Arts Tune-Up: Preservation Tips for Artists

Make It or Break It: Choosing Your Materials Wisely

Presented by LaStarsha McGarity
9:00am – 10:00am PST

Material choices can literally make or break the material integrity of artworks over time. This session will help you formulate a conscious plan for choosing your art materials, while balancing your desired aesthetics with long-term preservation goals. This session is not intended to dissuade you from using certain materials over others, but will seek to equip you with the knowledge to better anticipate the impacts of your chosen materials as they age—whether your medium is reliable, cutting edge, or a known troublemaker.

LaStarsha McGarity is currently the Andrew W. Mellon Fellow in Objects Conservation at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC. She received a BA in Art with a minor in Chemistry from Texas Southern University (HBCU), in Houston, TX. She received a MA and a Certificate of Advanced Study in Art Conservation from the Garman Art Conservation Department at SUNY Buffalo State College, in Buffalo, NY. Her conservation experiences include Texas Southern University, the Cleveland Museum of Art, the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture, and the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African Art. Her graduate internships were completed at the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum and the Museum of Mississippi History (2MM), the Brooklyn Museum, the Saint Louis ArtMuseum, and the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures. As a conservator, she has pushed to redefine diversity in the field and worked to advance engagement with underrepresented institutions and demographics.

If These Walls Could Talk: Conservation Fundamentals for Creating and Preserving Murals

Presented by Kiernan Graves and Samantha Emmanuel
11:00am – 12:00pm PST

Creating murals that stand the test of time starts with community engagement, but is also predicated on choosing the right surface, compatible materials, and maintenance approach. In this session, we will discuss the fundamentals of understanding the environment as well as other potential risks that can affect your artworks, providing tools and tips to help you minimize them. Our goal is to help artists create murals with maximum longevity by making informed choices throughout all phases of their process. We welcome specific questions and are happy to talk through any challenges that the participants have faced in the past.

Kiernan Graves graduated from the Courtauld Institute of Art with a Masters in the Conservation of Wall Painting. She spent the first part of her career in private practice working on UNESCO World Heritage sites in Asia and Europe. In the US, her professional collaborations have included the Philadelphia Museum of Art, MoMA, JUDD Foundation, the Getty Conservation Institute and LACMA. Her specializations are modern frescos and exterior murals painted on concrete substrates. Currently, Graves is leading the conservation of Diego Rivera’s fresco Pan American Unity, in partnership with SFMOMA, and is the owner of Site & Studio Conservation, LLC.

Samantha Emmanuel holds a Masters in Conservation of Wall Painting from The Courtauld Institute of Art. She has participated on six international Courtauld wall painting conservation projects at significant historic sites in India, Bhutan, and Georgia. Samantha is currently based in the San Francisco Bay Area and her experience includes conservation of a variety of paint mediums and substrates, including lime-based and earthen substrates. She is also proficient in a variety of high-resolution, imaging techniques for the documentation of large murals, and was responsible for documentation of Market Street Railway Mural by Mona Caron (12’H x 38’L) in San Francisco, Eva Cockcroft’s Recycle, Renew, Restore, Repair mural (11-14.5’H x 280’L) in Santa Monica, and most recently, the documentation of seven historic murals (the largest being 18’H x 32’L) at the Southern Ute Tribal Campus in Ignacio, Colorado. While working on the conservation of Market Street Railway, Samantha became interested in contemporary community murals. She has successfully advocated for granting historic protections to Chicano community murals in the Bay Area.

Collections Care Advice for the DIY Artist: How to Preserve your Artwork Outside the Institution

Presented by Erin Jue and Jennifer Kim
1:00pm – 2:00pm PST

Meaningful art preservation is not limited to the dark, remote storage areas of propose-built museums, or the latest high-tech facilities. Preserving your artwork can still be accessible in a variety of contexts when you consider the specific environmental, biological, and human factors impacting your artwork, whether it is on display or stored. Light, relative humidity, pollutants, pests, among other “inherent vices” will be discussed along with how to make smart risk assessments. Bring your questions and get ready to learn some technicals specs!

Erin Jue is a paper conservator and owner of Los Angeles Art Conservation, a private paper and objects conservation studio. Prior to opening her practice, she worked for 12 years at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) and the Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens.

Jennifer Kim is the objects conservator at the Autry Museum of the American West. Jennifer has previously held conservation positions at the Archaeological Exploration of Sardis, Turkey, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County.

Unlikely Collaborators: How Conservators can Support Artist's Practices

Presented by Shannon A. Brogdon-Grantham
11:00am – 12:00pm PST

Art Conservation is likened to magic behind-the-scenes. Public awareness of the field is limited, but the internet, social media, and web series like this Arts Tune-Up have allowed conservators to "pull back the curtain" revealing this often-mysterious profession. In this session, Shannon will present a short overview on the work conservators do and how they aid artists in fulfilling their artistic intent, beyond the preservation of a work of art. Specifically, conservators and artists can forge a harmonious partnership through artist interviews, collaborative research projects, decolonization of art spaces, and other ways to be highlighted in this session.

