These moments of observation are significant in service to the mission of the museum, and can potentially provide a collateral glimpse into the inner workings of creative practice.

In the summer of 2009, I was fortunate to accompany Conservation Department colleagues, Richard McCoy and Kathleen Kiefer, on a visit to Georgia and Alabama. The purpose of my presence during the trip was primarily to create documentation related to the evaluation and condition assessment of Thornton Dial’s works prior to the Hard Truths exhibition.

We chose to drive down from Indiana, as I loathe flying with every fiber of my being, and it was an opportunity to immerse ourselves in all things Dial along the way…audio interviews, books for the non-driver, and music steeped in southern culture and history. Setting the proper tone and knowing your subject are so important for interviews and photography, and we spent our driving time together reflecting on one man’s life and how his art connects us all through his personal experiences and vision.

Our days in Atlanta, prior to the scheduled Alabama visit, were a great occasion to spend some quality time with Mr. Dial’s assemblages in person, and provided a precursory opportunity for us to experience the works of art that will inform the photography process.

The grueling temperature of the Georgian warehouse in July was a test of will, antiperspirant, and intellectual mettle, seemingly akin to a purification of the mind, body, soul, and spirit. The sweat lodge effect was less than ideal, but we clearly understood its role in the South and the appropriate lesson that was layered into our collective experience of Mr. Dial’s art.

The most provocative portion of our travel was the end of the week outing to Bessemer, Alabama to meet Mr. Dial…and the only opportunity we had to interview and photograph him at the Dial Metal Patterns facility.

There was no guarantee I would have the opportunity, but my hope was to photograph him in his studio for publishing and media projects related to the exhibition.

Accompanied by collector Bill Arnett, Kathleen, Richard and I made the three-hour drive with anticipatory glee, as this was the moment to apply our research toward meaningful exchange and content creation efforts.

Due to the heat, we spent fewer moments as a group in the main workspace of the open-air building, but I was able to capture images of Mr. Dial’s studio space, as well as details of his art supplies, studio floor, etc. – anything that speaks to the artistic process, the artist’s intent, and can inform a broader portrait of the artist himself.

Although I was initially disappointed with his absence in the studio, we instead found ourselves gathered in a small air-conditioned office. This was a more comfortable, intimate space for conversation and I was awed by Mr. Dial’s quiet confidence, patience with both our questions and periodic bursts of my flash unit.

What caught my eye immediately was the United States map on the wall and I made quick work to ensure this element was included in a series of images while Richard and Kathleen interviewed him.

A succession of images followed during this period – his hands, shoes, expressions, etc., were all significant in building a visual narrative for multiple purposes at a later date. A single image from this grouping appears in the exhibition catalog, rendered as black and white, and the entire set of images has been posted to the IMA Flickr page.

Our time in Alabama with Mr. Dial, his wonderful family, and Bill Arnett only spanned a few hours, but it was clear we were in the presence of an American treasure – a soft spoken genius of intellect and creative purpose. His truth is our truth, as difficult as it may be; it is a truth worth telling.

While some important uses for Twitter have developed globally—especially around politics and sports—and many cultural institutions and art folks use it in interesting ways, Twitter still seems like an insider’s club.  Said another way, if you’re not using Twitter, you probably don’t have a use for it; in fact I think those that don’t use it generally get tired of hearing about it, and all the jargon that goes along with it.  After all, who could actually like the word “tweet” or want to work out a suitable past tense for that word.

But after more than two years, I think I’ve finally found a reason for folks interested in art conservation to use Twitter without, well, actually using Twitter.  Using the web-based application Paper.li, I’ve created Art Conservation Daily to summarize all the tweets about art conservation from the past 24 hours.  This online newspaper is auto-generated from my list of about 150 people that regularly tweet about art conservation.

So you can have a fresh copy of Art Conservation Daily delivered to your virtual doorstep every morning (e-mail inbox) by simply clicking on the “subscribe” button in the upper right.  Best of all you never have to so much as sniff a “tweet”.  While I don’t understand how the paper chooses the headlines or sections, overall it seems to do a good job of creating a timely and relevant newspaper. Take for example this weekend, when the Egyptian political system began crumbling, and museums became endangered; the best way to get the most current information about this situation was through Twitter.  Not surprisingly, the front page of Art Conservation Daily had a story about the situation.
As far as I can tell, there is no other place that you can get a daily summary of art conservation news on this scale. I really only have one market competitor: e-conservation daily, which is similar but its Twitter list is less than ½ the size and the content appears to be geared more generally to the cultural heritage field.  There are a few professional associations that operate general news blogs about art conservation (AIC and IIC, for example), and a few other conservators that write about conservation issues on their blogs, but none that give such a clear and timely snapshot of art conservation current events.

