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AIC Annual Meeting: Conservation in the Age of Environmental, Social, and Economic Climate Change

By Cory Rogge, AIC Vice President and Program Committee Chair, crogge@menil.org, and contributors

From May 16-20, 2023, over 625 in-person and 400 virtual attendees gathered for the 51st AIC Annual Meeting, held in Jacksonville, Florida. The theme of this year’s meeting was “Conservation in the age of environmental, social, and economic climate change,” which was particularly salient to the location. Although smaller than past meetings, the programming was rich with informative and thought-provoking talks. Many attendees said that they found the smaller meeting less overwhelming and that they enjoyed having more chances to talk with friends and colleagues. I’ve called out some highlights below, but I strongly encourage you to take advantage of the full set of virtual recordings. Although attendees can’t be in two places at once, through the wonders of modern technology we can now see two concurrent talks!

Keynote Panel In order to elucidate and constructively engage with problems both our members and society as a whole are facing, AIC chose to open the meeting with a keynote panel featuring three incredible individuals: Dr. Nicole Robinson, the founder and CEO of Cultural Connections by Design; Ennis Davis, co-founder and principal of Community Planning Collaborative who lives and works in Jacksonville; and Ben Garcia, the Executive Director of the American LGBTQ+ Museum in New York City. Dr. Robinson talked about the need to create a culture of belonging, where diversity is valued, and every individual can be their authentic selves. She also presented a session on the “Matrix of Intersectionality” and a pre-program workshop on equity centered leadership. Mr. Davis first provided listeners with a historical background of Jacksonville, focusing on its importance to Black communities, including the Gullah-Geechee people. He then segued to the ongoing work of many locals, including himself, to help revitalize and protect these neighborhoods and empower the people living there to help record their history; a “withinification” effort, rather than a gentrification effort. His talk exemplified the need for us to remember that blanket judgements based on state-level politics can obscure or even harm impactful localized efforts that are highly worthy of support. Mr. Garcia reiterated many of the ideas raised by Dr. Robinson and Mr. Davis; he emphasized how museums are NOT neutral, and he discussed the need to tell all stories. He noted that promoting inclusion, justice, and belonging is one of the most important things we can do both as individuals and within in our institutions. He then talked about his vision for the LGBTQ+ Museum; how it will not be an acquisition-based institution, but rather will borrow materials, thus supporting archives and institutions in other locations. He described how the museum will be based upon valuing people and will promote this by embracing transparency, equitable, and just employment practices, engaging in co-creation and partnering, questioning biases, examining privileges, and by working to not pass inequities onto others. Although all three talked about very different subjects, the synergy between them was incredible. I know that I will take the opportunity to watch the recording in an attempt to absorb more, and I strongly encourage others who may have missed this session to take advantage of the virtual platform and experience it for themselves.  Opening General Session This year’s opening session featured two sets of four talks; the first four dealt with issues that impact the sustainability of our field, while the second group focused on the climate crisis and environmental sustainability. Glenn Wharton (Professor of Art History at UCLA and Chair of the UCLA/Getty Interdepartmental Program in the Conservation of Cultural Heritage) addressed the increasing role of community centered, collaborative practices in the conservation field. He emphasized that instead of reacting to change, conservation has an opportunity to make change happen. Nina Owczarek (Assistant Professor at the University of Delaware in the Art Conservation Department) then spoke on behalf of a team from multiple institutions. She described different models currently used by institutions and graduate programs that are meant to help diversify our field. She was forthright about issues being faced by these programs, which include lack of funding, difficulty in recruiting, and institutional readiness to support diversity. Only by recognizing barriers to increasing and sustaining diversity in our field will we be able to work collaboratively to overcome them. Suzanne Davis (Head of the Conservation Department at the University of Michigan’s Kelsey Museum of Archaeology and our current president) talked about how although our field is dominated by women, gender equity issues are a continuing problem, with women earning less than men and being promoted less often, and that inequity is also a serious problem for trans individuals. She then talked about ways to combat this, including true salary transparency, clear pathways to promotion, formal mentoring, and bias education. She ended by concluding that we all need to model gender inclusive practices. Sarah Kleiner (Founder and Lead Consultant for the Living Histories Expansion Project) outlined a proposed aspirational leadership program to help address issues surrounding diversity, equity, and inclusion in our field. She stated that preservation of art cannot be separated from preservation of people, but that many conservators, especially our BIPOC members, think of leaving the field, suffer panic attacks, and are not served by the field and their institutions. Her vision is of a program that would train conservators to create new paradigms of practice centered on anti-racism. These four talks together emphasize how far the field has come in the past few decades, but how much more work is needed to create a sustainable future. The second block of talks focused on the climate crisis and sustainability, undoubtedly some of the most pressing issues of our time.

