Archived News

2021 AIC/SPNHC Virtual Annual Meeting
ECPN is excited to announce three events:
› Conservation in a Changing World Tuesday, May 18th 3:00 – 4:30 p.m. (EDT)
Join ECPN for a moderated panel reflecting on core concepts concerning levels of education, equity and inclusion, discriminatory and predatory salary practices, and how these areas intersect with each other. With this panel, we hope to reflect on the future of our profession, discussing how we can work towards creating a more equitable and diverse field.

For more details, visit: https://bit.ly/3tEJ4RW.
Submit your questions to: ecpn.vicechair@culturalheritage.org.

› Information Meeting and Happy Hour Tuesday, May 18th, 4:30 – 6:00 p.m. (EDT)
Hear an update on ECPN initiatives, meet our new officers, and take part in an opportunity to ask questions, provide feedback, and learn how to get involved. Conference attendees at any career stage are welcome and encouraged to attend.
Find our more here: https://bit.ly/3r68WV5.

Making the Ask: Developing Negotiation Tactics in the Field of Conservation
ECPN and FAIC are excited to announce that the “Making the Ask “ workshop is now available for FREE as a self-study course. Gain long-term negotiation skills beneficial for all career stages by accessing the course at: https://bit.ly/3tivVOx.

Professional Education and Training (PET) Resources
Interview Series
Pre-program Mentors Series, with the release of two new interviews:
› Amanda Holden, Senior Conservator of Textiles at the Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields (March 2021)
› Kate Morrand, Director of the Naval History and Heritage Command’s Archaeology & Conservation Laboratory (May 2021)

ECPN is excited to announce a collaborative partnership with the FAIC Oral History Project. Going forward, all interviews with emerging conservation professionals will also be archived, including: Graduate Program Liaisons, Specialty Group Liaisons, Specialty Groups Series, International Education Series, PreProgram Mentors Series, and “Creative Endeavors and Expressive Ideas” series.

ECPN Compensation Spreadsheets
PET Officers have continued reviewing online fellowship and internship job postings so that relevant data can be entered into ECPN’s Compensation Spreadsheets. This year they have added 7 fellowships, 9 graduate internships, and 10 pre-program internships. You can contribute by filling out our survey.

Join us for Conservators Combating Climate Change: Season 2
Conservators Combating Climate Change returned for a second season with cohost and founder Natalya Swanson joined by Marie Desrochers. In this season, we focus on the intersectional nature of sustainability work by speaking with heritage and environmental conservators, educators, architects, and engineers about ongoing collaborative projects. Ten episodes are being released weekly throughout April and May, so subscribe and tune in on https://anchor.fm/conservatorscombatingcc.

Write with feedback and questions to ecpn.aic.digitalplatforms@gmail.com.

End of Term
The 2020-21 term comes to a conclusion at the end of May, and I will end my tenure with ECPN. The past term has proceeded through unprecedented challenges; despite this, the ECPN officers and liaisons have generously volunteered their time to create programming, resources, and events. Each term, ECPN officers and liaisons astound me with what they can accomplish through their hard work and creativity. I am especially grateful to them as they helped navigate the network through a pandemic and grew our supportive community. Over the past five years, it has been an honor for me to serve AIC and the emerging conservation community. I hope I have been able to give back a fraction of the support I have received as an emerging conservator. I look forward to the next chapter of ECPN and to utilizing the amazing resources I know they will create.


—Caitlin Richeson, Chair, ecpn.chair@culturalheritage.org

ECPN Leadership Positions
ECPN is seeking volunteers for the following positions (all have 2-year terms). To learn more about the network, please visit the ECPN page on the American Institute for Conservation website. Our Network description, charge, and current leadership can be found here.

› Communications Co-officer: Act as the secretary and a lead editor, communicate with other AIC committees and specialty groups, and serve as ECPN liaison to AIC Publications Committee.

› Digital Platforms Co-officer: Oversee updates across all ECPN web-based platforms, create a network digital archive, manage the ECPN Wiki, and coordinate and develop at least 2 webinars or web-based programs per year. 

› Outreach Co-officer: Oversee ECPN Liaison Program, raise awareness of ECPN to attract new, active membership, write blog posts, and encourage dialogue about the profession on social media.

› Professional Education and Training Co-officer: Advocate for support of career development initiatives for emerging conservation professionals, help to develop a diverse programing that addresses each demographic of the Network, including pre-program, graduate student, and early-career professional, manage ongoing blogpost interview series.

› Vice Chair: Propose and support ECPN projects, develop and coordinate ECPN programming at AIC Annual Meeting, serve as chair following vice chair term. 

More details here. Apply via our online application portal.

Making the Ask: Developing Negotiation Tactics in the Field of Conservation
ECPN and FAIC are excited to announce that the "Making the Ask: Developing Negotiation Tactics in the Field of Conservation" workshop is now available for FREE as a self-study course. Gain long-term negotiation skills beneficial for all career stages by accessing the course here. 

Professional Education and Training Resources
The PET officers have been hard at work to update the ECPN subsite. Check out "Education & Training Interviews'' webpage to read interviews about: Pre-Program Internships, Specialty Groups, International Education, and Outreach. 

Going forward, all interviews with emerging conservation professionals will also be archived with the FAIC Oral History Project. 

ECPN Compensation Spreadsheets
PET Officers have continued reviewing online fellowship and internship job postings so that relevant data can be entered into ECPN's Compensation Spreadsheets. During the past year, 28 entries were added to the Fellowship Compensation Resource, 13 to the Graduate Intern Compensation Resource, and 25 to the Pre-Program Compensation Resource. You can contribute by filling out our survey.

Conservators Combating Climate Change: Season two coming April 2021
The second season of the Conservators Combating Climate Change podcast will focus on sustainable decision making and how the preservation community and the communities heritage professionals serve are grappling with fostering equity in an inherently inequitable world. Hosts Natalya Swanson and Marie Derochers will host dialogues that center on collaborative efforts in collection care, education and critical heritage studies, environmental and heritage conservation, and the private sector. The diverse roster of guest speakers is intended to inspire heritage professionals at all career levels to consider what role they can have in creating a more balanced and conscientious  future. All episodes will be accessible on major podcasting platforms (e.g. Spotify, Apply Podcasts) or at https://anchor.fm/conservatorscombatingcc

— Caitlin Richeson, Chair, ecpn.chair@culturalheritage.org 

Pandemic Challenges and Liaison Events
COVID-19 has affected emerging conservators in numerous ways; the pandemic has created challenges in securing fellowships and internships and a loss of connectivity to our community. Despite these challenges, emerging conservators are finding new and innovative ways to connect, network, and gain education. ECPN has been happy to support our liaisons as they navigate the pandemic, creating a virtual community not bound by geographic location. We would like to highlight some of the virtual events organized by our liaisons:

› Meet-and-Greet Southeast Michigan Kyle Clark and Allison Slenker, Ann Arbor Michigan Regional Liaisons
› Virtual Lab Tour at the Textile Museum at the George Washington University Museum, jointly sponsored by the Textile Museum at GWU Museum. Kris Cnossen, TSG Liaison
› Upstate New York Meet-and-Greet Olivia Schoenfeld, Upstate New York Regional Liaison
› Virtual Conservation Lab Tour with Stephanie Gowler (Paper Conservator) and Katherine Lechuga (Book Conservator) at the Indiana Historical Society. Emma Cieslik, Indiana Liaison
› “Meet a Conservator” with Stephanie Gowler (Paper Conservator) and Katherine Lechuga (Book Conservator) at the Indiana Historical Society. Emma Cieslik, Indiana Liaison
› Virtual presentation by Hayley Monroe on the topic of toxic collections. Jenny McGough and Elizabeth Salmon, Southern California Liaisons
› Seattle Virtual Happy Hour Kathryn Peneyra, Seattle Washington Liaison
› Williamsburg Social Event Nhat Quyen Nguyen and Caroline Shaver, Williamsburg Virginia Liaisons

Join the ECPN Facebook Group to look out for future virtual events planned by our liaisons.

Open Liaison Positions
While ECPN has filled many of our Regional Liaison positions for the 2020-21 term, there are still a few vacancies. Please visit our ECPN Regional Liaisons webpage for an updated listing of liaison(s) serving your area.

If you see a vacancy in your area or see that your geographic region is not served by an ECPN Liaison, please contact ECPN’s Outreach Officers at ecpn.aic.outreach@gmail.com for more information about applying.

Professional Education and Training Resources
The Professional Education and Training (PET) officers spent time over the last months working to create valuable resources for ECPs at all levels:
› Continued work on the Specialty Group Interview Series has led to the release of four interviews with members of the Architectural Specialty Group throughout the summer: Dona Yu, Lucy Midelfort, Caroline Dickensheets, and Gilda Gross. An additional ASG interview will be released in the coming months.
› A new initiative is under development to discuss COVID-19 response and recovery. The first blog post from this series addresses changes to ANAGPIC admissions requirements and curricula due to the pandemic.
› Finally, PET has started a new interview series which aims to highlight preprogram experiences and opportunities through dialogues with internship supervisors from a wide range of specialties. The supervisors are selected for interviews based on their track record as excellent pre-program mentors. The first interview was with Anne Downey, Head of Conservation at the American Philosophical Society in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Podcast Series
AIC-ECPN’s podcast series, Conservators Combating Climate Change, released their final episode of its first season in August 2020. In this season, co-hosts and producers Emma Hartman and Natalya Swanson, ECPN Digital Platform Officers, spoke with guest speakers Henry McGhie, Maddie Cooper, Francis Lukezic, and Kate Fugett about their work to promote ecological and social sustainability within collection care and higher education. Over seven episodes, topics ranging from forming coalitions to embracing intersectionality were discussed with the ultimate goal of empowering listeners. All episodes can be heard on major podcasting platforms (e.g. Spotify, Apply Podcasts) or at https://anchor.fm/conservatorscombatingcc. —

-Caitlin Richeson, ECPN Chair, ecpn.chair@culturalheritage.org

2020 AIC Annual Meeting
In June ECPN presented the workshop, “Making the Ask: Developing Hard Skills and Negotiation Tactics in the Field of Conservation,” co-facilitated by Ariel O’Connor and Caitlin Richeson. Fifty participants joined in the conversation to discuss salary negotiation, share their personal experiences and talk about the challenges emerging conservators face in the economic landscape. ECPN held a second iteration on August 28th at 1:00 p.m. (EST) to continue the conversation. ECPN hopes that this workshop will help to supply long-term negotiation skills for both emerging conservators negotiating a salary for the first time and established conservators. Thank you to all involved for making our virtual session a success with special thanks to Ruth Seyler, Kate Lee, Sarah Saetren, and all of our attendees for their energy and enthusiasm.

