Category: Topics

Conservation Department
Cincinnati Art Museum

The Cincinnati Art Museum is seeking an advanced paintings conservation intern for the June 1, 2010-August 19, 2010 time period. The Conservation Laboratory has been awarded a conservation grant from the Kinney Foundation for the extensive collection of Frank Duveneck paintings that are part of the museum’s permanent collection.

Candidates who demonstrate a career interest in the conservation of American Painting will be especially welcome to apply. Candidates must be fluent in both spoken and written English.
The internship is intended for students currently enrolled or recent graduates of one of the North American conservation graduate programs. The internship will include surveying and prioritizing the conservation needs of 119 paintings, technical examination and treatment of selected paintings and frames. The tasks will be coordinated and supervised by the Chief Conservator and by the Curator of American Paintings, Sculpture and Drawings.
The internship is set up to further the career of a conservator in training. The preferred candidate would posses strong organizational skills, solid understanding of the field of conservation including practical conservation techniques and current approaches both ethical and philosophical.

Please send a letter of interest along with Curriculum Vitae. In addition, enclose 2 letters of recommendation from conservation professionals familiar with the applicant’s work sealed in envelopes with the referee’s signature across the flap.

The application deadline is February 26th, 2010. Candidates chosen for a phone interview will have to submit additional information, such as treatment examples and scholastic research.
The internship is paid bi-weekly with a total stipend of approximately $4,500 that is subject to all applicable taxes.

The applicant will be notified no later than April 1st, 2010 by phone.

The Cincinnati Art Museum is an equal opportunity employer and is strongly committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment where a variety of backgrounds, cultures, orientations, ideas, and talents can flourish.

All applications should be sent to:

Jennifer Hart | Director of Human Resources
Cincinnati Art Museum
953 Eden Park Drive
Cincinnati, Ohio 45202

Research and Writing provides editorial and business management services to artists, artisans, academics, professional practitioners and small non-profits. We are pleased to offer members of the Emerging Conservation Professional Network a discount on my services. Of special interest may be:

“500 Words or Less”: Writing an Abstract or Short Proposal
Next scheduled session: 20 April 2010.
Regular price: $50. ECPN price: $45, with complimentary editorial review of one abstract if submitted by 15 June 2010

Your Life as an Independent [Whatever]
A three-week online workshop for unemployed, underemployed and independently employed artists, artisans and academics–or anyone interested in learning more about integrating who you are and what you do. Develop the tools for your independent life. More information at http://www.scribd.com/doc/19645357/Your-Life-as-an-Independent-Whatever
Next scheduled session: 8-28 February. Regular price: $275 ECPN price: $245

Proposal Writing Workshop
A three-week online workshop about the writing process, focused on writing a proposal or bid. Bring your own project—a book or thesis proposal, a job application, project bid or other application-based writing project—or ask for an ‘assignment.” More information at http://www.scribd.com/doc/19645371/Proposal-Writing-Workshop
Next scheduled session: 24 January-13 February Regular price: $275 ECPN price: $245
Contact me for the deeper discount for groups of 5-8 and 8 or more.

I’m also pleased to offer ECPN members an across-the-board 10% discount on editorial or business consulting services.

You’ll find more information about Research and Writing and all the online courses, meetings, and hot topics meeting series we offer at http: bit.ly/RaWblog and at http://www.scribd.com/doc/23541119/Research-Writing-2010A

For editorial and consulting fee schedules, to register for these or other online courses with discount, questions, etc email me at researchandwriting.nyc@gmail.com

-Sarah Lowengard

ECPN Conference Call
October 15, 2009

Rachel Penniman
Ryan Winfield
Ruth Seyler
Katie Mullen
Anne Simon
Karen Pavelka
Jason Church

I. Welcome

II. Project Updates

1. Communications –

a. Conference Call – Ryan and Ruth say recognize that the calls are committee conference calls. People would still be invited to sit in and the call number is posted, but we won’t set out blasts. Issue and theme calls could be specially promoted and separate. These could include interviews, webinars, twitter conferences.

b. Museums Wiki – we’ve been asked through a comment on the blog to list ECPN here. Katie will post this.
http://museums.wikia.com/wiki/Online_communities

c. Effort to get calls for bloggers is ongoing. Ryan will look at analytics. Investigate with Anagpic to see if they will let us link from that site. Karen will get us a name to contact about the ANAGPIC website. One new possibility is to invite people who are doing posters for AIC to submit them as blog postings, but that is contingent upon how presenting the posters after the conference is over is being handled by the poster committee.

