This three-day course will begin by reviewing the history and use of common metals and their alloys, and give practical guidelines for their identification. It will explore the basic science behind deterioration and corrosion problems related to indoor, outdoor, and archaeological environments. We will look at a variety of metal objects including those from both the Beloit’s Logan Museum of Anthropology and Wright Museum of Art and discuss common ways metals present in collections and how to decipher what you are seeing, such as damage and alterations from use, handling, and storage.

The course will focus on developing a basic body of knowledge in order to make informed decisions about the care of metals, what simple preventative measures can mitigate deterioration and when interventive measures are necessary. The course will also review general conservation treatment strategies and discuss basic procedures that can be done in-house as well as those that require a conservator.

Cricket Harbeck is an object conservator who runs a studio based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Having formal training and a museum background, she specializes in preserving and treating fine art objects, historical materials, artifacts, and outdoor sculpture. She also offers expertise in a variety of materials including ceramic, glass, metal, plastics, leather and wood. 

Participants will learn to differentiate the major black & white photographic processes, both prints and negatives – everything from daguerreotypes to gelatin developed-out photographs, from paper negatives to nitrate film. We will do this by reviewing the history of photography, understanding how photographs deteriorate, and examining lots of images.

Process identification will become the key to determining how best to preserve photographs. While discussing proper storage materials and the best environments, we’ll delineate the special needs of each process. Can they be exhibited safely? Are they prone to abrasion? Are special storage enclosures ever recommended? Which processes require freezer storage to survive? Participants will be encouraged to ask questions and to bring items for discussion.

Gary Albright has been consulting, treating, and teaching about photographs for over 40 years. For the past 15 years he has been an art conservator in private practice. Before that he was conservator at the George Eastman House, Rochester, NY and senior paper and photograph conservator at the Northeast Document Conservation Center, Andover, MA. During his career he has treated a diverse array of objects, including the Emancipation Proclamation, a Honus Wagner baseball card, Ansel Adams’ photographs, and working drafts of the Constitution of the United States. Since 2003, Albright has been the guest professor of photograph conservation at the State University at Buffalo. In 2017 he received the American Institute for Conservation’s Sheldon & Caroline Keck Award in recognition of a sustained record of excellence in the education and training of conservation professionals. Albright lives and works in Honeoye Falls, New York.

This course will give each student a practical “hands-on” experience: designing mounts; evaluating and using archival materials; making of coated brass and stainless steel pin mounts; fabric wrapping ethafoam and acrylic forms; cutting, heat bending, and polishing of acrylic; and silver brazing brass mounts. In addition, each student will be encouraged to present to the class any particular mount making challenges they are currently or will soon be working on at their jobs. 

Pam Gaible is the mount shop supervisor at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago. She has over 20 years of experience designing and fabricating archival mounts. She has made mounts for a large variety of objects including; dinosaur fossils, Egyptian mummies, Pacific island ceremonial objects, African textiles, Native American clothing, animal skeletons, and meteorites. Major exhibits at the Field Museum which Pam has worked on include “Kremlin Gold: 1000 Years of Russian Gems and Jewels”, “Cleopatra of Egypt”, “Cartier - 1900 to 1939”, “Scrolls from the Dead Sea”, “Inside Ancient Egypt”, “Traveling the Pacific”, “Africa”, “Life over Time”, and “What is an Animal?”. She has a Master of Fine Arts degree in Sculpture from the University of Nebraska in Lincoln. 

Earl Lock is a mount maker, exhibit designer, and fabricator in private practice in Chicago. Earl has over 20 years of experience designing and fabricating exhibit components for natural history museums, art museums, and planetariums. He holds a Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Nebraska at Lincoln, and has made archival mount for major exhibits at The Field Museum, The Adler Planetarium, The Art Institute of Chicago, The Lincoln Museum in Fort Wayne, Indiana, the Speed Art Museum, and the Frazier Museum in Louisville, Kentucky, The Chicago History Museum, the Logan Museum of Anthropology at Beloit College, and for private collectors across the country. 

The course was developed in response to former participant requests for more studio time under the advanced mentorship of an expert mount maker and provides opportunities to share solutions and learn from other exhibit professionals. A maximum of six participants may enroll, which ensures in-depth, personalized, hands-on attention.

Specific techniques to be taught will be tailored to participants’ needs, but may include seismic mounts (for earthquakes and building vibrations), invisible mounts, mounts for traveling exhibits, mounts for specific types of objects, compiling estimates for mounts including time, materials and budget costs, and networking with other mount making professionals around the country. Students are encouraged to submit any suggestions for topics to be included in the class at the time they register.

