Program

Imaging plays a crucial role as a non-invasive documentation and diagnostic tool informing conservation strategies and research. It helps reveal narratives that objects hold, shedding light on their creators, users, and life histories. By its nature, imaging is multidisciplinary, integrating techniques from various fields, adapting them for conservation and cultural heritage applications, and requiring subject matter experts for interpretation. Successful imaging projects require advanced techniques and demand collaborative efforts to bridge gaps in skills, knowledge, and equipment and address challenges.

This session invites submissions showcasing how interdisciplinary partnerships have navigated these challenges and expanded the possibilities of imaging in conservation.

As imaging spans all specialty areas of conservation, we invite submissions of imaging collaborations that touch on all different media, techniques, and applications; this offers an opportunity to connect imaging throughout the field and continue to develop, share, and learn.

Collaborative partnerships in conservation education have flourished in recent years, offering conservation students exposure to more diverse projects, deeper community engagement, and expanded mentorship. As the practice of working collaboratively within an educational setting becomes even more widespread, it is important to evaluate how to best do so in a way that is both impactful and sustainable. This session will provide space for critical review of these collaborative efforts, with the goal of discussing project goals, what worked well, how partner relationships evolved, and reflection on how collaborative approaches could be improved or enhanced moving forward. The specific needs of collaborations in the context of working with students may be explored, such as power dynamics, financial concerns, academic timelines, and supporting diverse learning styles. Joint contributions from students, faculty, and community partners are encouraged.

Publications on post-disaster cultural heritage recovery tend to group together armed conflict and natural disasters while failing to make the key distinction: hurricanes and earthquakes do not discriminate, armed conflict does. Museums, libraries, and archives are not collateral damage in a warzone—they are the targets of those seeking to erase social, cultural, and historical identities. These institutions do not just house objects and documents, they contain the stories and accomplishments of our global heritage. However, treating material culture that has been deliberately damaged during an armed conflict is a topic of conservation not adequately addressed in existing literature. This leaves conservators at a loss for how to care for and consider the evolving values and histories of war-damaged (or war-affected) objects. Conservation, as a community, constantly strives to learn from and teach those within it, therefore, offering a platform for communication and collaboration can only benefit these specialized objects. This concurrent general session will allow conservation professionals, experienced in caring for war-damaged or -affected material culture, to identify their insights on the most effective treatment approaches while helping others mitigate the perceived failures and pitfalls.

Collaboration is a relational practice encompassing critical elements, such as building trust, recognizing truth, providing access, acknowledging power dynamics, following through, and ultimately preserving what is valued. 

 In the spirit of collaboration, it is vital to operate in service to the collective goal, prioritizing the group’s objectives over individual agendas. Trust serves as the foundation for any collaborative endeavor and is built on consistent and transparent communication, reliability, and mutual respect. Humility, equitable power dynamic among all stakeholders, as well as truth recognition and an understanding of historical facts and present realities are essential. Power dynamics play a significant role in collaboration, balancing power among stakeholders ensures equitable participation. Access to relevant resources and open information sharing ensures well-informed decision making. Commitment follow-through and continuity are critical to maintaining trust, demonstrating reliability and sustainability supporting long-term impact. Preserving what is valued identifies and safeguards core principles, traditions, and goals essential to the collective identity and purpose of the collaboration.

 This session will include an honest discussion with current partners and colleagues to consider the elements of effective collaboration with the goal of contributing to the larger conversation. 

It invites allied professionals, context-based practitioners, and anyone doing field services-type work to present (15-20 mins). This session highlights the impacts of field services approaches to preservation in the broader conservation discipline.

With museums launching initiatives to digitize their archives, discussions have arisen among conservators about their examination and treatment records. The debate tends to revolve around how much information should be included, in what form, and who should have access to it. Another form of documentation that is often part of a conservation dossier are technical images, which are becoming essential tools for scholarship and connoisseurship in the way that photographs once were. With some exceptions, institutions do not systematically make these publicly available in high resolution, even after they have been published. Conservators often share technical images and research materials upon request from a colleague or as part of in-person visits, but there remains a barrier to access that tends to create basic inequity.