Liaison Program
ECPN is excited to welcome five new Regional Liaison. With the addition of these new liaison ECPN expands our Regional Liaison program to new geographic regions and cities not previously represented. Join us in welcoming our new liaisons:
› Indianapolis, IN — Emma Cieslik, indianapolis.ecpn.liaison@gmail.com
› Upstate NY — Olivia Schoenfeld, nyc.ecpn.liaison@gmail.com
› Providence, RI — Brianna Turner, providence.ecpn.liaison@gmail.com
› Nashville, TN — Emily Farek, nashville.ecpn.liaison@gmail.com
› Dallas, TX — Emma Ross, dallas.ecpn.liaison@gmail.com

Please check ECPN’s subsite to contact liaisons directly or view current liaison vacancies if you’re interested in volunteering.

Specialty Group Interviews
Members of the Architectural Specialty Group (ASG) have been asked to discuss their career paths, which we hope will inspire emerging conservation professionals and provide valuable insight into this field. The ASG series will consist of six interviews; thus far three people have been interviewed: Dona Yu, Lucy Midelfort, and Caroline Dickensheets.

COVID-19 Response Blog Series
ECPN graduate program liaisons and ECPN regional liaisons recently submitted COVID-19 questions to share with mid-career conservators who graduated during the “Great Recession” period. These questions and the mid-career professional’s anonymous responses will be summarized in a blog post and released on AIC’s online member community. These liaison members will also be compiling updates from all members of ANAGPIC to provide current information on how the North American graduate programs are responding to the pandemic, in terms of both changes to the curriculum and admissions requirements.

Podcast Series
ECPN has continued to release episodes of our podcast series, “Conservators Combating Climate Change.” Digital Platforms Officers Natalya Swanson and Emma Hartman speak with invited guests about how to enact changes in the field that address climate change. Listen to the three episodes at: https://anchor.fm/conservatorscombatingcc.

—Caitlin Richeson, Chair, ecpn.chair@culturalheritage.org

2020 AIC Annual Meeting
The unprecedented effect of COVID-19 necessitated dramatic rethinking and restructuring of the AIC annual meeting, and ECPN strove to utilize online platforms to deliver educational content and establish peer-to-peer connections in a virtual setting. We could not have achieved these events without the support of FAIC and the University of Delaware. Through this support and the generously volunteered time of the AIC community, ECPN was able to deliver events that kept our community connected in this difficult time. ECPN hosted a Virtual Information Session and Town Hall where we were joined by the current president of ANAGPIC, Ellen Pearlstein. ECPN also hosted a virtual workshop, “Making the Ask: Developing Hard Skills and Negotiation Tactics in the Field of Conservation,” co-facilitated by Ariel O’Connor and Caitlin Richeson. Thank you to all involved for making our virtual session a success with special thanks to Ruth Seyler, Kate Lee, and all of our attendees for their energy and enthusiasm.

ECPN Leadership
I am pleased to announce the following appointments for the 2020-21 term:
› Chair: Caitlin Richeson (ecpn.chair@culturalheritage.org)
› Vice Chair: Jessica Betz Abel (ecpn.vicechair@culturalheritage.org)
› Communications: Héctor J. Berdecía-Hernández & Leila Sabouni (ecpn.communications@culturalheritage.org)
› Digital Platforms: Natalya Swanson & Marie Desrochers
(ecpn.digitalplatforms@culturalheritage.org)
› Outreach: Michaela Paulson & Ashley Stanford (ecpn.outreach@culturalheritage.org)
› Professional Education and Training: Keara Teeter & Annabelle Fichtner
(ecpn. pet@culturalheritage.org)

Congratulations and welcome to our new officers Héctor, Leila, and Marie! I am also pleased to report that Jessica Betz Abel will transition from Communications Co-Officer to the Vice Chair role. Every year ECPN strives for a balance of representation from different specialty groups, geographic locations, training programs, and career stages. The strength of the officer applications we received for the 2020-21 term was impressive and resulted in a difficult selection process. Thank you to everyone who offered to serve!

Thank You
Thank you to all of our 2019-20 ECPN officers for your creativity and enthusiasm throughout the term. Special thanks to our outgoing officers Eve Mayberger, Emma Hartman, Candace Kang, and Marci Jefcoat-Burton. It has been a pleasure to serve ECPN with this team, their passion and dedication to the field has led to the growth of ECPN and exciting new initiatives. In particular, I would like to thank Eve, our outgoing ECPN Chair, for her leadership and dedication to ECPN as Outreach Officer, Vice Chair, and Chair. I would also like to extend my thanks to Molly Gleeson, our supportive AIC board liaison, and Kate Lee, our committed AIC staff liaison, for helping us accomplish so much this term. 

Liaison Program
In addition to our outgoing officers, I would like to thank everyone who served as an ECPN liaison for the 2019-2020 term. Through your hard work we have grown our liaison program to include 24 regional liaisons, 9 graduate liaisons, 11 specialty group liaisons, and 9 committee and network liaisons. Please check the ECPN subsite to contact liaisons directly or view current liaison vacancies if you’re interested in volunteering. 

Podcast Series
On the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, ECPN launched a four-part podcast series: “Conservators Combating Climate Change.” The series focuses on conservation professionals’ role in addressing climate change. ECPN’s Digital Platforms Officers Natalya Swanson and Emma Hartman speak with invited guests about how to enact changes in the field. Listen to the first episodes at https://anchor.fm/conservators combatingcc.

I am honored to serve as your ECPN Chair for the 2020-21 term. Keep an eye out for new ECPN initiatives and resources on our various online platforms.

—Caitlin Richeson, ECPN Chair, ecpn.chair@culturalheritage.org

COVID-19 Global Pandemic
I hope this message finds you healthy and adjusting to our new isolated reality in these uncertain times. Now more than ever it is important to remember that ECPN is a community and I hope people will continue to rely on each other in the weeks/ months ahead. AIC 2020 Annual Meeting Due to the practical reality of the COVID-19 global pandemic, ECPN has been working with AIC to create alternate possibilities to present our annual meeting programming events. We will be sure to update our ECPN community as our programming plan solidifies. Please refer to AIC’s Annual Meeting webpage for the most up-to-date information.

Spring Podcast
ECPN will release a series of podcasts beginning in May 2020 that discuss the urgent threat of climate change to the cultural heritage community. The programming will highlight examples of emerging conservators taking action through educational initiatives, sustainability in the laboratory, and community activism. Guest speakers have diverse backgrounds and include current students, climate activists, and mid-career professionals. The result is a podcast series relevant for conservation professionals at any stage of their career who are interested in learning ways to combat the climate crisis. An introductory episode introducing the series was released on Earth Day (April 22, 2020) on all ECPN digital platforms.

ECPN-CIPP Mentorship Program
ECPN is excited to announce that after reviewing feedback from the participants in our pilot program, we are going to be formally establishing an ECPN-CIPP mentorship program. ECPN is collaborating with CIPP leadership to facilitate a mentorship program designed to connect emerging conservators interested in private practice with established private practice conservators. This iteration of the mentorship program is planned to run from July 2020 to May 2021. More information about participating in the upcoming program will be forthcoming.

Specialty Group Interviews
Members of the Photographic Materials Group (PMG) have been asked to share some thoughts about their career paths, which we hope will inspire emerging conservation professionals and provide valuable insight into these areas of our professional field. The PMG series consists of three interviews with a fourth and final interview forthcoming. The three completed interviews include:
› Courtney Helion, Assistant Conservator, Gawain Weaver Art Conservation
› Colette Hardman-Peavy, Postgraduate Photographic Research Fellow, Yale Institute for the Preservation of Cultural Heritage
› Amber Kehoe, Photograph Conservator, The Harry Ransom Center, University of Texas at Austin

The next group of interviews will be with members of the Architecture Specialty Group (ASG). Pre-Program Interview Series In the coming months, ECPN will begin an interview series focused on preprogram experiences, which will include interviews with pre-program mentors and current students. As a part of this initiative, we are actively collecting compensation information and resources for emerging conservation professionals at all levels. More information about ECPN’s compensation resources can be found here.

End of Term
As the 2019-20 ECPN term finishes at the end of May, I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to all the ECPN officers and liaisons for their hard work and dedication this past year. I have been honored to serve AIC and the emerging conservation community over the past four years and to see the impact of ECPN’s programming and resources. I have great confidence that this network will continue to be a vibrant force in our field. It will be my great privilege to reveal the incoming 2020-21 ECPN officers in the coming weeks. Keep an eye out for an announcement on ECPN digital platforms.

—Eve Mayberger, Chair, ecpn.chair@culturalheritage.org

Berger Family Foundation Programming
ECPN partnered with the Atlanta University Center Collective for the Study of Art History & Curatorial Studies (AUC Art Collective) to organize a full-day programming event on January 24, 2020, entitled: “To Preserve A Legacy: Art Conservation at the Atlanta University Center.” The goal of the program was to inform students, staff, and faculty about art conservation and the importance of preserving cultural heritage. The program was well attended by students, emerging conservation professionals, and established local conservators. The full program can be found here (click “view details” on the upper right for details). Grant funds supported two guest speakers, Shannon A. Brogdon-Grantham and LaStarsha McGarity, to share their journey into the conservation profession. Two local emerging conservators, Ephranette Brown and Kaitlyn Wright (current ECPN Regional Liaison for Atlanta), were invited to speak at specific sessions. This program was generously supported by a grant to FAIC from the Berger Family Foundation, as part of their initiative to support activities relating to “…disseminate information to students from high school to college-age, particularly in underserved and under-represented communities, about the discipline of conservation as a career possibility.”

Specialty Group Interview Series
By interviewing individuals working in various conservation sub-specializations, ECPN aims to promote awareness and a clearer understanding of different pathways into the field. Two sub-specializations have been recently featured in this interview series: Libraries & Archives and Photographic Materials.

› The Libraries & Archives series consists of four interviews and is now complete. The two most recent interviews were with Laura McNulty (Graduate Fellow, Winterthur/University of Delaware Program in Art Conservation) and Morgan Adams (Mellon Conservator for Special Collections, Columbia University Libraries).

› The Photographic Materials series began in January, and the first interview was with Courtney Helion (Assistant Conservator, Gawain Weaver Art Conservation). These interviews can be found on the Emerging Professional Community online platform at www.culturalheritage.org/ecpn-community.

International Education Interview Series
By interviewing graduates of international training programs, ECPN aims to introduce pre-program students to various perspectives about programs abroad as well as to bring awareness to US conservators about overseas conservation education. So far, this series has highlighted nine different training programs based in the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and Canada. The latest interviews have been with Kelly Conlin (Queen’s University) and Diana Jaskierny (The Courtauld Institute of Art). These interviews can be found on the Emerging Professional Community online platform.

2020 AIC Annual Meeting
ECPN is excited to announce four events at AIC’s 48th Annual Meeting in Salt Lake City. Join us as we work to develop new skills and network with our colleagues at the annual meeting.

