CCI Newsletter, No. 28, December 2001

CCI Services: Lectures, Workshops, and Site Visits

In cooperation with provincial museum and art gallery associations, CCI responds to specific needs within the heritage community by offering workshops, lectures, and site visits related to the conservation and care of museum and art gallery collections. CCI staff also participate in and present lectures to meetings of professional groups and associations.

May

At the annual conference of the Canadian Association for Conservation of Cultural Property in Halifax, NS, Lyndsie Selwyn delivered a lecture on "Lead in Conservation."

Judy Logan presented a 1-day workshop "Field Conservation" at the Canadian Archaeological Association conference in Banff, AB (presented in partnership with Kasey Brewer of the Royal Saskatchewan Museum in Regina and the University of Calgary's Department of Archaeology).

At the annual conference of the American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works in Dallas, TX (May 30 - June 5): Debra Daly Hartin and Stefan Michalski presented the paper "Creating Conservation Crossovers and Connections" (which they co-authored with Carole Dignard and Jan Vuori); Season Tse presented the paper "Effect of Washing on Paper and Cellulosic Textiles: An Overview and Update of CCI Research"; and Linda Street manned the CCI booth in the trade show with help from Stefan, Debra, and Season.

At the Portuguese Institute for Conservation and Restoration in Lisbon, Portugal, Stefan Michalski delivered a lecture on preventive conservation and travelling exhibitions at a conference aimed at developing a National Policy on Travelling Exhibitions.

At the Museum of Modern Art in New York, Stefan Michalski met with representatives from major institutions in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands to discuss conservation research in contemporary art, including research activities, needs, and possible collaborations; the meeting was hosted by the Getty Conservation Institute (GCI) and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

Siegfried Rempel made site visits to the MacLaren Art Centre in Barrie, the Robert McLaughlin Gallery in Oshawa, and the Taras H. Shevechenko Museum in Toronto (all in Ontario).

June

At the Spring Meeting of the European Materials Research Society in Strasbourg, France,
Paul Bégin presented a paper "ASTM/ISR Research Program on the Effects of Ageing on Printing and Writing Papers: Thermal Accelerated Ageing Test Method Development."

Bob Barclay attended a meeting at the International Center for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property (ICCROM) in Rome for "Generation 2" to formalize the form, content, and detailed structure of a guide for producers of PREMA modules on preventive conservation for sub-Saharan African collections.

Judy Logan began a 2-month assignment as the on-site conservator in Ferryland, NF, where a 17th-century English colony is being excavated; the project is under the direction of Dr. James A. Tuck, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

James Bourdeau and Debra Daly Hartin visited an historic house in Braeside (near Arnprior, ON) that was built during the 1820s by lumber baron Alexander Macdonell to discuss a plan of action for preserving the site.

Renée Dancause and Janet Wagner presented a workshop "Construction of Mannequins for Historic Costumes" for the Minnesota Historical Society in Bemidji, MN.

As part of the ongoing Canadian Forces Museums' preventive conservation surveys contracted by the Directorate of History and Heritage of the Department of National Defence, Helen McKay and Siegfried Rempel visited two military museums in Ontario: The Hastings and Prince Edward Regiment Military Museum in Belleville and the Base Borden Military Museum at CFB Borden.

Seigfried Rempel visited Pointe-à-Callière in Montreal, QC, as part of a Canada Travelling Exhibitions Indemnification Program review.

July

Nancy Binnie accompanied marine archaeologists from the Underwater Archaeological Services Unit of Parks Canada to assist in site monitoring of the shipwrecks Célèbre and Prudent sunk during the second and final siege in 1758 of the Fortress of Louisbourg, NS.

James Bourdeau participated in a site planning meeting in Hollywood, CA, for the Freeman House designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and currently owned by the University of Southern California; discussions involved the conservation of Wright's poured and moulded decorative concrete facing elements for the interior and exterior of the house.

Marie-Claude Corbeil participated in a meeting of the editors of Studies in Conservation at the International Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works office in London, UK.

Marie-Claude Corbeil, Kate Helwig, Jeremy Powell, and Ian Wainwright participated in the filming of a segment on art fraud for the television program "Exhibit A: Secrets of Forensic Science" to be broadcast in winter 2002.

Siegfried Rempel visited the Winnipeg Art Gallery to facilitate an upgrading project, and the Mendel Art Gallery in Regina, SK, to mediate a meeting between gallery staff, city staff, and a private-sector consultant for a proposed upgrading project.

Siegfried Rempel and Brian Laurie-Beaumont visited several Aboriginal heritage sites in Saskatchewan to gather information on the development of these facilities and offer advice on issues facing them: Wanuskewin Heritage Park, Poundmaker Historical Centre, and Treaty Four Keeping House.

