AIC Blog Archives: Conservators Converse
Former Blog of the American Institute for Conservation
Conservators at the Brooklyn Museum are regular contributors to the museum’s blog. The most recent entry, by Pavlos Kapetanakis, project conservator of paper working on the Egyptian Book of the Dead of the Goldworker of Amun, Sobekmose, desribes how IR and UV light aid in examination and treatment. Excerpt: We typically use traditional photography to … Continue reading “Using IR and UV to examine papyri at the Brooklyn Museum”
Northeast Document Conservation Center is featured in the science section of the Boston Globe. The article features book conservator MP Bogan and a recent treatment of Robert Frost’s attendance register. Here is an excerpt: To properly treat the Frost register, a conservator first surface-cleaned the pages and unbound the book. The pages were alkalized for … Continue reading “The Boston Globe features Northeast Document Conservation Center”
For those who missed the announcements and posts this year’s Angel’s Project was held at the Milwaukee Historical Society on May 15th. More than 20 volunteers came to the Historical Society headquarters at the former Second Ward Savings Bank building. This year’s project was to document, evaluate, and rehouse the Historical Societies photography collection. After … Continue reading “AIC Angel’s Project Milwaukee 2010”
North Carolina Division of Historic SitesObjects ConservatorDurham, NC Description of Work Conservator provides examination, general treatment and documentationof a wide range of organic/inorganic objects including: furniture,glass, ceramics, books, paper, paintings, textiles and metal andethnographic objects belonging to the Div of NC State Historic Sites.Performs object condition surveys, evaluates items for specializedtreatment, organizes treatment schedules, documents … Continue reading “Objects Conservation Position”
Contract Assistant Conservator The Preservation Society of Newport County The Preservation Society of Newport County seeks a conservator to work on a year-long conservation treatment project involving large 18th century Chinese lacquer panels now used as wall paneling in the historic house museum “The Elms” in Newport, RI, USA. The project will begin at a … Continue reading “Contract Assistant Conservator for The Preservation Society of Newport County”
The theme for the 39th Annual Meeting, to be held in Pittsburgh, PA, May 17-20, 2011, is titled ETHOS, LOGOS, PATHOS: ethical principles and critical thinking in conservation. The goal of this year’s meeting is to examine how ethics, logic, and perception guide conservation decisions. Assumptions long held in the practice of conservation are being … Continue reading “39th Annual Meeting: Call for Papers Now Open!”
Thursday, May 13, 2010 Textiles Morning Session, 10:30am – 12:00pm Comparative Approaches in Textile Conservation: the Whalley Abbey Vestments and the Whalley Abbey Orphreys Leanne C. Tonkin, ICON/HLF (Institute of Conservation/Heritage Lottery Fund) Conservation Intern at the People’s History Museum, Manchester, U.K. The first talk after the morning break was given by Leanne Tonkin and … Continue reading “Textiles Specialty Group: Thursday, May 13 Morning Session”
Luisa Casella, Andrew W. Mellon Research Scholar in Photograph Conservation, Metropolitan Museum of Art Based on her work previously presented at PMG and VERY significant to the field. This presentation outlined the autochrome process and degradation problems. Introduced in 1907 -1935 – Lumiere Company. Conservation issues – physical fragility and sensitivity to temperature, relative humidity … Continue reading “Light Fading of Autochrome Color Screen Dyes Under Anoxic Conditions”
Mirasol Estrada, Andrew W. Mellon Advanced Residency Program Neither Mexican nor a suitcase. But stunning in historical value. Three boxes that include uncut rolled negatives by Robert Capa and others who documented the Mexican Civil War (1936-39). The journey of the boxes is symbolic. Cornell Capa was looking for the negatives which were not discovered … Continue reading “A Conservation Plan for the Mexican Suitcase AIC-PMG Afternoon Session”
Theresa Voellinger, Paper and Photograph Conservator, National Park Service Initial estimate of materials for film base was 15 billion but this could be double. Working with 250 park sites. Approx 100 sites will get individual freezers. Six site will consolidate into cold storage vaults. Logistics is complicated. Uniformity is not easy. Limited on-site team members … Continue reading “NPS Cold Storage Project AIC-PMG Session Afternoon”