Previous mount making experience or completion of Mount Making: The Design and Fabrication of Archival Mounts course is required.

Earl Lock is a mount maker, exhibit designer, and fabricator in private practice in Chicago. Earl has over 20 years experience designing and fabricating exhibit components for natural history museums, art museums, and planetariums. He holds a Masters of Fine Arts degree from the University of Nebraska at Lincoln, and has made archival mount for major exhibits at The Field Museum, The Adler Planetarium, The Art Institute of Chicago, The Lincoln Museum in Fort Wayne, Indiana, the Speed Art Museum, and the Frazier Museum in Louisville, Kentucky, The Chicago History Museum, The Logan Museum of Anthropology at Beloit College, and for private collectors across the country.

This course will provide essential skills needed for all collections-care specialists to handle, assess, maintain, and safely house historic clothing and textiles.

Beginning with the basic chemical building blocks of textile fibers, students will learn how fabrics’ microscopic characteristics impact the preservation, treatment, and interpretation of textile objects. Environmental and practical considerations for the care and display of textiles will be presented along with case studies in successful and problematic conservation solutions.

Working with study collection pieces from Logan Museum of Anthropology, students will learn hands-on skills such as condition reporting, surface cleaning, custom storage mounts, packing, and photography. Participants are encouraged to bring a laptop and a downloadable camera/phone. Sewing skills are not required.

Beth McLaughlin is Senior Textile Conservator the Midwest Art Conservation Center in Minneapolis, MN and has been with the MACC since 2005. She was a conservator in private practice and prior Chief Textile Conservator at Biltmore House in Asheville, North Carolina. She has significant training and experience in the conservation of historic and contemporary textiles and the preservation, care and re-housing of three-dimensional objects. Ms. McLaughlin received a Masters of Fine Arts and a Bachelor of Fine Arts summa cum laude from Ohio University. Ms. McLaughlin is a Professional Associate of the American Institute for Conservation, Textile Specialty Group, and a member of the Textile Society of America, Maya Society of Minnesota, and a variety of textile arts guilds.

This hands-on class focuses on practices used to mat and frame works of art on paper. With an emphasis on methods and materials and hands-on practice, participants will learn everything from basic 4-ply storage mats to elaborate deep bevel mats. Permanent yet reversible and non-permanent means of attaching artwork into mats as well as framing criteria for works on paper will be covered. The role that media and support play in the decision making process will be discussed throughout the class. Students will leave with examples from each of the exercises that will serve as a visual glossary of the various approaches to matting works on paper.

At the request of previous participants, this class has been expanded to five days!

Christine Conniff-O’Shea graduated with a BA in Studio Art from the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, New Mexico. She furthered her studies at the Tamarind Institute of Lithography in Albuquerque, New Mexico and The Smithsonian Institute’s American Museum of Art in Washington, D.C. Christine recently retired from her position as the Associate Conservator for Preparation and Framing in the Department of Paper Conservation at the Art Institute of Chicago, a position she has held for over 35 years. She was responsible for the preparation of all works on paper for exhibition, loan, and storage.

No previous experience is required for the traditional gilding workshop. You will be introduced to a very old decorative technique, invented 4,500 years ago in ancient Egypt and only practicing traditional gilding can produce a full appreciation for this technique. Through this hands-on class, you are introduced to a range of gold leafing skills. Working from bare wood to the final product, we will prepare sample boards, prime and gild frames, make ornaments and practice finishing techniques. This class also includes a brief introduction to the history of picture frames.

Topics presented in this class include:

• traditional gilding materials, tools and techniques
• weighing, measuring and mixing
• surface preparation and planned application of oil and water gilding
• gesso texturing, re-cutting and other special effects
• making molds and ornaments
• the application of gold, silver and metal leaf
• matte and burnished finishes
• advanced leafing techniques
• sealing, toning and aging

Materials for the course are provided to the participants and participants will be advised beforehand on which gilding tools to bring. 

Traditional Gildingis a prerequisite for taking Gilding Conservation(offered again in 2024).

Hubert Baija is a consultant to museums and collectors on the conservation of frames and gilding and an avid teacher. After thirty years as the senior conservator of frames and gilding a the Rijkmuseum in Amsterdam, he retired in 2019 and currently works as a senior conservator at the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto. He has taught many hands-on workshops at the former Campbell Center and continues to teach frame history and conservation at the University of Amsterdam. Hubert is a Professional Associate of the American Institute for Conservation (AIC) and has served as co-chair in the Wood, Furniture and Lacquer Working Group of the International Council of Museums, Conservation Committee (ICOM-CC).