› Making the Ask: Developing Negotiation Tactics in the Field of Conservation (Workshop). Wednesday, May 20, 1:00 - 5:00 p.m. Cost: $29. Facilitators: Ariel O’Connor, Smithsonian American Art Museum and the American Association of University Women (AAUW). Join ECPN for this half-day workshop to develop the skill set to confidently approach the negotiation table to advocate for conservation within museum settings and private practice. This workshop is being generously supported by FAIC.

› Networking Happy Hour Wednesday, May 20, 8:00 - 9:30 p.m. Cost: Free. Kick off the conference by connecting with peers and networking with established professionals at ECPN’s annual Happy Hour.

› Conservation: Past, Present, Future (Moderated Panel with Lunch) Thursday, May 21, 12:00 - 1:30 p.m. Cost: $29/$19 for Student and Post-Graduate Members As the field of conservation continues to grow, so too are the conversations surrounding social engagement, equity and inclusion, and salary transparency in the field of conservation. As these conversations increase, they encourage us to reflect on the origin and future of the conservation. Join ECPN as we discuss many of the changes our field is seeing. Panel members will include:
• Glenn Wharton (UCLA/Getty Program in the Conservation of Archaeological and Ethnographic Materials)
• Sanchita Balachandran (Johns Hopkins Archaeological Museum and Johns Hopkins University)
• Melissa Tedone (WUDPAC)
• Joy Bloser (Museum of Modern Art)
• With contributing comments by Cybele Tom (The Art Institute of Chicago)

› ECPN Informational Session Thursday, May 21, 1:30 - 2:00 p.m. Cost: Free. All are welcome to attend the ECPN Information Session. It is an opportunity to meet the current ECPN officers, hear about our recent and upcoming initiatives, and learn how to get involved. Conference attendees at any career stage are welcome and encouraged to attend. Please see full event descriptions and RSVP, or register for ticketed events here.

ECPN Leadership Positions
ECPN is seeking volunteers for the following positions (all have 2-year terms):
› Communications Co-officer: Act as the secretary and a lead editor, communicate with other AIC committees and specialty groups, and serve as ECPN liaison to AIC Publications Committee. More details here.
› Digital Platforms Co-officer: Oversee updates across all ECPN web-based platforms, create a network digital archive, manage the ECPN Wiki, and coordinate and develop at least 2 webinars or web-based programs per year. More details here.
› Outreach Co-officer: Oversee ECPN Liaison Program, raise awareness of ECPN to attract new, active membership, write blog posts, and encourage dialogue about the profession on social media. More details here.
› Vice Chair: Propose and support ECPN projects, develop and coordinate ECPN programming at AIC Annual Meeting, serve as chair following vice chair term. More details here. Apply via our online application portal.

—Eve Mayberger, Chair, ecpn.chair@culturalheritage.org

Fall Webinar 
ECPN hosted its fall webinar entitled, “An Introduction to Navigating the Workplace, Building Community, and Leveraging Resources” with speakers Anisha Gupta and Leslie Gat on November 19th, 2019. The panel discussion focused on the various roles an emerging conservation professional (ECP) may occupy within the conservation profession, and how AIC/ECPN can function as a professional resource as well as a support community. Discussion questions were solicited in advance and the speakers shared their experiences and perspectives on challenging workplace situations. The webinar has been uploaded to AIC’s YouTube Channel. 

New Content on the ECP Community
ECPN is happy to announce new content on the Emerging Conservation Professionals Community. Check out the recent posts on the PMG Liaison Feature with Sarah Casto, OSG Liaison Feature with Tatianna Shannon, and ECPN Library and Archives Interview with Laura McNulty. We also want to highlight the recent blog post “Empowering Change though Salary Advocacy and Negotiation” by Anisha Gupta, Ariel O’Connor, and Jen Munch which continues the discussion from ECPN’s and E&IC’s joint webinar last spring on Gender Equity in the Conservation Field. 

2020 AIC Annual Meeting
Registration is now available for ECPN’s programming during the AIC Annual Meeting in Salt Lake City. We are pleased to offer the following events: › ECPN Workshop “Making the Ask: Developing Negotiation Tactics in the Field of Conservation” › ECPN Happy Hour › ECPN Lunchtime Panel Discussion “Conservation: Past, Present, Future” › ECPN Information Session The ECPN Workshop is being generously supported by FAIC. Please see full event descriptions and RSVP on 
https://flame.firebird.systems/AIC/AIC2020/MyProgrammes#Programme.ListPage.0.0 
or register for ticketed events here. 

Berger Family Foundation Programming
FAIC has received a grant from the Berger Family Foundation, supporting activities to “…disseminate information to students from high school to college-age, particularly in underserved and under-represented communities, about the discipline of conservation as a career possibility.” With this directive, ECPN is working with the Atlanta University Center Collective for the Study of Art History & Curatorial Studies (AUC Art Collective) to organize a full-day programming event entitled “To Preserve A Legacy: Art Conservation at the Atlanta University Center.” The goal of the program is to inform students, staff, and faculty about art conservation and the importance of preserving cultural heritage. ECPN is supporting two guest speakers, Shannon A. Brogdon-Grantham and LaStarsha McGarity, to travel to Atlanta to share their journey into the conservation profession. The event will take place on Friday, January 24, 2020, and will be open to local emerging conservation professionals. 

ECPN Wiki
There is a new page on the ECPN Wiki dedicated to Getting Started in Conservation Science. We would like to thank RATS Specialty Group Liaison Elyse Canosa for all her work putting together this amazing resource. January is our annual wiki-thon month; be on the lookout for information about how to contribute content to the ECPN Wiki pages. If you have ideas for new content, please email ecpn.chair@culturalheritage.org. 

 

— Eve Mayberger, Chair, ecpn.chair@culturalheritage.org 

Fall Webinar   

ECPN hosted its fall webinar entitled, “An Introduction to Navigating the Workplace, Building Community, and Leveraging Resources” with speakers Anisha Gupta and Leslie Gat on November 19th, 2019. The panel discussion  focused on the various roles an emerging conservation professional (ECP) may occupy within the conservation profession, and how AIC/ECPN can function as a professional resource, but also as a support community. Discussion questions were solicited in advance and the speakers shared their experiences and perspectives on challenging workplace situations. The webinar has been uploaded to AIC’s YouTube Channel. 

New Content on the Emerging Conservation Professionals Community 

ECPN is happy to announce new content on the Emerging Conservation Professionals Community. Check out the recent posts on Photographic Materials Specialty Group (PMG) Liaison Feature with Sarah Casto, Objects Specialty Group (OSG) Liaison Feature with Tatianna Shannon, and  ECPN Library and Archives Interview with Laura McNulty. We also want to highlight the recent blog post “Empowering Change though Salary Advocacy and Negotiation” by Anisha Gupta, Ariel O’Connor, and Jen Munch which continues the discussion from ECPN’s and E&IC’s joint webinar last spring on Gender Equity in the Conservation Field. 

Annual Meeting 

Registration is now available for ECPN’s programming during the AIC Annual Meeting in Salt Lake City. We are pleased to offer the following events: 

• ECPN Workshop: Making the Ask: Developing Negotiation Tactics in the Field of Conservation 

• ECPN Happy Hour 

• ECPN Lunchtime Panel Discussion: Conservation: Past, Present, Future

• ECPN Informational Session 

The ECPN Workshop is being generously supported by FAIC. Please see full event descriptions and RSVP on Firebird, or register for ticketed events here. 

Berger Family Foundation Programming

FAIC has received a grant from the Berger Family Foundation, supporting activities to “…disseminate information to students from high school to college-age, particularly in underserved and under-represented communities, about the discipline of conservation as a career possibility.” With this directive, ECPN is working with the Atlanta University Center Collective for the Study of Art History & Curatorial Studies (AUC Art Collective) to organize a full-day programming event entitled “To Preserve A Legacy: Art Conservation at the Atlanta University Center.” The goal of the program is to inform students, staff, and faculty about art conservation and the importance of preserving cultural heritage. ECPN is supporting two guest speakers, Shannon A. Brogdon-Grantham and LaStarsha McGarity, to travel to Atlanta to share their journey into the conservation profession.  The event will take place on Friday January 24th, 2020 and will be open to local emerging conservation professionals. 

ECPN Wiki

There is a new page on the ECPN Wiki dedicated to Getting Started in Conservation Science. We would like to thank Research and Technical Studies (RATS) Specialty Group Liaison Elyse Canosa for all her work putting together this amazing resource. 

January is Wiki Month so be on the lookout for information about how to contribute content to the ECPN Wiki pages. If you have ideas for new content, please email ecpn.chair@culturalheritage.org. 

— Eve Mayberger, Chair, ecpn.chair@culturalheritage.org

ECPN Subsite Updates   

In August 2018, ECPN unveiled its new pages on the AIC website. ECPN is excited to announce that it has finished updating all the content on the subsite to reflect current initiatives, programs, and resources. These updates were particularly important given the rollout of the new website and brand this past spring.

ECPN Facebook Group

The ECPN Facebook group continues to be an invaluable platform for emerging conservators around the world. With new member requests daily, the group has grown to over 5,700 members. The Facebook group has sparked thought-provoking discussions, particularly about topics regarding unpaid internships and academic coursework required for entry into graduate programs.

YouTube Playlist for Emerging Professionals

Check out the new ECPN playlist. ECPN has asked its officers for their favorite conservation-related videos. The playlist shares some favored video content that could be of interest to emerging conservation professionals. If anyone has a favorite conservation video that you would like to see included, email ecpn@culturalheritage.org. We will periodically add content to our playlist.

New Content on the Emerging Conservation Professionals Community

ECPN is happy to announce new content on the Emerging Conservation Professionals Community. Check out the recent posts on Conservators in Private Practice (CIPP) Specialty Group Liaison Feature with Hayley Monroe, ECPN International Training Interview with Netanya Schiff, and ECPN International Training Interview with Heather Parks.

ECPN-HBCU Mentorship Program

For the past two years, ECPN has partnered with select Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) students who have an interest in conservation, to create the ECPN-HBCU Mentorship Program. This program is being repeated for a third year, with ECPN overseeing the restructuring of the program based on participant feedback.

Liaison Program Updates

Applications closed for vacant liaison positions in the middle of July and the ECPN outreach team have been working to onboard new and returning liaisons. ECPN would like to thank all outgoing and returning liaisons and give a special shout out to new liaisons (see below). Thanks everyone for making ECPN such a dynamic network. A full list of all liaisons and their contact information can be found on the Liaison Program page of the ECPN subsite.

