AIC's 43rd Annual Meeting

Underlying the call for papers for the 2015 meeting is the premise that a conservation treatment choice necessarily involves regrettable compromises. It takes as a “given” the idea that there is a conflict between “ideal” treatments and practical ones, and concludes that issues such as limited resources, limited access and institutional politics may make it impossible to carry out an “ideal” treatment. This is a misunderstanding of our profession. Conservators make many decisions—both before and during conservation treatments. Those decisions are based on the chemical and physical state of the object, its predicted future, the stated or implied preferences of the custodian(s) and/or other stakeholders, and the conservator’s treatment philosophy. Sometimes there are inherent conflicts that need to be resolved. The flexibility and creativity required to resolve conflicting priorities are integral to the exercise of our professional skills, a facet of normal decision-making. A treatment that serves the interests of multiple parties at the same time is a better treatment than one that follows only the initial preferences of the conservator. There is, of course, no such thing as a single “ideal” treatment because there is no one ideal post-treatment state for any given object. A conservator deciding on treatment methods and materials tries to find measures with the highest likelihood of fulfilling the goals of the particular treatment; a successful treatment fulfills them. Reversibility ensures that if goals change in the future, a different treatment no less “ideal” than the first can be carried out to fulfill those goals. The notion that there can be an “ideal” treatment implies that there is a treatment “theory” that dictates what that treatment should be. Departing from that theory, so the argument would seem to go, can result in a post-treatment state that is less than ideal. But, again, the premise is faulty. There is no overarching theory of conservation treatment, any more than there is an overarching theory in the practice of medicine. What professionals in both fields have is a goal—the welfare of those entrusted to our care—as well as ethical codes that, among other things, tell us to “do no harm.” None of this negates the fact that conservation treatment has a substantial intellectual basis. It is essential for any conservator to have a comprehensive knowledge of the theories that explain the behavior of components of the things we work on and the materials we use in treating them. The presentation will address the steps that allow conservators to move ahead with confidence, without falling into dilemmas – situations where none of the options are acceptable.

In theory, practice is simple. [Trygre Reenskamp]
But is it simple to practice theory? [Alexandre Boily]

If we accept the past as a sort of historicity, and the present as materiality (Shanks 1998), it might be said that conservation decisions intrinsically shape the materiality of objects in the present. But while shaping the materiality of objects, how do we—as conservation professionals—know that we are making the right decision? This question elicits the aspect of conservation decisions that relate to both traditional heritage and more recent artistic production. More importantly, it refers to the principles that guide judgments in conservation and the set of rules that govern the cognitive processes that lie at their foundation. Here, against claims that elevate empiricism and hard facts about speculative theorization, the practice and theory of conservation ultimately coexist. As a largely practice-oriented activity (at least seen from a historical standpoint), conservation demands theory and builds knowledge through its systematic revisions. By doing so, it transcends the dichotomy of theory and practice.

In my paper, I will explore the reciprocal relationship between materials and meanings derived from the observation of the materiality of artworks, linked with archive, time and people, and to the same extent with their exhibition, curation and conservation cultures. Inspired by my engagement with the conservation of fine arts, in particular with contemporary art and media in museums and private collections, and enriched by theoretical contention with the perpetuation of artworks in general, I will explore the process of conservation’s decision-making as a social and cultural practice. I will do so by focusing on the cultural-historical referentiality of conservation’s decisions and on the set of orders that govern them. Special attention will be paid to artworks created since the 1960s, such as installation, performance and process-bound works. Due to the lack of a theoretical, normative framework, which generates rules that might govern the re-instantiation and documentation practices for these works, many conservation decisions are made on the basis of rational thinking, practical knowledge, preceding decisions and comparative studies of similar cases.

In order to elicit how conservation implements practical knowledge, I will introduce the term Phronesis—its beginning with Aristotle and most prominent continuation with Hannah Arendt—as a capability of rational considerations that delivers palpable effects. In conservation, phronesis concerns the ability to decide how to achieve a certain end and judge in a certain situation.

Historic New England, formerly the Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities, has a long history of both the philosophical and physical applications of conservation and preservation principles. The philosophy towards preservation that was established by our founder, William Sumner Appleton, has been a guiding principal over the last 104 years since our founding. The preservation philosophy, first committed to paper in the 1990s and last updated in 2008, is a broad reaching roadmap but it does not directly address many of the issues that face a project manager, conservator or craftsman on a day-to-day basis. Although many of the signature approaches that we use today have been passed along from one generation of staff to the next one can note a lack of consistency in the overall application of both the philosophy and the actual treatment protocols. Today, Historic New England’s Property Care Team is the keeper of the philosophy and the group responsible for the preservation and maintenance of the 36 historic house museum properties. Project managers plan out the work for implementation by our own carpentry crew or outside carpenters. In an effort to better articulate the philosophy and standardize our approaches, the team began in 2009 to create a series of best practices, or white papers, to guide the practical application of our work. Today, over 60 documents are posted on our website, free to the public, documenting a wide variety of topics ranging from basic building assessments to roof replacements to contracting out architectural paint research. The level of detail in each document varies widely as Historic New England thinks of the White Papers as living documents to be continually refined based on our practical experiences and so some may be a broad outline of steps while others can be quite detailed. These resources are being bolstered by including completion reports and case studies for signature projects in the different topic areas. This paper will discuss the challenges of translating philosophy and theory into a consistent, high quality approach. The development of the white papers will be discussed and how they are used to provide a level of clarity and make the project development process easier. But the reality of preservation and conservation is that there are often multiple ways to achieve the same goal and so the paper will discuss the challenges of balancing the desire for a consistent approach with the need to have flexibility in order to successfully solve complicated problems.