• Ann Frellsen (conservator emerita at Emory University Libraries) spoke on behalf of a team of National Heritage responders. She gave an extremely thorough overview of the history of FAIC’s National Heritage Responders program and how this team of volunteers has helped in a variety of climate-related disasters.
• Heather Parks (Head of Preservation and Conservation at Binghamton University Libraries) then made the issue of climate change very personal by sharing the ongoing issues being faced by the Tangier Island History Museum and how the community is rallying to protect their heritage.
• Kim Roche focused on the recent development and launch of the Lowcountry Alliance for Response network, for which she served as chair during her time as a conservator at Clemson University’s Warren Lasch Conservation Center in Charleston, South Carolina.
• Tatiana Ausema (Senior Program Officer in NEH’s Office of Challenge Programs, which focuses on infrastructure and climate-related initiatives) discussed how climate change threatens not only objects and sites but can also affect visitor patterns, impacting local economies and (at its worst) displacing communities and impacting knowledge transmission. To deal with this, we need to be able to both mitigate and adapt, and she elucidated various steps institutions can take to make impactful changes in their own practices. She ended the session by quoting Wendell Berry, “the earth is what we all have in common,” and challenged us to help protect it.

“Conservation is an inherently hopeful pursuit,” notes a slide during the Opening General
Session. Image courtesy Marieka Kaye.

Annual Meeting Workshop & Seminars

We hosted several workshops and seminars in Jacksonville.

• Applying Sustainability Principles Cross-departmentally at Collecting Institutions
• Matrix of Intersectionality and Leadership YOU! Equity Centered Leadership in the 21st Century
• Mechanical Properties and Testing of Materials for Art Conservation
• Modular Cleaning Program Software and Testing Skills
• Polarized Light Microscopy Refresher, a two-day workshop
• Prevention Through Design: Reducing Risk and Improving Safety
• Respirator Fit Test and Lecture
• Scene-Referred (ISO 19264) Imaging for Conservation Documentation

AIC’s Opening Reception at the Cummer Museum and Jacksonville Garden Club was accented by sunny, warm weather. Many attendees spent time in the Cummer’s garden; a floral flamingo exhibit added whimsy to the party, courtesy of Marleka Kaye; and the view was delightful, courtesy Arianna Carini Johnston. Bottom right: BPG officers Marieka Kaye, Amy Hughes, Morgan Browning, and Liz Dube, enjoyed the BPG reception at the Jacksonville Public Library, courtesy of Marleka Kaye.

FAIC’s 50th Anniversary Celebration

This year marked the 50th anniversary of the Foundation for Advancement in Conservation (FAIC), AIC’s affiliate foundation and close ally in the preservation of cultural heritage. To celebrate, we participated in a whirlwind two-hour breakfast session that attempted to capture some of the many past and ongoing efforts by FAIC. The morning began with a light-hearted trivia session that checked our knowledge of the extent and type of programs FAIC offers. We then heard from allies, including Bank of America, represented by Martha Barrett (Bank of America Senior Vice President, Local Market Organizations), Elizabeth Chapman (Vice President of Resnicow and Associates, a public relations firm focused on the cultural heritage sector), and Pamela Hatchfield, Katelin Lee, Stephanie Shapiro, and Benjamin Lewis about Held in Trust and the Climate Resilience Project, both funded by NEH. Each speaker offered a brief overview of their ongoing initiatives that aim to help preserve objects and enable us, in conjunction with makers and source communities, to better tell their stories and create a sustainable and vibrant field. While anniversaries are often a time of looking back, this one was centered on the bright future of our field, and attendees left filled not only with coffee, cake, and bagels, but with ideas for new initiatives, partnerships, and hope for a more diverse and equitable field.