Although it seems unlikely that it will be putting the likes of The Art Newspaper or Art Daily out of business any time soon, Art Conservation Daily seems to be growing in popularity.  According to the counter at the top of the paper, it has had just under 2,500 viewers and a modest list of subscribers.

Also, there are some interesting features of this application: you can embed it in your own web page using the code at the top of the paper, you can see a streaming list of folks tweeting about art conservation inside the paper, and there’s a built-in archive so you can catch up on past editions.  Of course it’s paperless. The drawbacks? There aren’t many; it’s free, easy to use and maintain, but there are ads.  But what paper doesn’t have ads?  My only complaint is that I don’t get any of the ad revenue.

I’m always looking for interesting folks to add to my list to make the paper better, so if you know of any users that consistently talk about conservation or collections care, please let me know and I’ll add them. Who knows, they might make it in the paper.

Over the years, a number of interns in the Objects & Variable Art Lab have written blog posts for the IMA.  But this week, Jessica Ford and Katherine Langdon (who, you might remember, wrote “Caring for Bronze in the Community” this summer) have moved on to the proverbial “big time” to pen a two-part post on the American Institute for Conservation’s News Blog about their recent East Coast road trip to research art conservation graduate schools: Buffalo State College, New York University (my alma mater), and the University of Delaware.

The IMA’s conservation staff included graduates from each of these training programs, and former faculty from Buffalo State and University of Delaware.  Needless to say, we take training the next generation of conservators seriously around here.  So, please go over to AIC’s News Blog and check out Jessica and Katherine’s work:

• On the Road to Conservation: Pre-Program Road Trip – Part 1
  Jessica talks about making a trip out to University of Delaware and New York University to see their graduate programs.

• On the Road to Conservation: Pre-Program Road Trip – Part 2
  Katherine talks about visiting the Buffalo State College graduate program and nearby cities.

Both Jessica and Katherine are applying to conservation graduate school this year and we wish them well!

It’s impossible to attend every conservation-related conference or symposium. This summer, I missed what was perhaps one of the best conferences about the conservation of contemporary art in the past 10 years: Contemporary Art: Who Cares? Research and Practices in Contemporary Art Conservation. It was organized by the Netherlands Institute for Cultural Heritage (ICN), Foundation for the Conservation of Contemporary Art in the Netherlands (SBMK), and the University of Amsterdam (UvA).  The symposium was an activity of the International Network for the Conservation of Contemporary Art (INCCA).  It was held in Amsterdam June 9-11, 2010.

Shortly after the conference concluded, I interviewed Karen te Brake-Baldock on Art:21’s blog about the initial outcomes. When I was working on that interview and considering what I had missed, it occurred to me that, though there were many great talks, I really would have liked to hear those by Charles Esche, the Director of van Abbemuseum and Peter van Mensch, professor of cultural history at the Reinwardt Academie (Amsterdam). Well, now we can all hear these talks, and the rest of that were presented.

Charles Esche:

Charles Esche – Van Abbemuseum from incca on Vimeo.

Peter van Mensche:

Peter van Mensch – Reinwardt Academie from incca on Vimeo.

Both talks challenge us to re-think some of the purposes of museums and the display of artwork within them.  I’ll not go into a summary or any kind of critique of any of the talks, but instead simply encourage you to go check the complete list out.  Here’s a complete list of the talks.  Thanks, INCCA, for making the conference available online and letting me “attend” from my own home.

The truly dedicated IMA blog reader will know that Richard has been interested in putting information about art in Wikipedia for some time, and will also remember that the IMA has been interested in doing the same: from participating in the project Wikipedia Loves Art, to Max having lunch with local Wikipedians, to a number of folks from the IMA participating in the Wikimedia-sponsored event at Museums and the Web this year.

So, as a way to maximize collaborations, and kick off the final project for Richard’s Collections Care and Management course, we’ve arranged to have two rock stars of the Wikipedia world come lecture at the IMA next Tuesday night at 6pm.  The lectures will be free and open to the public.

Liam Wyatt, of Sydney, Australia, and Adrianne Wadewitz, of Bloomington, Indiana will discuss the importance of collaboration between Wikipedia and museums, libraries, and universities.

