The Conservation Center for Art & Historic Artifacts (CCAHA), located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was founded by Marilyn Kemp Weidner in 1977, with funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities and in response to the growing problem of paper deterioration occurring in archives in the Mid-Atlantic region.[1]
Currently one of the largest nonprofit paper conservation facilities in the country, CCAHA specializes in the treatment of art and historic artifacts on paper, including drawings, prints, maps, posters, historic wallpaper, photographs, books, scrapbooks, and manuscripts, as well as related materials like parchment and papyrus.[1][2] CCAHA serves cultural, research, and educational institutions, such as museums, libraries, archives, and historical societies, both in its region and across the country. It also works with individuals and private organizations.
CCAHA’s conservation staff laying out fire, water, and mold damaged items to dry.
In addition to treatment services, CCAHA offers nationwide educational programs on disaster planning, collections care, and records and archives management.[6] These lectures, seminars, and workshops are designed for professional staff who have primary responsibility for the care and handling of artifacts, such as curators, collections managers, archivists, and librarians.
Other services include digital imaging, conservation matting and framing, on-site consultations, emergency conservation services and disaster assistance,[7] and help with grantwriting[8] and exhibition planning.
The conservation and restoration of cultural property focuses on protection and care of cultural property, including artworks, architecture, archaeology, and museum collections. Conservation activities include preventive conservation, examination, documentation, research, treatment, and education. This field is closely allied with conservation science, curators and registrars.
The Canadian Conservation Institute is a special operating agency of the federal Department of Canadian Heritage that provides research, information, and services regarding the conservation and preservation of cultural artifacts.
The conservation and restoration of photographs is the study of the physical care and treatment of photographic materials. It covers both efforts undertaken by photograph conservators, librarians, archivists, and museum curators who manage photograph collections at a variety of cultural heritage institutions, as well as steps taken to preserve collections of personal and family photographs. It is an umbrella term that includes both preventative preservation activities such as environmental control and conservation techniques that involve treating individual items. Both preservation and conservation require an in-depth understanding of how photographs are made, and the causes and prevention of deterioration. Conservator-restorers use this knowledge to treat photographic materials, stabilizing them from further deterioration, and sometimes restoring them for aesthetic purposes.
The New York State Museum is a research-backed institution in Albany, New York, United States. It is located on Madison Avenue, attached to the south side of the Empire State Plaza, facing onto the plaza and towards the New York State Capitol. The museum houses art, artifacts, and ecofacts that reflect New York’s cultural, natural, and geological development. Operated by the New York State Education Department's Office of Cultural Education, it is the oldest and largest state museum in the US. Formerly located in the State Education Building, the museum now occupies the first four floors of the Cultural Education Center, a ten-story, 1,500,000-square-foot (140,000 m2) building that also houses the New York State Archives and New York State Library.
In library and archival science, preservation is a set of preventive conservation activities aimed at prolonging the life of a record, book, or object while making as few changes as possible. Preservation activities vary widely and may include monitoring the condition of items, maintaining the temperature and humidity in collection storage areas, writing a plan in case of emergencies, digitizing items, writing relevant metadata, and increasing accessibility. Preservation, in this definition, is practiced in a library or an archive by a librarian, archivist, or other professional when they perceive a record is in need of maintenance.
The 1966 flood of the Arno in Florence killed 101 people and damaged or destroyed millions of masterpieces of art and rare books. It is considered the worst flood in the city's history since 1557. With the combined effort of Italian and foreign volunteers alike, or angeli del fango, many of these fine works have been restored. New methods in conservation were devised and restoration laboratories established. However, even decades later, much work remains to be done.
With respect to cultural property, conservation science is the interdisciplinary study of the conservation of art, architecture, technical art history and other cultural works through the use of scientific inquiry. General areas of research include the technology and structure of artistic and historic works. In other words, the materials and techniques from which cultural, artistic and historic objects are made.
The Grace Museum is located in Abilene, Texas, United States. The museum is accredited by the American Alliance of Museums (AAM). The Grace Museum houses five art galleries featuring rotating art exhibitions and artwork from the permanent collection; a history gallery with permanent and rotating exhibits featuring Abilene, Taylor County, and West Texas artifacts; an art library; an education center and an interactive gallery for children and families. The Abilene Fine Arts Museum was founded in 1937 by the Art League of the Abilene Woman's Club. The art museum was housed in various downtown locations and Rose Park before the current facility was renovated in 1992. Since 1992, the museum has existed as The Museums of Abilene, Grace Cultural Center and the name was officially changed to The Grace Museum in 1998.
