Blogs

These times call for greater connection through AIC membership

By Lissa Rosenthal-Yoffe posted 18 days ago
These times call for greater connection—and that’s exactly what AIC membership is built on. Across the conservation field, we’re all navigating rapid change: new technologies, evolving roles, tighter budgets, and the constant need to balance care for collections with care for ourselves. Through it all, connection is what keeps us steady. It’s what turns individual effort into collective progress. Connection Is Our Strength AIC isn’t just a professional association… it’s a community of people who know what it means to show up for this work and for one another. Being a member means you’re not doing it alone. You’re part of a network that continues to ...

Make professional development accessible to all!

By AIC Official posted 18 days ago
A central part of our work at FAIC is providing professional development resources to the conservation field. We provide scholarships and workshops year-round to people like you who want to grow their skills. But we also recognize that the cost of many professional development programs can make them out of reach to many in the field. with this year's loss of federal grant funds and institutional budget cuts, conservators are facing increased barriers to professional development. This is why, even as we face our own budget restrictions, FAIC remains committed to our pledge to support access to our workshops with complimentary registration and a travel stipend ...

These Times Call for Greater Connection - AIC Membership

By Lissa Rosenthal-Yoffe posted 19 days ago
By Lissa Rosenthal-Yoffe, Executive Director, AIC These times call for greater connection—and that’s exactly what AIC membership is built on. Across the conservation field, we’re all navigating rapid change: new technologies, evolving roles, tighter budgets, and the constant need to balance care for collections with care for ourselves. Through it all, connection is what keeps us steady. It’s what turns individual effort into collective progress. Connection Is Our Strength AIC isn’t just a professional association… it’s a community of people who know what it means to show up for this work and for one another. Being a member means you’re not doing ...

Your Conservation Advocacy Action Items for Fall

By Katelin Lee posted 10-22-2025
Advocating for conservation is a year-round activity! You may be in regular contact with your elected representatives and local government about a wide variety of interests and concerns. We collected resources, talking points, and action items to help build conservation and preservation into your advocacy. Here are a few current topics as well as some upcoming opportunities: Federal Government Shutdown The government shutdown directly impacts many people in the cultural heritage field, causing financial strain and uncertainty individually as well as restricting access to key services in the community. Our thoughts are with our furloughed colleagues and ...

MFT-IDG Webinar, Nov 14: "Microfading Testers in Use: Whitmore, Fotonowy, and Retroreflective"

By Vincent Beltran posted 10-14-2025
The Microfading Tester International Discussion Group (MFT-IDG) will host its first webinar titled “Microfading Testers In Use: Whitmore, Fotonowy, and Retroreflective” on Friday, November 14, from 8-930am (Los Angeles) / 11am-1230pm (New York) / 1-230pm (Rio de Janeiro) / 4-530pm (Edinburgh) / 8-930pm (Dubai) / 12-130am (next day, Singapore). Attendance is free, but requires event registration at the following link: https://getty.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_iNfBtLtjQ8qFfVBiQ0Ngrg This live webinar will review three iterations of the microfading tester (MFT), which is used to assess the in situ light sensitivity of an object. Heritage institutions that ...

The past really is another country and we can never live there; at best we can pay a courtesy call

By Rebecca Rushfield posted 10-13-2025
The September 29, 2025 issue of The New Yorker contains an article by Anthony Lane entitled “ Cinema Paradiso ” about the Il Cinema Ritrovato film festival held each year in Bologna and the restoration of 20th century films at the L’Immagine Ritrovata laboratory in that city. Lane describes the work that goes on in the lab, discussing how such issues as “vinegar syndrome” are treated. But, his article is also a meditation on artists’ rights and artistic intent and the impossibility of recapturing the original. Describing the issues that are raised by a screening of the restored version of Charlie Chaplin’s 1925 silent film, “The Gold Rush” he notes that in ...

Paul Whitmore: FAIC Oral History

By Vincent Beltran posted 10-07-2025
When describing the Microfading Tester International Discussion Group (MFT-IDG), conservation scientist Paul Whitmore is mentioned early and prominently as the originator of the microfading tester (MFT), which can assess the in situ light sensitivity of an object. While an aspiration of the MFT-IDG had been to interview Paul, he efficiently pointed us to an FAIC oral history conducted in 2020 with Kelsey Wingel, and housed at the Winterthur Museum, Library, and Archives. This fascinating three-part oral history covers the breadth of Paul’s career: Part 1 documents his discovery of conservation and conservation science and his early work at Caltech and the Fogg ...