Despite the challenges, there have been many recent and successful efforts implementing open access directives, requiring the collaboration and expertise of colleagues in diverse fields including – but not limited to – curators, archivists, web designers, digital/media specialists, grant bodies, and the wider scholarly community. The goal of this session is to invite speakers to discuss their experiences in making conservation records available to the wider community, with examples of present and future strategies, acknowledging that there is a significant time and money involved and a variety of opinions among our colleagues.

Recent shifts in the field of conservation call for a Human-centered approach; one that challenges historical inequitable power structures. Externally, this may look like community-led work and collaboration. Internally, this may manifest as the decentralization of institutionalized power and an exploration of collaborative leadership. 

This session will tell the stories of those working to decentralize the inequitable power structures inherent within the field of conservation—stories that challenge hierarchical leadership models, encourage the democratization of knowledge, and promote the sharing of resources amongst fellow stewards of cultural heritage. This session will hold space for dialogue about what collaborative leadership and community-led practices can look like.

Conservators and conservation-adjacent professionals are encouraged to participate. The session will include a series of talks, followed by a moderated discussion with all presenters. Possible topics may include but are not limited to collaborative leadership models and human resource practices, community-led conservation treatments and programs, and how collaboration both internally and externally can lead to a more holistic conservation future. 

Join us as we journey into this new chapter of conservation and expand our views of what it means to lead in collaboration, not only with each other, but with the communities we are meant to serve.

Chairs: Annabelle Camp, Katie Foggiano, Bianca Garcia, Leticia Gomez Franco, Elizabeth Salmon

As conservation professionals, we are often engaged in supporting institution-wide reinstallations, rehangs, and major capital projects. It currently feels as if we are in the midst of a boom in new construction and building upgrades. Many museum buildings are reaching a critical point in their lifecycle, and the same is often true for their associated infrastructure and amenities (HVACs, plumbing, lighting, and accessibility). Current storage is often old and inadequate, or non-existent. 

Lighting the Way: Museum Illumination Policies

Setting specifications for light-sensitive museum collection items is one of the most collaborative (and potentially contentious) elements of preventive conservation since lighting both guarantees destruction of the light-sensitive material, and also profoundly affects the visitor experience.

This concurrent general session will examine the challenges of assigning collection item lifetimes and setting institutional lighting policies. The session will include both short papers (ten minutes of presentation) and longer papers (twenty minutes of presentation) and will include a discussion panel on creating lighting policies in museums.

Topics of interest include but, again, are not limited to:

• Setting lifetime fading allowances,
• The utility of the ISO and AATCC Blue Wool standards,
• The issue of Just Noticeable Difference.

The session is jointly organized by the Preventive Care Network (PCN), Research and Technical Studies (RATS), and the Microfading Tester International Discussion Group (MFT-IDG). Presentation length should be 20-22 minutes to allow about 8 minutes for questions and discussion.

The conservation community recognizes the urgency of centering environmental sustainability in collections stewardship. We are increasingly aware of the climate crisis, the carbon emissions and costs associated with the preservation of collections, and the threats severe weather events pose to cultural heritage. In our individual practices and institutions, the learning curve for applying environmentally sustainable preventive care methods can be steep. Sharing stories about planning and implementing sustainable practices will help us find new solutions to difficult problems and allows us to lead by example.

While there are no strict guidelines or rules, the recently refreshed Bizot Green Protocol has urged us to promote sustainable solutions for environmental control that are informed by scientific research, predictive models, and new approaches to risk management. A renewed focus on sustainable preventive care by the Association of Art Museum Directors (AAMD) that centers on the Bizot protocol has driven many institutions to focus on how they can adopt these guidelines.

These guidelines and others present a wide range of solutions for reducing energy usage while maintaining appropriate preservation environmental parameters for collections. However, discussions about the collaborative work necessary for implementation are sparse within our profession. As we realize sustainable changes, nuanced discussions about how these parameters are applied to varied buildings, collections, and climate zones are vital.

This session invites speakers to share stories about team efforts to enact sustainable solutions for collecting institutions, such as:

• Creating institution-wide commitment and assembling a multidisciplinary team by partnering with registrars, engineers, facilities managers, and contractors.
• Engaging in conversations with other departments to find solutions that balance operations and sustainable environmental conditions for collections.
• Collaborating to define what constitutes success for sustainability initiatives.
• Providing passive solutions for environmental control.
• Presenting resources and guidelines that frame sustainability efforts in your institution, including (but not limited to) commitment to the Bizot protocol and its recent refresh.
• Sharing unexpected obstacles, roadblocks, and systems incompatibility in achieving sustainable results.