Pamela Hatchfield and Katelin Lee coordinated the Held in Trust Project.

Peter Trippi discusses the past and future of FAIC.

FAIC’s 50th birthday cake.

Local Good

One of the aspects of this meeting that I most appreciated was its local focus. Most annual meetings have a community partnership project, and this one featured a collaboration with the Jacksonville Historical Society to help with one of their historical properties, the Merrill House. ECPN led and organized this project as a way to give back to the community and help meet community needs.

However, this year’s focus on the local community was far broader than in years past. Thanks to urging by the leadership of the Book and Paper Group, AIC made a webpage with links to local organizations supporting LGBTQIA+ and BIPOC communities so that attendees could donate. Restaurants and bars friendly to or owned by individuals from these communities were highlighted in the local guide. In my (admittedly biased) opinion, the RATS specialty group deserves a special call-out for holding their reception at Norman Studios and InCahoots nightclub. It was the most fun I’ve ever had at a specialty group reception and may be a precedent for future events! The local focus was also evident in the scholarly programming, in addition to Ennis Davis’s keynote presentation, many other talks focused on projects and issues in Florida and other nearby states in the South that are already dealing with climate change and its threat to cultural heritage. Such talks included “Rescuing the Life Scrolls & Remembering Florida’s Fallen from WWI,” “Water and Memory in the Lowcountry: Launching the Lowcountry Alliance for Response,” and “Change and Cultural Landscapes: Resource Management in the South Carolina Lowcountry.”

AIC President Suzanne Davis (far left) stands with 2023 AIC Award recipients, from left: Héctor Berdecía-Hernández, Sally Gunhee Kim, Jennifer Hain Teper, Ronel Namde, Jiuan Jiuan Chen, Jane Klinger, and Sarah Wagner. Photo by Katelin Lee.

Honorees at the 2023 Awards Ceremony David Magoon-University Products Conservation Advocacy Award: David Goist, Conservator of Paintings and Painted Surfaces, Goist Art Services LLC. Emerging Leader Award: Héctor Berdecía-Hernández, Director-General, Centro de Conservación y Restauración de Puerto Rico; Sally Gunhee Kim, Andrew W. Mellon Fellow in the Objects Conservation, National Museum of the American Indian. Robert L. Feller Lifetime Achievement Award: Susan Buck, Conservator and Paint Analyst in private practice; Sarah Wagner, Head Photograph Conservation, National Gallery of Art. Rutherford John Gettens Merit Award: Jane Klinger, Special Advisor and Senior Research Conservator, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Honorary Membership: Shannon Zachary, Head, Preservation and Conservation, University of Michigan Library; Nancy Odegaard, Conservator/Professor Emerita, Arizona State Museum. Sheldon & Caroline Keck Award: Jiuan Jiuan Chen, Associate Professor, Patricia H. and Richard E. Garman Art Conservation Department, State University of New York College at Buffalo; Catherine McLean, Textile Conservator (Retired), Los Angeles County Museum of Art. President’s Award: Sally Gunhee Kim, Andrew W. Mellon Fellow in the Objects Conservation, National Museum of the American Indian; Ronel Namde, Associate Conservator of Photographs, J. Paul Getty Museum; Jennifer Hain Teper, Head of Preservation Services, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Library. Publications Award: The Conservation of Medieval Polychrome Wood Sculpture: History, Theory, Practice by Michele Marincola and Lucretia Kargere.

