SI’s 7th Annual SI Conservation Conference

MCI’s 7th Annual SI Conservation Conference

On Thursday 6/19/14 the Smithsonian Museum Conservation Institute (MCI) convened their 7th Annual SI Conservation Conference. The audience of 100 people heard talks by 12 Smithsonian Fellows about some of the amazing things they are doing in the field of conservation. These fellows included:

Steven O’Banion about the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden (HMSG) Artist Interview Program

Ines Madruga about the use of iPads in paintings conservation at the Museum Conservation Institute (MCI)

Damien Huffer on the Prehistoric and Historic Diet, Resource Exploitation and Social Organization
within Marginal Environments of the Near East and Central Asia at the Museum Conservation Institute (MCI)

Robin Ohern on Red, Pink and Blue: adventures in glass beads at the National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI)

Agathe Riquier about Biodeterioration of Poly(methyl methacrylate) pMMA: Remediation and Prevention at the Museum Conservation Insitute (MCI)

Fran Ritchie on the Investigation into Detaching Hairs on Furry Objects at the National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI)

Courtney Bolin on the New Wave: Modern Lighting for Historic Textiles at the Museum Conservation Institute (MCI)

Yun Liu about the Evaluation of Environmental Data to Assess the Effectiveness of Storage Condition at the Museum Conservation Institute (MCI)

Cathleen Zaret on a Preliminary Investigation into the use of Agarose Gels for Cleaning Ethnographic Materials at the National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI)

Amanda Malkin on the The Conservation Treatment of Islamic Manuscripts in the
Collections of the Freer and Sackler Galleries (FSGA)

Anna Weiss on Navigating Aircraft Treatment: Conservation of the Horten H IX V3’s Paints and Metals at the National Air and Space Museum (NASM)

Peter McElhinney about Searching for Stealth: A Technical Study of the Wood and Adhesive Systems on the Horten H IX V3 Bat Wing Ship at the National Air and Space Museum (NASM)

Bringing together so many scholars working on conservation from across the Smithsonian really highlighted the impact being made to preserve and protect special objects for generations to come. Just another one of the “seriously amazing” things that the Smithsonian is doing!