We are interested in a range of presentations with potential for panel discussion.

Chairs: Al Carver-Kubik, acarver-kubik@neh.gov, Lisa Goldberg, lgoldberg@lgpreservation.com, and committee members: Sarah Freshnock, Kelly Krish, Laura Gaylord Resch

The Outreach and Education Outreach (K-12) Subcommittees of the AIC Communications Committee propose a concurrent general session on the topic of conservation outreach and community engagement.

Conservation outreach and engagement is inherently collaborative and encompasses a wide range of activities, from writing a blog post to developing a K-12 curriculum. It involves building relationships with anyone from fellow museum professionals to the general public. Outreach and storytelling are essential to the future of the field, but it can seem daunting to begin engaging in this work. This session will highlight both successful case studies and moments of reflection on challenges on topics that include but are not limited to: building diverse audiences and community engagement; creating understanding with museum colleagues and allied professionals; gaining buy-in and/or funding for cultural heritage preservation; political advocacy; K-12 or family programs and intergenerational learning; outreach to artists; and experiences speaking with the media.

We seek presentations from anyone involved in outreach and community engagement work, including from people in private practice, emerging professionals, museum educators and other allied professionals.

This session may include:

• Projects exemplifying the importance of collaboration between specialties, other professional fields, and internal and/or external stakeholders.
• The importance of engagement and the responsibility preservation holds in communicating the full story of a site, building, structure, or object.
• Approaches that address the challenges of conserving public sites, buildings, and collections.
• Contemporary approaches to the preservation and treatment of historic structures and sites, including treatment challenges and the lessons learned.
• Planning and preventive maintenance of historic buildings and sites.
• New testing methodologies and materials characterization studies.
• New technologies for the assessment and documentation of historic buildings, structures, and sites.
• Any other topics related to the Annual Meeting’s theme on the power of collaboration.

Caring for Collections and Historic Buildings in a Changing Environment

The Architectural Specialty Group (ASG) and the Preventive Care Network (PCN) are pleased to announce that we seek abstracts for a joint session. The theme for this session will continue discussions that began at the Architecture and Preventive Conservation Joint Session in 2024.

We seek abstracts that address, examine, and discuss ongoing collaborations about the care and maintenance of historic buildings and preventive care of collections, practical sustainable approaches, the impacts of new innovative materials and environmental systems, and challenges in planning for care of collections. Both groups will also hold specialty sessions.

For this joint session, we are looking for submissions that address:           

• Reexamining the Joint AIC/APT Charter on the Preservation of Historic Structures and Artifacts after 30 years (1992).
• Challenges and successes in collaboration and communication between built heritage and collections care professionals.
• Building maintenance practices, and reconciling the needs of collection care.
• Re-evaluating existing methodologies and approaches, use of new technologies and other topics in conducting building assessments when they are combined with collection assessments.
• Collaborating when considering collections care needs alongside architectural conservation projects.
• Examining climate change impacts on the care of buildings and collections.
• Alternative environmental monitoring strategies (i.e. in non-temperate regions, for underfunded institutions, etc.).
• Other topics that address preventive care when the historic building is the largest collection item for an institution.

This session will be followed by a luncheon panel discussion that focuses on the Joint AIC/APT Charter on the Preservation of Historic Structures and Artifacts. The charter is now thirty years old, and discussions during this joint session and the luncheon will help lead to a newer interpretative version. Presenters should plan to be on site in Minneapolis for the panel.

For questions or further information, please contact the ASG Program Chair, Ali Wysopal (asgprogramchair@gmail.com) and PCN Program Chair, Lisa Goldberg (lgoldberg@lgpreservation.com).

More information coming soon.

The Book and Paper Group (BPG) seeks abstracts that either relate to the meeting theme or address other aspects of the conservation of art on paper, archival materials, bound volumes, manuscripts, or similar materials. We encourage abstracts from anyone with an interest or role in conservation, including current group members, other Specialty Group members, and related professionals. 