Committee and Network Liaisons
Education & Training Committee (ETC) - Céline Wachsmuth
Emergency Committee (EC) - Madeline Cooper

Graduate Liaisons
Buffalo - Colleen Watkins
NYU - Natasha Kung
Queens - Corrine Long
UPenn - Hector J. Berdecía-Hernández
WUDPAC - Emily Brezinski

Regional Liaisons
California (Los Angeles) - Elizabeth Salmon (co-liaison)
California (San Francisco) - Laura García Vedrenne
Massachusetts (Boston) - Kaeley Ferguson
Missouri (Kansas City) - Sarah Freshnock
New York (New York City) - Jacqueline Chmura (co-liaison)
Ohio (Cleveland) - Amaris Sturm (co-liaison)
South Carolina (Columbia) -Travis Zuidema (co-liaison)
Texas (Houston) - Brianna Warren (co-liaison)
Virgina (Williamsburg) - Emily Mercer

Specialty Group Liaisons
Book & Paper Group (BPG) - Alexa Machnik
Conservators in Private Practice (CIPP) - Hayley Monroe
Electronic Media Group (EMG) - Taylor Healy
Objects Specialty Group (OSG) - Tatiana Shannon
Photographic Materials Group (PMG) - Sarah Casto

— Eve Mayberger, Chair, ecpn.chair@culturalheritage.org 

2019 AIC Annual Meeting 

Thank you to all involved for making our annual meeting programming in New England such a success. In particular, we would like to thank our generous sponsors the Getty Conservation Institute and the ANAGPiC program directors. This year ECPN organized four events: Emerging Leaders Seminar (pre-session), ECPN Networking Happy Hour, ECPN Informational Meeting, and ECPN Leadership Lunch. We were fortunate and extremely gratefully to work with noted facilitator and speaker Bob Norris for the two leadership events. Many thanks to Ruth Seyler, Kate Lee, and to all of our attendees for their energy and enthusiasm.


ECPN Leadership 

I am pleased to announce the following appointments for the 2019-20 term:

Chair: Eve Mayberger (ecpn.chair@culturalheritage.org)

Vice Chair: Caitlin Richeson (ecpn.vicechair@culturalheritage.org)

Communications: Candace Kang & Jessica Betz Abel (ecpn.communications@culturalheritage.org)

Digital Platforms: Natalya Swanson & Emma Hartman (ecpn.digitalplatforms@culturalheritage.org)  

Outreach: Marci Jefcoat Burton & Michaela Paulson (ecpn.outreach@culturalheritage.org)

Professional Education and Training: Keara Teeter & Annabelle Fichtner (ecpn.pet@culturalheritage.org)

As you may have noticed, ECPN has changed the composition and size of the committee. The role of Webinar Coordinator has been retired and replaced with the Digital Platforms co-officer position. This development will allow ECPN to expand our web-based initiatives and ongoing data management activities.

Congratulations and welcome to our new officers Jessica, Natalya, Emma, Michaela, Keara, and Annabelle! I am also pleased to report that Caitlin Richeson, the outgoing outreach co-officer, will be staying on in the Vice Chair role. Every year ECPN strives for a balance of representation from different specialty groups, geographic locations, training programs, and career stages. The strength of the officer applications we received for the 2019-20 term was impressive resulting in a difficult selection process. Thank you to everyone who offered to serve.

Thank you to all of our 2018-19 ECPN officers for a productive and successful term, and special thanks to our outgoing officers Kari Rayner, Riley Cruttenden, Jen Munch, Kat Fanning, and Quinn Ferris. It has been an absolute pleasure serving with this team; each officer has brought amazing energy, ideas, and commitment to their role. In particular, I would like to thank Kari, our outgoing ECPN Chair, for her leadership and incredible dedication to ECPN over the past three years.

I would also like to extend my thanks to Molly Gleeson, our supportive AIC board liaison, and Kate Lee, our committed AIC staff liaison, for helping us accomplish so much this term.


Liaison Program

A big thank you to our 2019-19 liaisons for serving as wonderful ECPN ambassadors: Jessica Betz Abel, Kate Aguirre, Blair Bailey, Karen Bishop, Elena Bowen, Leah Bright, Jennifer Bullock, Morgan Burgess, Elyse Canosa, Stephanie Cashman, Julia Commander, Brittany Dolph Dinneen, Lindsay Dobrovolny, Charlotte Eagle, Mackenzie, Fairchild, Gabriela Figuereo, Nora Frankel, Kaelyn Garcia, Mari Hagemeyer, Saira Haqqi, Taylor Healy, Gaby Irving, Skyler Jenkins, Kathyrn Kenney, Melissa King, Lia Kramer, Jennifer McGough, Melanie Pailer, Laura Panadero, Meaghan Perry, Felice Robles, Katie Rovito, Brooke Young Russell, Elizabeth Salmon, Margalit Schindler, Abby Schleicher, Raphael Shea, Oa Sjoblom, Samantha Snell, Magdalena Solano, Ashley Stanford, Marissa Stevenson, Natalya Swanson, Sarah Thompson, Elsa Thyss, Aisha Wahab, Jessica Walthew, Mary Wilcop, Tessa Young, and Katya Zinsli.

I am happy to announce that as our liaison programs continue to grow. Please check out the ECPN subsite to contact liaisons directly or to look for current liaison vacancies if you are interested in getting involved.

I am honored to serve as your ECPN Chair for the 2019-20 term. Keep an eye out for new ECPN initiatives and resources on our various online platforms.

— Eve Mayberger, Chair, ecpn.chair@culturalheritage.org

Annual Meeting Programming 

Registration is now available for ECPN’s programing during the AIC Annual Meeting in Connecticut. We are pleased to offer the following events:

• Emerging Leaders Seminar: Art of Diplomacy – Leading with Influence (This is a ticketed event with attendance limited to 24 participants)
• ECPN Networking Happy Hour
• ECPN Leadership Lunch Lecture: To Serve is to Lead (This is a ticketed event)
• ECPN Information Session

Sponsorship has generously been provided for these events by the Getty Conservation Institute and ANAGPiC. Please see full event descriptions and RSVP on Sched, or register for ticketed events here.

ECPN-CIPP Mentorship Program

The pilot iteration of the ECPN-CIPP Mentorship Program launched in January, beginning with eight mentor-mentee pairs. The mentorship period will officially span the duration of nine months, through September 2019. ECPN and CIPP will be gathering feedback throughout the mentorship period and hope to repeat and expand this program in the future.

Wiki Edit-a-Thon

During the AIC-wide Wiki Edit-a-thon in January, Rachael Arenstein generously held a Wiki editing training session for ECPN Officers and Liaisons. Updates and additions were made to a number of the Emerging Conservation Professionals pages on the wiki including Presenting Talks and Posters and Outreach and Advocacy. Additional content was also added to ECPN’s Conservation on Social Media wiki page.

Many thanks to the following Officers and Liaisons for their contributions during Wiki month: Eve Mayberger, Riley Cruttenden, Candace Kang, Brooke Young Russell, Marci Jefcoat Burton, Quinn Ferris, and Jessica Betz Abel.

Blog

Wrapping up our “Wooden Artifacts Conservation Interview Series” is this blog post featuring Karen Bishop (third-year graduate objects conservation intern at The Metropolitan Museum of Art). Many thanks for our Communications Officers Riley Cruttenden and Candace Kang for a fantastic job on this series!

—Kari Rayner, ECPN Chair

Emerging Conservation Professionals Employment Survey 

ECPN recently developed and disseminated a survey to capture and contextualize employment data for emerging conservation professionals from pre-program, graduate student, and post-graduate career stages in the United States for the 2018 calendar year.

Responses were accepted through December 31, 2018. Information gathered in this survey will be used to present general trends to the conservation community, to advocate for emerging conservation professionals, and to support the development of future resources. ECPN will generate a report of the survey results to be shared with respondents and the AIC community during the 2019 AIC Annual Meeting.

Liaison Highlights

ECPN has established a “Liaison Highlights” series, featuring each of the Specialty Group and Committee Liaisons in turn. Each “highlight” consists of a short interview with the liaison, discussing their interest in their specialty. The first highlight, featuring Skyler Jenkins of the Archaeological Discussion Group, has been posted to the ECPN Facebook Group and is archived here on the ECPN subsite.

Fall Webinar on Project Management

ECPN’s fall webinar on the topic of “Project Management: A Crucial ‘Soft Skill’ for the 21st-Century Emerging Conservation Professional,” was held on November 27, 2018. The program featured Quinn Morgan Ferris and Nicolette Meister. Please see the blog post announcement for more information and biographies of the speakers. The webinar has been uploaded to AIC’s YouTube Channel.

Quick-Start Guide

A new resource, the “Quick-Start Guide: A Career in Art Conservation,” contains lots of great information that serves as an introduction to the field, including links to professional organizations, how to find opportunities in conservation, and blog posts by conservation interns, students, and fellows. The guide is available here on ECPN’s subsite.

Blog Posts

The newest post in ECPN’s International Education Interview Series is now available. In this post, Sue Donovan (Rare Book Conservator at the University of Virginia Libraries) discusses her training at the Universite de Paris 1 Panthéon Sorbonne. There are also two new posts in the Wooden Artifacts Conservation Interview Series, the first featuring Paige Schmidt (Assistant Objects Conservator at the Mariners’ Museum and Park in Newport News, Virginia), and the second Harry DeBauche (project frame conservator with the Brooklyn Museum in Brooklyn, NY).

Closing out ECPN’s Anniversary Year

As we move forward into 2019, ECPN’s 10-year anniversary comes to a close. ECPN previously reflected on some important moments and commemorated the incredible work of ECPN officers, past and present, in the September 2018 issue of AIC News.

Additionally, I recently had the opportunity to speak with Amber Kerr, one of ECPN’s founders, as part of a new initiative to record information on ECPN’s early history. Regarding the idea to found ECPN and some of the officers’ early aspirations, such as establishing a webinar series, Amber said: “I praise the commitment of those who not only started it…but [of those people who] carried that torch forward. What was an idea has now become a reality…To see that the team still held onto the goals and then championed them through to the finish line is so exciting to watch.…Don’t give up on the idea… If it’s a good idea, it’s worth fighting for.”

It was inspiring to hear from Amber about ECPN’s early days and accomplishments, and I want to express sincere thanks to her for sharing her recollections with me. A huge thanks as well to ECPN’s incredible team of officers for their hard work this term. I’m excited to see what we can achieve in 2019!

—Kari Rayner, ECPN Chair

ECPN on Higher Logic

I’m pleased to announce that ECPN’s Emerging Conservation Professionals Community is now live on our community platform (Higher Logic). Anyone interested in connecting with the ECPN community and engaging in dialogues relevant to emerging conservation professionals is encouraged to join! This community is available to all, including non-AIC members, and only requires creating a login. Please visit our Online Communities webpage for instructions on how to join. 

We are excited about using this platform to serve as a place to discuss ideas, collaborate, and share resources!