Founded in 1973, the Northeast Document Conservation Center (NEDCC) is the first non-profit conservation center in the United States to specialize in the preservation of paper-based library and archival materials.
A conservator-restorer is a professional responsible for the preservation of artistic and cultural artifacts, also known as cultural heritage. Conservators possess the expertise to preserve cultural heritage in a way that retains the integrity of the object, building or site, including its historical significance, context and aesthetic or visual aspects. This kind of preservation is done by analyzing and assessing the condition of cultural property, understanding processes and evidence of deterioration, planning collections care or site management strategies that prevent damage, carrying out conservation treatments, and conducting research. A conservator's job is to ensure that the objects in a museum's collection are kept in the best possible condition, as well as to serve the museum's mission to bring art before the public.
This is a list of Training programs for Conservation and Restoration of cultural property. There are a variety of training and entry routes into the profession of conservation. Whereas training in conservation has traditionally taken the form of an apprenticeship, in more recent years training in a recognized conservation course at a university has become the norm. Today it is more common for professional conservators to have taken a university course combined with a period of time as an intern.
Staten Island Museum is Staten Island’s oldest cultural institution, and the only remaining general interest museum in New York City.
Since 1974, the conservation graduate programs have held an annual meeting at one of the member programs in order to give current students the opportunity to present current research to their peers.
The conservation and restoration of books, manuscripts, documents and ephemera is an activity dedicated to the preservation and protection of items of historical and personal value made primarily from paper, parchment, and leather. When applied to cultural heritage, conservation activities are generally undertaken by a conservator. The primary goal of conservation is to preserve the lifespan of the object as well as maintaining its integrity by keeping all additions reversible. Conservation of books and paper involves techniques of bookbinding, restoration, paper chemistry, and other material technologies including preservation and archival techniques.
The conservation and restoration of musical instruments is performed by conservator-restorers who are professionals, properly trained to preserve or protect historical and current musical instruments from past or future damage or deterioration. Because musical instruments can be made entirely of, or simply contain, a wide variety of materials such as plastics, woods, metals, silks, and skin, to name a few, a conservator should be well-trained in how to properly examine the many types of construction materials used in order to provide the highest level or preventive and restorative conservation.
A photograph conservator is a professional who examines, documents, researches, and treats photographs, including documenting the structure and condition of art works through written and photographic records, monitoring conditions of works in storage and exhibition and transit environments. This person also performs all aspects of the treatment of photographs and related artworks with adherence to the professional Code of Ethics.
A textile conservator is a conservator-restorer charged with the care, treatment, research, and preservation of textiles. Issues addressed by a textile conservator are generally related to the field of textile preservation, and include damage caused to textiles by: light, mold and mildew, insects, cleaning, surface cleaning, washing, mounting for display, and storage. Variations in textile types and “the diversity of the textile conservator’s work makes it a very rewarding profession”. Textiles are among the most fragile artifacts, as they are susceptible to damage from atmospheric pollutants, moisture, biological organisms, and environmental changes and care varies with size, shape, material, and condition issues, all of which a textile conservator must be well versed.
Conservation and restoration at the Smithsonian Institution deals with the care of the 138 million artifacts located in the collections of Smithsonian Institution. Work is conducted by one research center, the Museum Conservation Institute (MCI), and by conservators at the Smithsonian's museums, galleries, zoo. Smithsonian conservators provide myriad services to their units, including exhibit preparation of the museum collection and loan objects, advising on object care, training for future generations of conservationists, engaging in routine preventive care on a daily basis, conducting research projects related to the collections, and examining objects for evidence of manufacturing techniques and previous restorations All conservation labs collectively further the mission of the Smithsonian Institution, "the increase and diffusion of knowledge." Founded in 1846 the Smithsonian is the world's largest museum and research complex, consisting of 19 museums and galleries, the National Zoological Park, and nine research facilities.
The conservation and restoration of film is the physical care and treatment of film-based materials. These include photographic film and motion picture film stock.
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