2. Outreach – Angels Project

a. Ruth has been contacting sites; other folks have also been assigned sites to contact. Karen has contacted Paul M. for information on scheduling. From the board’s point of view the Angels project is the most visible and important thing we’re doing. That said, not much can be done until the site is selected. What can we anticipate? One example is supplies – however, again, that will be contingent upon what Paul hands over in terms of scheduling. Jason asks, if the project can still be moved to a Saturday – Ruth says both the Tuesday and Saturday are viable dates at this point.

b.Mentoring program –
1.AIC staff did the matching this time, due to concerns about letting the information on the matching forms go out of the office. Next time around, we may designate one officer from the group, the board liaison and a staff member to do the matching, so that multiple perspectives are represented.

2. We need to come up with a list of criteria that can be tested to see if mentoring is successful. Possibilities are geographic area, specialty, and manner of communication. Contact the parties that are participating 3 months out and solicit feedback on whether the match is good for both the parties involved. Figure out how to adjust matching process based on this feedback. This information, not connected to names, can be shared with the group. We should allow people to apply as a mentor or mentee as they become interested in the program, and not set a yearly deadline to apply.

3. Lack of architectural conservators applying as mentors is a problem – two more mentors in this area are needed. Ryan has sent an email to be posted on their specialty group listserve, but is not sure if it has gone through. Karen suggests two people to contact, and Jason has the name of one architecture conservator who has definitely expressed interest in being a mentor.

c. Purchasing a Recorder – AIC’s lendable AV equipment lives with (the multimedia coordinator for AIC) Brett – the recorder will too. Jason will contact Ryan about creating a form for lending that includes a disclaimer that AIC retains ownership of any recording made with it.

3. Professional Development/Training

a. Rachel reports on behalf of Amber that Amber has been working w/ IIC on attracting submissions for a student poster session for their Istanbul conference. They will make their outreach effort to U.S. grad programs through ECPN.

b. Ryan will contact Amber about her questions on finalizing the survey. Survey Monkey can be used for the survey instrument.

III. New Business/Open Discussion
1. Amber Kerr may attend IAG on behalf of Rachel Penniman.

IV. Setting of next call and adjournment
Next call:
Thursday November 19th, 1PM.

ECPN Open Conference Call
September 17, 2009

Present
Ruth Seyler
Ryan Winfield
Rachel Penniman
Karen Pavelka
Rose Daly
Anne Simon

I. Welcome

II. Project Updates

A. Communications

i. Guest Bloggers

Ryan has granted Katie admin status on the blogspot account in order to be able to add authors. To attract more bloggers, we need to brainstorm on incentives to post. Be more proactive about setting up a date to blog, so that it’s not on their back burner. Facebook posting has been good – what other ways are there to spread the blog? Maybe the people in the training advisory group can recruit their classmates – talk to Amber to see if we can’t ask in a welcome email to them that we’re looking for posters. Contact Dan Cull – see if he can share tips on how to get guest bloggers, or have suggestions on who to contact.

ii. Logos –
Get ourselves more branded. Try to tag posts. Logo needs to go by AIC board before they actually are used. Once posts are tagged we can ask for more submissions.

B. Outreach – Angels Project
Tony Rajer and Ruth Seyler have identified 5 potential sites. They in talks to pinpoint the final site, then we’ll move on to sponsorship and supply and the other issues. Karen Pavelka points out that this is the most important thing we’re doing from the group’s perspective. And it’s an enormous amount of work. Ruth will contact Paul Messier and see if he has a calendar/timetable set up based on his experience. Rachel Penniman asks what the group can do to help our more – Ruth says not to worry, there will be plenty to do once we get a site set up and a timeline in place.

C. Professional Development/Training
Karen Pavelka reports on behalf of Amber Kerr – no updates right now on PD/training.

D. 2010 budget
Ryan Winfield outlines the next budget
– travel to anagpic for chair $500
– travel to IAG for chair $500,
– Refreshments at annual meeting ECPN meeting $800.
– Possibly cost to rent mailing list from the college arts association to get out the fliers to relevant undergrad programs – will be minimal, probably $250. Or we can ask for money to print and then fall back on mailing list option.
– Check with Jason Church to see if we need budget for Audio Visual equipment.
This budget assumes that we won’t try for a workshop at the 2010 Annual Meeting. Deadline for all budget issues – October 1st. The Angels project has a separate budget. Ryan will draft a budget, and then it will be sent out to EPCN group officers for approval. The draft should be sent out by the end of next week.