Open Liaison Positions

While ECPN has filled many of our Regional Liaison positions for the 2018-19 term, there are still a few vacancies. Please visit our ECPN Regional Liaisons webpage for an updated listing of liaison(s) serving your area.

If you see a vacancy in your area, or see that your geographic region is not served by an ECPN Liaison, please contact ECPN’s Outreach Officers at ecpn.aic.outreach@gmail.com for more information about applying.

ECPN—CIPP Pilot Mentorship Program

ECPN and the Conservators in Private Practice (CIPP) Specialty Group are piloting a mentorship program for emerging conservation professionals (ECPs) who have recently started a private practice. The program will pair a small group of ECPs with mentors who can provide guidance and support based on their own experience working in private practice.

Program goals:

- Facilitate productive relationships between emerging conservation professionals and more established conservators in private practice
- Provide a network for conservation professionals in private practice who may be more
geographically isolated
- Provide support to emerging conservation professionals entering into private practice

Blog Posts

The Follow-up blog post to ECPN’s spring 2018 webinar, “Lights, camera, (preventive) action! careers in preventive conservation,” is now available. Webinar participants Dr. Joelle D.J. Wickens, Jessica Pace, and Jamie Gleason generously took the time to answer questions that came up during the webinar. The post also lists a number of further resources related to preventive conservation.

As always, ECPN would like to hear from you about ideas for new programming or resources that would benefit emerging conservation professionals! Please feel free to reach out with any suggestions or feedback.

—Kari Rayner, ECPN Chair

ECPN Web Presence

I’m thrilled to announce that ECPN’s newly re-designed subsite is now publicly available through the main AIC website, under the “Specialty Topics” drop-down menu. Tremendous thanks to former chair Rebecca Gridley, ECPN’s AIC Liaison Kate Lee, and Vice Chair Eve Mayberger, as well as to the 2017-18 and 2018-19 ECPN officers who weighed in on the site’s development. Many thanks also to all who contributed photographs.

The new subsite contains a great deal of information and consolidates links to all of ECPN’s resources and programming. Please check it out and let us know if you have any feedback at ecpn@conservation-us.org.

Online Community

As with other specialty groups and committees, an ECPN Officer community will be hosted through Higher Logic to facilitate leadership discussions. There will also be an ECPN Liaison community and an “open” ECPN community for anyone interested in connecting with the ECPN community and engaging with dialogues relevant to emerging conservation professionals. The latter community will be available to all, including non-AIC members, and will only require creating a login. We are hoping to launch the open ECPN community this month —please look for an announcement on how to join as the community becomes available!

Commemoration of ECPN’s 10-Year Anniversary

This year marks ECPN’s 10-year anniversary! To commemorate the occasion, we’d like to reflect on some important moments and celebrate the incredible work of ECPN officers, past and present.

First ECPN Officers, 2008

• Co-Chairs: Laura Brill and Rachel Penniman
• Professional Education & Training: Amber Kerr
• Outreach: Jason Church
• Communications: Katie Mullen

Timeline

• 2008 ECPN Founded
• 2012 Liaison Program and Webinar Program established
• First Webinar: “Self-Advocacy and Fundraising for Independent Research” featuring Debra Hess Norris
• 2013 Webinar Coordinator position created
• 2015 AIC Wiki page “Resources for Emerging Conservation Professionals” launched
• 2017 Liaison Program restructured with four liaison groupings
• 2018 New subsite launched

Statistics

• 328 posts on Conservators Converse, with 3 Interview series to date (Specialty, International Education, and Get to Know AIC/FAIC)
• 12 Webinars to date
• 4,804 Members (and counting) of the ECPN Facebook Group
• 10 Specialty group liaisons, plus ADG for a total of 11 liaisons
• 7 Committee & Network liaisons, plus MDWG for a total of 8 liaisons
• 9 Graduate liaisons
• 18 Regional liaisons
• 2 Lead articles (one in collaboration with OSG)
• 41 emerging conservation professionals served as ECPN officers
• 28 events at Annual Meetings
• 5 Posters at Annual Meetings

Thank you to all past and current ECPN Officers for your valuable work: Rachel Penniman, Laura Brill, Amber Kerr, Jason Church, Katie Mullen, Rose Daly, Caroline Roberts, Heather Brown, Amy Brost, Anisha Gupta, Megan Salazar-Walsh, Abby Aldrich, Eliza Spaulding, Molly Gleeson, Angela Curmi, Gwen Manthey, Kendall Trotter, Fran Ritchie, Saira Haqqi, Carrie McNeal, Michelle Sullivan, Ayesha Fuentes, Laura Neufeld, Anne Schaffer, Amy Hughes, Alexa Beller, Rebecca Gridley, Kimi Taira, Elyse Driscoll, Jessica Walthew, Alyssa Rina, Eve Mayberger, Kari Rayner, Emma Schmitt, Riley Cruttenden, Caitlin Richeson, Jen Munch, Kat Fanning, Quinn Ferris, Candace Kang, and Marci Jefcoat Burton.

It is an honor to continue the work of these dedicated colleagues in serving the ECPN community.

- Kari Rayner, ECPN Chair

2018 AIC Annual Meeting

Thank you to all involved for making our annual meeting programming in Houston such a success, particularly our generous sponsors, the Getty Conservation Institute and the ANAGPiC program directors. Our happy hour was extremely well attended, we saw a lot of new faces at our informational session, and we heard excellent presentations at the Poster Session Lightning Round! Many thanks to Ruth Seyler and Kari Rayner for their work, and to all of our attendees for their energy and enthusiasm.

ECPN Leadership

I am pleased to announce the following appointments for the 2018-19 term:

• Chair: Kari Rayner
• Vice Chair: Eve Mayberger
• Outreach: Caitlin Richeson and Marci Jefcoat Burton
• Professional Education & Training: Kat Fanning and Quinn Morgan Ferris
• Webinar Coordinator: Jen Munch
• Communications: James Riley Cruttenden and Candace Kang

Congratulations and welcome to our new officers Marci, Quinn, and Candace! The committee strives for a balance of representation from different specialty groups, geographic locations, training programs, and career stages. Each year I am impressed by the strength of officer applications we receive, which makes for some very difficult decisions. Thank you to everyone who offered to serve.

Thank you to all of our 2017-18 officers for a productive and successful term, and special thanks to our outgoing officers Emma Schmitt and Alyssa Rina. It has been an absolute pleasure serving with this team; each officer has brought amazing energy, ideas, and commitment to their role.

I would also like to extend my thanks to Molly Gleeson, our supportive AIC board liaison, and Kate Lee, our steadfast AIC staff liaison, for helping us accomplish so much this term. Also, congratulations to Kate on her new role as Outreach Coordinator for FAIC!

Liaison Program

A big thank you to our 2017-18 liaisons for serving as wonderful ECPN ambassadors: Blair Bailey, Louise Beck, Karen Bishop, Courtney Books, Elizabeth Boyne, Leah Bright, Amy Brost, Jennifer Bullock, Elyse Canosa, Stephanie Carrato, Stephanie Cashman, Kristen Cnossen, Julia Commander, Elizabeth Curran, Brittany Dolph Dinneen, Lindsay Dobrovolny, Fenna Engelke, Emily Farek, Sarah Anne Gordon, Gilda Gross, Stephanie Guidera, Gretchen Guidess, Kasey Hamilton, Tess Hamilton, Saira Haqqi, Marina Hays, Skyler Jenkins, Candace Kang, Amber Rae Kehoe, Bryanna Knotts, Natasha Kung, Cathie Magee, Alex Nichols, Laura Panadero, Meaghan Perry, Desi Peters, Felice Robles, Katie Rovito, Sydney Schaffer, Paige Schmidt, Magdalena Solano, Kimi Taira, Sarah Thompson, Elsa Thyss, Aisha Wahab, Jess Walthew, Kristen Watts, Mary Wilcop, and Justine Wuebold.

I’d like to highlight a few recent events organized by regional liaisons:

• Stephanie Cashman launched a new discussion series “Behind the Exhibit,” in which an ECP involved in the exhibition leads a gallery tour, highlighting related conservation activities and display considerations;
• Candace Kang and Laura Panadero hosted a resume review workshop in Boston;
• Natasha Kung organized a tour of the Arms and Armor conservation lab at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

I am happy to announce that as our liaison programs continue to grow, we have added new graduate program liaison positions for the Fashion Institute of Technology and the Pratt Institute for the 2018-19 term.

Conservation Fellowship Compensation Resource

ECPN has published a Conservation Fellowship Compensation Resource as a supplement to the overview report for the 2015 AIC/FAIC Conservation Compensation Research Survey. This spreadsheet compiles published fellowship compensation data from the last several years and has been distributed as a GoogleDoc via our liaisons. It is available to all AIC members, so please get in touch for access. We hope to conduct a more thorough survey on fellowship compensation in the future, so stay tuned!

And with that, I’m signing off as Chair! It has been an honor to serve ECPN for the last three years, and I am looking forward to my new role as OSG Wiki editor.

— Rebecca Gridley, ECPN Chair

2018 AIC Annual Meeting

 

I am pleased to announce that the Getty Conservation Institute has generously agreed to sponsor our Annual Meeting programming this year. This funding allows us to keep our events free of charge and open to all conference attendees.

Come kick off the conference by connecting with peers and networking with established professionals at our happy hour on Wednesday, May 30, starting at 7:30 p.m. This event is always a highlight for first-time conference attendees!

Please join fellow ECPs at our informational meeting on Thursday, May 31, at 1:15 p.m. Come and meet the ECPN leadership, hear about our recent and upcoming initiatives, and learn how to get involved. The session also provides an opportunity to meet fellow conference attendees, ask questions about how AIC and ECPN operate, and voice your ideas for building community and resources to support ECPs.

We’ll close out our programming with the Poster Session Lightning Round on Saturday, June 2, from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. This lively event will highlight ECPs’ contributions to the conference and will include short presentations on technical studies and treatments of both traditional materials –such as Florentine panel paintings and feather works—and more unusual objects, including an early Barbie doll, cosmetics, and the mask used in the “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” film. We would like to thank ANAGPIC for their generous support of this event.

Be sure to add these events to your Sched itinerary, and check back for a full list of Lightning Round talks, to be announced soon.

Many thanks to Vice Chair Kari Rayner for organizing our programming this year, and for serving on the Poster Committee to facilitate planning this event.

I look forward to seeing and meeting fellow ECPs in Houston!

Learning from Our Mistakes

 

Hopefully readers caught the lead article in the March AIC News “Oh $#@%! Making Mistakes — and Learning from Them,” written in anticipation of the annual meeting event “A Failure Shared is Not a Failure: Learning from Our Mistakes.” This session will be held at the end of the conference, on Saturday, June 2 from 4:30 p.m. Be sure to check out the announcement in the Annual Meeting column for event details, including a call for participation.