Untitled by Richard Serra, 1968, is an oversize sculpture consisting of three overlapping panels that were made from mixed latex rubber and Liquitex acrylic paint, cast from a corrugated metal door. It was acquired by the Saint Louis Art Museum in 1971, adding to the rich holdings of Serra work in Saint Louis. The sculpture received conservation treatment twice since acquisition, first in 2004 and next in 2014 by the author. Prior to the 2004 treatment, the rubber was very brittle, had numerous losses, and the form of the sculpture changed significantly from its original appearance. Museum staff interviewed the artist at this time to garner his input about the changed appearance of the sculpture and potential conservation treatment. Input from this conversation guided the treatment of the work, which involved applying patches of dyed cheesecloth to the top side of the panels with methylcellulose. After exhibition, the work was stored rolled on tubes and was not shown again until 2013, when it was requested for the opening exhibition in the museum’s building expansion. Given the size of the work (nearly 20 x 12 feet installed) and tight timeline for the reinstallation, it was not possible to examine the work prior to installation. None of the current curatorial, installation, or objects conservation staff had seen or installed the work before, so the installation was an intense period of learning about the condition of the work and the efficacy of the previous treatment. A significant amount of new breaks and losses occurred since 2004. The dyes of the cheesecloth patches appeared to have discolored and were no longer visually acceptable. Time constraints led to the decision not to attempt a treatment during installation, but instead to mask the new damage and discolored patches by swapping the arrangement of the panels at the artist’s suggestion and placing loose toned fabric under the visible areas of loss. Installation required balancing theoretical best practices for art handling and practical considerations for moving an oversize work through the building. Prior to the deinstallation of the work in 2014, the gallery was closed early and the sculpture was treated in situ. Working in close collaboration with installation staff, the panels were patched with undyed cheesecloth and methylcellulose on the back side using a modified technique and the 2004 patches were removed from the front. New flat storage was designed with custom crates, reducing the mechanical pressure exerted on the work from the previous rolled storage. The project enabled the opportunity to evaluate the aging properties of a novel treatment approach for rubber artworks and refine the treatment procedure. Although the time constraints during installation prevented interventive treatment at that time, delaying the treatment enabled staff to spend more time studying the work while it was on view and formulate a treatment plan. In this instance, an initial limitation made the eventual treatment more informed and thoughtful.

This paper will describe recent multidisciplinary conservation work at two vast archaeological sites in North Africa: El Kurru in Sudan, and Abydos in Egypt. El Kurru is located along the Nile River in modern day North Sudan, and it was part of the ancient kingdom of Kush. As an early royal cemetery for the Kushite kings, it is famous as the burial place of many of the “Black Pharaohs,” who conquered Egypt and ruled as its 25th dynasty. The site includes pyramids and rock cut tombs, a funerary temple, and a monumental city wall. With funding from the Qatar-Sudan Archaeological project and the National Geographic Society, an international team of archaeologists, architects, and conservators have been investigating material culture at the site and working to preserve its architecture. Conservation challenges include processing painted ceramics, preserving ancient graffiti on the surfaces of the site’s poorly cemented sandstone, protecting architectural features without adversely affecting the ancient or modern cultural landscape, and providing better access and amenities for tourists. These challenges are exacerbated by intense international sanctions; Sudan is closed to international banking and trade, and international governments place strict restrictions on the materials and technology that foreign archaeological teams may bring into the country. Conservators must therefore be creative and constantly adaptive in their problem solving; working without technology like computers or smartphones, taking samples for study instead of importing scientific equipment, and using locally available materials to replace or produce needed conservation supplies. This talk will describe the challenges and opportunities inherent in work at El Kurru through examples of work from the 2013 and 2014 seasons.

The site of Abydos is located along the Nile River in a rural part of Upper Egypt. It is the burial place of Egypt’s earliest kings, who believed that the entrance to the underworld was there, in a large wadi leading into the high cliffs of the western desert. Recent conservation work at Abydos has focused on preserving beautifully decorated wood funerary artifacts and on exploring low-tech, non-destructive methods for technical study onsite. The projects described in this talk concentrate on artifacts from the Abydos Middle Cemetery (AMC), a part of the site that contains monumental tombs of elite officials from the mid-third millennium BCE.  Wood artifacts from the site are extremely fragile and often complex in construction and decoration; they typically retain gesso and pigment, as well as other decorative elements such as textiles and metal and stone inlays. The technical study needed to design appropriate conservation treatments is complicated, however, because Egypt rarely allows sampling and does not allow samples to leave the country. All technical study must therefore be conducted onsite, using nondestructive techniques. With funding from the American Research Center in Egypt and the United States Agency for International Development, a multidisciplinary research team led by conservators at the Kelsey Museum of Archaeology visited the site in 2013 to investigate the AMC artifacts’ original materials; the factors involved in their deterioration; and develop best practices for their excavation, conservation, and restoration. This talk will present the team’s findings as well as describe ongoing work with wood artifacts at the site. It will also discuss the recent adoption of a new low-tech, non-destructive technique for examining painted artifacts onsite: multispectral imaging. Conservation at El Kurru and at Abydos illustrates the challenges, opportunities, and practical ingenuity that are spurred by onsite work in rural locations. 

This paper presents the results of a testing project, conducted for Friends of Miami Marine Stadium by RLA Conservation, John Fidler Preservation Technology, and Lynch & Ferraro Engineers, that aims to deliver a vital technical and practical component of conservation planning for the upcoming rehabilitation and long-term protection of Miami’s iconic Marine Stadium. A Modernist building designed in 1963 by Cuban-American architect Hilario Candela, this waterfront structure, unquestionably Miami’s most original building of the mid-twentieth century, has been closed to the public since 1992 and covered in graffiti. After decades of neglect, the iconic exposed concrete structure, with its 326-foot long cantilevered thin-shell concrete hyperbolic paraboloid roofline, is presently the focus of a concerted local/national campaign to be fully restored as a public park, sports arena, and concert venue. The campaign has received unprecedented levels of support from the National Trust for Historic Preservation, which named the Stadium to its National Treasures Program; the World Monuments Fund; DOCOMOMO; and the Getty Foundation, which has funded the research that is the subject of this paper as part of the first round of its newly launched Keeping It Modern Initiative. Closed since Hurricane Andrew struck South Florida in 1992, the stadium was slated for demolition by the City of Miami until a 1993 engineering study by Simpson Gumpertz and Heger (SGH) proved its stability and rejected the notion, put forth by the City, that the building had been irreparably damaged by the storm. The building has since been the subject of additional engineering studies that continue to deem it viable, subject to various structural and other repairs. Plans are now in place for its future use and associated development. The conservation testing program which is the subject of this paper aims to provide key practical guidelines for solving the materials conservation issues, including the repair and cleaning of its exposed concrete surfaces, a key appearance component to which the architect devoted considerable attention during the building’s design. Both field and laboratory investigations and trial treatments are being conducted to test materials and methodologies for graffiti management, surface cleaning, and most critically, matching patch repairs of structural concrete to complement and help refine current engineering plans. This paper will present the evaluation results, site mockups and model treatment methodologies conducted to date. The areas of study and experimentation have included: • Identification of graffiti that constitutes artwork and preliminary strategies for its conservation; • Analysis of other graffiti paint types: removal treatment trials and graffiti barrier mock-ups; • Concrete cleaning, stain removal and biological growth removal / deterrence; • Concrete spall repair strategies: including desalination; rebar treatment; corrosion inhibiters; cathodic protection; and structural patch repair mortars to match the existing concrete in color and texture. The paper will also discuss the ways in which the aforementioned methodologies are being adapted into guidelines that can be employed in the conservation of other mid-century modern concrete buildings and removal of graffiti on modern structures in general.