Intro to MFT-IDG Officers

By Vincent Beltran posted 10-02-2025
Organizing and launching the Microfading Tester International Discussion Group (MFT-IDG) has been the definition of a team effort and we wanted to briefly introduce you to the amazing MFT-IDG officers working behind the scenes. -------------------- Kirsten Dunne ACR, MFT-IDG Information Repository Officer ( Senior Projects Conservator, National Galleries of Scotland) • How were you introduced to MFT? I started Microfading in 2012, when we purchased an MFT for our Conservation Department. Our Director of Collections Care Jacqueline Ridge trained as a paintings conservator and, having worked with Dr. Paul Whitmore on the Rothko paintings ...

Call for Papers for AIC-CAC 2026 Now Open!

By Bonnie Naugle posted 09-16-2025
AIC + CAC-ACCR Call for Papers: Propose a presentation, workshop, or symposium by September 30, 2025 Our 2026 joint conference will be held at the Palais des congrès in beautiful Montréal, Québec, Canada, from Tuesday, April 28, through Saturday, May 2 . The portal is open and accepting submissions in both English and French for presentations, posters, pre-conference (workshops, symposia, sessions) and luncheon programming, and networking events. The proposal forms are linked below. You will need to create an account to begin your submission: Abstracts for presentations, panels, or posters - Due Sept. 30 Proposals for pre-conference or luncheon ...

Tue 8/26 10am ET MOXY: Plasma-generated Atomic Oxygen for the Cleaning of Sensitive Cultural Heritage Surfaces

By Cristiana Acerbi Ginatta posted 08-14-2025
A reminder to register for the upcoming virtual presentation on a new technology for the cleaning of delicate surfaces. Hope to see you next week! Link to register: https://learning.culturalheritage.org/p/moxy Registration is free for AIC members and students (you still need to register and go through the "purchase" at $0); $20 for non-AIC members. The speakers are generously volunteering their time and the funds raised will be used to support programs at the annual conference. Recordings will be available for registered participants. MOXY: Plasma-generated Atomic Oxygen for the Cleaning of Sensitive Cultural Heritage Surfaces Tuesday, August 26, 10-11:30 ...

The August issue of JAIC is here!

By Carmina Lamare-Bertrand posted 08-13-2025
JAIC, Volume 64, Issue 3 Read the latest issue of JAIC ( Journal of the American Institute for Conservation ) at https://www.tandfonline.com/toc/yjac20/current . AIC members who receive print issues should be receiving their copied in the mail now. While our new website does not have access available yet, members can still log in online from this page . EDITORIAL Julio M. del Hoyo-Meléndez ARTICLES Testing Ammonium Citrates for Enhanced Washing of Paper Philine Venus, Ute Henniges, Irene Brückle, Crystal Maitland, Theresa J. Smith, Maeve Moriarty, Kamila Bladek, Diogenes Vedoy , and Antje ...

Then fewer artworks will be damaged and  people who want to see the art rather than be seen with it, will be able to

By Rebecca Rushfield posted 07-04-2025
Each summer since the world came out of pandemic hibernation, newspapers have published stories about selfie-taking tourists damaging works of art in and out of museums. On Friday June 27th, The New York Times fulfilled its obligation with an article by Amelia Nierenberg titled, “ It’s High Selfie Season. Shield the Artworks ”. Annually, we are told how people want to be seen with the artworks rather than see the artworks. Maybe each museum should set aside a gallery with excellent replicas of the artworks most desired for selfies and let the photos be taken there. Then fewer artworks will be damaged and people who want to see the art rather than be seen ...

Perhaps what we need now is a Save USA

By Rebecca Rushfield posted 06-18-2025
In the June 9, 2025 issue of The Wall Street Journal , Karen Wilkin wrote “ Tintoretto’s Masterpiece Resurrected ” about the unveiling of the newly cleaned Tintoretto “Crucifixion” in Venice’s Scuola Grande de San Rocco. The conservation work was preceded by a technical study which uncovered new information about Tintoretto’s working method including his use of a charcoal grid to lay out the composition. The work was funded by Save Venice, a U.S. nonprofit organization which has funded the conservation of more than 2,000 works of art and architecture in Venice since 1971. With actual and threatened government cutbacks to funding for conservation in the U.S., ...

