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Soot and Dust Clean Up

Thursday, April 30, 2015 It really is a small world. As a volunteer for the AIC-CERT Disaster Response hotline, I had a call with a question about soot drifting in from a fire a couple doors down. On further inquiry, I discovered that the caller was from Traer, Iowa, only 90 miles away. Rather thanContinue reading “Soot and Dust Clean Up”

Respirator Fit Testing

Tuesday, June 4, 2013 Last week I attended the American Institute for Conservation annual meeting. To keep up with my disaster response training, I went to all the sessions of particular interest to AIC-CERT (Collections Emergency Response Team) members. One session was on respirator fitness testing, including the actual fitness test. Before we could takeContinue reading “Respirator Fit Testing”

Why We Assist in Disasters

Friday, February 15, 2013 Those of us who volunteer to assist in disaster response are, obviously, not in it for the money. Private conservators are not getting paid while volunteering. Many of us are away from family and friends, work hard and go to bed exhausted during recovery efforts. So what is in it forContinue reading “Why We Assist in Disasters”

Teaching Moments at CRC

Thursday, February 14, 2013 All the work on the artwork damaged by Hurrican Sandy is done by volunteers. It’s a great opportunity for an intern to learn about assessing and cleaning paintings while on the job with a volunteer conservator. Today we had a student volunteer who is studying to become a paintings conservator. SheContinue reading “Teaching Moments at CRC”

Busy Day at the Cultural Recovery Center in Brooklyn

Wednesday, February 13, 2013 We had a very busy day at the Cultural Recovery Center in Brooklyn. The volunteer paintings conservator examined a couple of paintings that an artist brought in during the morning, just before noon she removed an artwork from a frame and examined the piece for mold and damage, in the afternoonContinue reading “Busy Day at the Cultural Recovery Center in Brooklyn”

An Artist’s Quandary

Tuesday, February 12, 2013 What does an artist do when his/her artwork is damaged? Throw it away because it has been changed and is no longer the same piece? Re-work it and make it a “new” painting? Repair the damage and try to keep the essence of the original? Or leave it as damaged andContinue reading “An Artist’s Quandary”

Assessment and Cleaning

Monday, February 11, 2013 Today I spent most of the day inspecting close to 150 art works on paper for mold. It’s very time consuming. The front and back of each piece of art needed to be entirely visually inspected — each inch. I only found a handful that I thought a paper conservator shouldContinue reading “Assessment and Cleaning”

Assisting Artists After Hurricane Sandy

Friday, February 8, 2013 When we inspect an artist’s work, we also ask for the story of the piece to learn more about its history and composition. The pieces that this artist brought in were her final project before graduation where she used as pure a blue, red, and yellow that she could get. SheContinue reading “Assisting Artists After Hurricane Sandy”

Salvaging Artists’ Works After Hurricane Sandy

Thursday, February 7, 2013 A couple years ago, I received training so I could become part of a national cultural disaster response team called AIC-CERT (American Institute for Conservation Collections Emergency Response Team). After Hurricane Sandy, AIC (American Institute for Conservation) and the Foundation of the American Institute for Conservation established a Cultural Recovery CenterContinue reading “Salvaging Artists’ Works After Hurricane Sandy”