III. New Business/Open Discussion
A. ICCROM– Amber is working with ICCROM to set up poster session.

B. Mentoring – Anne Simon says she and Angie would like help with matching participants and with logistics. Can there be another point person for the mentoring program? Discussion of the merits of trying to attract more participants to the mentoring program – Karen Pavelka points out that starting small is actually good. Match up who we can, and she will reach out to her contacts if more mentors are needed. We’ll do another blog post about mentoring, what a mentor can offer, so that potential mentors have a better sense of what they can offer and how to participate. Rachel Penniman and Katie Mullen will both help to get this off the ground and do whatever needs to be done – they will set up call with Ryan, Angie and Anne to get this sorted out.

IV Setting of next call and adjournment

October 15th, 1PM

A message will be sent out a day or two before the call with the phone #and pin #
No agenda requests will be sent out in the next meeting reminder in the hopes that more people will participate.

Winterthur offers one to three month short term fellowships for academic, museum, and independent scholars, including graduate students. Fellows receive a stipend of $1500 per month. Applicants need not apply for a specific named fellowship, but they do designate certain awards as:

* Faith Andrews Fellowships for the study of Shaker life and material culture

* Robert Lee Gill Fellowships for research on American decorative arts, painting, architecture, or historic preservation

* Dwight P. Lanmon Fellowships for the study of glass and ceramics

* Neville McD. Thompson Fellowships for the study of domestic life, late 19th- and early 20th-century design and material culture

To Apply

1. Application Form: Complete the application cover sheet. If you are applying for a Dissertation Fellowship or a National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship, you may ask to have your application considered for a short-term research fellowship in the event that your primary application is not accepted.
2. Essay: Prepare an application essay of no more than 1,500 words that opens with a concise overview of the project and then addresses the following questions.
* What ideas, questions, or problems guide your project? If this is a new area of research, explain its significance in your discipline and field of study.
* What is distinctive about your project? How does it complement, expand, or challenge prior study in the field? Please be specific about prior scholarship that informs your work.
* What work do you plan to undertake at Winterthur? Why is a residence fellowship at Winterthur necessary for successful completion of your project?
3. Bibliography: Based on your searches of Wintercat (our online library catalogue), prepare a bibliography of no more than two pages of primary sources you plan to use at Winterthur. If you plan to use objects from the museum collection in your research, please provide a brief listing.
4. Vita: Provide a copy of your current vita.
5. References: Obtain two recent letters of reference addressing your previous scholarly record, your current project, and your ability to work with a collegial group. If you are a graduate student, one of these letters must come from your dissertation advisor. Please instruct your reference writers to e-mail their letters to the address below. Please ask that they put your last name and the word “reference” in the subject line. We prefer .pdf documents. Word documents are also acceptable.
6. E-mail the completed application package to the e-mail address below (cover sheet, essay, bibliography, and vita). Please put your name in the subject line.

researchapplication@winterthur.org
Subject: Your Name

Mailed copies are also acceptable, if necessary. Mailed copies must contain six copies of the completed application package (cover sheet, essay, bibliography, and vita) to the address below. Mailed letters of recommendation (one copy only) also should be sent directly to this address

Rosemary Krill
Administrative Assistant, Research Fellowship Program
Academic Programs
Winterthur Museum & Country Estate
Winterthur, DE 19735

The deadline for all research fellowship applications is January 7, 2009. Notice of acceptance is sent by mid-April.

Okay, Katie and Rose – you’ve convinced me to answer the call!

Hello fellow ECPNers! Allow myself to introduce…myself. My name is Crista Pack and I am currently employed by the Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art in Indianapolis as their Conservation Technician. Some might find this odd considering that there are no conservators at the Eiteljorg…in fact there isn’t a conservation department or lab either. I’m it. I like to joke that I’m the head of the department and the lackey all rolled into one.

I’m at the Eiteljorg because two years ago they were awarded an

IMLS grant to conduct a condition survey of nearly 5,000 objects in their collection. The money is being used to bring in Conservators specializing in objects, textiles, paper, paintings, and sculpture. I get to work with these conservators to survey and photograph the objects and then enter this information into our database. It’s a great gig and I’m happy to have it.