ECPN Planned Community Project and Networking at the Annual Meeting
The 51st AIC Annual Meeting in Jacksonville, Florida, presented multiple opportunities for ECPs to connect and network within ECPN and broader AIC. The Getty Conservation Institute supported a well-attended happy hour, AIC K-12 Education Outreach collaborated with ECPN to plan a very interesting moderated panel: A Common Purpose: Collaborations between Conservators and Educators, and INCAA/CAN! put on a great speed mentoring event for ECPs. The group additionally searched for a way to directly serve the people of Jacksonville, culminating in the ECPN-led Community Partnership Project (CPP) with the Jacksonville Historical Society (JHS). Archivist Emily Cottrell selected a beautiful historic property in their care, The Merrill Museum House, to benefit from this project. Emily and ECPN Chair Michaela Paulson planned a way for CPP volunteers to assist in the inventory and condition survey of the objects within the house, directly providing JHS with a framework to implement preventive care and long-term conservation goals.
During the annual meeting, Silvia Manrique Tamayo presented on using Cognito Forms for similar projects, and Silvia graciously helped Michaela and Emily to implement this for the CPP. The morning of Sunday, May 21, volunteers ventured to the Merrill House and after a great orientation and training on the house from Emily, Merril House Museum Coordinator Nancy Gandy and volunteer Rachel were able to begin the inventory and condition survey using Cognito Forms on their phones. After a few hours, almost the entire first floor had been addressed, and the JHS team were empowered to continue the effort in their own time. This very successful event would not have been possible without the incredible CPP volunteers: Susan Barger, Diana Galante, Chloe Gise, Maris Green, Nasreen Khan, Lia Kramer, Anna Maupin, Keara Teeter, and Brie Warren, led by Michaela Paulson (ECPN Chair) and Stephanie Guidera (ECPN Vice Chair), and supported by Katelin Lee (AIC Staff Liaison).	The CPP volunteer team takes a momentary break for a photo (top) and begins documenting objects.

Thank You!

This meeting would not have been possible without the efforts of many individuals. Thank you to Ruth Seyler and all the AIC staff for their incredible effort and energy; running both an in-person and virtual meeting is like operating two entirely different meetings! We thank our speakers and poster presenters for sharing their work. We thank all the Specialty Group and Network program committees, and I owe special debts of gratitude to the General Session Program and Poster committee members for their tireless help in planning this meeting and to the Jacksonville 2023 Task Force members for helping make this meeting a force for good in the local community. We thank all our attendees who helped make this an intellectually vibrant conference, and we hope to see you all in Salt Lake City for the 2024 meeting!

—Dr. Cory Rogge, AIC Vice President, crogge@menil.org

How Many Meetings Have You Attended? 

Modern meetings have changed in several ways, not just attendee size and atmosphere. “I remember when they were running the sessions, you hated to hear the dreaded ping, which was when a carousel projector jammed. They are difficult to unjam… The AV in the meetings has improved so much.” David said. “I remember hearing phrases [during presentations] like ‘it’s just a little bit dark.’ They didn’t always get the exposure right. So that’s gotten to be better.”

Paul Himmelstein has attended every meeting since AIC began in 1973, and his first meeting was in 1970 in New York City. “It was quite an extraordinary meeting [in 1970] for many reasons. [A primary reason is] that the banquet at that time was held in the European Paintings Gallery at the Metropolitan Museum. There was a lot of discussion among conservators there about having a banquet in a paintings gallery and the damage someone might cause just by bumping into one of those paintings.” This topic remains of interest 50-plus years later!

Paul also appreciates the in-person nature of the annual meetings for better understanding of research and techniques. “One of the ways, besides reading journals, to get [technical] material or to understand what was going on in the field was to be at these meetings. And to have the chance then to talk with people, most of whom were very open and very willing to talk, about not only what they presented but about how they presented it, to answer questions.” He also often arranges small dinners at nice restaurants in each city during the meeting.

There are many stories left to tell about the annual meeting over the years. “If I got a group of people together, organized a group of say, 10 people, from various locations,” Paul said,” we would be up for two nights or more just telling you about the very funny stories that happened at all of these places.”

If you would like to share your experiences at the annual meeting, please reach out!