In this hands-on class participants will learn how to safely plan and execute moves of heavy and/or fragile museum artifacts weighing up to 5000 lbs. Many of the principles can be applied to moving much heavier loads, but we advise you to work with professional riggers once the load exceeds 5000 lbs.Topics include rigging practices and technologies; how rigging crews and boxes are organized; using a forklift; using a gantry; common rigging problems and solutions; and ordering cranes.

Roger Machin is the Director of Field Operations for Chicago-based Methods & Materials and has been for the last 30 years. He is a former ironworker and has an M.F.A in sculpture from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. He has taught rigging demonstrations at various institutions across the country. 

This course is a comprehensive introduction to museum storage solutions, from facility design to safe and effective object support construction. Participants will gain an understanding of the needs of different object material types and methods of mitigating agents of deterioration in storage. The course addresses storage principles, storage furniture, archival materials, and mount making guidelines.

Participants will gain extensive hands-on experience constructing at least six different types of storage enclosures, containers, and mounts. Participants will leave with these samples, which will serve as an important reference collection for future mount making. Participants will also construct sample boards of a diverse array of archival quality materials and gain a deeper understanding of what archival products are best suited to different materials and for the construction of different enclosures and mounts.

And finally, given the cost of high quality archival materials and storage solutions, participants will also leave with an understanding of how to better maximize their resources to make more effective, safe, and efficient storage spaces and mounts.

Christa Deacy-Quinn is the Collections Manager at the University of Illinois Spurlock Museum overseeing collections care and preservation, artifact storage, packaging, transport, as well as exhibit design and installation. She is a strong advocate for low-chemical, low-cost Integrated Pest Management (IPM) systems. Christa holds a M.A. in Anthropology from the University of Illinois, is a Certified Technician for General Use Pesticides in Illinois, a Certified Mold Remediation Worker, and her IPM program at the Spurlock has earned Green Shield Certification. She teaches museum collection preservation at the University of Illinois, serves as a faculty associate of Ontario’s Willowbank School of Restoration Arts, and as a peer reviewer for the Museum Assessment Program for the American Alliance of Museums.

This course is an introduction to caring for and preserving paper-based collections. Participants will learn the history of paper manufacture and the factors affecting its deterioration; the basics of caring for a storing paper collections; as well as learn basic hands-on treatments for repairing paper collection materials including humidification and flattening, dry cleaning, mending, and filling losses. Students will learn about the benefits of washing and deacidification as well as better understand when such treatments may be inadvisable. Each student is encouraged to bring paper artifacts of their own for treatment where they will apply what they learned under the guidance of the instructor.

Jennifer Hain Teper serves as the Velde Preservation Librarian at the University of Illinois Libraries overseeing conservation, collections care, digital preservation, and the digitization services throughout the library system. She previously served as the head of conservation at the University of Illinois libraries from 2001-2008. Jennifer graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with an MLIS and Certificate of Advanced Study in the Conservation and Preservation of Library and Archival Materials. She teaches several preservation and conservation courses in the Graduate School of Information Science at the University of Illinois. She is a Fellow of the American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works, where she serves as the Chair of the Equity and Inclusion Working Group. 

This course will illustrate and explain established standard methods for packing art and artifacts, the materials used, and their best applications. Attendees will learn why different methods are used and when they might be the best choice for your institutions.

Included in the instruction and related discussions, the 10 agents of deterioration, the six risk factors for transit, multi-purpose potential of different systems (overlapping functions of handling, shipping, storage, display mounts) as well as environmental sustainability will be addressed.

The hands-on portions of the course will focus on methods and materials that have the most “direct impact” (literally) on objects being moved. Soft-packing methods and selection of contact materials along with tray and inner box fabrication will be stressed. Also systems that can function to stabilize objects in transit will be discussed along with the proper use of cushioning materials as illustrated in the two seminal “Art in Transit” publications from 1991.

With an understanding of established standard methods and materials, more recent innovations created or adapted from other sources will be discussed and demonstrated. Notable successes using alternative methods as well as some inherent limitations will be outlined.

Additional benefits include:

• Guidelines for large and small scale collections relocation projects
• What to ask for and expect when hiring a fine arts service provider
• What to consider when reviewing or establishing your institutions packing/crating specifications

After eight year working in collections care at the University of Oklahoma Museum of Art, T. Ashley McGrew went on to play a key role in the New York packing and crating departments of Fine Arts Express FAE and then Artex FAS.