Shannon A. Brogdon-Grantham is the Photograph and Paper Conservator at the Smithsonian’s Museum Conservation Institute (MCI). Her primary areas of focus at MCI include collections-based conservation research, interventive treatment, and preventive care of photographic and paper-based collections across the Smithsonian Institution. She routinely collaborates with other conservators and scientists at MCI as well as collections care professionals and curators at different Smithsonian museums. An area of conservation close to her heart are teaching and mentoring and Shannon has been involved in numerous programs to promote equity and inclusion in the field.

Let’s Get That in Writing: How to Incorporate Preservation Considerations into Contracts with Fabricators and Installers

Presented by Lily Doan
9:00am – 10:00am PST

Fabricators and installers play an important role in public art projects because they utilize materials and methods that largely impact the long-term preservation of your artwork. Conservators can help guide the selection of materials and advise on installation methods. However, it is difficult for artists to closely supervise decision-making by contracted fabricators and installers, making it a challenge to guarantee that proper materials and methods are implemented as planned. During this session, find out how a conservator can help protect the longevity of your artwork by ensuring that promises go beyond a sales pitch and are incorporated into a written contract.

Lily Doan is an objects conservator based in Los Angeles. In addition to conservation treatments, her services include collections management and consultation for new commissions, art handling, and exhibitions. When consulting with artists on materials and contracts, Lily’s philosophy is to provide pragmatic and balanced information, empowering the artist to make informed decisions about their projects. As a woman of color, she is dedicated to uplifting diversity in the arts and practicing conservation with a focus on serving the community. Lily holds an MA from the UCLA/Getty Conservation Program and is currently a conservator with LACMA at the Watts Towers of Simon Rodia, a National Historic Landmark located in South LA.

Helping You Pack: Storing, Handling, and Transporting your Art

Presented by Magdalena Solano and Nylah
11:00am – 12:00pm PST

This session will aim to prepare artists with information about safe practices for packing, handling, transportation, and storage of paintings, objects, textiles, prints, and drawings. Attendees will learn about ideal materials, suitable alternatives, and what to expect when displaying in a gallery or museum. The speakers will present examples and provide recommendations to prevent damage to your artwork.

Magdalena Solano is a second-year graduate fellow at the Winterthur/University of Delaware Program in Art Conservation majoring in paintings conservation. She holds a BA in Art History from UCLA and her professional experience includes internships in the conservation of objects, paintings, and textiles. Prior to conservation, she worked for museums and galleries in Los Angeles as an art handler and preparator, museum educator, in marketing, and conducting curatorial research. (Photograph courtesy of Jim Schneck, Winterthur Museum)

Nylah Byrd is a graduate fellow at the Winterthur/University of Delaware Program in Art Conservation (WUDPAC). She completed her undergraduate education in 2018 at Stanford University where she received her B.A with Honors in Archaeology and minors in Chemistry and Studio Art. Her professional interests include fabrication of inorganic objects, archaeological conservation, creating protective housings, and equity and inclusion in conservation and the broader cultural heritage field. Her long-term career goal is to work as a conservator in a museum that is decolonized or actively working toward decolonization. In her free time Nylah enjoys dancing, elaborately painting her nails, and crocheting.

Taking it into Your Own Hands: Caring for Drawings, Photographs, and Prints

Presented by Nicole Alvarado and Jacklyn Chi
1:00pm – 2:00pm PST

In the vast world of works of art on paper, there are many considerations that come into play when choosing materials. The drawing media, printing inks, papers, and photographic processes you use to create your artwork can all affect its stability, durability, and longevity. But knowledge is power, and we’re here to discuss what you can do to protect and manage your collection when it’s in your hands, and what to advocate for when it is in the hands of institutions, galleries, and other art professionals. In this session, we will review ways to store, house, and frame your artwork, and provide guidance for how to select the best materials for what you want to achieve.

Jacklyn Chi is a paper conservator at The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens and was previously the Andrew W. Mellon Fellow in paper conservation at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. She received an M.S. at the Winterthur/University of Delaware Program of Art Conservation with a major in paper conservation and a minor in time-based media conservation and a B.F.A in Film/Video/Animation from the Rhode Island School of Design. She has trained at the Morgan Library & Museum, the American Philosophical Society, the Tate Galleries, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and the J. Paul Getty Museum. Her background in fine art influences her deep interest in living artists, artist techniques, and studio practices.

Nicole Alvarado is a Los Angeles native and conservator. She received a B.A. in 2013 in fine arts with a minor in chemistry from Mount St. Mary’s University in Los Angeles. Nicole graduated in 2020 from SUNY Buffalo State's Garman Art Conservation Program with a specialty in Library and Archive conservation. Nicole is currently the 2020 Kress Fellow at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' Margaret Herrick Library.