—Anna-Claire McGrath, acmcgrath@culturalheritage.org

Annual Meeting Sponsors and Exhibitors: Thank You

Thanks to all our sponsors and exhibitors for our Jacksonville meeting. We couldn’t have hosted such an excellent meeting without the continuous support of our exhibitors, most of whom join our meeting year after year and provide unique experiences for our attendees. Please visit our Exhibit Hall webpage to learn more about them, their services, and contributions to the field of conservation; a complete list is also included in the program book. We particularly want to thank those organizations who contributed at the diamond and gold levels, many of whom chose to sponsor specific elements of the conference, including specialty group receptions and conference sessions. Our Diamond sponsors included: The Getty Conservation Institute, Huntington T. Block Insurance Agency, Inc. and University Products, Inc. Our Gold sponsors included Bruker Corporation, Click Netherfield, Crystalizations Systems, Inc., Opus Instruments (Atik Cameras), TandD US, LLC, Testfabrics, Inc., and Tru Vue, Inc. This year, on FAIC’s 50th Anniversary, we were thrilled to have Bank of America as the lead sponsor of the 2023 AIC Annual Meeting. Anyone who picked up one of their beautiful brochures knows that Bank of America has been a stalwart supporter of conservation over the years! The bank foundation also sponsored our lovely opening reception at the Cummer Museum and Jacksonville Garden Club. The Bank of America Art Conservation Project (ACP) provides grants to nonprofit cultural institutions to conserve historically or culturally significant works of art, including works that have been designated as national treasures. Since 2010, the ACP program has supported the conservation of paintings, sculptures, and archaeological, and architectural pieces of critical importance to cultural heritage and the history of art. More than 237 projects across 40 countries have been managed by nonprofit cultural institutions that receive funding to conserve historically or culturally significant works of art that are in danger of deterioration. We’d like to thank Bank of America for helping us make the 2023 Annual Meeting so successful, and for all they’ve contributed to the community. We look forward to continued opportunities to work together with them. Funders like Bank of America make our work preserving our cultural heritage possible. —Lissa Rosenthal-Yoffe and Anna-Claire McGrath

Above: Martha Barrett, Bank of America Senior Vice President, Local Market Organizations, welcomes attendees at the Cummer Museum.

Below: The exhibit hall was full of attendees at each break.

Thanks to all our sponsors and exhibitors for our Jacksonville meeting. We couldn’t have hosted such an excellent meeting without the continuous support of our exhibitors, most of whom join our meeting year after year and provide unique experiences for our attendees. Please visit our Exhibit Hall webpage to learn more about them, their services, and contributions to the field of conservation; a complete list is also included in the program book. We particularly want to thank those organizations who contributed at the diamond and gold levels, many of whom chose to sponsor specific elements of the conference, including specialty group receptions and conference sessions. Our Diamond sponsors included: The Getty Conservation Institute, Huntington T. Block Insurance Agency, Inc. and University Products, Inc. Our Gold sponsors included Bruker Corporation, Click Netherfield, Crystalizations Systems, Inc., Opus Instruments (Atik Cameras), TandD US, LLC, Testfabrics, Inc., and Tru Vue, Inc.

This year, on FAIC’s 50th Anniversary, we were thrilled to have Bank of America as the lead sponsor of the 2023 AIC Annual Meeting. Anyone who picked up one of their beautiful brochures knows that Bank of America has been a stalwart supporter of conservation over the years! The bank foundation also sponsored our lovely opening reception at the Cummer Museum and Jacksonville Garden Club.

The Bank of America Art Conservation Project (ACP) provides grants to nonprofit cultural institutions to conserve historically or culturally significant works of art, including works that have been designated as national treasures. Since 2010, the ACP program has supported the conservation of paintings, sculptures, and archaeological, and architectural pieces of critical importance to cultural heritage and the history of art. More than 237 projects across 40 countries have been managed by nonprofit cultural institutions that receive funding to conserve historically or culturally significant works of art that are in danger of deterioration.

We’d like to thank Bank of America for helping us make the 2023 Annual Meeting so successful, and for all they’ve contributed to the community. We look forward to continued opportunities to work together with them. Funders like Bank of America make our work preserving our cultural heritage possible.

—Lissa Rosenthal-Yoffe and Anna-Claire McGrath

Breath of Fresh Air

The Sustainability Committee would like to thank everyone who participated in the green attendee program at this year’s annual meeting. We hope taking the pledge inspired you to be mindful of choices, make changes, and discuss issues of sustainability with your colleagues. Thanks also to those who dropped by our Breath of Fresh Air room and our booth in the vendor hall. We welcome your comments and suggestions about these initiatives, as well as other ways we can make our conferences more sustainable, write us at: sustainability@culturalheritage.org.

The Breath of Fresh Air roomallowed dialogue about the climate crisis, and the ECPN Clubhouse offered activities while chatting.