Following that work, Ashley was in charge of on-site collections management and packing of over 800,000 Native American objects moved from the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian’s Bronx, NY location to Suitland, MD. One of the most successful large-scale collections move projects in the past two decades, its innovative packing systems were efficient, effective, and set standards for sustainability due to a combination of cyclical packing and transport and the introduction/adaption of non-traditional materials.

While acting as a lead preparator at the John Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, Ashley co-authored the Packing and Crating Chapter in the MRM5 – Museum Registration Methods revised edition. In addition, he continued his involvement with the packing and crating community acting in a leadership role for the Preparation, Art Handling, Collections Care Information Network (PACCIN). He is a member of PACCIN’s advisory committee and acts as PACCIN’s liaison to the American Institute for Conservation’s Collections Care Network.

Ashley is also a contributor to the online resource Storage Techniques for Art, Science, and History Collections (STASH) and an invited inaugural member of the Materials Working Group (MWG). Ashley is a frequent speaker at national and regional museum association meetings and preparators conferences. He is currently a preparator at Stanford University’s Cantor Art Center.

Essential skills for textile conservation are explored in this interactive, advanced class. Common hand stitches and sewing materials suitable to a variety of historic textiles will familiarize participants with appropriate levels of intervention for given situations. Each student will be allowed access to study collection artifacts for immersive practice of stitched repairs, sheer overlays, and patching. In addition to stabilization, a range of display preparations will be undertaken, including passive, pinned, stitched, Velcro, and magnetic hanging systems.

Participants will take away everyday problem-solving skills, proficiency in a range of treatment options, and awareness of optimal materials. Basic sewing ability is preferred but not required.

Camille Myers Breeze began her conservation career in 1989 at the Textile Conservation Workshop in South Salem, New York. After earning a BA in Art History from Oberlin College. Camille received an MA in Museum Studies: Costume and Textiles Conservation from the Fashion Institute of Technology. She spent five years in the Textile Conservation Laboratory at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City before moving to the Textile Conservation Center at the American Textile History Museum, in Lowell, Massachusetts. Camille founded Museum Textile Services in 1999 as a full-service textile conservation studio serving museums, historical societies, and private collectors. In 2015 she co-founded the Andover Figures® line of custom museum forms for conservators and collections specialists.

This course is designed to serve as a comprehensive introduction to both the theory and practice of IPM. IPM is a strategic method for controlling pests that focuses on identifying pest populations as early as possible and reducing or eliminating conditions necessary for their survival and reproduction. IPM also strives to use the smallest possible amount of chemical pesticides by focusing on pest exclusion through behavior-oriented methods of pest management as well as practical, low-chemical solutions tailored to fit the location of the infestation. During the duration of the course, participants will learn how to identify common invertebrate, vertebrate, and fungal pests, develop an awareness for monitoring pest populations around museum collections, and in museum objects themselves, determine action thresholds, select and apply prevention and control methods, as well as many other real-world, practical skills and knowledge that can be applied to a variety of situations. Students are encouraged to bring building plans and pictures of pest damaged materials.

Christa Deacy-Quinn is the Collections Manager at the University of Illinois Spurlock Museum overseeing collections care and preservation, artifact storage, packaging, transport, as well as exhibit design and installation. She is a strong advocate for low-chemical, low-cost Integrated Pest Management (IPM) systems. Christa holds an M.A. in Anthropology from the University of Illinois, is a Certified Technician for general Use Pesticides in Illinois, a Certified Mold Remediation Worker, and her IPM program at the Spurlock has earned Green Shield Certification. She teaches museum collection preservation at the University of Illinois 

This class serves as an introduction to the care and structure of historic book collections and is useful as an introduction to book collections for those who specialize in the conservation of other materials but find themselves also caring for historic book collections, as well as those new to collections care and conservation, but familiar with book collections. This course will present a combination of lecture and hands-on sessions that will teach students the history of book and paper manufacture and basic storage and care of historic collections. In addition, participants will learn to construct a historic book model and simple enclosures. Participants are encouraged to bring books for analysis, treatment approach recommendations, and discussion.

Jennifer Hain Teper serves as the Velde Preservation Librarian at the University of Illinois Libraries overseeing conservation, collections care, digital preservation, and the digitization services throughout the library system. She previously served as the head of conservation at the University of Illinois libraries from 2001-2008. Jennifer graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with an MLIS and Certificate of Advanced Study in the Conservation and Preservation of Library and Archival Materials. She teaches several preservation and conservation courses in the Graduate School of Information Science at the University of Illinois. She is a Fellow of the American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works, where she serves as the Chair of the Equity and Inclusion Working Group.