Primary Presenter:  John Fidler; Additional Presenter:  Rosa Lowinger; Non-Presenting Authors: Marjorie Lynch, Jorge Hernandez, Christopher Ferraro

 

This paper will focus on losses, their values and their meanings. Do losses provide a negative interference in a work of art? If not, are we assigning to losses a historical and aesthetic value and physical qualities that coexist with the intrinsic quality in a work of art? Lacunae are visual memories linked to the object. But if we perceive damages as negative interference, how can we objectively evaluate the amount of integration we should undertake on a work of art in order to respect its identity and history? As the work of art survives throughout the centuries it will be subjected to the physical superimposition of historical moments that conservation treatments will attempt to eliminate, reduce or enhance. The size, location, and number of losses or abrasions determine the type and level of intervention. Damages may also allow for a recovered reading of a work of art or they can become meaningful memories that provide a different understanding and a different level of art experience. The approaches to loss compensation have been widely discussed over the past decades offering a wide range of aesthetic and practical solutions. When discussing the treatment of lacunae, Italian theories have emphasized the historical and aesthetic values of a work of art to which the fundamental principles of visible inpainting techniques, developed in the XX century, are linked. Though the reasoning behind visible inpainting is to respect the historical and aesthetic identities of a work of art, it also allows for a discrete remembrance of the lacunae by not concealing them completely. While the fundamental principles that guide the integration of losses have been defined, the level of integration, which may or may not be directly proportionate to the conservation state of the work of art, is driven by subjective decisions. Though a clear definition of the different types of losses can help define the framework, the final appearance of an art object, even when following basic theoretical and practical rules, is a projection of the aesthetic taste of both conservator and curator, of the practical ability of a conservator, and more in general of the institution that owns the work. This paper will engage and discuss these queries with an emphasis on paintings, though works of various natures will also be considered.

This paper is written from the perspective of two conservation professionals, in two different fields, and at two different points in their careers, who have both come to the same conclusion regarding some current trends in the Conservation profession.   

In recent years, there has been an increasingly heavy emphasis on the adoption of new materials, science, and technology in conservation. While the concepts, principles, and methods of science are crucial to bettering the conservator's understanding of cultural properties, historically the integration of new or synthesized materials in conservation in many cases has proven to be more retroactive than progressive, due to unforeseen and undesirable properties that develop as time passes. Many wonder products of the last few decades have now proven to have insignificant benefits or sometimes harmful effects on the items they were designed to preserve, and many attempts to simulate the aging of new conservation materials have proved to be unreliable.    

In light of the described conundrum of integrating new materials, this paper is an appeal to the relevance of traditional, or tried and true historic materials and their implications for current conservation practices. It seems more worthwhile to seek out more elegant and non-traditional uses or applications of materials that have proven to be reliable through their survival over the centuries and millennia.   

To illustrate, the authors will present case studies in their respective fields to demonstrate both how in the past the eager adoption of wonder products or technologies can cause future issues and harm the artifact, and also how traditional materials may be used in a non-intuitive way to successfully and elegantly treat and preserve the damaged item. Frances will be discussing cements and grouts and the damage it has inflicted on various works of stone in her field, where as Brien will cover how traditional  Japanese paper has been successfully used for leather hinge repair on books for two and a half decades

Furthermore, many of the tests and techniques being developed in various institutions seem to be very limited in relevance in that they employ advanced and oftentimes very expensive technologies or hazardous materials that are not readily accessible to many practitioners in a regular field setting. What makes conservation such a unique field is that it inherently has a practical goal: the preservation of cultural property for the future. It is not a science for science's sake; its principles and methods are necessarily applied to further the conservator's understanding of the artifact so that they may make a more informed decision regarding the treatment or storage of it. This is not to say that these are not worthwhile endeavors, just that perhaps there should be a heavier emphasis on practical and affordable "field-friendly” means of testing and conserving historic materials that would better equip a larger group of practitioners with the means to successfully and safely preserve our cultural property.

 

The challenge of exhibiting light sensitive materials of cultural heritage is that the same energy that allows visitors to see museum collections -- is the same energy that fades colorants.  Once the color in an artwork fades, that color is gone forever.  Museums respond to this preservation challenge by limiting visual access through the reduction in light levels and limiting the amount of time light sensitive collections are on view to the public.   These measures implemented by museums can extend the vibrancy of colored objects of cultural significance, but, despite museums best efforts, some collection items will fade while they are on view. Unfortunately, the situation is exacerbated because there are few records showing exactly what colors are lost over time as a result of exposure to different environments. Museums would like to be able to have increased capacity to take “spectral snapshots” that document the state of their collections. However, existing technologies use spectro-radiometers that document only small areas of the objects.  Obtaining an accurate record of color and spectral information is extremely labor intensive.

