Category: Topics

Minutes for ECPN Conference Call 6/18/09
Attendees: Rachel Penniman, Ruth Seyler, and Ryan Winfield
Minutes taken by Rachel Pennimen

I. Welcome

II. Project Updates
A. Communications:Podcasts
Rachel will check with Jason on potential podcasts

B. Outreach: Angels Project in Milwaukee
Ruth will look into getting information on CAP assessment programs from Heritage Preservation. The next step will be to arrange a conference call with conservators who have knowledge of the institutions in that city and could help us in selecting a potential site.
In order to “compete” with other workshops/activities on that day of the Annual Meeting, we should have information about the Angels project in the registration brochure. The deadline to have this information included is the end of October/early November.

C. Professional Development/Training:
1. Training Advisory Group
Amber was unable to attend the call but is making contacts for this.

2. Pre-program “camp”: Judy Walsh’s idea for a workshop geared towards pre-program students
Discussed how this could be done so it was useful but still affordable. Concern that it might be too expensive for pre-programs to travel. Will talk to Eric to see if we can get funding like the other AIC workshops. Could potentially do a webinar so no travel costs.
Could possibly have graduate programs or conservators in private practice refer pre-program students or interns who contact them to the workshop.
What kind of info would be presented and who would be the audience?

There are some building blocks we need to develop before we can get a whole workshop up and running. Advertising to pre-programs and people interested in conservation (Ryan has an idea to make a flyer for undergrad studio art and art history departments). Survey who is taking interns and how that develops, what their needs are. Etc.

The pre-program workshop is a great idea and one we want to pursue, but aren’t yet in a position to get that started. But we’re definitely on a track to develop it in the future.

3. Mentoring Program
Ryan will send an email blast to get more applicants (mentors and mentees.)
We’d like to start pairing up the applicants we already have. By next month’s conference call we should try to review the applications and make preliminary matches.

III. New Business/Open Discussion
Ryan suggested the possibility of adding a feature in the “Find a Conservator” where PA’s and Fellows can note that they accept apprentices or pre-program interns. So you could find a potential internship by searching in the “Find a Conservator.”

IV. Setting of next call and adjournment
Next call will be Thursday July 16th at 1pm Eastern time.

window.xg = {}; xg.addOnRequire = function(f) { xg.addOnRequire.functions.push(f); }; xg.addOnRequire.functions = []; window.xn = { track: { event: function() {}, registerCompletedFlow: function() {}, registerError: function() {}, timer: function() {} } };

if (!ning._) {ning._ = {}} ning._.compat = { encryptedToken: “” } ning._.CurrentServerTime = “2009-06-26T17:05:28+00:00”; ning._.probableScreenName = “”; ning._.domains = { base: ‘ning.com’, ports: { http: ’80’, ssl: ‘443’ } }; ning.loader.version = ‘4.4.1:23909_4’; djConfig.parseWidgets = false; ning.CurrentProfile.fullName = “Rose”; ning.CurrentProfile.photoUrl = “http:\/\/api.ning.com\/files\/hcIZXD3UPaNaUju0oQAL0KwzksHI76byIsHFDx5Bxft5A54U3B5Ylo69iVCYHbPShnj9IDDUFVbpFJkY2QIY46vHIBvGwUay\/IMG_0963.JPG?crop=1%3A1”; xg.token = ‘f99cf372c5fcd9b607918a425b10076d’; xg.cdnHost = ‘static.ning.com’; xg.version = ‘4.4.1:23909’; xg.useMultiCdn = true; xg.staticRoot = ‘socialnetworkmain’; xg.xnTrackHost = “track.ning.com”; xg.cdnDefaultPolicyHost = ‘static’; xg.cdnPolicy = []; xg.global = xg.global||{}; xg.global.currentMozzle = ‘profiles’; xg.global.userCanInvite = true; xg.global.appIsLaunched = true; xg.global.requestBase = ”; xg.global.locale = ‘en_US’; xg.num_thousand_sep = “,”; (function(){ var profileCount = 0, profileSend = function() {if (profileCount++ == 1)window.bzplcm.send()}, cnt = 0, onLoadHandler = function() { if(window.bzplcm)window.bzplcm.start(‘ni’); xg.shared.util.parseWidgets(); var addOnRequireFunctions = xg.addOnRequire.functions; xg.addOnRequire = function(f) { f(); }; try { if (addOnRequireFunctions) { dojo.lang.forEach(addOnRequireFunctions, function(onRequire) { onRequire.apply(); }); } } catch (e) { if(window.bzplcm)window.bzplcm.ts(‘nx’).send(); throw e; } if(window.bzplcm) { window.bzplcm.stop(‘ni’); profileSend(); } }; dojo.addOnLoad(function() { if(window.bzplcm) { window.bzplcm.ts(‘hr’); profileSend(); } }); ning.loader.require(‘xg.custom.shared.common’, ‘xg.profiles.blog.show’, ‘xg.index.actionicons’, ‘xg.shared.TagLink’, ‘xg.shared.AddAsFriendLink’, ‘xg.shared.comment’, ‘xg.shared.SimpleToolbar’, ‘xg.shared.CommentForm’, ‘xg.shared.FollowLink’, onLoadHandler); })(); if (top != self) { top.location.replace(‘http://aic-ecpn.ning.com’); }

