Laboratories and Specializations
A Range of Choices
During their graduate career at Winterthur Museum, Garden and Library and the University of Delaware students have the option to concentrate in a range of major specialties, including: furniture, library and archival materials, objects, paintings, works on paper, photographs, preventive conservation, and textile conservation. Students also learn from experts in conservation science and conservation photography.
Furniture Laboratory
During the first year of the master's program, the history of technology of wood and furniture and the analysis and treatment of varnished surfaces are addressed. The Winterthur rooms provide a comprehensive range of furniture and composite organic objects for first-hand study and extensive documentation. Treatment of these objects in the second year allows for curriculum continuity.
Applicants wishing to major in furniture conservation that do not already have a solid competency in traditional woodcraft will need to spend additional time in their second year or summer work projects. While wood is the primary material addressed in the laboratory, furniture majors will also be introduced to the wide-range of non-wood components that often accompany furniture: metal hardware, upholstery, and surface decoration. It is recommended that the prospective furniture major review the book: Conservation of Furniture by Shayne Rivers and Nick Umney (Butterworth-Heinemann series in conservation, 2005), for additional insight.
Students studying furniture conservation will follow the generally-prescribed WUDPAC curriculum with elective courses focused on connoisseurship, both art historical and technical, of furniture. During the second year, majors treat wooden objects and furniture, as well as objects and materials that are commonly associated with furniture, both historic and contemporary.
Furniture majors are supervised by Kathy Z. Gillis and also work closely with Gregory Landrey.
Library & Archive Materials Laboratory
During the first year of the master's program, library and archive materials are covered in a three-week block focused on the unique challenges facing research collections that may hold rare books, manuscripts, parchment documents, architectural drawings, scrapbooks, pamphlets, and ephemera. The block looks at the material culture and technology of these diverse materials, as well as basic strategies for the preservation of large collections valuable for intellectual content as well as rarity and beauty. Topics build on the themes introduced in the paper conservation block and include book structure, book history, deterioration, and treatment of library and archival materials, and housing options.
During the second year, library and archive materials conservation majors work from theory to practice by pursuing independent research and completing conservation projects for a wide array of books and other collection materials. Basic book conservation skills covered can include identifying and stabilizing book components in situ, intervening into various historic book structures, disbinding, rebinding, designing loss compensation, recovering original spine movement, designing exhibit cradles, and creating housings. Conservation projects incorporating a wide variety of library and archive materials, will be introduced as appropriate to each student's background and interests. A strong focus is placed on understanding the context of libraries and archives and working as a team with librarians and archivists to meet changing institutional needs.
The Library and Archives Conservation Education (LACE) Consortium was founded to support the education of library conservators through the development of a shared, inter-institutional curriculum in library-related topics which enhances the individual curriculums at each of the participating art conservation programs. The Consortium is comprised of the Winterthur/University of Delaware Program in Art Conservation (WUDPAC); the Conservation Center of the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University; and the Patricia H. and Richard E. Garman Art Conservation Department at SUNY Buffalo State. The LACE Consortium model continues to evolve, and specific inter-institutional offerings vary year by year.
Library and archive materials conservation majors are supervised by Dr. Melissa Tedone and Karissa Muratore, and take a minor concentration in paper, with additional formal coursework in preventive conservation.
Objects Laboratory
The study of objects conservation during the first year of the master's-level program is divided into an organic and inorganic materials block. The organic materials conservation block covers the material science, analysis, treatment, and preservation of modern plastics, leather, feathers, bone, horn, ivory, hair, wood, and other plant and animal materials, including natural history specimens. During the inorganic materials conservation block, students study metals, glass, and ceramic materials, as well as outdoor sculpture, and stone. Topics such as mold making and casting, glass reassembly, removal of soluble salts, mechanical and electrochemical cleaning techniques, and metals coating procedures are addressed.
Second-year master's-level students majoring in objects conservation work across two rooms, the Objects Lab and the Metals Lab. Treatment projects include objects made from a range of materials, both organic and inorganic, covering a variety of disciplines in the field of objects conservation (for example: decorative arts, modern and contemporary, natural history, and archaeological materials). Object treatment projects are often provided by Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library, as well as a host of local museums, universities, and historical societies, and private collections.
In working on conservation projects, students are encouraged to study and understand the history and cultural significance of material culture in their care through research and collaborative conversation. Using both benchtop microchemical techniques and instrumental analysis, students study the physical and chemical nature of the objects to gain an understanding of deterioration processes to and better determine appropriate conservationproposals. A series of seminars is also offered to the students on a weekly basis on particular techniques useful in objects conservation such as stain reduction of ceramics, examination and treatment techniques for leather, loss compensation of glass, conservation of plastics, and many others.
Master's-level students majoring in objects conservation are supervised by Lauren Fair and Lara Kaplan.
Paintings Conservation Studio
The master’s-level program first-year paintings conservation block includes the history and chemistry of pigments, binders, coatings, resins, adhesives, panels and the history and philosophies of painting conservation. It also focuses on the documentation, analysis, and treatment of paintings and painted decorative objects. Instruction in techniques for pigment microscopy and the analysis of multi-layered cross-sections from painted surfaces is also provided during this block.
Second-year paintings majors conduct complete beginning-to-end documentation, analysis, examination, and treatment of at least three paintings. In doing so, these students conduct thorough art-historical research on one or more of the paintings undergoing treatment and assist with additional minor conservation treatment work on smaller projects and frames to build skills and experience.