Advances in scientific computing and high resolution scanning have ushered new ways of using images beyond visualization.  It is now possible to use high resolution scanning to take spectral snapshots to extract analytical information including colorimetric data, spectral reflectance and CIE spatial coordinates.  Scanning would allow museums to more quickly and easily capture spectral information before light induced damage has occurred creating a permanent record of the museum object in a more pristine state.  In addition, high resolution scanning may allow for the comparison of spectral information before and after exhibitions.  This would allow conservators and collections managers the information they need to determine if artworks are fading faster or slower than the expected rate. 

This study will test the effectiveness of high resolution scanning to determine the rate of light- induced fading of common colorants found in Japanese cultural heritage collections. A mockup of colored samples will be prepared and then measured using a spectro-radiometer and an ultrahigh resolution (1200-2000dpi) scanner.  Colored samples will then be exposed to light of a specific spectrum and large enough dose to cause noticeable fading. The faded samples will be measured by using a spectro-radiometer and a high resolution (1200-2000dpi) scanner and the results compared and analyzed.

The imaging system was designed and developed at Kyoto University. Its main features include high-color fidelity, minimal light exposure, non-contact and noninvasive. It has already been applied on various sites in the USA, Australia, China, Japan, Korea, United Kingdom, Spain, Italy, Philippines, Malaysia and Egypt for the cases of the world’s most important cultural assets. In this study, we will also show how this technology has been used to digitize more than 8000 large objects, in more than 60 different projects in 5 continents.

In October of 2002, the Renaissance sculpture Adam by Tullio Lombardo fell to the floor in The Metropolitan Museum of Art when the pedestal beneath it collapsed. The impact of the fall caused the marble sculpture to break into 28 large pieces and hundreds of small fragments. Dated 1490-95, Adam is considered the most important monumental Renaissance sculpture in North America, and, prior to the accident, was in nearly pristine condition.

The Museum’s conservators and curators agreed that the importance of the sculpture warranted a multidisciplinary collaboration to investigate new approaches to large scale sculpture treatment. A team of conservators, conservation scientists, materials scientists, and engineers was brought together to determine the most effective, reversible, and least invasive treatment for the large marble sculpture. Initial investigations began in 2003, starting with 3D laser scans of the major fragments. The laser scans led to a variety of research avenues including finite element analysis, which informed the team about the stresses and strains resident in the sculpture as well as the nature of the breaks. Several additional studies were carried out to determine the best adhesives and pinning materials for the treatment.

Adam’s fresh breaks posed several challenges to the conservators and required them to diverge from traditional sculpture conservation techniques. An innovative external armature was developed that was sufficiently substantial to support the assembled sculpture without adhesive. The armature not only supported the sculpture but also served as the method of clamping the fragments once adhesive was applied, resulting in very tight joints. This treatment is notable for its use of mock-ups and empirical studies carried out in an effort to minimize handling of the fragile break surfaces on the sculpture.

The finite element analysis, adhesive, and pinning testing carried out for this project might be characterized in the language of science as fundamental studies. In moving from theory to practice (from what is most desirable to what is doable) these fundamental studies provided background for further empirical studies—trials of interventions based on the former studies. These empirical studies both confirmed information from the fundamental studies and provided new information. Many lessons were learned from the project, but perhaps the greatest lesson was establishing an arc from virtual reality to material reality and finding and valuing the contributions of each participant in the successful completion of that arc.

Our tangible heritage is exposed to an increasing number of climate and pollution-related risks, which threatens its integrity and values. A primary means of mitigating against this involves subscribing to the concept of sustainability, which has its concerns rooted in the balance of relationships between society and the environment. There is still much work to be done in incorporating environmentally sustainable practices within the conservation field. Nevertheless, there do exist parallel streams of research which may serve as a guiding foundation to achieve successful implementation. In light of this, this study has attempted to apply one such stream, green chemistry, to conservation laboratory practice, with an emphasis on the safe  use of chemicals. In doing so, it proposes an adapted set of green chemistry principles to be applied in the conservation laboratory, that may be summarised by the proposed mnemonic, TO CONSERVE.

The talk shall introduce the mnemonic and its underlying principles and further demonstrate that a green chemistry approach to conservation is viable due to a great overlap of common interests and working environments. It is also beneficial in reducing waste generation, exposure to chemical hazards, and  impact on the environment. A survey was launched to qualitatively assess how ingrained such environmentally sustainable practices are across three professional sectors, i.e. heritage institutions, private practice, and university laboratories. Results, which shall be presented, indicate that, despite several obstacles (namely, cost concerns, lack of time, and lack of resources), conservators possess an overall marked awareness of the consequences of chemical use on environmental sustainability. Ultimately, further improvements will require stronger communication of sustainability principles and a cohesive change in attitude and habits.

 

The impact of treatments and environment on heritage materials is an important and major area of preservation and conservation research. Being able to detect changes before they are apparent in the visible region, assists in the understanding of degradation mechanisms. This is especially important in relation to interactions between treatment compounds that may have an impact on substrate and media of historic and modern heritage materials. The use of non-invasive illumination and spectral imaging techniques in transmitted, reflected and raking modes is an effective way to map the spectral response of substrates and media on historic materials, and detect and track changes due to specific treatments, or the impact of natural and accelerated aging and environmental parameters. Over the past seven years the Preservation Research and Testing Division (PRTD) has actively engaged with the Conservation Division (CD) at the Library of Congress to assess the impact of proposed treatments. The ongoing collaboration between PRTD and CD for the stabilization of some of the hand-colored maps in the Ptolemy 1513 Geographia is one example of using spectral imaging to assess methods of reducing the transfer (offset) of verdigris to adjacent pages and tracking changes between various stages of the stabilization treatment. Increasing the understanding of degradation and the interaction between substrate and media, and environmental parameters has also been critical in the examination of fugitive media on twentieth century materials as part of the long-term Herblock Collection assessment. Periodic (6 monthly) repeat spectral imaging of drawings and reference samples in ambient (light and dark) and cold storage conditions has been used to track and better assess degradation mechanisms, and the detection of those inks most at risk to color change (and fading). Spectral curves are specific to the chemical composition of the ink or object substrate, and are modified due to treatments and environment, so developing a spectral reference library has been a critical component of the non-invasive identification and characterization of aged and deteriorated materials, linking this information to a better understanding of degradation mechanisms. Another area of interest for conservation is tracking changes of objects containing light sensitive materials especially as part of the need for more data to be collected for items placed on long-term exhibit. One example of this is the Abel Buell Map of America (1783) where spectral imaging indicated the potential for fading due to a slight change apparent after only six weeks of exhibit. This information was not apparent in the visible region to the unaided eye. In addition to detecting and assessing treatments, spectral imaging illumination is critical for revealing information obscured due to previous treatments, such as lamination of historic documents, and recovering original information from historic manuscripts and music scores. The use of spectral imaging and specific illumination techniques greatly enhances our ability to non-invasively assess treatments, and better protect our historic heritage collections.