This email was just sent out to AIC members:

CoOL is Coming to AIC!

Having reviewed a proposal from AIC and following several discussions, Stanford University Libraries has decided that AIC will be given responsibility for CoOL and the Conservation DistList. The transfer of content from the Stanford servers will take place immediately with expert guidance from Walter Henry, John Burke, and technicians at Stanford.

Our first goal is to have the DistList operational as soon as possible. Watch for one or more announcements on the DistList for periodic updates regarding the resumption of activity. Other CoOL resources will come online under new URLs as expeditiously as possible.

AIC is pleased to be entrusted with these invaluable resources and for the opportunity to sustain and develop them into the future. Our goal is to keep CoOL and the Distlist safe, viable, objective, and accessible for the conservation community worldwide.

Thank you for your support of this major initiative.
– AIC Executive Director Eryl Wentworth and the AIC Board of Directors

The following was recently posted on the Conservation DistList and Conservation OnLine website:

Special Announcement
Important News about CoOL and the Conservation DistList

Date: 10 Jun 2009
From: Catherine Tierney
Subject: CoOL and the Conservation DistList
Dear Colleagues,
This is a difficult posting to write. For twenty two years, it has been Stanford University Libraries’ great pleasure to serve and support the conservation community by hosting Conservation OnLine. Sadly, Stanford—like so many other institutions—has been hurt by the economy. As a result, we have had to make difficult choices. It is with deep regret that I inform you that we are no longer able to support CoOL. We feel it is important to alert you to this change as we are aware that so many of you rely on the distribution list as a medium of communication; there are still a number of things to be worked out.

http://news.stanford.edu/news/2009/june17/layoffs-061709.html

Catherine Tierney
Associate University Librarian for Technical Services
Stanford University Libraries and Academic Information Resources

Date: 10 Jun 2009
From: Walter Henry
Subject: CoOL and the Conservation DistList

It has been a great pleasure and privilege to work with this community and I look forward to finding ways to continue to do so. I’ve always held that conservation professionals were, as a class, unusually committed to the cause they serve; we really do care deeply about the cultural materials we are lucky enough to work with, and that care takes form in a remarkable dedication to the profession, to the ethical foundations upon which it is built, and to the community of practitioners from whatever discipline or specialty.

So, at the beginning of what would have been the DistList’s twenty third year it is with great sadness, but also with some sense of pride, that I finally give up this enterprise and that of Conservation OnLine as a whole. I don’t know exactly what will happen to the resources here but I have every faith that their fate will be in good hands.

I would like to thank, with all sincerity, Stanford University Libraries and Academic Information Resources, my own department, the systems and IT staff, and most of all the directorate, who have been unfalteringly supportive of my work all these years, and I know would continue to be so were the world in just a little better shape than it is now.