Wellness Events in Jacksonville

While members have met up informally at past meetings to run or walk together, this year was the first to include scheduled events and rooms to create an atmosphere of wellness and calm. Thursday morning started off with a run and stretch, Friday with yoga, and Saturday with Zumba, and a mindfulness break was provided at lunch on Saturday. Thanks to staff members Sarah Saetren and Tiffani Emig and volunteer Zumba instructor Jennifer Hain Teper for leading these events!

ECPN hosted a clubhouse where emerging professionals could take a break and chat with others, using small activities to provide an icebreaker. There was also a quiet room for calm contemplation.

Health and Safety Events at the AIC Annual Meeting

Prevention Through Design: Reducing Risk and Improving Safety (Virtual and Onsite)

The Prevention through Design initiative can reduce safety risks to people and collections, and financial loss to a facility, by designing out these risks in any construction or renovation project. Led by architect Jeff Hirsch, fire protection engineer Roger Rudy, mechanical engineer Bill Jarema, and industrial hygienist Kim Harmon, all of whom specialize in cultural heritage, the Health & Safety Network-sponsored pre-session reviewed the design through construction process using the renovation of Dinosaur Hall at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History as a case study.

Key general takeaways included:

• A better understanding of the design through the construction process allows you to ask better questions.
• Collections care professionals and industrial hygienists included as part of the team from the very beginning at the design concept stage is essential. An inclusive team will ensure that the space functions properly and safely and will save money by avoiding costly change orders later.
• Allies in your institution that understand the building can greatly help you achieve your end goals.

Common pitfalls in capital projects were discussed and include:

• Not completing pre-design phase analysis. These studies require funding, but usually prevent costly changes as the project progresses when undiscovered problems arise.
• Inadequate surveys before starting a project. For example, wet utilities are generally not well documented so if they are not surveyed, problems can arise during construction. Hidden issues in the structure or foundation can be another common problem if not surveyed.
• Reliance on computer light modelling, which cannot replicate every real-world lighting condition.
• Inadequate pre-design testing of equipment. For example, testing the HVAC system to make sure it can perform as required after the renovation.

Hazard mitigation strategies were reviewed for:

• Hazards to collections, which include wet utilities, service access, conservation access, light exposure, and environmental conditions.
• Hazards to occupants, which include contaminants, fire separation, egress pathways, and smoke control.

At the end was an extended Q&A session, where attendees asked both general questions and those specific to their institutions. This session was available to both virtual and in-person attendees and was recorded.

Health & Safety Network Booth

The Health & Safety Network (H&SN) was pleased to welcome Thalia Barber and William Tomlin, who are part of the OSHA Florida On-Site Consultation Program, to our exhibit hall booth. In addition to offering general health and safety advice, they introduced conservators to the OSHA On-Site program, which offers free, confidential occupational health and safety services.

On-site consultants are not enforcement inspectors. They work with employers to identify hazards, develop health and safety programs, and provide advice for compliance with OSHA standards. To find the contact information for your region’s program, visit: www.osha.gov/consultation/directory-text.

Respirator Fit Testing Workshop

HS&N also held the annual respirator fit testing workshop for members. The workshop includes an online lecture on respirator selection, care, and use, and a 20-minute, individual fit test appointment with a certified industrial hygienist using your personal respirator brought from home. The individual appointment ensures an acceptable, face-to-facepiece seal/fit of the respirator and provides an opportunity to examine and/or try on various half-mask, air-purifying respirators from the Network’s selection of samples. Before the workshop, participants completed an OSHA Respirator Medical Clearance Approval with their physician. Medical clearance was also offered by phone or online from OHS Health and Safety Services Inc. at a discounted rate of $25 for AIC members who were unable to get the form completed before the meeting. Fit testing this year was provided by local industrial hygienist Megan Harrison from WSP USA.

—Susan Costello, Health & Safety Network Chair

Want to be part of AIC's 2024 Annual Meeting?

Plan to join us in Salt Lake City from May 20 to 24, 2024.

• Have an idea for a concurrent general session topic? Let us know by July 14! Proposing a session is a great way to shape annual meeting programing.
• Read the theme and start working on your 2024 abstract. Submissions portal opens in early August with abstract due on September 15.

Visit our Upcoming Meeting at www.culturalheritage.org/events/annual-meeting/current-meeting for more information. We regularly post new information to these pages so bookmark and return. The Call for Submissions pages include information about proposing a variety of annual meeting event types.

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