Dedicated in 1903, the Sherman Monument is the centerpiece of Grand Army Plaza in New York’s Central Park and is widely regarded as Augustus Saint-Gaudens’ finest work. The artist labored over the massive sculpture for more than ten years, working and re-working every detail. When it came to the overall appearance, Saint-Gaudens was no less demanding, experimenting with various gilding and toning treatments until he was satisfied with the final result. Although none of the original finishes remain on his exterior works today, one can surmise Saint-Gaudens strived to achieve the same warm tones and highlights on his exterior gilded work as found on his gilded pieces which have spent their lives indoors, protected from the elements. Unfortunately, none of the toning methods explored by Saint-Gaudens lend themselves well to the longevity of any exterior gilding system. The combinations of paints, acids and other concoctions he used, have a deleterious effect on any exterior gilded surface and will cause premature failure of the system due to several different mechanisms, not the least of which was continuing infestation by the urban pigeon population in NY City. Saint-Gaudens actually had two separate layers of gold (some say three) applied to the Sherman Monument at his expense, hoping to extend the life of the coating. Unfortunately, the finish began to seriously deteriorate within 10 years and was completely re-gilded in 1934. During the 1960’s the sculpture was cleaned down to the bronze and waxed. Two decades later a private donor contributed the funds to repair and gild the sculpture again. This work was completed in 1989. The new gilding was “toned” with an un-tinted layer of paste wax, but most agreed this did not begin to approximate what was thought to have been the original appearance. Shortly after completion, the 1989 gilding began to show signs of failure. In the intervening years the finish system decayed to the point of losing it’s physical and visual integrity. In 2005, the Central Park Conservancy began researching how best to conserve the Sherman Monument. The overarching principle was to gild and tone the sculpture to reflect the artist’s original intent. At the same time the coating system had to be rigorous enough to stand up to the pigeon infestation. This talk will cover the research, development, testing and application of the new gilding and toning system, which was installed in 2013 and failed shortly thereafter. In spite of all the research and rigorous testing, both in the lab and in situ, the system broke down and required complete removal and re-gilding in the space of a year. Exactly what happened and how the decisions were made to use the failed system will be explored as well as the remediation of the failure with the development and application of a new gilding and toning system.

The use of rare earth magnets has grown in popularity among art conservators, particularly for mounting. The small size-to-strength ratio of magnets has allowed them to be adapted to solve many formerly challenging tasks. Rare earth magnets, Samarium and Neodymium are the latest two to be developed.

However, in the last decade the neodymium rare earth magnet, the most commonly used in the conservation field, has gone from an inexpensive material to one that has become more expensive. In addition, some environmental issues have come to light in the last few years. Compared to the electronics and automotive industry, conservators are minor consumer of these magnets, however we as a community need to understand their impact in our world.

This talk will briefly discuss the environmental issues of mining of the rare earths, as well as the effect of China’s monopoly on trade. This will serve as an introduction to the need in the field to create / develop mounting systems that reuse magnets. The talk will give a few examples of basic magnet systems to be used for mounting, display, or storage. More complex systems can be developed from this basic knowledge.

The importance of proper care of rare earth magnets will also be discussed in order to ensure their long life.

It is hoped that this talk will inspire others to develop magnetic systems where magnets are used in systematic and reusable methods, as that we have reached a point in the field to using magnets beyond just the “magic”.

A series of five paintings known as Mark Rothko’s Harvard Murals were painted in 1962 and installed in the Holyoke Center, Harvard University, in January 1964. The paintings changed color due to the presence of Lithol red, a fugitive red pigment, and excessive exposure to natural light in a room with large windows. They were removed from display to dark storage in 1979 and rarely displayed. Traditional painting restoration would have resulted in a non-reversible treatment due to the matte and unvarnished nature of paint surfaces thus considerably limiting treatment possibilities. An innovative treatment using projected light to compensate for the lost color on a pixel-by-pixel basis was recently developed. The original color of the works was determined by the digital restoration of Kodak Ektachrome photographs taken in 1964, and also with comparison to unfaded passages of a sixth mural. With a camera-projector system, a compensation image was calculated – in effect a map of the lost color over 2.07 million pixels. The compensation image was then aligned and projected onto the original canvas resulting in a restored color appearance. This was repeated for each of the five paintings. As a result the original color appearance was created without physically altering the painting and is therefore completely reversible. In fact, one can easily compare the unrestored and color corrected object by switching the projector on or off. The group of murals now works together in a way that has not been possible for many decades. This approach of inpainting with light is compared with considerations of cleaning and inpainting in conventional conservation treatments. Overall lighting and architecture play a key role in the treatment of the Mural cycle as an environment. In addition, a detailed examination of Rothko’s materials and methods for these paintings was carried out to understand how the murals were made, and why they have aged differently. To our knowledge, this novel approach has not been used for the display of paintings before. Microfading tests ensured that the paintings will not alter as a result of this treatment. As a result, Mark Rothko’s Harvard Murals, which had fallen out of step with each other, can now be viewed as a single harmonious installation. The murals form the basis of first exhibition, Mark Rothko’s Harvard Murals, in the renovated Harvard Art Museums opening in November 2014 and will be on display until August 2015. The AIC presentation will take place during the exhibition and will include a discussion of critical feedback, and also bring the exhibition to the attention of the audience who may wish to experience this unique exhibition first hand.