Here’s a little background on our IUPUI project: Last year Richard co-taught my Collections Care and Management course with Jenny Mikulay as we pioneered an effort to document the public art on the campus of IUPUI.  From that class we developed Wikipedia Saves Public Art (WSPA); you can read Richard and Jenny’s blog for more information.  The project has received a lot of positive attention, from within the Wikimedia Foundation and in academia. We’re most proud of this article in the Chronicle of Higher Education: Scholars Use Wikipedia to Save Public Art From the Dustbins of History.

This year our Collections Care and Management course is working with the resources developed though WSPA to document, research, and publish information about the public artworks in and around the Indiana Statehouse.

While this lecture will serve as the kick off for our project, it is also being developed in collaboration with Andrea Copeland, a professor in the IU School of Library and Information Science.  Andrea’s Public Library Management course has been writing two articles in Wikipedia as part of their class:
•    Public Library Advocacy
•    History of Public Library Advocacy

We are excited to bring together two speakers who have made a name for themselves by advocating for a stronger relationship between Wikipedia and the cultural sector:

Liam has worked closely with the Wikimedia Foundation to promote Wikipedia collaborations with Galleries, Libraries, Archives, Museums (GLAMs). Recently, he’s been traveling the globe to help museums and libraries collaborate effectively with Wikipedia, most notably as the first ever Wikipedian-in-Residence at the British Museum, a project that was highlighted by a recent article in the New York Times.

Adrianne is a Wikipedia Campus Ambassador at Indiana University, Bloomington who is currently writing her dissertation on 18th-century children’s literature. She holds the distinction of contributing to over 30 Featured Articles, making her an authority on creating high quality Wikipedia articles. For years, Adrianne has used Wikipedia in her teaching and is an advocate for its use in academia.

Please note that following Liam and Adrianne’s talks there will be a workshop for using Wikipedia. Space is very limited! If you’re currently working in Wikipedia or interested in participating in the workshop, please email Lori Phillips at lorphill@iupui.edu.

Wikipedia & the Cultural Sector
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
6:00–8:45 pm
DeBoest Lecture Hall

6–7:30 pm Lectures
7:45–8:45 pm Workshop

The cabinet and drawing should be familiar to regular blog readers from an earlier post that discussed the visit of an expert in French wood-carving techniques. After the cabinet had been carefully studied in the lab, it was time to figure out how to install it. Ideally, the goal was to place the cabinet in a permanent position, create a small focus area with the preparatory drawing, and situate them in the gallery without displacing many of the paintings already on view.
The cabinet was carefully reassembled and installed on a newly-built riser in the northeast corner of the gallery, adjacent to the drawing and a new introductory wall text written by Ellen Lee, Wood-Pulliam Senior Curator and resident Pont-Aven expert.

Here are some more images of the installation crew, Brose Partington and Scott Shoultz, working with objects Conservator Richard McCoy before transporting the work and then installing it in the galleries.

A painting by Henry Moret went into storage to provide space for the drawing and didactic panel. The paintings on the adjacent east wall were shifted down the wall and moved closer together. The resulting extra inches were enough space for all of the paintings on that wall to remain on view.

An additional problem arose in lighting the two objects to reveal their full aesthetic potential. The drawing is light-sensitive and can only be on view for a limited period of time before it needs to go rest in the dark in storage (The constant cycle of the galleries: when the drawing goes into storage, the painting by Moret that it displaced can come back on view). Additionally, the cabinet’s carving is relatively shallow and the polychromy is subtle, providing another lighting challenge.

On the cabinet, IMA lighting guru Carol Cody used light levels that she normally uses on paintings, hitting the top of the nine-foot tall piece with a little extra light to highlight the carving on the finials and to define the shape. The drawing next door received a lower light, as per conservation requirements for works of art on paper. She kept the brighter lights hitting the cabinet away from the drawing by using several spotlights on the figures. Carol’s biggest challenge was making the subtle paint colors and white areas on the cabinet really “pop,” which she accomplished by using a cooler, bluer  light than she normally would use on the paintings in the European galleries. She used slightly raking light to bring out relief and texture of the wood carving.

Now that the work is up in the galleries, please come see it and let us know what you think. We think it complements and enhances the already great Pont-Aven collection perfectly.

Simply put, what I like most about my job is that I get to look at works of art. I probably spend more time looking in one week than most people do in a whole year. When I’m looking, I always start with trying to figure out from what and how a work is made. For me, these are the most interesting questions to investigate. If you can’t put together at least some rough answers, then you really can’t make any further assumptions (art historical or otherwise), and you’re certainly not going to be in a good position to make good conservation decisions.

