Category: Art Conservation
What is a Conservation Clinic?
November 20, 2024 Written by CAS Staff
The Winterthur and the University of Delaware conservation staff, faculty, and students have been hosting the monthly or bi-monthly cultural heritage Conservation Clinic since 1976, where advice on condition, care, and possible treatment is offered without charge. We are proud that this is a free service for members of the community who are interested in how to care for or how to find trained conservators to treat their treasured family possessions. (We have had visitors bringing items from as far away as Charlottesville, VA and Williamstown, MA!) A small percentage of the works may be accepted for treatment by advanced graduate students if they have unique problems that fit into the teaching curriculum. However, many of our program alumni or their professional colleagues are skilled private conservators located in the mid-Atlantic region, and we are glad to provide their contact information and recommend their services.
On designated Thursday afternoons, we have an array of tables in the Brown Horticulture Learning Center at Winterthur, Museum, Garden & Library with our teaching conservators and their students on the ready to look at objects in the following specialty areas: wood and furniture; textiles; books, archival documents, photographs, and works of art on paper; paintings; ; and three-dimensional objects such as glass, ceramics, metal, stone, or organic materials. Appointments are thirty minutes each, and up to three works within one specialty area can be brought for that timeslot. In addition, preventive conservators are on hand to offer advice on continuing care—how to limit damage to your treasures and show examples of tools and materials you can safely use at home.
We have found Conservation Clinic to be “win-win” experience—the owners learn about the condition of their works: which ones have high priority issues to address as soon as possible and what can they leave alone without guilt. At the same time, our students learn valuable communication skills—how to explain in listener-friendly terms what may be complex issues of deterioration.
Each visitor has a personal story to tell; this could range from an ancestor’s special bequest to a beloved item from childhood. It could even be a chance encounter at a yard sale that proves to reveal the long-lost portrait of a famous abolitionist. (In this instance, Winterthur owned the print, but no one had previously known what had happened to the original painting; it was treated and is now in the National Portrait Gallery).
A sampling of the memorable objects and artworks that have come to Conservation Clinic includes: a dinner roll signed by Andy Warhol, a pantyhose testing leg from du Pont (a life-size leg that was used to test the pull strength of pantyhose), Incan brain surgery tools, two Ben & Jerry animation cels signed by the artist for the owner and her sister when they were little girls, and a re-discovered portrait by Benjamin West. A particularly touching story was revealed at a recent Conservation Clinic: a gentleman brought in a sampler that his wife had made, and he was seeking advice on how to mount it properly. As he chatted with Winterthur Museum Associate Preventive Conservator and WUDPAC Affiliated Assistant Professor William Donnelly, he mentioned that after his wife passed away, he taught himself how to sew and knit so that he could finish her craft pieces starting from where she had left off. It is touching stories like these that show us all the power of objects. We are grateful for the chance to share our passion for cultural heritage preservation so our communities can continue to carry on what is meaningful to them.
More information can be found on the ARTC website and the Winterthur Museum website. If you would like to participate in Conservation Clinic, please call 800.448.3883 x7029 or email tourinfo@winterthur.org to make an appointment.
