AIC/NU - Art Conservation Science

A group of 25 amongst invited speakers, Foundation officers and Symposium organizers enjoyed a private tour and preview of the AIC Modern Wing of Renzo Piano design, slated to open to the public on May 16, 2009. Here AIC President and Eloise Martin Director James Cuno greets the Symposium delegates.

Transportation was provided for attendees between the two conference sites, NU and AIC, with the familiar yellow buses that made everyone feel younger.

	Seminar Series in Conservation Science Final Symposium

	Final Symposium
	Productive Affinities: Successful Collaborations between Museums and Academia
	Productive Affinities symposium attendees in Chambers Hall at Northwestern University, on October 30, 2008. The final symposium was held at the Art Institute of Chicago and Northwestern University on October 29-31, 2008. Devised to mark the fourth year of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation funding of the Art Institute of Chicago/Northwestern University Collaboration on Conservation Science this three-day symposium and panel discussion brought together experts from science, conservation and funding agencies, offering a broad overview of research collaborations that showcase the convergence of critical technical expertise and resources on questions of interest to the study and preservation of objects of cultural heritage. As continued progress in conservation science becomes increasingly dependent upon collaborative efforts amongst several different disciplines, as well as effective partnerships involving a wide range of scientific perspectives from museums, libraries and other cultural institutions, academia, industry and national laboratories, the hope of the organizers was that the gathering would provide a springboard for much new research and the development of new approaches, and provide a forum for productive and practical discussions on how a close coordination amongst funding agencies could be catalyzed to support sustainable and continuous research efforts focused on art and archaeological subjects of inquiry. With nearly 140 participants also including representatives of leading private and public foundations, 29 oral communications of which seven invited, a panel discussion on funding for collaborative projects in conservation science and a session at Northwestern University that was a very effective mixer of pure and museum scientists, students and faculty of the university, this Symposium fully succeeded in proving the vitality of this collaborative milieu and the importance of fostering a deep engagement of conservation science with scientists in academia and industry Invited speakers: PAPER - Mark Ormsby (Senior Scientist, The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration), Nondestructive Analysis of Gelatin Sizing and Volatiles Associated with Historic Papers DYES AND COLORANTS - Dr. Marco Leona (Scientist in Charge, Science Group, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY), Is our research relevant outside the museum world? Developing Surface Enhanced Raman Scattering into a Practical Analytical Tool, in a Collaboration between Museum and Academic Chemists STONE - Prof. George Scherer (Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Princeton), Materials Issues in Conservation of Stone ARCHAEOMETRY - Dr. Michael D. Glascock (Research Professor and Group Leader of the Archaeometry laboratory at the University of Missouri Research Reactor), Archaeometry: Combining Analytical Technique with Archaeological Interpretation to Find a Meaningful Relationship CERAMICS AND GLASS - Prof. Arthur Heuer (Professor, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Case Western Reserve University), Bernard Palissy (1510-1590): Materials Engineer Par Excellence METALS - Prof. Catherine Oertel (Assistant Professor of Chemistry, Oberlin College), Acetic Acid Vapor Corrosion of Lead-Tin Alloy Organ Pipes FUNDING - Dr. Hannelore Roemich (Associate Professor of Conservation Science, New York University), Funding and Collaborative Research in Europe: General Policies and Selected Examples Panel discussion: Establishing and Sustaining Partnerships between Cultural Institutions and Academia in Conservation Science Research. Moderator: Paul Whitmore (Director, Art Conservation Research Center, Carnegie Mellon University) Panelists: Max Marmor (President, the Samuel H. Kress Foundation) Nancy Micklewright (Senior Program Officer, the Getty Foundation) Prof. Monica Olvera de la Cruz (Professor, Materials Science & Engineering, Professor, Chemical & Biological Engineering, Professor, Chemistry; Director, Materials Research Center, Northwestern University) Angelica Rudenstine (Program Officer, Museums and Conservation, Andrew W. Mellon Foundation) Prof. Neil Shubin (Robert R. Bensley Professor, Organismal Biology and Anatomy; Associate Dean, Organismal Biology and Anatomy; Professor, Committee on Evolutionary Biology, University of Chicago; Provost, The Field Museum) Kathryn Sullivan (Senior Advisor, Office of Integrative Activities, National Science Foundation) Dr. George Wheeler (Director of Conservation, Historic Preservation Program, Columbia University; Research Scientist, Scientific Research Department, The Metropolitan Museum of Art) A group of 25 amongst invited speakers, Foundation officers and Symposium organizers enjoyed a private tour and preview of the AIC Modern Wing of Renzo Piano design, slated to open to the public on May 16, 2009. Here AIC President and Eloise Martin Director James Cuno greets the Symposium delegates. Transportation was provided for attendees between the two conference sites, NU and AIC, with the familiar yellow buses that made everyone feel younger. Book of Abstracts (PDF, 2.2 MB)