The BPG Abstract Selection Committee, composed of the group Program Chair, Assistant Program Chair, and other group members selected to reflect a balance of expertise and specialties among our diverse membership, will review abstracts for this session.

The Contemporary Art Network seeks proposals for two contemporary art themed sessions:

A CAN! specialty session related to the Annual Meeting theme: What’s your story? The Power of Collaborations and Connections. Papers may examine the material, social, technical, philosophical, and legal considerations of contemporary art conservation.

 Possible topics include but are not limited to:

• Conservation of contemporary art using collaboration and knowledge sharing from individuals in different fields
• Influence of a story: the impact of an artwork’s origin, exhibition, provenance and condition history on its treatment
• The use of storytelling to communicate with professionals, and to reach new audiences
• Innovative treatments; collaboration with artists, studios, fabricators, artists’ estates, and other stakeholders; leveraging the ecosystem of contemporary art; and beyond...

CAN! welcomes abstracts from both in-person and virtual presenters. In the spirit of mutual learning, substantive works-in-progress and open questions are welcome and encouraged. Shorter presentation formats are possible. Salient proposals outside the scope of the meeting’s theme will also be considered for this session. 

Contemporary Art Network (CAN!) and Voices in Contemporary Art (VoCA) – Joint Session

Evolving Dialogues: Revisiting the Artist Interview

The conservation of contemporary art often means access to–and sometimes, extended collaborations with–its makers, including artists, fabricators, and other representatives. The artist interview is one of the most valuable tools in the contemporary art conservator’s toolbelt, and it’s been over two decades since the field began to critically examine and formalize the practice. This session, co-hosted by the Contemporary Art Network (CAN) and Voices in Contemporary Art (VoCA) welcomes papers on lessons learned from generating and utilizing interviews as a primary resource in our work, and how our approach to eliciting, analyzing, and sharing information from these dialogues has evolved over the years. Papers co-authored with artists/makers is encouraged. Topics may include but are not limited to:

The intersection of art production and conservation, including artists making art in the conservation studio

• The value of long-term relationship building, allowing for tracking evolutions in artists’ and other stakeholders’ views over time
• Ethical considerations when navigating the sometimes disparate wishes of different stakeholders 
• Utilizing the artist’s voice to anchor conceptual and ephemeral artworks in the material world
• The impact of the interview setting or platform on dialogue and content
• The effect of power dynamics between combinations of established artists, emerging artists, institutionally-based conservators, and independent conservators 
• The ways in which translation can impact the content of an interview
• Interviewing subjects other than the traditional “artist and representatives” to capture additional facets of complex artworks

Proposals related to contemporary art outside the joint session theme will also be considered. 

Please contact Ellen Moody (CAN! Program Chair, programchair.can@gmail.com) or Jen Hickey (VoCA Program Committee Member, jhickey@sfmoma.org ) with any questions.

The work of conservators caring for electronic media and contemporary art is inherently interdisciplinary, and benefits from collaborating with a range of specialists. Drawing on this Annual Meeting theme, What’s Your Story? The Power of Collaborations and Connections, the Contemporary Art Network and Electronic Media Group are soliciting presentations for a Joint Session on how specialized knowledge that exists outside the field of conservation has been incorporated into the conservation of contemporary art and/or electronic media. 

Topics can include:

• Approaches and case studies of working with outside experts, vendors, contractors and how that knowledge/relationship impacted the understanding and/or long-term care of an artwork
• Stepping outside of your comfort zone in terms of caring for artworks with challenging/unfamiliar technology or materials
• Cross-disciplinary and cross-departmental collaborations in the treatment, display and/or documentation of contemporary art/electronic media
• Challenges you have faced when working with outside specialists and strategies you have developed to transcend them

Proposals related to contemporary art and electronic media outside the joint session theme will also be considered. For more information and to submit a proposal, please visit: https://www.culturalheritage.org/events/annual-meeting/current-meeting/call-for-submissions/specific-specialty-call

Please contact Ellen Moody (CAN! Program Chair, programchair.can@gmail.com) and Caroline Gil (EMG Program Chair, gilcaroline10@gmail.com) with any questions.

The Electronic Media Group (EMG) seeks papers that explore, interrogate and reveal all types of present work you may be engaging with: from treatments in progress, philosophical debates on the ethics of care, research projects in the conservation of electronic media, to topics that draw on the General Meeting theme of collaboration.