Primary Presenter: Narayan Khandekar; Non-Presenting Authors: Jens Stenger, Carol Mancusi-Ungaro, Christina Rosenberger, Mary Schneider Enriquez.

 

When Miami-Dade County requested a conservation assessment of their collection of African textiles in 2013, the works had already been subject to decades of non-ideal storage and display conditions. After acquisition, the works were prepared for display by stretching over wooden strainers with the overhanging edges both stapled and taped in position. When taken off display, this mounting was preserved while in storage, which enabling stacking and leaning of the pieces. Throughout this time, both while on view and in storage, they were also subject to multiple insect infestations and excessive exposure to full-spectrum light. Recognizing the seriousness of the collection's condition, Miami-Dade County decided to have the works conserved in preparation for reinstallation. However future plans will continue to present challenges to their long-term stability. The textiles will be displayed at the Richard E. Gerstein Justice Building, the county's main courthouse, for a general audience. Proposed locations for the works include narrow hallways and large waiting rooms, all with fluorescent lighting. Given the gravity of the building's primary function, maintaining ideal conditions for the display of even very sensitive artworks will necessarily be an afterthought, not a priority. In light of the collection's history, current condition and future plans, what is a reasonable objective for its conservation and preservation? What is the conservato's obligation to the collection, considering its purpose and role, its various values and the current standard of care to which it is accustomed? Rosa Lowinger & Associates has been working with Material Culture Conservation and Miami-Dade County to answer such questions, in order to develop and execute a realistic conservation plan for the collection. This talk will outline the process of setting conservation priorities and working to meet them when operating with limited influence over the daily care of a collection. This project addresses not only treatment of each textile, including stabilization, cleaning and restoration, but also designing a display plan for long-term exhibition in the conditions described above, mounting the textiles and providing guidelines for storage and long-term care.

Modern materials that are made from recycled or re-purposed materials, and are recyclable or are reusable in the construction of archival quality crating systems for the museum industry have been sought after for some time. At the same time, the use of these materials would need to possess an improvement over the standard construction techniques in performance and pricing in order to be embraced by the museum industry.

The traditional method of construction for such crating systems has generally been made from wood and built to be object specific. These crates have settled into a standard construction style and performance. The object specific size of the crates reduces the ability to reuse the crate as objects are varied in size and the construction technique of the traditional wood crates does not allow for the crates to be easily modified to accommodate these different sized objects. While there have been attempts to store used crates and re-purpose them, they are generally destroyed after their purpose is complete as storage can be problematic. This short lifespan creates an economic situation where features in the crate design that would improve the performance and ease of handling become cost prohibitive for single use applications.

Yale University began an investigation to integrate a crating system within their institution that would be a modular and reusable system that would overcome the problems of traditional crate designs. The use of sustainable materials in the construction of the crates would be a priority as well as increasing a crate's performance. These features as well as decreasing the costs of the crates were the goals of this investigation.

The investigation led to variations of types of materials used in crate construction and testing of materials to evaluate performance based on established criteria of the museum industry and found a crating system that would achieve these goals. There were many factors to take into account to obtain an acceptable system. Availability and price of materials, construction techniques, compatibility of materials, and the unique archival material requirements the museum industry requires are some of the features of the crating system that had to work together to produce a crate design. The fabrication and creation of the parts within the design would need to be obtainable either by utilizing their own facility in making the parts or having the parts being able to be made locally. This system would need to be easily put together utilizing as many common parts as possible and thus reducing the size and complexity of the system.

The purpose of this presentation and documentation will provide the details of the investigation of material use, design considerations, and quantitative analysis of the performance of this crating system that were discovered during this investigative process. The results will show that a superior crating system can be made from recyclable and reusable materials that perform better that traditional methods and reduce costs. 

The Smithsonian’s National Postal Museum (NPM) has over 6 million objects in its collection and the vast majority is paper based – fragile, light sensitive and small. The biggest complaint we received from our loyal fan base, stamp collectors, is that so much of the collection is inaccessible to them on exhibition. From the day we opened in 1993, collectors have asked for more philatelic* related artifacts to be displayed and the general public asks to see the famous 1918 Inverted Jenny stamp. As a conservator I want to protect the collection from light damage. As a visitor I want to be able to enjoy these rare objects in a space that enhances the museum experience. With this in mind, beginning with the design of the new William H. Gross Stamp Gallery (which opened in September 2013), NPM focused on how to create a magical space for visitors to engage in a topic, show our most valuable artifacts and protect them for future generations. NPM addressed some of these concerns by approaching the problem in 3 distinct areas: • Museum envelope improvements • Gallery specific solutions • Object level protection In the effort to control light damage, we have developed four specific tactics based on exhibit and case furniture design and new technological developments within the lighting industry. The strategies include: limiting light exposure through historic windows by embedding images on an interior glass framework; designing and creating vertical pullout display furniture; utilizing lift up door cases and using of SmartGlass™ technology. For UNESCO’s Year of Light I would like to present the decision making process that created the various solutions, conservation concerns addressed during the entire process and the visitor perspective on the results that were devised. Rather than being afraid of light, it is time to explore other options. I feel that NPM has created inventive and cost effective solutions to meet this demand and sharing our experience will benefit the entire community. *Philatelic adj. (Philately n.) The study & collection of postage, stamps and imprinted stamps and covers.