However, today as I was entering my 2,437th survey into the database it occurred to me how nice it would be to have a conservator type sitting across the room who I could just shout out questions to spontaneously and then get an immediate response. Sure, I’m lucky to have Richard McCoy as my mentor extraordinaire…but he’s all the way across town at the IMA. And even though I imagine that he is usually just sitting by his phone, anxiously awaiting my phone calls – sometimes he’s not.

But, I digress. The point is, as a person still learning the field; I often have random questions about simple things. Like, what the heck does “skinning” mean when referring to a piece of paper? Or, what is the difference between cockling and buckling? What exactly is Silly Putty made of?

So, I turned to my trusty Google toolbar. I figured I would at least get hits on a half dozen dictionaries, and from those I should be able to decipher a conservation-related meaning for “skinning.” But I got something much better. I’m sometimes the last person to figure out tech/web-y things, so bear with me if you’ve known about these websites for years, but holy friggin’ cow…I feel like I hit the motherload today!

The first one is the Fine Arts Conservancy website:
http://www.art-conservation.org/glossary.htm

There you will find glossaries for paintings, works on paper, furniture, and decorative furniture elements. This is also where, by the way, I found my answer:

Skinning:
Excessive intervention resulting in losses of the original media; also called “over-cleaning”, or “excessive cleaning”.

Yay! Very handy. The only way the website could be any better is if they had a glossary for ethnographic objects. Which made me think, “hmm, what other glossaries might be out there?”

Well, in my search I found these gems:

Paintings: http://www.si.edu/MCI/english/learn_more/taking_care/painting_glossary.html

Scientific Research:

Material Name: Silly Putty®
Description

[Binney & Smith] A bouncing, rubbery polymer developed in 1943 by James Wright at General Electric. Silly Putty® is made from silicone oil
polymerized by the addition of boric acid. Peter Hodgson gave the bouncing rubber the name Silly Putty® in 1950 when he introduced it at the International Toy Fair in New York. Binney & Smith purchased the rights to the product in 1971. To celebrate its 50th anniversary, Silly Putty® was put on display in the Smithsonian Institution.
Synonyms and Related Terms: Potty Putty (Br.); Tricky Putty
Hazards and Safety: May leave silicone oil residue on contacted surfaces.

Additional InformationSilly Putty: Website

IR spectrum of silly puttyTransmission spectrum. Sample prepared on zinc
selenide crystal. Credit: Infrared Spectroscopy Lab, Analytical Answers, Inc.,
Woburn, MA.

Surely, there must be others out there. If you have websites that you use regularly, or that you’ve heard of, please post them here! I would love to find out what other resources people in the field regularly use.

Of course, it still might be nice to at least have a cardboard cutout of a conservator I can prop up on my back wall. I’ve been thinking about adding this paper conservator to the department:

She was posted by

Rachel on the ECPN blog before and I’ve been told that she kind of resembles a mini-me. Frankly, I don’t think my head is quite that square.

http://www.luzrasante.com/la-conservacion-un-juego-de-ninos/

October 7, 2009 from 3:30-7 PM at Winterthur Museum

Students interested in applying to the Winterthur/University of Delaware Program in Art Conservation (WUPAC) should not miss this insightful career opportunity. On October 7, 2009, the program will host its annual Portfolio Day, in which the entering class of graduate students shares their pre-program experiences, art work, and résumés. Students will be able to engage with graduate students. Potential applicants are welcomed to ask the current conservation fellows questions and get an idea of the process involved in applying to graduate school for art conservation. Faculty will also be on hand to answer questions.

http://www.artcons.udel.edu/news/2009/07/03/Fall_Art_Conservation_Portfolio_Day_

The Peter J. Sharp Internship in the Library Conservation Department at The New-York Historical Society is designed to provide an opportunity for practical hands-on training in book and paper conservation at an intermediate level. This internship is for individuals who have at least a bachelor’s degree and who have 1-2 years of practical experience working in book and paper conservation, or for students currently enrolled in a formal conservation training program.

Interns will undertake and complete a project based on their interests and skills and the needs and capabilities of the Conservation Department. At the end of the internship period, the intern will be required to produce a written report and possibly deliver a presentation of their work.