I rarely ever get to the question of whether or not I like an artwork; in conservation, answering that question doesn’t really get me anywhere.

This week I’ve had the exceptional opportunity to look at a rare corner cabinet with carvings by Emile Bernard. This cabinet is one of only four known examples produced by the Pont-Aven School (one is at the Norton Simon, one is at the AIC, and the other in Paris). It made quite a big splash when we acquired it this year.

In an effort to better understand the construction of the cabinet, I’m working alongside the IMA’s Pont-Aven specialist, Ellen Lee, The Wood-Pulliam Senior Curator, and Jérôme Séré, ebéniste restaurateur de mobilier (cabinetmaker and furniture restoration specialist) who specializes in this type of cabinetry.

We’ve started our technical examination of the piece by measuring and inspecting each element, and then making radiographs of certain joins, and finally producing IRR images to look for under drawings. The IMA’s New Media folks were down in the lab yesterday to make a video about the work, so stay tuned for that. Also, the cabinet will be featured in the forthcoming IMA Magazine.

But today, I want to share a few sneak peaks of our work.  Here are some digital radiographic images I produced yesterday that show the refined joinery of the cabinet and the hardware used to make the cabinet doors swing open.

Bernard Corner Cabinet, Lowest Section, Top Proper Left

Bernard Corner Cabinet, Lowest Section, Bottom Proper Left

Richard getting ready to crush it to left

This year, with Jim Walker’s help from the Big Car Gallery, we resurrected the Indy Cultural Softball League.  We’re fortunate to play on a handsome stretch of grass just behind the Garfield Park Arts Center, and have the park’s historic 1903 pagoda as a backdrop.

League Logo designed by Joel Dale

The teams in the league are:
The Indianapolis Museum of Art
Keep Indianapolis Beautiful
Herron School of Art & Design
Big Car Gallery
And this other team, from this other museum here in Indianapolis. What’s their name? I always forget… oh, yeah, the Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art. Our softball nemesis!  The Newman to our Seinfeld.

Don’t get me wrong, I like the Eiteljorg; it’s a great museum and one of highlights to our city.  They put on excellent exhibitions and the staff are top-notch museum professionals, but a softball team?  Come on, now.  Please.
Sure, they barely beat us the last time we played, but that was a fluke, an aberration, an odd and distasteful hiccup in the storied legend of the IMA’s softball dominance.  And, sure, John Vanausdall, the Director and CEO of their museum pitches for the team, holds down the short stop position, and swings a good bat (I’m just saying, Max.  I’m just saying.), but are they a serious softball squad?  No way.

Eiteljorg Director & CEO John Vanausdall pitching for the team

The IMA plays the EM in the final game of the year next Tuesday the 31st of August at 7:30 pm.  This is where we’ll find out which museum really owns this town.  According to the standings, the IMA and EM are deadlocked at 5-2, so this game will decide it all.  Please come out and cheer on the IMA!
And for me, the crime of it all is that I just started back teaching my Collections Care & Management class for the IUPUI Museum Studies program, which of course the class meets on Tuesday nights.  So I’m going to miss the game.
I’ve tried and tried to figure out a way to make the softball game part of this year’s curriculum, but still haven’t found an angle.  Somehow it just doesn’t seem right to require my students to come out and cheer for the IMA as part of their class.  Well, honestly, it probably would feel right, but I’m not sure of the educative component.  If anybody has any ideas, I’m all ears. Oh, and if you have any ideas for clever nicknames for the Eiteljorg, please list them below.

IMA congratulates KIB on a great game

]]> http://www.imamuseum.org/blog/2010/08/27/boom-goes-the-dynamite/feed/ 7 Richard getting ready to crush it to left League Logo designed by Joel Dale Eiteljorg Director & CEO John Vanausdall pitching for the team IMA congratulates KIB on a great game http://www.imamuseum.org/blog/2010/07/21/caring-for-bronze-in-the-community/ http://www.imamuseum.org/blog/2010/07/21/caring-for-bronze-in-the-community/#comments Wed, 21 Jul 2010 13:50:28 +0000 Richard McCoy http://www.imamuseum.org/blog/?p=13540 This summer I am fortunate to have two dedicated and hard-working interns working with me to help take care of the IMA’s many outdoor sculptures.  Here is a post by Jessica Ford and Katherine Langdon discussing their experiences treating the Sewall Memorial Torches which are on loan to Herron High School. Katherine and Jessica take their work very seriously and are pursuing careers in conservation.

