About Us

Art Conservation

An exterior photo of Old College Hall with pumpkins and gourds

Contact information

303 Old College Hall,
Newark, DE 19716

302-831-3489

art-conservation@udel.edu

Three students working on restoring an old painting

WUDPAC 2020 paintings majors Jennifer Meyers, Julianna Ly, and Tracy Lui inpaint late-19th -century Thai painting, entitled Buddha Descending from Tavatimsa owned by the Walters Museum of Art (Image credit Evan Krape, University of Delaware).

What is art conservation?

Art conservation is the field dedicated to preserving cultural property. Our cultural property is threatened by repeated exposure to a variety of detrimental factors, including excessive light, temperature, and humidity extremes, pests, pollutants, poor handling practices, natural disasters, and accidental damage. The survival of this heritage depends on the availability of educated and trained conservation professionals.

Conservators are professionals who are skilled in the scientific treatment and preservation of cultural artifacts. They have the specialized knowledge and skills in the arts, sciences, and other fields that enable them to undertake scientific studies on objects, stabilize the structure and reintegrate the appearance of deteriorated cultural artifacts, and establish an environment in which artifacts are best preserved.

Conservators specialize in a particular material or group of objects such as paintings, art on paper, textiles, library and archival artifacts, photographs, archaeological or indigenous materials, sculpture, furniture, or decorative objects. Our country's museums, libraries, archives, and other cultural institutions, as well as individual collectors, rely on trained conservators to document, analyze, treat, and care for their collections. This work ensures that these cultural resources are given the finest possible care and are available for the education, scholarship, advancement, and enrichment of future generations.

A Black male with a head-mounted magnifier working to restore a painting

Telvin Wallace (North Carolina Central University), a student in UD's Two-week Introduction to Practical Conservation (TIP-C) program, a summer program held in collaboration with the HBCU Alliance of Museums and Galleries, working on a painting by Jimmie Mosely Sr. for the University of Maryland Eastern Shore. (Image: Evan Krape/UD)

Funding

We are grateful for the many federal agencies, foundations, corporations, membership organizations, and individuals who have generously supported the education and training of future conservation professionals. Our program is supported by grants from the Ahmanson Foundation, the Annette Kade Charitable Trust, the Bay Foundation, the Brunschwig & Fils Corporation, the E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Foundation, the Chichester duPont Foundation, Conservation Resources Inc., the Crystal Trust, Eastman Kodak Company, the Getty Foundation, the Gould Foundation, the Karen & Leo Gutmann Foundation, the Mellon Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Society of The Colonial Dames of America, Nielsen Bainbridge Corporation, the International Questers, the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, the Sloan Foundation, the Society of Winterthur Fellows, Tru Vue, UNIDEL Foundation, University Products Inc., the University of Delaware Office of Women Affairs, and a number of individual patrons and donors.

Values Statement

The Department of Art Conservation values empathy, cultural identity, inclusion, and social connection as integral to the care of material culture. We are committed to educating professionals skilled in the analysis, treatment, and preservation of cultural artifacts by connecting disciplines in the arts, humanities, and sciences.

More about Art Conservation

Our undergraduate degree in art conservation is one of a kind – no other program in the United States has professional conservators as permanent faculty with real-world experience caring for collections. This distinguished program prepares students for graduate-level study in the conservation of material culture and related fields, such as historic preservation, museum studies, archeology, art history, library science, and more.

Read more about the department

We offer our students the opportunity to study and conserve a wide range of fine art, library, archaeological, and indigenous materials from UD Special Collections & Museums and cultural institutions, including Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library, Penn Museum, the Hispanic Society in New York City, and the Legacy Museum at Tuskegee University.

Through our jointly sponsored Master's-level Winterthur/University of Delaware Program in Art Conservation (WUDPAC), one of four such programs nationally, graduate students study the history, technology of cultural heritage and its preservation. They use state-of-the-art analytical instrumentation found in Winterthur's conservation studios and research laboratories to interpret, document, analyze, treat, and preserve a wide range of cultural artifacts, from local family treasures to internationally recognized collections that range from ancient artifacts to contemporary art. Students gain further practical experience in serving local and global communities through free-of- charge conservation clinics centered on the care of personal treasures, public presentations and tours, collaborative programming, and international research travel. WUDPAC students may specialize in eight disciplines: textiles, furniture and wooden objects, works on paper, photographs, paintings, organic and inorganic objects, library and archival materials, and preventive conservation. Students graduate to secure post-graduate fellowships and positions in private practice, regional centers, and major cultural institutions in the U.S. and abroad.

The Preservation Studies Doctoral Program prepares students to pursue advanced research in any of the specialties listed above in addition to urban planning and historic preservation of the built environment. Former students have studied the techniques and conservation of works by artists such as Willem De Kooning, Hans Hofmann, and Albert Pinkham Ryder; the preservation of Chinese lacquerware, Native American beadwork, or fossil bones, history and preservation of outbuildings, and the traditional techniques of Kurdish weavers. Current students are investigating topics, including African American jewelry and the preservation of collections in Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). This is a dynamic interdisciplinary program involving leading faculty from Art Conservation, Art History, Anthropology, History, Geology, Chemistry and Biochemistry, Museum Studies, Disaster Research, Africana Studies, and the Center for Historic Architecture and Design.

Department graduates from these programs have preserved such irreplaceable objects as the Declaration of Independence, the Emancipation Proclamation, the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Star Spangled Banner, works of art by Old Masters and contemporary artists from Raphael to Basquiat, architectural interiors from the White House to the Forbidden City in China, dinosaur bones, Egyptian faience, Native American basketry, early American cabinetry, Babe Ruth's baseball contract, Elvis Presley's gold records, the ruby slippers from The Wizard of Oz, C3PO from Star Wars, and offerings to the George Floyd Square. Our faculty and graduates respond to natural emergencies and assist with the preservation of at-risk collections from Cuba to Iraq.

In the years ahead, we will continue to assess our curriculum, strengthen international partnerships, and engage communities and public audiences as we collectively preserve the world's artistic and cultural heritage for the enrichment of current and future generations.

— UD Department of Art Conservation, September 2021

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Student and faculty examining an old Victorian scrapbook with a microscope

Yan Ling Choi (WUDPAC Class of 2020) and Dr. Rosie Grayburn use XRF to examine a Victorian scrapbook housed in the Grossman Collection at Winterthur Library. (Image: Evan Krape/UD)

The College’s Commitment to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

Diversity, equity and inclusion are significant parts of the University of Delaware's College of Arts and Sciences's values and goals. The college's commitment to these values is not just evident in its student body but also its faculty, staff, and curriculum, ensuring a fully inclusive experience. Through this steadfast dedication to diversity and inclusivity, the college continues to enrich its educational offering, allowing each student to benefit from a wide array of viewpoints and experiences.