MFT Animation

By Vincent Beltran posted 06-12-2025
While some of you may have seen the sneak preview at the recent AIC conference in Minneapolis (many thanks to my fellow MFT-IDG officers @JP Brown and @Cindy Connelly Ryan !), I'm thrilled to finally share our animation about the microfading tester or MFT: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Qc3bSTldOc This project was a collaborative effort with talented artist Alex Brown from The Disruption Society and the Getty's Jessie Hendricks who shared her mellifluous narration, as well as a host of other generous contributors. Drawing inspiration from fond memories of Schoolhouse Rock! , we wanted to use animation as a fun and accessible way of "illuminating" ...

That conservator had either the most interesting or the most boring short term conservation job ever

By Rebecca Rushfield posted 06-11-2025
According to an article ( “In This Movie, the Art Plays a Big Part” ) in the Arts section of the June 11, 2025 issue of The New York Times , real paintings by Renoir, Magritte and other major artists were used as part of the scenery in Wes Anderson’s new movie, The Phoenician Scheme . Because of the dangers that the strong light and heat and lax security on the set posed to the paintings, a conservator was hired to oversee them. That conservator had either the most interesting or the most boring short term conservation job ever. #conservationinthenews

Emerging Conservator Experiences with K-12 Outreach: Survey Response #4

By Lila Reid posted 06-04-2025
Our next survey response is from a conservator who did K-12 outreach during their internship! Read more below. Thank you to our survey-participants for such great answers! So many professionals are doing incredible K-12 programming. Our goal is to share these experiences with the conservation community and help inspire others to develop and/or participate in their own outreach programs. We are still interested in hearing more about your different experiences, so if you are an emerging conservator who has participated in K-12 projects, please fill out our brief survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/KKJJPL6 Please briefly describe the type of work ...

2025 May issue of JAIC - is now available online!

By Carmina Lamare-Bertrand posted 05-31-2025
JAIC, Volume 64, Issue 2 Read the latest issue of JAIC ( Journal of the American Institute for Conservation ) at https://www.tandfonline.com/toc/yjac20/current . AIC members can access these articles online by using their membership details through our portal . EDITORIAL Exploring Conservation Challenges and Innovations Julio M. del Hoyo-Meléndez ARTICLES Layers and Layers: Analysis and Treatment of Egyptian Cartonnage at the Penn Museum Tessa de Alarcon & Alexis North Conserving Artline Permanent Marker and Fineliner Pens on Paper: Assessing Vulnerability ...

Electronic Media Group - Assistant Program Chair (2025-2027)

By AIC Official posted 05-30-2025
Term: 1 year. After the first year, you will move into the Program Chair position. Description: The Assistant Program Chair is responsible for assisting the Program Chair with planning the specialty group sessions for the AIC annual meeting. This includes helping draft the call for papers, reviewing submissions, and coordinating logistics. Requirements: Include a Statement of interest in the position and a short biography (300 words maximum each). Both will be included in the ballot. Contact : Dan Finn, current Chair, finnd@si.edu

ECPN Events at AIC 2025

By Ashley Stanford posted 05-23-2025
The Emerging Conservation Professionals Network (ECPN) Officers are thrilled for the AIC Annual Meeting in Minneapolis next week! We're particularly excited to see early career professionals showcased in nearly all specialty group talks, concurrent sessions, and posters. Are you presenting or authoring a project? Be sure your name is on the list of ECP presenters . If it's not there, please add! Also, check out ECPN's Wiki Page on Presenting Talks & Posters for tips. ECPN is dedicated to supporting those entering the field or in the early stages of their careers. The AIC Annual Meeting provides a unique platform to connect with peers, participate ...

Emerging Conservator Experiences with K-12 Outreach: Survey Response #3

By Lila Reid posted 05-21-2025
Continuing with our survey responses, the next person we will be highlighting is from someone who has done K-12 programming/outreach in pre-program and post-program. Read about the ways they collaborated with local schools! Thank you to our survey-participants for such great answers! So many professionals are doing incredible K-12 programming. Our goal is to share these experiences with the conservation community and help inspire others to develop and/or participate in their own outreach programs. We are still interested in hearing more about your different experiences, so if you are an emerging conservator who has participated in K-12 projects, please ...