Spring Webinar on Preventive Conservation

 

Our spring webinar “Lights! Camera! (Preventive) Action! Careers in Preventive Conservation” was held on April 26th. The session featured an introduction by Dr. Joelle Wickens and a facilitated discussion between Dr. Wickens, Jamie Gleason, and Jessica Pace, led by our Webinar Coordinator Jen Munch. Click here for more information about the program and our speakers, and check the AIC’s YouTube channel for a recording of the program.

#PreventiveConservation

 

To promote our webinar and discussion amongst ECPs on various preventive conservation topics, our Communications Officers Riley Cruttenden and Alyssa Rina designated April as #PreventiveConservation month on our Facebook page. This coincided nicely with AIC’s MayDaycampaign for emergency preparedness and the American Library Association’s Preservation Week. Be sure to check out Riley and Alyssa’s posts, which link to excellent resources and include some fun conservation humor and puns.

ECPN-CIPP Pilot Mentorship Program Survey

 

Thank you to everyone who participated in our survey, which closed April 12th. ECPN and CIPP leadership will be sifting through the results to determine next steps. Stay tuned!

ECPN-HBCU Mentorship Project

 

On the topic of mentorship, I’d like to direct the reader’s attention to our AIC Board Liaison Molly Gleeson’s informative blogpost on ECPN’s mentorship project with students from Historically Black Colleges and Universities who learned about conservation through programs held at Yale University and the University of Delaware last summer.

— Rebecca Gridley, ECPN Chair

New ECPN e-flier

I recently worked with our Communications Officers Riley Cruttenden and Alyssa Rina to update and redesign ECPN’s flier, which includes information about who we are, what we do, and how to get involved. An electronic version with hyperlinks to online resources can be found on our website. Please distribute this to anyone considering a career in the field!

Webinar on Preventive Conservation

Our spring webinar will be devoted to the topic of preventive conservation, with discussions about the development of this specialization and different training options and career pathways. Stay tuned for a program announcement with speakers, date, time and registration information, to be posted on the AIC Blog.

AIC Wiki Edit-a-thon Month

Throughout January, we worked to restructure and expand the “Resources for Emerging Conservation Professionals” section of the AIC Wiki, improving navigability and developing new content. Topics with new content include: “Internships and Fellowships,” “Choosing a Specialty,” “Portfolios,” “Networking,” and “Outreach and Advocacy.” We also have a new topic page “Professional Development.”

Thank you to wiki guru Rachael Perkins Arenstein for her invaluable assistance, and for holding a Wiki training session for us. Also, many thanks to all of the current ECPN Officers, as well as liaisons Marina Hays and Laura Panadero, for their Wiki work!

Regional Liaison Activities

Our Regional Liaisons have been keeping busy these past few months! In January, Washington DC liaison Stephanie Cashman and Baltimore liaison Cathie Magee, teamed up to organize a tour of the Walters Art Museum lab. Boston liaison Candace Kang partnered with Laura Panadero, liaison to the New England Conservation Association (NECA), to host a portfolio event at the Weissman Preservation Center. Co-liaisons Alex Nichols and Natasha Kung held a similar event in New York, inviting recent graduates to present and discuss their own pre-program portfolios with prospective program applicants.

Following a festive holiday meet-and-greet for Bay Area ECPs, liaison Justine Wuebold organized an event to kick off 2018: a discussion focused on public perspectives of conservation via social media, using the recent viral video posted by Philip Mould as a case study. In Los Angeles, co-liaisons Julia Commoner and Magdalena Solano set up a tour of the lab at the Natural History Museum of L.A. County.

Thank you to all of our regional liaisons for your work so far this term! If you are interested in getting involved in our liaison programs, please contact our Outreach Co-officers at ecpn.outreach@conservation-us.org, or look to our Facebook page for event announcements.

2018 AIC Annual Meeting

This year, we will be repeating our successful Lightning Round event to highlight the contributions of ECPs to the Poster Session. Vice Chair Kari Rayner served on the Poster Committee to facilitate planning this program. Look to Sched for forthcoming details on this event, as well as our Informational Session and annual Happy Hour.

ECPN-CIPP Survey for Pilot Mentorship Program

ECPN and CIPP are considering establishing a pilot mentorship program that would pair emerging conservation professionals with more established conservators in private practice. The goal would be to provide support to emerging conservation professionals who are entering or have recently started a private practice. We will be distributing a survey soon via the Specialty Group listservs to gauge member interest in such a program and to collect suggestions for its structure and implementation. Please be sure to take the survey if you are interested in this opportunity!

Upcoming Call for ECPN Officer Applications

In March we will post a call for applications to open ECPN Officer positions. If you are interested in giving back to the ECPN community by developing resources and programming, getting insight into how AIC operates, and advocating for ECP interests, I hope you will consider applying!

− Rebecca Gridley, ECPN Chair

Webinar on Conservation Portfolios

 

ECPN’s webinar “Showcasing your work: Preparing and maintaining a conservation portfolio” was held on November 14th, and a recording is now available on the AIC YouTube channel. The webinar featured two speakers: Susan Heald (Textile Conservator at the National Museum of the American Indian, Smithsonian Institution) and Gwen Manthey (Contract Interim Paintings Conservator at the Smithsonian American Art Museum and private practice conservator).

During the webinar, Susan spoke about her experience reviewing portfolios for pre-program and graduate internships, and post-graduate fellowships. She discussed what she looks for in a conservation portfolio in terms of content and organization. Gwen discussed the evolution of her own portfolio through the early stages of her career, including her use of a tablet-based electronic portfolio and a personal website.

The webinar concluded with a productive Q&A session. Our speakers were not able to answer all of the attendees’ questions due to time constraints, but have kindly answered outstanding questions in a blogpostnow up on Conservators Converse, the AIC blog.

Many thanks to our speakers for their excellent presentations, and to ECPN’s Webinar Coordinator, Jen Munch, for her work in putting this program together!

EPCN on Conservators Converse

 

Since my last column, ECPN Officers have made a number of great contributions to the AIC blog. Professional Education & Training Officer Emma Schmitt has continued our blogpost series on international training, including her interview with Noah Smutz (book conservator at Smithsonian Libraries) about his experience training at West Dean College in the UK.

Continuing our Specialty Group interview series focused on East Asian art conservation, former ECPN Outreach Officer Kimi Taira interviewed Grace Jan (Yao Wenqing Chinese painting conservator at the Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery of Art, Smithsonian Institution). In this two-part interview, Grace reflects on her own training pathway, and discusses her involvement with the Andrew W. Mellon initiative for Chinese art conservation.

Communications Officers Alyssa Rina and Riley Cruttenden have since taken up the reins for this project, launching a second series of Specialty Group interviews with conservation professionals working in electronic media conservation. Five interviews have been published: with Nick Kaplan (Graduate Fellow, Winterthur/University of Delaware Program in Art Conservation), Alexandra Nichols (Sherman Fairchild Foundation Fellow, The Metropolitan Museum of Art), Yasmin Dessem (Head of the Audiovisual Preservation Studio, UCLA Library), Brian Castriota (Research Fellow in the Conservation of Contemporary Art, Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art and doctoral candidate at the University of Glasgow) and Christine Frohnert (Co-Founder, Bek & Frohnert, LLC and Time-Based Media Program Coordinator, The Conservation Center, Institute of Fine Arts, NYU). This collection of interviews illustrates the different pathways into this specialization, and provides insight into the exciting challenges and areas for development within this particular discipline.

AIC Wiki Edit-a-thon 2018

 

ECPN will be participating in the AIC Wiki edit-a-thon during the month of January. We plan to expand current sections of our page “Resources for Emerging Conservators” and will develop new content for our members. If you would like to join us in this effort, or have a suggestion for content you’d like to see, please get in touch with me. I’d like to encourage all of our members to become Wiki editors and help build this important online resource!

—Rebecca Gridley, Chair

Revised ECPN Standing Charge

This spring, ECPN leadership re-evaluated our Standing Charge in view of the Network’s growth and development over the past few years. The revised Charge (below) has been approved by the AIC Board.

Our aim in revising the Charge was to promote inclusivity. Among other changes, we clarified who may be considered an “emerging conservation professional,” because the phrasing of this portion of the c[GR1] harge has been a source of confusion. We also replaced the word “conservator” with “conservation professional” to more accurately reflect the diversity of roles found in the cultural heritage preservation field. The revised charge reflects ECPN’s commitment to outreach and collaboration, and to supporting efforts to increase diversity in our field.

The Emerging Conservation Professionals Network is charged to:

• Maintain a forum and network for AIC members who are entering the field of conservation. This includes: undergraduate students, pre-program individuals, graduate students, recent graduates, and early-career professionals.
• Advocate on behalf of and support the inclusion of emerging professionals within AIC. Assist AIC in enhancing ways to serve members who are just entering the field of conservation and help members as they transition from student to conservation professional. Recommend and/or provide educational and professional development opportunities for emerging conservation professionals.
• Promote collaboration and enhance dialogue with other AIC Networks, Specialty Groups, Committees, Working Groups, and Task Forces, and with professionals in allied fields.
• Encourage attainment of AIC professional membership designation to promote the importance of professional standing within the field.
• Engage in initiatives and activities to promote inclusivity, equity, and diversity within the field of conservation.
• Promote importance of service and contribution to the profession; encourage members to engage in outreach and advocacy for the field.
• Foster communication between emerging and experienced conservation professionals.
• Enhance dialogue between AIC and graduate-level conservation training programs.

Special thanks to our former Chair Michelle Sullivan for spearheading this initiative with me, and to the 2016-17 ECPN Officers, Stephanie Lussier, Molly Gleeson, and Katelin Lee for their contributions.

ECPN Fall Webinar

ECPN is pleased to announce our Fall webinar: “Showcasing Your Work: Preparing and Maintaining a Conservation Portfolio,” taking place on Tuesday, November 14th from 12:30-1:30 pm EST. A well-conceived and eye-catching portfolio can be an important application component as emerging conservation professionals progress in the field. But when is a digital portfolio appropriate versus a hard-copy portfolio? What are the advantages and disadvantages of each? How should your portfolio evolve as you progress in your career?

This webinar will cover the creation and use of digital and hard-copy portfolios in various scenarios and early career stages, from pre-program candidate to graduate student and post-graduate. Speakers will provide different perspectives on this topic and address the practicalities of compiling and maintaining a portfolio.

Attendance is free and open to all AIC members; to register click here[GR2] . Program details, including speaker biographies, can be found on the AIC blog. A recording of the webinar will be made available on AIC’s YouTube channel.

ECPN Facebook Page

Our group’s Facebook page recently reached a milestone: we now have over 4,000 members! Nearly half of our members hail from outside the United States. ECPN welcomes AIC members and non-members at any career stage to join this forum. Our page is a public group with unmoderated discussions, but members must be approved by a page administrator.