As DistList tradition demands, I leave you a final accounting: As of this day, the Conservation DistList comprises 9696 people from at least 91 countries. Conservation OnLine contains, at a very rough guess, 120,000 documents, possibly quite a few more. I hope they have been useful to you all, and I hope to be of service to you as we move into the future.

onward,
walter

The final instance of the Conservation DistList, as it was distributed may be found at
http://cool-palimpsest.stanford.edu/byform/mailing-lists/cdl/instances/2009/2009-06-11.dst
or in its archive (HTML) at
http://cool-palimpsest.stanford.edu/byform/mailing-lists/cdl/instances/2009/2009-06-11.dst

And this email was sent to AIC members shortly after:

Thursday, June 11, 2009
Dear AIC Members,
You may have seen today’s issue of the ConsDistList, which announced the news that Stanford University Libraries can no long support CoOL. The resources on CoOL, including the ConsDistList, have been major assets for the conservation community over many years.

http://cool-palimpsest.stanford.edu/byform/mailing-lists/cdl/2009/0656.html
http://cool-palimpsest.stanford.edu/byform/mailing-lists/cdl/2009/0655.html
Press release: http://news.stanford.edu/news/2009/june17/layoffs-061709.html

The AIC board and key staff have met by phone conference call to discuss the implications. CoOL is an important resource for the conservation community internationally, and it must be preserved and maintained. AIC is committed to do all we can to ensure that CoOL is not lost.

AIC has benefited greatly from CoOL in many ways. Many of our internal listservs and specialty group websites, for example, are hosted by Stanford. If you are responsible for a specialty group website, please keep in mind it can be migrated easily to the new AIC website. Contact Brett Rodgers (brodgers@conservation-us.org) to discuss this. JAIC, which is currently archived on the Stanford server, is also accessible online through JSTOR (www.jstor.org). AIC leadership is assessing all its assets currently hosted by CoOL and will devote itself to ensuring a smooth transition.

We thank Stanford University Libraries and Walter Henry for the invaluable service they have provided for 22 years. We are in full support of sustaining CoOL into the future.
– AIC Board and Staff

Emerging Conservation Professionals Network

Committee Meeting Minutes

I. Welcome



II. Message from Jerry Podany about advocating for the reestablishment of the Textile Conservation Centre at the University of Southampton, UK

III. Annual Meeting



A. Should we have a booth at next year’s Annual Meeting

B. Need a separate bulletin board for Internships, Jobs, Fellowships.

C. Architecture Specialty Group is going to give AIC dues scholarships for students – maybe ask other specialty groups to follow their example?

D. Meeting everybody for the dinner on the first night was a good thing; keep it as early as possible, informal, and relaxed

IV. Charge

A. AIC Board needs to do minor edits.

B. Karen Pavelka will do these and send to Ryan Winfield, membership coordinator for publishing on the website, blog, etc…

V. Goals



A. Communications

1. Listserv – reminder that it is for the committee itself

2. Ning—serve as a repository for meeting notes, career opportunities

3. Email Blasts

a. Katie Mullen can provide content

b. Ryan Winfield will insert it into an email blast template and send out monthly a week before the conference call.

4. Conference call – Ryan Winfield to place phone # on website

B. Outreach

1. Blog

a. Need to include other conservator’s blogs

b. Need an interactive calendar to schedule posts

c. Encourage people to create websites as portfolios of their work

2. Angels Project

a. Jason Church is taking over as lead on this, and he needs help finding a site:

1. Check out Tony Rajer’s book about museums in WI.

2. Anne Simon is from Milwaukee.

3. Check out CAP Assessment Program

4. Check out past vendors who provided materials

5. Joanna Dunn has been active in WCG’s Angles Project/Meg Craft has been involved with the CAP

3. Podcasts

a. Create our own.

b. Until then, promote current podcast resources at the Lunder and other museums

c. Check out University of Delaware website for their podcasts about conservation/conservators

C. Professional Development/Training

1. Mentoring Program

a. Use regional groups to promote program

b. Set a deadline for applications at some point

c. Review first by preferences, then by specializations and short answer

d. Need a period of evaluation after a year, a review of gaps

e. Decided to usse the word “mentoring” instead of “mentorship” when describing the program

f. Look into the FAIC Oral History project

1. For more information on conservation leaders (possible mentors)

2. Have potential mentees interview “seasoned” conservation professionals might lead to mentorship opportunities for themselves.

g. Mentees should make sure they are on the Ning site with their CV and contact info, so mentors can check them our beforehand.

