Bridging Heritage Buildings and Collections: Revisiting the New Orleans Charter

By Héctor J. Berdecía Hernández for the Architecture Specialty Group (ASG)

From institutional museums to historic house museums, archives, libraries, galleries, and historical societies, many of our most valued collections are kept within historically significant structures. These buildings, often deeply loved by the public, pose unique challenges and frequently opposing needs.

The Architecture Specialty Group (ASG) and the Preventive Care Network (PCN) developed joint programs at the 2024 and 2025 AIC Annual Meetings and have one planned for the upcoming 2026 AIC-CAC Annual Meeting, all relating to the care of heritage collections and historic buildings. These joint sessions seek to examine and address existing gaps between the care and maintenance of historic buildings and preventive care for collections, as well as review practical and sustainable approaches, consider the impacts of new innovative materials and environmental systems, and share planning challenges for collection care that encompass cultural heritage institutions.

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Two Ways to Grow: Mentor-Mentee Relationships in Archaeological Conservation

By Brittany Dinneen, Sydney Collins, Caitlin R. O’Grady, Taylor Brehm, Kate Ridgway, Hannah Sanner, Beryl Robertson, Skyler Jenkins, and Gina Watkinson for the Archaeological Heritage Network (AHN)

Introduction

Conservation laboratories function as vital pedagogical spaces where emerging professionals learn not only technical skills but also critical thinking, ethical decision-making, and collaborative practice. Archaeological fieldwork further expands this learning, moving beyond the traditional laboratory environment and requiring innovative solutions in response to limited access to materials and tools, as well as the unpredictability of discoveries and working conditions. Through close collaboration in the laboratory and in the field, students and mentors share the process of inquiry, discovery, and growth.

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From the Vice President

I am finding it difficult to believe it’s been almost a year since we put pen to paper and started planning the annual meeting in Montreal with our colleagues from the Canadian Association for Conservation (CAC-ACCR). If I’m being honest, when I attended my first AIC meeting in 2018, I never imagined I would one day be in this position, entrusted with the confidence and support of my colleagues. As a graduate student just beginning to engage with conservation, I left that first meeting in complete awe of the work happening across the field. I still remember Deena Engel’s presentation, “Introducing ‘Code Resituation’: Applying the Concept of Minimal Intervention to the Conservation Treatment of Software-based Art,” during an EMG session; it completely blew my mind! So, whether it’s your first meeting or your fifteenth, the moments that tend to stay with you are when you start to see your own work differently and are reminded just how incredibly exciting and, honestly, how cool our field can be.

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