In response to the uptick in the group’s activity and membership, I worked with ECPN Officers Alyssa Rina, Riley Cruttenden, and Kari Rayner to create guidelines for engagement on the page (see “Posting Guidelines” in the page’s File section). AIC Staff, Katelin Lee and Bonnie Naugle, provided valuable input on this document, which we hope other AIC groups will find useful when drafting social media policies.

- Rebecca Gridley, Chair

ECPN Liaison Program

Under the initiative and guidance of our outreach officers, Eve Mayberger and Caitlin Richeson, ECPN’s liaison programs continue to expand. We now have 23 regional liaisons volunteering in 18 different cities across the country, helping to build and foster local communities of emerging conservation professionals. We had an informal meet-and-greet session for many of our graduate program liaisons at the 2017 ANAGPiC conference in New York in April, and welcomed our new liaisons for this coming academic year. And following the AIC Annual Meeting this Spring, we filled numerous position vacancies for liaisons to AIC’s specialty groups, committees, and networks. All of our liaisons help promote ongoing ECPN initiatives, while advocating for and supporting emerging conservation and collections care professionals in their communities and organizations. I look forward to reporting on their activities in future column updates. In the meantime, if you would like to learn more about our liaison programs or find a liaison in your area, please contact our Outreach Officers at epn.outreach@conservation-us.org.

EPCN on Conservators Converse

ECPN kicked off a new blogpost series on the subject of international education. This series will include interviews with US citizens who chose to train abroad, providing personal perspectives on the decision, its benefits and drawbacks, and discussing their transition back into the US workforce. Together, these interviews will comprise a valuable resource for pre-program students considering graduate programs abroad, and will raise awareness about different training pathways among conservators working in the US. This initiative has been spearheaded by Emma Schmitt (Professional Education and Training Co-Officer), who was also our first interviewee. Stay tuned for future installments of the series in the coming months!

- Rebecca Gridley, Chair

ECPN Leadership

ECPN is pleased to announce the following 2017-18 term appointments:

Chair: Rebecca Gridley

Vice Chair: Kari Rayner

Outreach: Eve Mayberger and Caitlin Richeson

Professional Education and Training: Emma Schmitt and Kat Fanning

Webinar Coordinator: Jen Munch

Communications: Alyssa Rina and James Riley Cruttenden

Thank you to our 2016-17 officers for a productive term! Special thanks to outgoing officers Jessica Walthew (Professional Education and Training), Kimi Taira (Outreach), and Alexa Beller (Communications). Jessica will serve on the Member Designation Working Group and Kimi will continue working with the Equity and Inclusion Working Group, each serving as liaisons to ECPN. And a huge thank you to our outgoing Chair Michelle Sullivan, whose length of service to ECPN is unmatched (two years as a liaison and four as an officer) and who we will miss dearly!

A warm congratulations and welcome to Molly Gleeson, former ECPN Chair, on her election to the AIC Board. As Board Director for Professional Education, Molly will serve as ECPN’s Board Liaison. With this, we bid a fond farewell to our outgoing AIC Board Liaison Stephanie Lussier. In her six year tenure, Stephanie played a critical role in ECPN’s growth as a Network. On behalf of ECPN officers past and present, I would like to express our deep gratitude for her service, and for her advocacy for emerging conservation professionals, both within AIC and beyond, as a mentor, supervisor, and teacher to many.

2017 AIC Annual Meeting

In the lead up to the 45th AIC Annual Meeting in Chicago, ECPN updated our “Tips for Conference Attendance,” a useful resource to help conference attendees make the most of their experience.

ECPN held three lively and well-attended events at this year’s Annual Meeting. Thank you to our participants, attendees, and everyone who helped plan the events, especially Ruth Seyler and Katelin Lee from the AIC Staff.

We kicked off our programming with a new event: a Poster Session Lightning Round. Speakers gave engaging and concise (2 minute!) presentations on their poster topics, and fielded questions from an audience of emerging and established professionals. Emily Wroczynski’s summary of this event can be found on the AIC Blog.

Following the presentations, everyone decamped to The Conservation Center, a large private practice company in Chicago, for our annual Happy Hour. Attendees mingled, enjoyed tasty hors d’oeuvre, and took self-guided tours of the laboratories. Many thanks to The Conservation Center for its generous sponsorship of this event, and to its staff, who were on hand to discuss ongoing projects. Fantastic images of the evening can be found on the company’s Instagram (@TheConservationCenter) and on ECPN’s Facebook page.

We also reinstated the ECPN Informational Meeting, which offered an opportunity to discuss ongoing initiatives, introduce our officers, and answer questions from our members. This valuable face-time with fellow ECPs has already generated ideas for much-needed resources, as well as new interest among our members in volunteering for AIC and ECPN.

EPCN on Conservators Converse

True to form—and despite busy Annual Meeting preparations—ECPN remains active on the AIC blog. Following closely on the heels of our Spring Webinar “Picking Up the Pieces: Accepting, Preventing, and Learning from Mistakes as an Emerging Conservation Professional,” Kari Rayner (former Webinar Coordinator) compiled two posts: one summarized the results of a related survey conducted by ECPN, and in the other, Webinar speakers answered viewers’ questions. This second post also includes an extended bibliography and further resources on the subject. The discussion of setbacks and mistake-making is a critical and relevant topic for emerging and established conservators alike, so be sure to check out the Webinar and related content.

Spread the Word! ECPN’s Quick Guide to Online Resources

At the Annual Meeting, ECPN debuted new AIC business cards. The cards include links to online resources and our Outreach officers’ contact information for those interested in getting involved. If you regularly host interns at your institution or serve as an ECPN liaison, please reach out and we will send you cards to distribute!

-- Rebecca Gridley, Chair

AIC News Network Column, July 2021

2021 AIC/SPNHC Annual Meeting

During this year’s virtual meeting, ECPN strove to utilize online platforms to deliver educational content and establish peer-to-peer connections. We could not have achieved these events without the support of the Getty Foundation. ECPN hosted:

› A moderated panel “Conservation in a Changing World” with panelists Sanchita Balachandran, Joy Bloser, Kris Cnossen, Anisha Gupta, and Glenn Wharton, moderated by Jessica Betz Abel 

Watch the event here

› A Poster Session featuring posters by Caitlin Richeson, Michaela Paulson, and Ashley Stanford › A virtual Information Session and Town Hall   

Watch the event here

› Information Meeting and Happy Hour covering updates on ECPN initiatives, an introduction to our new officers, and an opportunity for ECPs to ask questions, provide feedback, and learn how to get involved. 

Watch the event here

Professional Education and Training (PET) Resources

Interview Series
Pre-program Mentors Series, with the release of two new interviews:

› Amanda Holden, Senior Conservator of Textiles at the Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields (March 2021)
› Kate Morrand, Director of the Naval History and Heritage Command’s Archaeology & Conservation Laboratory (May 2021)

Retrospective of the Great Recession Survey Report

Emerging Conservation Professionals of all levels are facing unexpected challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Although the situation continues to change, the ECPN Professional Education and Training (PET) Officers compiled a three-part series focused on responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. The aim is to provide resources that may help answer some questions currently being raised by ECPs.

ECPN is excited to announce a collaborative partnership with the FAIC Oral History Project. Going forward, all interviews with emerging conservation professionals will also be archived, including: Graduate Program Liaisons, Specialty Group Liaisons, Specialty Groups Series, International Education Series, Pre-Program Mentors Series, and “Creative Endeavors and Expressive Ideas” series.

ECPN Compensation Spreadsheets
PET Officers have continued reviewing online fellowship and internship job postings so that relevant data can be entered into ECPN’s Compensation Spreadsheets. This year they have added 7 fellowships, 9 graduate internships, and 10 pre-program internships. You can contribute by filling out our survey.

Liaison Program News and Resources

Graduate School Liaison Interview Series, featuring three new interviews.
›Diane Walker, The Fashion Institute of Technology (State University of New York) Master of Arts program in Fashion and Textile Studies: History, Theory, Museum Practice
› Abby Schleicher, The SUNY Buffalo State, Garman Art Conservation Department
› Gabriela Figuereo, Historic Preservation Program Columbia University

Join us for Conservators Combating Climate Change: Season 2

Conservators Combating Climate Change returned for a second season with cohost and founder Natalya Swanson joined by Marie Desrochers. In this season, we focus on the intersectional nature of sustainability work by speaking with heritage and environmental conservators, educators, architects, and engineers about ongoing collaborative projects. Ten new episodes are were released weekly throughout April and May, so subscribe and tune in on https://anchor.fm/conservatorscombatingcc.

Write with feedback and questions to ecpn.aic.digitalplatforms@gmail.com.

2021-2022 Term

As the2021-2022 term begins, I am excited to continue collaborating with my fellow Officers on all the amazing work we have planned for this term. During this past year we have learned many lessons about the success of virtual programming and its ability to increase accessibility to our network. It is my intention, that this term we will continue to increase accessibility with all of our programming in order to grow an inclusive and diverse membership.

— Jessica Betz Abel, Chair, ecpn.chair@culturalheritage.org

AIC News Network Column, August 2021

2021 AIC Annual Meeting

During this year’s virtual meeting,  ECPN strove to utilize online platforms to deliver educational content and establish peer-to-peer connections. We could not have achieved these events without the support of the Getty Foundation. ECPN hosted a Moderated Panel Conservation in a Changing World with panelist, Sanchita Balachandran, Joy Bloser, Kris Cnossen, Anisha Gupta, and Glenn Wharton and moderated by Jessica Betz Abel, a Poster Session featuring posters by Caitlin Richeson, Michaela Paulson, and Ashley Stanford, and finally, a Virtual Information Session and Town Hall.  

Thank you to all involved for making our virtual session a success with special thanks to Ruth Seyler and Kate Lee and all of our attendees for their energy and enthusiasm.

New liaisons:

ECPN is excited to welcome our new Regional Liaisons. With the addition of these new liaison ECPN expands our Regional Liaison program to new geographic regions and cities not previously represented. 

Join us in welcoming our new liaisons:

Sophie Church (Tucson, AZ), Emma Ross and Sydney Collins (San Francisco, CA), Anna Connolly (Atlanta, GA), Pilar Brooks (Orlando, FL), Kate Breitenstein and Tatianna Shannon (Boston, MA), Gabrielle Rucker (St Louis, MO), Sarah Fields (Hanover, NH), Alayna Bone (NYC), Marissa Bartz and Elena Mars (Cleveland, OH), AnnaLivia McCarthy (Philadelphia, PA), Sarah Linder (Columbia, SC), Monica Argumedo Rendon (Houston, TX), Emma Cieslik (Washington DC), and Perrine Le Saux (Williamsburg, VA). All contact information for Regional Liaisons is listed here.