Historic photograph of Sewall Memorial Torches

“Hey, I have a new project for you guys,” Richard greeted us as we came into the conservation lab one morning. “The museum owns a pair of bronze lampposts that have just been loaned to Herron High School and installed at their original location at 16^th and Deleware. The school is really excited to have them back. Since they are IMA property, we are responsible for taking care of them. That’ll be our job, so start researching bronze. Chop, chop!”

Thus began our first adventure into the world of outdoor bronze treatment and our blossoming knowledge of the subject. Our research fell into two categories: the history of the Sewall torches themselves, and the characteristics and treatment of outdoor bronze sculpture.

Bronze is one of the oldest and most important materials in human history. Its strength, beauty and other characteristics make it well suited to industrial, military, and artistic uses, giving it such prominence in the archaeological record that it lends its name to an entire stage of human technological and social development (the Bronze Age!) .  Check out the bottom of this post for more information about bronze!

The Sewall Memorial Torches are intimately tied to the history of the Indianapolis Museum of Art and the arts movement in Indianapolis at the turn of the 20^th century. As the savvy blog reader will remember, May Wright Sewall was the founder of the Art Association of Indianapolis. Shortly after her death in 1920 the Association honored her contributions to society by erecting these torches outside what was then the Herron Art Institute, the city’s first art museum and art school (the school is now located on the campus of IUPUI).

When the museum component moved to the present location in 1970 and became the IMA, the torches came with.  They remained in storage (indoors and out) until this year, when they were returned to their original location.

Armed with this knowledge, the three of us boldly set out for Herron High. There we began our first official documentation project of the summer.

Conservation is full of documentation, and we had to learn how to do it the right way. Materials needed: camera, tape measure, pencil, and paper (and a good eye). We examined the torches, their installation, stability, and overall appearance, and then wrote a condition report complete with a thorough description and pictures of their pre-treatment state.

Conservation Treatment Report

The first thing confirmed was that the torches are structurally stable—the installation was excellent; new mounts were bolted into the limestone, not directly attached to the torches but merely holding them in place underneath. All evidence of the torches’ original patina bronze is now lost from decades of exposure to the natural elements.

Exposed surfaces showed the bright green of verdigris, and the sheltered areas were a crusty black. This splotchy appearance made the overall shape of the lampposts and the designs within the intricate bronze-work difficult to fully appreciate.

Sewall Memorial Torch before treatment

We decided that the best treatment short of a complete restoration of the patina would have two stages: 1) cleaning off the lose corrosion on the surface, and 2) coating the entire surface with a thin layer of wax, which would unify the appearance of the bronze by saturating the light green corrosion layer.  The wax would also protect the bronze from further weathering and graffiti.

Once we developed a satisfactory treatment plan, we gathered our materials. First, the white van, a monstrosity big enough to haul around the three of us and all of our necessary items, including:

1. Ladders—these torches are tall, standing 10.5 feet on their own, and mounted on limestone bases about 3 feet tall.
2. Power washer.
3. Propane tanks, torches, and lighters.
4. Brushes.
5. Wax.
6. Traffic cones.
7. Various tools.
8. Sunscreen!

Upon arriving at the scene of the assignment, we drove directly onto the sidewalk and scattered the contents of the van around to broadcast our official purpose.  A group of Herron summer school students stared on curiously while eating their lunch as we began taking turns blasting the torches with gallon upon gallon of high pressure water.

Katherine Langdon power washing

It was a hot day, but we didn’t feel it. Within five minutes we were soaked from head to toe from the water ricocheting off the bronze. This went on for hours. Even half-blinded by the force of the water in our faces, we could see patches of darker bronze emerging from beneath the verdigris. Finally the first torch was clean, revealing a much healthier surface.

Jessica Ford power washing

Richard meanwhile attended to many important cell phone calls and internet searches on his iPhone, which never seems to leave his side.

After the water we progressed to fire.

Hot wax treatments are ideal for outdoor sculptures because the wax used has a very high melting point and hardens into a rigid coat that lasts fairly well through the effects of the changing seasons. Richard formulated the wax compound we used on the torches earlier in the year.  The microcrystalline blend consists of 80% Microwax W-445, 17% Bareco 2000, and 3% Cosmolloid 80 H.