Fifteen years ago, the conservation team at Curtains Without Borders set out to conserve a small number of 100-year old painted theater curtains. There was no precedent for working on-site with clients that ranged from municipalities to opera houses to very small, volunteer-run community centers. We knew we would be working under conditions that ranged from clean and well-managed to dirty and neglected. The primary challenge for our collaborative of conservators (with specialties in painting, textiles, paper and preventive conservation) was to produce methodologies that were cost-effective and flexible. We presented our approach to AIC during the early days of working in Vermont, but since then, we have found ways to improve and simplify virtually every component of every stage of conservation from de-installation to re-installation, so that we now work much more quickly and efficiently. The level of treatment ranges from preparation for safe storage to stabilization for on-stage use. Both the handling of the “artifacts” by local citizens and their use or storage in unsupervised and environmentally uncontrolled locations runs counter to traditional conservation standards. However, our approach has been shaped by realism and compromise in order to best treat a large number of stage curtains in so many locations with limited personnel and financial resources. We have now conserved over 250 historic theater curtains in Vermont, Maine, New Hampshire, and northern New York. We constantly revisit installations of a decade ago to make improvements and to refresh local owners' knowledge about care and handling. After all, these theater curtains are public art: in some cases they are still used for plays and variety shows. In other cases, they serve as backdrops for town meetings and social events. Even those in storage need to be monitored as buildings are modified or, sadly, sometimes fall into neglect. Our mission to locate, document, and conserve historic stage scenery is expanding through a nation-wide inventory of historic stage scenery. We are working on ways to share our adaptive, flexible, and low-cost approach to conservation so that historic painted theater curtains can remain in the public eye for another 100 years of use and display. The challenge is to keep an open mind because no two curtains are the same. This presentation will discuss the challenges of adaptation: working on-site, the incorporation of volunteers, and compromises we make to insure the long-term preservation of these public works of art.

Who knew that state budget cuts and scheduled system shutdowns in our building would lead us to the AIC Annual Meeting?  In 2011, the Georgia Archives was awarded a National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) grant to expand the energy saving measures initiated during the previous two years. The Archives proposed to update and further automate the heating ventilation air conditioning system (HVAC), upgrade lighting in the exhibit gallery, research library, and original document reading area, as well as recommission the building HVAC system. The fundamental goals of the project were to continue to maintain a preservation environment that provides the best possible conditions for the permanent storage of the state historical records with the least possible consumption of energy, and continue to gather data that would inform other cultural organizations undertaking similar projects.   

With NEH grant support, the project has been a collaborative effort of the Archives facilities, preservation, and administrative teams, placing the institution in a unique position to serve as a model for other organizations striving for sustainable stewardship while balancing pressures to reduce energy usage in their facilities. Through social media, articles, and public presentations, the Archives agreed to disseminate widely the results of this project, both locally and nationally, helping others create sustainable environments for their collections.  

Georgia is one of the original thirteen colonies, and the Georgia Archives holds a rich collection of colonial and state records, the majority of which are unpublished, original source materials in their original format. Preservation of the permanent records of Georgia’s government is integral to the mission of the Georgia Archives, and dates back to the 1940’s. Today, the Archives preservation staff participates in state, regional, and national preservation initiatives, regularly working with emergency management and responding to disasters that may affect state records.   

In 2003, the Georgia Archives opened its doors to the public in what is the fourth facility of the organization since its inception in 1918. The building is located about twenty miles south of Atlanta, neighboring the southeastern branch of the National Archives and adjacent to Clayton State University. The highest priority of the new building design required it to be an archival facility that met current standards, providing a high level of security and environmental protection for the state records.    

The mechanical system of the Archives building is a complex, multi-zoned, constant air and variable volume HVAC system. It includes eight air-handlers, two chillers, and desiccant dehumidification systems to combat the high humidity prevalent in the Southeast. With collection preservation as the top design priority of the new building, specifications required environmental conditions that could be constantly monitored to meet these heavy demands. Given this, it became difficult to economize the function of this system, resulting in substantial and often unnecessary energy consumption, excessive costs both monetarily and environmentally. Because dehumidification and constant volume were the principal design objectives of the HVAC system, sustainability was not the primary concern during the building construction.    

Georgia Archives staff anticipated that the early energy saving measures would continue to increase as plans outlined in the NEH grant proposal were implemented. These savings were documented through environmental monitoring of the conditions as well as the tracking of electric and natural gas usage. It was well-understood that many other institutions may be facing similar circumstances, forced to balance the conflicting signals of reducing operational costs while striving to protect collections. Believing that others would benefit from the Georgia Archives grant project and ability to demonstrate such measures with this outlined systematic approach, the ongoing collection of empirical evidence would help justify implementation of similar strategies for other organizations.

In January of 2012, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum completed a seven-year, $1.65 million initiative to upgrade lighting throughout its historic building. Opened in 1903, the building interior was designed to look like a 15th century Venetian palace. Three floors of galleries surround a glass roofed central courtyard and house installations of fine and decorative arts that Gardner collected over forty years. Since her death in 1924, the Museum has maintained the stipulation in Gardner’s will that the arrangement of objects remain unchanged and the collection held in trust, “as a Museum for the education and enjoyment of the public forever.” Although the Museum always had electricity, Gardner relied on natural light to illuminate her galleries. She also understood the harmful effects of light and would keep the galleries dark when not in use. Following her death, many attempts were made to both reduce harmful sunlight and add more artificial light to the galleries; however, a comprehensive approach was not carried out until this lighting project. The Museum designated a team made up of an independent lighting consultant and members of the operations, conservation and curatorial staffs to design and execute this project. The team established four project goals: 1. Maintain an appropriate atmosphere for the Museum. 2. Stay true to Mrs. Gardner’s intent for the use of light. 3. Protect the collection from the harmful effects of light. 4. Improve the visitor viewing experience. Early in the project, the team researched existing conditions, location of light-sensitive objects, and the potential demands of visitors, events, security and life-safety, and facility constraints. After assembling this information, the team carefully reviewed design proposals for each space, evaluated mock-ups of options, and explored the impact of implementing new lighting systems. Several gallery-wide initiatives were established to introduce a baseline level of consistency. All windows were approached in the same way with existing treatments stripped away, UV protection applied and a two-shade system installed for flexibility. Where possible, historic and discreet modern fixtures were employed to improve ambient light levels. And, a control system was selected, which allowed for different light levels depending on the time of day or working needs. Meeting each of the specified goals was a seemingly impossible task. The challenges faced during the project included finding neutral solutions for individually unique galleries, installation of all new wiring and fixtures while the museum remained open to the public, and satisfying the competing nature of the goals. The solutions in each gallery varied from simple to complex, in some cases adding only one fixture to a gallery, in others complete gallery de-installation for new wiring, installation of multiple fixtures and ceiling repair. Recognizing that, in the future, preferences for lighting and standards for energy efficiency will change, many choices were made with reversibility in mind. As with other preservation projects, the team also learned that sometimes the best solution is simply to maintain what already exists. The Gardner Museum staff continues to evaluate and adjust the lighting systems as both technologies and perceptions change.