Please check the ECPN subsite to contact liaisons directly or view current liaison vacancies if you’re interested in volunteering. 

Retrospective of the Great Recession Survey Report:

Last year, ECPN Graduate Program Liaisons and ECPN Regional Liaisons submitted COVID-19 questions to share with mid-career conservators who graduated during the Great Recession period. These questions and the mid-career professional's anonymous responses were summarized in a blog post and released on AIC's online member community. 

Podcast Series Season 2:

Conservators Combating Climate Change returned for a second season with co-host and founder Natalya Swanson joined by Marie Desrochers. In this season, the focus is on the intersectional nature of sustainability work and includes conversations with heritage and environmental conservators, educators, architects, and engineers about ongoing collaborative projects. Ten new episodes were released weekly throughout April and May, so subscribe and tune in on https://anchor.fm/conservatorscombatingcc 

Questions about ECPN? Want to get involved? Feel free to reach out to ecpn.aic.communications@gmail.com 

— Jessica Betz Abel, Chair, ecpn.chair@culturalheritage.org 

AIC News Network Column, October 2021

ECPN Events

On September 1st we had a great informal discussion about the first presentation in the 2021 AIC Annual Meeting Opening General Session, “Who is a Conservator? What is Conservation? Evolving Our Identities and Practice to Thrive in an Inclusive World” by Joelle Wickens and Natalya Swanson. We will be getting a summary to those who missed it out soon! Thank you to all involved for making this event a success with special thanks to Natalya Swanson, Joelle Wickens, and all of our attendees for their energy and enthusiasm.

The next ECPN event in the works will be a listening session with the Membership Designation Working Group (MDWG) regarding the Continuing Professional Development (CPD) proposal. More details to come! 

Welcome to our new Liaisons

Outreach has completed onboarding for all new Graduate Program Liaisons. Please welcome our new Liaisons: Emily Mercer (Buffalo), Meghan Vonden Steinen (Columbia), Sophia Daniel (FIT), Emma Hartman (NYU), Laura Jacobs (Queens), Tamara Dissi (UCLA/Getty), Ali Cavicchio (UPenn), and Verónica Mercado Oliveras (WUDPAC). 

Regional Liaisons are continuing to find ways to connect in-person and virtually. Many Regional Liaisons have hosted Happy Hours welcoming in the new term for their respective networks including Anna Connolly (Atlanta), Tatiana Shannon and Kate Breitenstein (Boston),  Monica Argumedo Rendon (Houston), Emily Farek (Nashville), Devon Lee and Alayna Bone (NYC), and Gabrielle Rucker (St. Louis) Many Liaisons are continuing to plan upcoming events, so stay tuned!

Call for Photos

Our Communication Officers are looking for images of ECPs doing the work they love. Images will be used on the Facebook page and ECPN website, with permission. Send photographs with captions and any credit information to ecpn.aic.communications@gmail.com 

By submitting, you confirm that you have the rights to the attached image(s) and grant AIC the right to use these image(s) in any promotional material at ECPN’s discretion. ECPN may crop or alter an image to meet sizing and design requirements.

 

Questions about ECPN? Want to get involved? Feel free to reach out to ecpn.aic.communications@gmail.com 

 — Jessica Betz Abel, Chair, ecpn.chair@culturalheritage.org & Héctor J. Berdecía-Hernández, Co-Communications Officer, ecpn.aic.communications@gmail.com 

Liaison News Update, August 2021

Regional, Graduate School, and Speciality Group Liaisons kept busy this past Fall and Winter with event planning forming connections with their regions and networks! Continue reading for some of those highlights!

Jennifer Beetem and Kathryn Peneyra (Seattle) hosted an Art Night for pumpkin carving and a Portfolio Review with a recent graduate. Kaitlyn Wright (Atlanta), Travis Zuidema and Jennifer Bullock (Columbia, SC), and Nhat Quyen Nguyen and Caroline Shaver (Williamsburg) have also hosted a joint Portfolio Night. Kaitlyn also hosted a Q&A for area ECPs to ask questions of established conservators at local museums and libraries. Nhat and Caroline also consistently host a book club. Texas liaisons, Ali Wysopal (Austin), Brianna Warren (Houston), and Emma Ross (Dallas) hosted a Texas-wide Conservators in Private Practice Panel that spoke with CIPP in various stages of their careers. Veronica Mercado Oliveras, Paola Valentin Irrizarry, and Mayuli Santiesteban (Puerto Rico) organized a Meet and Greet event and have been busy translating ECPN resources into Spanish. Mackenzie Fairchild and Brianna Bosley (Chicago) hosted a Midwest Meet and Greet for area ECPs to network and talk about their experiences. Greta Llanes (Boston) and Brianna Turner (Providence) co-hosted a similar Meet and Greet for their combined regions! Emma Cieslik (Indianapolis) has hosted two Meet a Conservator events during which she interviewed practicing conservators (paper, books, paintings, and conservation science) about their education and career pathways to conservation. Olivia Schoenfeld (Upstate NY) has been hosting virtual podcast discussions that focus on issues within the conservation field. Katherine Langdon (St. Louis) sends out a regular email newsletter to her membership list with updates from ECPN and her region. Clair Emma Smith and Laura García Vedrenne (SF) have started a mentorship program with local conservators and their area ECPs - stay tuned for an interview about their program!

We are very excited that we have been able to expand the Regional Liaison network to include five new cities (Indianapolis, IN; Providence, RI; Nashville, TN; Dallas, TX; and Upstate, NY). Currently there are now a total of 29 Regional liaison positions, 5 of which have co-liaison teams. For the 2020-2021 term we are excited to welcome: Hannah Muchnick (Baltimore, MD), Brianna Bosley (Chicago, IL), Anna Ersenkal and Daisy Greenwell (both Philadelphia, PA), Nhat Queen Nguyen and Caroline Shaver (both Williamsburg, VA), Kathryn Peneyra (Seattle, WA), Devon Lee (New York, NY), Brittay Wallace (Denver, CO), Hannah Muchnick (Baltimore, MD), Emma Cieslik (Indianapolis, IN), Briana Turner (Providence, RI), Emma Ross (Dallas, TX), Emily Farek (Nashville, TN), and Liv Schoenfeld (Upstate, NY).  

We are also excited to announce that we will soon be launching a liaison group in Puerto Rico.

We also welcome our new Special Group Liaisons: Brooke Russell (Architecture Speciality Group), Caitlin Sofield (Wooden Artifacts Group), and Kris Cnossen (Textile Speciality Group). 

This summer Jenny McGough and Elizabeth Salmon, Los Angeles Regional Liaisons, worked closely with Madalyn Meehan, CIPP Liaison, on a virtual lab tour of Madalyn's private practice studio, M Conservation. Kaeley Ferguson, Boston Regional Liaison, hosted a happy hour event through Zoom. Brianna Warren, Houston Regional Liaison, hosted a virtual Bob Ross Painting Tutorial Evening. Laura García Vedrenne and Clair Emma Smith, San Francisco Regional Liaisons, have hosted virtual Annual Meeting discussions. 

-Michaela Paulson and Ashley Stanford, ECPN Outreach Officers, ecpn.aic.outreach@gmail.com

As we enter a new decade, the ECPN Outreach team is proud to announce that there are over 50 liaisons within the network, making this one of the most active terms in regard to liaison participation. This includes 24 Regional Liaisons spread out over 19 regions, 10 Specialty Group Liaisons, 9 Committee and Network Liaisons, and 9 Graduate Liaisons. Many new ECPN Liaisons have joined since July 2019, and include Joy Bloser and Jen Munch as co-liaisons to the new Contemporary Art Network (CAN!), Lauren Conway as the new Archaeological Discussion Group liaison, Alexis Machnik for the Book and Paper Specialty Group liaison, and several new Regional Liaisons: Fallon Murphy (Tuscon, AZ), Laura García Vedrenne and Clair Smith (San Francisco/Bay Area, CA), Kaitlyn Wright (Atlanta, GA), Catherine Cooper (Natchitoches, LA), Kaeley Ferguson (Boston, MA), Kyle Clark (Ann Arbor, MI), Taylor Brehm (Twin Cities), Katherine Langdon (St. Louis, MO), Jacqueline Chmura (co-NYC Liaison), Amaris Sturm (Cleveland, OH), and Jennifer Beetem (Seattle, WA). Many of our liaisons have held successful events such as portfolio days, webinar viewing sessions, happy hours, lab tours, and crafting activities. We're incredibly proud of our wonderful, engaged liaison community and hope that many can organize meet-and-greets at this year's Annual Meeting (at which multiple liaisons will be presenting research!).

-Marci Jefcoat Burton and Michaela Paulson, ECPN Outreach Officers, ecpn.aic.outreach@gmail.com

With the start of the new 2019-2020 term, ECPN Outreach Officers are preparing a liaison vacant posting that will include opportunities for ECPs to step into a liaison leadership role in several regions across the country, as well as with various specialty groups and committees & networks within AIC. We are pleased to welcome incoming ECPN liaisons: Sarah Casto for the Photographic Materials Group (PMG), Melissa King for Connecting to Collections Care (C2CC), Hayley Monroe for Conservators in Private Practice (CIPP), Tatiana Shannon for the Objects Specialty Group (OSG) and Céline Wachsmuth for the Education and Training Committee (ETC). We also welcome the following incoming Regional Liaisons: Mari Hagemeyer for Baltimore, MD, Emily Mercer for Williamsburg, VA, as well as Brianna Warren as the new Houston, TX Regional co-Liaison. Incoming Graduate Program Liaisons will be accounted in early Fall, 2019.

-Marci Jefcoat Burton and Michaela Paulson, ECPN Outreach Officers, ecpn.aic.outreach@gmail.com

At the beginning of the term, ECPN Outreach Officers Caitlin Richeson and Marci Jefcoat Burton checked in with the different liaison programs. This was an opportunity for incoming liaisons to hear about the activities returning liaisons held in the previous term. Regional liaisons for San Francisco, Felice Robles and Justine Wuebold, organized conservation lab tours of the Walt Disney Family Museum and Stanford Library. Specialty Group Liaison, Elizabeth Boyne, worked closely with the Conservators in Private Practice (CIPP) leadership to understand the need and development of a mentorship program for emerging professionals in private practice. Our Graduate Liaison program has expanded to include Marissa Stevens as the liaison for the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) and Charlotte Eagle from the Pratt Institute. We also welcome new Regional Liaisons Brooke Young Russell (New York), Kate Aguirre (co-RL for Philadelphia, PA), Katya Zinsli (Arizona) and Tessa Young (Williamsburg, VA).

- Caitlin Richeson and Marci Jefcoat Burton, ECPN Outreach Officers, ecpn.aic.outreach@gmail.com