Brian Laurie-Beaumont and Siegfried Rempel gave a workshop on Aboriginal facility development planning at the Medicinal and Aromatic Plants Aboriginal Heritage Garden in New Brunswick to 24 participants representing 13 Atlantic First Nations communities with heritage cultural projects.

At GCI in Los Angeles, CA, James Bourdeau met with Francois Leblanc (Director of Field Projects) and Valerie Dorge (Program Co-ordinator) regarding common areas of interest between GCI and CCI in built heritage projects and architectural materials research.

August

Nancy Binnie visited Bruce Peninsula National Park/Fathom Five National Marine Park in Tobermory, ON, to recover iron corrosion samples which are part of a long-term freshwater corrosion study, and to assist Park staff with the shipwreck monitoring program implemented in 1992.

Nancy Binnie accompanied marine archaeologists from the Underwater Archaeological Services Unit of Parks Canada to Restigouche National Historic Site to assist in underwater survey and site monitoring projects on the shipwrecks Machault and Bienfaisant sunk in 1760 during the Battle of the Restigouche.

At the request of the Yukon Territorial Government, Siegfried Rempel conducted site visits of the Dawson City Museum and the McBride Museum in Whitehorse; he also visited the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre to meet with their staff and Northwest Territories engineers and architects to negotiate responsibilities for a proposed upgrading of the facility.

September

Jean Tétreault and André Bergeron, a conservator at the Centre de conservation du Québec, presented a seminar on the new trends in the implementation of conservation standards at the annual meeting of the Société des musées québécois in Quebec, QC

At LACONA IV (the 4th international conference on Lasers in the Conservation of Artworks) at the Palais du Louvre in Paris, Véronique Vergès-Belmin (of the Laboratoire de Recherche des Monuments Historiques in Champs-sur-Marne, France) and Carole Dignard presented their jointly authored talk "Laser Yellowing: Myth or Reality?".

James Bourdeau visited the Uplands Cultural and Heritage Centre in Lennoxville, QC, to conduct a site investigation of paint finishes of the historic Speid Mansion; he also provided advice on preventive conservation issues related to the collection and the impact of community use on this heritage building.

Siegfried Rempel delivered a presentation "Survey Supported Collections Management" to a joint meeting of the Organization of Military Museums of Canada and the U. S. Army Center of Military History in Quebec, QC.

Maureen Macdonald presented a session on environmental monitoring equipment for the Ontario Museum Association course "Artifacts" (part of the Certificate in Museum Studies program) held at Parks Canada's Ontario Service Centre in Ottawa.

At the conference "Deterioration of Artists' Paints: Effects and Analysis" at the British Museum in London, UK (a joint meeting of the working groups Paintings 1 and Paintings 2 of the International Council of Museums - Conservation Committee), and the Paintings Section of the United Kingdom Institute for Conservation), Leslie Carlyle gave a presentation "Historical Reconstruction of Artists' Oil Paint: An Investigation of Oil Processing Methods and the Use of Selected Artists' Mediums."

Siegfried Rempel conducted a site visit of the Grande Prairie Museum in Grande Prairie, AB.

Charlie Costain and James Bourdeau attended the Canadian Art Gallery Hop fundraising event in Toronto to support the important role of the magazine Canadian Art and raise the profile of conservation in the contemporary art community.

Siegfried Rempel gave a presentation "Art Galleries in Historic Structures" at a public consultation forum sponsored by the Grimsby Public Art Gallery in Grimsby, ON; this was followed by a meeting with the Gallery's Board of Directors to explore strategies for a future expansion.

October

At the Smith Symposium II "The Hiscock Site: Late Pleistocene and Holocene Paleoecology and Archaeology of Western New York State" hosted by the Buffalo Museum of Science in Buffalo, NY, Judy Logan presented a paper "The Feasibility of Preserving an Impression in Mud: Study of Soils from the Hiscock Site" (co-authored with Malcolm Bilz and Jane Sirois).

At the Eastern Analytical Symposium in Atlantic City, NJ, Geneviève Sansoucy gave a presentation "A Standard Protocol for the Analysis of Drying Oils by GCMS" in the session "Science in the Conservation of Cultural Heritage: Young Investigators."

CCI hosted the Professional Development Workshop "Adhesives for Textile and Leather Conservation: Research and Application" for 29 participants from 10 countries.

As part of an ongoing contract, Brian Laurie-Beaumont facilitated a planning meeting of the Steering Committee of the proposed Transportation Heritage and Technology Centre in Winnipeg, MB.