The canales at Tumacácori National Historical Park (TUMA) have traditionally shed water away from the roof of the Spanish Colonial-era adobe mission church during and after rain events. Rendered with lime then smooth-finished with brick powder embedded, the technical aspect of canales design and construction was critical in the water control and management of water in the arid Southwest by the Spanish missionaries repeated elsewhere in water-related built structures. In 2014, two different approaches to preserving the canales were implemented based on material integrity and conditions, current use, aesthetics, and repair history of respective canales. The critical step in the decision to intervene differently was meeting the practical limits imposed on the preservation workings of TUMA, set by compliance needs, fiscal year restrictions, and the seasonal environmental conditions that all combine to dictate the timing and the extent of the preservation project. The work on the canales illustrates how conservation theory plays out within the real world and the challenges are brought to light during the project planning and implementation. The presentation also explores further opportunities for research and investigation into repair materials and cyclical maintenance techniques.

Current industry standards indicate that audio-visual film materials should be stored in a range of 36°F to 70°F and 20-50% relative humidity (International Standards Organization); however, these ranges are often unattainable and not sustainable in the long-term for organizations.  These ranges do not take into consideration the climate of the storage area (e.g. outdoor conditions) or the costs to maintain these conditions in the long-term.   

This study, conducted by the Minnesota Historical Society (MNHS) and funded by a NEH Sustaining Cultural Heritage Planning Grant, wished to understand and balance the issues of long-term preservation for film materials.  These issues include preservation metrics, potential energy use, cost for maintenance, as well as investment cost for any recommended system or building upgrades.  To examine these factors and help MNHS develop a strategy for energy-efficient, long-term film storage, an interdisciplinary team was brought together in a series of collaborative workshops.  The team included staff from collections, conservation, facilities, risk management, and sustainability, and brought in experts in museum sustainability, archival architecture, film preservation, and building mechanical systems.  To facilitate and manage the broad collaboration of participants, specific tools and processes were utilized throughout the study.   

Through this collaboration, many different passive and active strategies initially brought forth were reduced to a cohesive set of recommendations that included building improvements and specific upgrades of equipment.  In all, the bundle of strategies will help MNHS increase the film collections Preservation Index (PI), Image Permanence Institute’s measure of the “decay rate of vulnerable organic materials” in different temperature and relative humidity conditions, while also decreasing energy use and operating costs.  Specifically, MNHS hopes to increase the PI by 2-4 times from 100 years to a range of 200 - 400 years allowing for seasonal fluctuation.  Further, a subset of critical film material will increase its PI from 100 years to 900 years. In addition to improving the long-range preservation for film collections, there is also an anticipated savings of $16,600 in energy costs per year as compared to baseline adaptations of the existing system.   

While the study focused on the Minnesota Historical Society’s collections storage, these findings have significance for many organizations.  The range of strategies examined included low capital investment cost options, such as reconfiguration of the collections by material type and the impact of passive mechanical interventions. The cost-benefit analysis of these options will provide a start for organizations to find their own path in developing energy-efficient collections storage.  Further, the interdisciplinary processes utilized by the study were essential in arriving at the final recommended bundle of strategies.  As such, this proposal hopes participants will understand the issues that must be considered in designing cold storage for collections, as well as the collaborative processes that help balance these issues towards achieving the best possible storage environment within existing facilities and budget constraints.

Lead speaker: Shengyin Xu; co-presenters: Tom Braun and Jeremy Linden.

Over the last three years almost 1,200 individuals, including conservators, registrars, preparators, curators, museum directors, facilities managers, lighting designers, manufacturers, consultants, and students, requested a copy of the “Guidelines for Assessing Solid-State Lighting for Museums” by Druzik and Michalski (2011). The guidelines are a working document keeping pace with evolving SSL technology and recognize the process of selecting SSL products for museums can be intimidating. In June 2014, the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), the Getty Conservation Institute (GCI), and the Canadian Conservation Institute (CCI), collaborated to investigate the use of the guidelines. A finding of particular note is that a majority (over 65%) of the questionnaire responders would use lighting controls if they worked with their existing lamp-based infrastructure and afforded lamp-by-lamp control of light output—and chromaticity, if possible. There are many motivations for considering and installing SSL products, specifically LEDs, in museums, and many of them are derived from concerns about sustainability. To the International Association of Lighting Designers (IALD), sustainable lighting design “meets the qualitative needs of the visual environment with the least impact on the natural environment.” All lighting can be damaging to art objects, so museum lighting designers and conservation experts often design gallery lighting based on an acceptable rate of change. The best design manages the presentation of daylight and electric lighting. Historically, lighting in museums has been managed by controlling the spatial (beam shape, spill light) and spectral (UV, visible, IR) distribution of light, primarily through lamp selection. A variety of tools have been adopted for manipulating the output of installed lamps, including various forms of lenses, filters, diffusers, and baffles. As LEDs are transforming the lighting market, their inherently electronic nature is opening the door for the use of lighting control in new applications. The integration of wireless capabilities into lamps or modules, in particular, poses an interesting opportunity to better address the lighting-conservation paradox. Lighting controls enable the lighting designer to specify lighting exposure (illuminance, spectrum, time) and attempt to minimize damage while providing optimal viewing conditions for the visitor. Different exposure conditions can be scheduled, or enacted automatically in response to changing time of day, daylight levels, and even the presence of observers. Wireless lighting control holds the promise of integrating more easily with existing lamp-based infrastructure. Networked lighting control systems can communicate or log cumulative light exposure (lux-hours) per object, thereby increasing conservator knowledge of light exposure effects in the long term. A growing and more sophisticated set of controllable LED light sources and complimentary control technologies are becoming available in the market. This paper will present the opportunities afforded by commercially available wireless lighting controls for preventive conservation and hopefully convince the other 35%—the questionnaire responders who didn’t find a need to wireless lighting controls—that simple light switches and optical devices are no longer their only answer.

TBA