Topics  can include:

• Conservation of born-digital, software-based, light-based, and robotics artworks;
• Collaborations with outside experts and cross-training;
• Perspectives and case-studies on how to measure, advocate, develop and implement in-house standards and workflows at cultural heritage institutions with nascent TBM programs;
• Working with artist, artist fabricators and technicians;
• Proposals related to electronic media/time-based media outside of these topics shall also be considered. 

Proposals should be no longer than 500 words with a separate 300-word author biography. Please submit proposals by September 15th, 2024. 

For more information, please contact Caroline Gil Rodríguez (EMG Program Chair, gilcaroline10@gmail.com) or Elisse Brautigam (EMG Assistant Program Chair, elisse.brautigam@gmail.com)

Do you have a conservation story to share? The Objects Specialty Group (OSG) invites you to submit a paper for the meeting’s theme, which will be What’s Your Story? The Power of Collaborations and Connections. We want to hear your story about an object or collection you’re working with, a project that’s taken interesting twists and turns, or a meaningful collaboration. Spark ideas, inspire your colleagues, and help launch discussions about a diverse range of topics.

Themes for this year’s OSG program may include, but are not limited to:

• Larger-scale, collection-based conservation and preservation projects
• Collaborative decision-making between conservators and allied professionals
• People-centered, community-engaged conservation approaches
• Conservation work that is grounded in sustainable practice
• Novel object conservation research and treatments

We want to hear how your unique conservation story unfolds: the challenges you faced, the lessons that were learned, and the key characters who helped you along the way.

We encourage conservators working in a range of settings-from institutions to private studios-and career levels, to submit an abstract. Limited funding is available for speaker travel to the annual meeting.

Contact OSG Program Chair Carrie Roberts (cirobert@umich.edu) or Assistant Program Chair Sarah Montonchaikul (smontonchaikul@gmail.com) for more information.  

The Paintings Specialty Group (PSG) seeks papers that address this year’s conference theme but will address any submitted abstracts centering around paintings conservation. 

Brushstrokes & Boards: The Conservation of Painted Wood

The Paintings Specialty Group (PSG) and the Wooden Artifacts Group (WAG) seek abstract submissions for a joint session to take place at the 2025 AIC Annual Meeting. This joint session will be titled “Brushstrokes & Boards: The Conservation of Painted Wood.” The meeting is currently scheduled for May 27-31, 2025 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. 

Wooden objects with decorated surfaces are often treated by conservators with varying backgrounds. Oftentimes, collaboration and cross-disciplinary techniques are necessary to treat these objects. This includes, but is not limited to, wooden panel paintings, lacquered furniture, gilded frames, painted architectural features, modern/contemporary sculpture, the list goes on and on. PSG and WAG hope that this session will facilitate cross-disciplinary discussion and foster collaboration and exploration of innovative treatment ideas, techniques, and considerations.

Possible topics might include:

• Collaborations between paintings and furniture conservators to treat objects with condition concerns related to structural integrity and surface decoration
• Conservation of wooden panel paintings or polychrome sculpture
• Research related to wood identification of objects with decorated surfaces
• Microscopy of layered surfaces
• Decorative painting techniques

Abstract submissions should be no more than 500 words with an additional speaker biography of up to 300 words. Submissions are due by Friday, September 16, 2024. Joint papers are highly encouraged.

Talks are to be a maximum of 20 minutes in length with an additional 5 minutes for questions.

For questions or more information, please contact PSG Program Chair Sydney Nikolaus (sydney.b.nikolaus@gmail.com) and WAG Program Chair Caroline Shaver (caroline.shaver7@gmail.com).

The theme of this year's meeting is certain to resonate with conservators, researchers and allied professionals who dedicate their work to ever-changing photographic materials.

The Photographic Materials Group welcomes 20- or 10-minute talks and poster presentations for our specialty session.

Growing Preventive Care: Sharing Our Stories

This year the Preventive Care Network will focus on preventive care professionals’ stories related to individual expectations and realities faced when working in this burgeoning field. Submissions that address the intricacies of our complicated profession and how our collaborations with other professions have shaped our decision-making are welcome.