2. Training Advisory Group

a. Amber Kerr Allison is assembling a group of contacts from Katie’s list, current training program list, etc…

b. Use group to compile advice on intern sites

c. Need to look at not just ANAGPIC schools but also the architectural conservation programs as well.

The Textile Conservation Centre at Southampton University has been serving the needs of heritage for over three decades. Teaching, researching, publishing and treating. By some estimates, over half of the world’s qualified textile conservators received some form of training and guidance from the Centre.

Email these two people and express your concern and your outrage as an emerging professional, that this world resource is being ended.

Rt Hon Andy Burnham MP, Secretary of State for Culture, Media & Sport
enquiries@culture.gov.uk

and

Rt Hon John Denham MP, Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills
DIUS.Ministers@dius.gsi.gov.uk

The issues session just wrapped up. Rachel, Jason, Audra and Laura are hanging out, talking about what happened, talking about what needs to happen, talking about outreach and how awesome some of the comments were.

And of course, Rachel did a great job announcing the ECPN- in fact there was applause when she was done! The mentor applications flew- now we just need some mentees. CIPP also offered ECPN members the student rate for one year!

Tweeters and Bloggers who stood up and commented:
@vmuros
@thevespiary
@richardmccoy

If you haven’t been checking twitter– you should. Search #aic20 You don’t even have to have a twitter account!

Ellen Carlee of blogging fame also got up and made several great comments- including one about the AIC budget and whether it could be available to the general membership. There was a little hesitation from the AIC to say- okay we will post everything tomorrow, but it the idea of transparency, which was reinforced by Richard’s comment about “pulling back the curtain” seemed to really resonate with more than just emerging conservators.

Did you go to the issues session, or was there something you wish you could have said?
Time for the business meeting!

Laura
@laurabrill

Conservators are converging on the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza Hotel in LA for the AIC Annual Meeting… and LA was kind enough to greet us with another earthquake today! 

One week ago I had the chance to attend the Association of North American Graduate Programs in the Conservation of Cultural Property (ANAGPIC) annual conference. This year’s conference was held in the auditorium of the newly constructed Burchfield Penney Art Center located just across the street from the Buffalo State College Art Conservation department and the Albright-Knox Art Gallery.  

I was given the opportunity to speak to the attendees about what ECPN is and what projects we’ve been working on. I stayed the rest of the day to hear all 14 student talks and as usual they were just phenomenal. We emerging conservators are really doing some great research and ANAGPIC is always such a great showcase of what students are capable of. I think the student conference is a great preview of new techniques and analytical tools being tested in conservation. DNA sequencing, testing for gunpowder residue, multi spectral imaging, online databases for sharing object information, and dry ice dusting were just some of the techniques students used in their projects. 

In no particular order (and in each case these were TOTALLY not the main point of these talks) here are some of my favorite highlights:

-Ariel O’Connor’s splicing of multiple x-radiographs to create a 360 degree rotating video of a Qing Dynasty sculpture.

-Marie Stewart’s use of a cotton swab wrapped in teflon tape in order to reduce abrasion when cleaning a sensitve Javanese shadow puppet. (I can’t wait to try that out!)

-Sharra Grow’s discovery that wax detected with analysis was not from the artwork being tested but from a wax coating on a wooden swab stick. 

-From Lauren Cox’s presentation on the Master of the Fogg Pieta Research Project I heard

 what is possibly the coolest name ever: Arcadius Lyon. Not only did he have a cool name but he was doing hatched stroke inpainting before tratteggio became all the rage.

-The running CSI theme in more than one presentation… Well if CSI could make science seem cool then so can we!

I wasn’t able to stay for the banquet that night or for the talks on Saturday, but while I was there I had some great conversations with students and faculty and got so much positive feedback on ECPN. I hope you all had as much fun as I did.

So for those of you who attended ANAGPIC: What did you enjoy hearing about? Did you make it down Elmwood Avenue to discover India Gate, Pano’s, Saigon Cafe, Cole’s or one of Buffalo’s other great restaurants? What did I miss at the banquet Friday night and at the talks on

 Saturday morning? And even though I never presented a paper, can you find me on the ANAGPIC webpage?

The dancing neon sign at Bidwell Parkway and Elmwood Ave.