsuccessful due to differential heating and cooling of the front of the artwork causing curl and failure of the pressure sensitive adhesive (from which to which?). A new round of testing was undertaken, with a goal to maintain the artist’s careful non-linear placement, by continuing to depend on the hook and loop attached to the wall mesh. The primary supports were carefully adhered overall to a mat board, which would be pressed to the receiving tape, now stapled through the mount support. These test mounts using extra paintings supplied by the artist, were installed between the upper two air vents for an observation period. When the new method proved successful, 150 facsimile prints made from digital captures of the artwork components were created as placeholders while the artwork components were switched out overnight for remounting, so as to avoid interruption for the visitors, numbering in the thousands daily, and include in rapid succession heads of state, such as the Presidents of the United States, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, and the Pope.
The question and answer period was lively with the following exchanges:
Q: if dust is still in the air, is that not a problem elsewhere for unglazed works such as paintings?
A: Yes, dust has been noticed also on vertical surfaces, and so there is a regular housekeeping program to clean these
Q: How do you protect against fading for this long exhibition?
A: In discussions with the artist, he selected Winsor & Newton colors with the highest lightfastness ratings, plus created digital captures. If fading becomes noticeable, they will be replaced with digital facsimiles, and there is a record copy of the artworks to compare against for the long term 5 year timeline, but that could be extended.
Q: [Gwen Spicer, conservator and author of a forthcoming book on magnets in conservation commented:] Noting that aerosols of particulates can be up to 10-20% in cities’ air [for more info on particulate matter and Air Quality Index, see data from the Environmental Protection Agency]. The particle size is critical to the attractive force – and in lower Manhattan with it many towers, you have a canyon effect for intake of highly concentrated flows of fine iron oxide particulates. This is a real health issue – and research is ongoing into low tech ways of finding and binding pollutants. In Oregon, tree moss is being used as a particle sink to identify pollutant sources. Also, it is now common for computers to have magnetic shielding/filtering to protect electromagnetic media, but not buildings. [In a suggested technology transfer, she noted] Could RFID blocking scrim be repurposed to protect indoor air?
Q: Why was choice made to use Lascaux in uncontrolled environment, versus paste & paper? Why were the artworks mounted to another hygroscopic board overall versus an inert support – was there a weight issue?
A: The choice was due to the need to turnaround multiple objects in limited space and time, without ability to lay out and weight a water based adhesive with a water soluble artwork. A paper support was preferred to reduce the differentiation in dimensional change or moisture uptake between the artwork and the support.
Q: Was actual Velcro(TM) used or generic hook and loop tape?
A: “We used generic hook and loop tape from Eastex Products. They were able to provide the custom sized pieces in the timeline we needed.”
![Sara Ribbans - Assistant Asian Paintings Conservator, Cleveland Museum of Art [Photo: Howard Agriesti]](http://www.conservators-converse.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/W0H6435.jpg)
![Final Lining Replacement [Cleveland Museum of Art, 2015.85; Photo: Joan Neubecker]](http://www.conservators-converse.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/2015.85.jpg)
![Remounted Hanging Scroll [Cleveland Museum of Art, 1985.273; Photo: Joan Neubecker]](http://www.conservators-converse.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/1985.273.jpg)