Topics that we are interested in (but not limited to) include:

• Expectations and realities of preventive care: Share your perspectives about whether your initial expectations match your job responsibilities.
• Growth opportunities: Tell us how your responsibilities have created personal and professional opportunities for change.
• Challenges and successes: Describe a project that did not develop according to expectations or changed as emergent needs evolved. Innovative solutions when faced with a novel situation are encouraged.
• Support for this growing field: Address how we capitalize on the strengths others bring to the table when those with a wide range of backgrounds and expectations collaborate to develop new solutions.

We hope to hear from emerging professionals, seasoned practitioners, and all preventive care professionals!

For questions: contact PCN Program Chair Lisa Goldberg (lgoldberg@lgpreservation.com)

Setting specifications for light-sensitive museum collection items is one of the most collaborative (and potentially contentious) elements of preventive conservation since lighting both guarantees destruction of the light-sensitive material, and also profoundly affects the visitor experience.
 
Microfade Testing (MFT) offers a minimally destructive analytical method which can provide information on rates of color change as one part of the discussions about illumination and exposure policies in museums.  The session will include both short papers (ten minutes of presentation) and longer papers (twenty minutes of presentation). Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

• New and innovative MFT techniques and applications.
• Assessments of existing techniques (for instance, the effect of different illumination sources on the measured rate of fading).
• Practical factors in the collection of MFT data from different material types.

The session is jointly organized by AIC's Preventive Care Network and Research and Technical Studies Group and by the Microfading Tester International Discussion Group (MFT-IDG).

RATS Specialty Group Call for Abstracts

The Research and Technical Studies Group welcomes abstracts that center on AIC’s 53rd Annual Meeting theme, “What's Your Story? The Power of Collaborations and Connections.” Collaboration between conservators, conservation scientists, and other allied professionals is at the heart of RATS’s mission, and we look forward to fostering and expanding interdisciplinary exchange through a robust technical studies and research-centered conference program in 2025. We warmly welcome all abstracts aligned with research efforts in the conservation field, especially those that resonate with the overarching conference theme. Topics of interest include but are not limited to:

• New research in conservation science that highlights the benefits of interdisciplinary collaboration 
• Projects that harness the synergy between object-based, materials, and/or archival research
• Collaborative projects that aid in the conservation treatment and/or interpretation of cultural heritage
• Experiences that highlight the challenges of team dynamics, priority-setting, and decision-making in cross-disciplinary collaborations.

Abstract submissions should be no more than 500 words with an additional speaker biography of up to 300 words. We welcome proposals for 20-minute talks or a 10-minute talk with a poster, with an additional 5 minutes for questions. For questions or more information, please contact RATS Program Chair Mina Porell (mporel@winterthur.org) and RATS Assistant Program Chair Annette S. Ortiz Miranda (aortiz@thewalters.org).

Big Cheese Best Poster Award

The Research and Technical Studies Group will continue to award the Big Cheese Best Poster Award. The group gives the award to the best poster presented at an AIC Annual Conference by an early career professional, preferably enrolled in an academic program (at the undergraduate or graduate level) or with no more than 5 years of post-graduate experience. The poster must demonstrate compelling and exemplary use of scientific techniques and instrumentation to study cultural heritage. A winning poster should be significantly informed by scientific principles of research. Topics can include but are not limited to: technical art history, conservation treatments, research into historic, modern, and contemporary artist materials, and preventive conservation.

The awardee(s) will receive a Certificate of Honor at the Annual Conference, a two-year membership in RATS, and ticket(s) to attend the RATS reception.

Please contact the RATS Program Chair Anikó Bezur (aniko.bezur@yale.edu) with any questions.

 

Sessions will follow the main Call for Papers.

Sessions will follow the main Call for Papers.

The Wooden Artifacts Group (WAG) seeks papers for the 53rd AIC Annual Meeting that address this year’s conference theme and welcome any submitted abstracts focused on wood and furniture conservation and research. The meeting is currently scheduled for May 27-31, 2025 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. 

Abstract submissions should be no more than 500 words with an additional speaker biography of up to 300 words. Talks are to be a maximum of 20 minutes in length with an additional 5 minutes for questions.

For questions or more information, please contact WAG Program Chair, Caroline Shaver (caroline.shaver7@gmail.com) and WAG Assistant Program Chair, Elly Davis (elly@ellydavis.com).