To apply for this internship, please submit the following:

• A detailed letter of interest that indicates the specific department(s) with which you would like to be placed;
• A current resume;
• Three professional recommendations;
• A five to ten page academic writing sample;

Please note: An interview with the Senior Conservator is required (preferably on-site) and candidates should present a portfolio of completed treatments at that time.

All applications must be submitted electronically only. Please email completed application package to internships@nyhistory.org with your name in the subject line. The cover letter, resume, and writing sample should be submitted together in one email. Recommendations must be emailed directly from the reference to internships@nyhistory.org and should have “Recommendation for Applicant’s Name” as the subject.

Applications are due by 5:00 PM on Monday, September 14^th, 2009.

If you have any questions about this program, please contact Betsy Gibbons by email at internships@nyhistory.org or by phone at 212-485-9281.

ECPN Conference Call 8-20-09
Present:
Ryan Winfield
Katie Mullen
Rose Daly
Rachel Penniman
Kathleen Dardes
Angie Elliot
Jason Church
Steve Pickman

I. Welcome
II. Project Updates
a. Communications

i.Blogging/calendar
Email, NING and Blog will get text of call for bloggers, please also send this out to folks that you personally know are interested.

ii. Skype interview with Jeff Guin
Interview between Jeff and Rachel P. will be posted. Address available soon…

b.Outreach
i. Angels Project
Ryan reports that Ruth did not get a chance to visit any potential sites, but Tony Rajer is providing leads, and we will ask Ann to start looking for potential sites as well.

ii. Flicker site for presentation photos
Possibly – Flickr.com\groups\ecpn
No approval needed for joining, must join to post. Most important thing is to tag your photos as extensively as possible. Jason will do a blog post explaining how the Flikr group will work. Jason will discuss on the blog being aware about use your institution permits, along with an emphasis on photos that can be shared, and about how to edit the rights licenses

Logo – we’ll revisit the logo, since we’re branding on flickr, etc. We’ll ask for more submission within a month and then do a poll. Group members will try to go back and tag the logo entries in the blog in preparation.

c. Professional Development/Training
i. Status of training advisory group
RP reports for Amber that all ANAGPIC programs, except Buffalo, have contacts in place. Katie will send name of contact that she had initially at Buffalo. Then Amber will send out introductory email to advisory group explaining what types of things we’re looking to work on. Example: ECPN can coordinate with the programs to provide a consolidated source for emerging conservators on internship and volunteer (pre-program) info, and on possibilities funding info for attending conferences. The information can then be placed in the career section of the website.

ii. Mentoring
Angie – Ryan has passed on more applications. There need to be more matches – what’s the best way to do it? Ryan will send out an email blast w/ call for mentoring program applicants and bloggers.
How will people be matched up? – Ryan says that Angie et al, can match people once they want to know how to approach it. One idea: Rank people by 1st – how they want to communicate, then by specialty. The mentee applications will be sent to the mentors, who can then choose from a pool – but that might lead to problems if many mentors pick one mentee. Tyrna points out current program in NY to mentor possible museum directors, she will pass on contact info and we’ll see what they can learn from that program about matching people. An “online dating model” might be a good way to approach this as well – all people go into a pool that is password protected, then choose each other.

III. New Business/ Open Discussion
a. 2010 Budget
It is budget preparation time, come up with ideas for September about what type of budget we might like to see, which will go to the board meeting in November, e.g. funding to attend anagpic.
Rachel asks if people have ideas for projects that would require a budget. Example, should we try again to have a workshop at AIC?
Steve suggests for equipment for podcasts, as a possibility – Zoom h2 handy recorder, which is under $200. Ryan says AIC in general might purchase this, he’ll check into this. Jason could coordinate who and how it’s going to if we did get one. We are looking into meeting accessibility requirements in terms of close captioning and transcription for podcasts.
Also add budget for chairperson attendance at internal advisory group.
Budget for ECPN meeting at the annual meeting next year, which would be a good opportunity to solicit more mentors and mentees, and have those who are already meet. This will be also be announced in the official program next year.
We’ll have informal dinner again (but not a budget issue)

b. 2009 IAG Meeting
Nov 14th, Saturday. All committee and specialty group chairs meet with the board and all strategize for the next year of the organization. If we have anything for this – pass it on to RP before she attends.
No further new business.

IV. Setting of next call and adjournment

Next call will be September 17th 1 PM EST.