Application of hot wax requires the bronze to be heated with a propane blow torch, which makes the wax fluid upon contact and allows for a smooth and even coating.

Katherine and Jessica hot waxing

Swapping tasks between heating the bronze and spreading the wax, we began the arduous process of coating the lampposts. The wax had the immediately satisfying effect of unifying the color of the surface into a rich, dark greenish-brown. We vertically challenged interns took responsibility for the intricate crevices and detail-work on the lower portion of the torches, and Richard used his height advantage to coat the upper reaches.

Katherine showing the torch waxed half way

In detailed areas we also used Trewax, a commercially available paste wax (applied cold) made mostly of carnauba wax.

Richard applying Trewax

And so it was that after days of work, a little bit of sunburn, and a lot of learning that we brought the Sewall Memorial Torches to their more dignified current state. Their appearance now more closely reflects the originally intended aesthetic, allowing visitors and passersby to enjoy their design.

As we packed up to go, one of the first passersby to see our finished work was an elderly man taking a stroll with the aid of a cane. He stopped to admire the torches and then addressed us with an excited smile. “I’m so glad these lampposts are back. You know, I used to be a student here when it was still the Art Institute, and I was sad to see them go. I always loved these lampposts. I’m so happy they’re back!”

Whoa. That was the moment we realized that we’d done more than just re-wax some old bronze. We had helped return a fondly remembered piece of history to the Old Northside. As the former posh stomping grounds of a U.S. President and the blighted scene of countless crimes and drug deals, the neighborhood has seen multiple transformations since the torches were first installed, some for better, some for worse.  Another recent addition to the neighborhood is Indiana Landmarks, whose new headquarters is in the former Central Avenue Methodist Episcopal Church, which is currently under major restoration.

The lampposts recall the most valuable contributions of the neighborhood during one of its most successful moments; back in their place of prominence, they are now symbols of the restoration of the community.

Sewall Memorial Torches after treatment

After we packed all of our supplies back into the van, we drove straight to Dairy Queen for a much-needed reward. We decided to enjoy our treats while taking the scenic route back to the IMA through the neighboring Crown Hill Cemetery.  Richard pointed out the many different bronze, limestone, and marble monuments that quietly reveal the development of Indianapolis. One of these is the elegantly heartbreaking homage to Albertina Allen Forrest created at the turn of the 20^th century. It features a bronze figure of a young woman in mourning made by Rudolph Schwartz, the same artist who sculpted the roundels on the front façade of Herron High School (next time you’re there, look up).

These objects, their relationship to their time, and their role in the progression of our city are history lessons worth preserving. Now we are equipped to assist in these efforts.

Finally, for those of you who like factoids, here are a few interesting ones we learned about bronze during our research:

• Bronze is an alloy usually containing 88% copper, 12% tin.
• It is used in sculptures for these reasons:
  • it is a hard but relatively non-brittle metal alloy;
  • it protects itself from damage to a certain extent by forming a surface layer of corrosion that seals and protects the rest of the bronze — this is called the patina;
  • it sets in detailed molds particularly well.
  • The final surface appearance of bronze is up to the maker, who controls the patina via various complicated chemical processes. For example, the surface can be patinated to appear black, brown, dark gold, green and many other colors. It can even be patterned.
  • The earliest surviving bronze artifacts date to the late 4^th millennium BC.
  • When bronze corrodes outdoors, the most frequent results are:
    • verdigris, the sea-foam colored powdery corrosion often seen on copper roofs, fountains, and other untreated copper-based alloy pieces. (Verdigris is also frequently used as a decorative patina.)
    • black corrosion (copper-sulfur compounds) that builds up as a result of air pollution and gathers on parts of the bronze that are sheltered from rainfall.

This discussion, which was moderated by our Director & CEO, was recently summarized in an article in the Art Newspaper, Climate control: time to change the settings.

I also want to point out what a great job AIC and IIC have been doing with their blogs to let members know about conferences and current news.  Check out the AIC blog and read all of the recent posts about the Annual Meeting.  While there’s no substitute for actually going to a meeting, the amount of information the members of AIC are sharing through the blog is impressive.

Along with AIC and IIC, ICCROM has been using Facebook and Twitter to share current news and connect with a larger audience.  Even if you’re not a conservator, you ought to check out these pages and start paying attention to all of the discussions.

• AIC Blog
• AIC Facebook Page
• AIC Twitter Account

• IIC Blog
• IIC Facebook Page
• IIC Twitter Account

• ICCROM Facebook Page
• ICCROM Twitter Account