Master's-level paintings conservation majors are supervised by Mina Porell and work closely with Dr. Joyce Hill Stoner.
Paper Laboratory
The WUDPAC first-year paper block includes an introduction to papermaking and paper history, paper's deterioration, print and drawing process identification, basic conservation treatments, and housing. Students wishing to specialize in paper conservation receive a more in-depth introduction to paper conservation during their second year. Emphasis is placed on the students' understanding of basic treatment skills, including design stability tests, surface cleaning, attachment removal, humidification, bathing and drying, stain reduction, paper inserts, pulp fills, mends, and matting and framing. Other topics are addressed as they relate to particular treatments.
Paper conservation majors are supervised by Crystal Maitland. Paper majors often take additional concentrations in photographic materials, books and library conservation, or preventive conservation.
Photographic Documentation Studio
During the first year of the master's program all graduate students are instructed in the basic methods of documentary digital photography, including the use of ultra-violet light and infra-red reflectography. Second-year students are responsible for all the documentary photography required for their treatment projects and must produce digital before-and-after treatment images for their portfolios.
Supervision and assistance in the photographic documentation and digital studio is provided by Dr. Roxane Radpour and Nat Caccamo.
Photograph Conservation Laboratory
Photograph conservation internships are offered at the undergraduate level in a laboratory located in Old College on the University of Delaware's Newark campus. Graduate students majoring in photographic materials work on photographic materials in the Paper Conservation Laboratory at Winterthur.
In the first-year photograph conservation block, students study daguerreotypes, tintypes, albumen and silver gelatin prints, glass-plate and film-base negatives, electronic media, storage and handling practices, and stabilization treatments, including surface cleaning, tear mending, and consolidation. The preservation of photographic documentation is also emphasized.
Second-year students majoring in photograph conservation work on a variety of examination, documentation, treatment, and preventive care projects. Students examine and treat photographic materials from the University of Delaware collections, Winterthur archives, and other local and private collections. Recent projects include a wide range of platinum and gum bichromate prints by Gertude Käsebier; small wet-plate collodion images incorporated into an early motion picture device; mold-damaged 19th -century portrait photographs; and a privately-owned photographic album of the Beatles dated 1961-63. Emphasis is placed on critical thinking, preventive conservation, advocacy, and developing skills in documentation and treatment, especially surface cleaning, consolidation, attachment and mount removal, and compensation for loss. Single item, mass treatment, and preventive care approaches are pursued.
Master's-level photograph conservation majors are supervised by Debra Hess Norris and Barbara Lemmen.
Preventive Conservation
Preventive conservation is an important segment of our master's-level first-year curriculum. It is the focus of the first and last block of the year and is included as a foundational parameter in all other blocks.
The following topics are addressed: environmental conditions and management; light; building systems; packing, shipping, exhibition and storage; integrated pest management and housekeeping; emergency preparedness, mitigation and response; surveys and assessments; monitoring, reporting and communication.
Since 2002 it has been possible for students to minor in preventive conservation during their second year of study. This is achieved through and independent research project, participation in Winterthur’s Preventive Conservation Team, seminars and field trips, and a summer work project that is, in part, focused on preventive conservation and collections care.
2016 saw WUDPAC's commitment to offer preventive conservation as a major area of study. This development now makes it possible for students to select preventive conservation as a primary focus. The major guides students through the development of technical, soft, and research skills necessary to lead institutions large and small in the preventive care of their collections.
Joelle Wickens and William Donnelly supervise this area of the curriculum.
Each spring semester, second-year WUDPAC Fellows and other university students are invited to undertake preventive conservation projects within the context of the course, Preventive Conservation Research and Application. Projects from Spring 2024, taught by Anisha Gupta, included:
- Condition and Storage Assessment for Ten Delaware Historical Society Silk Dresses (Abigail Christiansen, Delaware Historical Society)
- Listening for Women: A Proposal of Care for Jazz Women (Hannah Grantham, survey of multiple institutions)
- Technical Analysis and Preventive Care of Plastic Objects at the Disaster Research Center (Kacey Green, UD Disaster Research Center)
- Accessioning Collections: Fashion and Textile Collection 19th-Century Survey (Kathleen Knesek, UD Fashion and Textile Collections)
- Storage and Handling Guidelines for Collections Containing Lead in Winterthur Library (Brittany Murray, Winterthur Library)
- Environmental Monitoring at the University of Delaware’s Disaster Research Center (Kelly Pedigo, UD Disaster Research Center)
- Capturing Condition of Textile Works at The Robert Rauschenberg Foundation (Gianna Puzzo, Robert Rauschenberg Foundation)
- Pesticide Testing and Management Strategies for the Museum of the Cherokee People (Riley Thomas, Museum of the Cherokee People)
The Department of Art Conservation at the University of Delaware is a member of the Resources for Emergencies Affecting Cultural Heritage (REACH) working group and proud partners with the American Institute for Conservation - Emergency Committee (AIC-EC). REACH and AIC-EC joined forces with the goal of creating and disseminating trusted resources on emergency management for cultural heritage institutions. The culmination of this collaboration is the AIC Emergency Committee Library, which is now available to the public. This library is an open-access resource hub for literature, research, tools, forms, and templates on emergency management. The AIC Emergency Committee maintains this resource library and welcomes feedback or suggestions for additions. To make a comment or suggest a resource, please email the committee at AIC.EC.Wiki@gmail.com.
Key Online Resources for Preventive Conservation
Scientific Research and Analysis Laboratory
Master's-level students complete their second-year science coursework in the newly-renovated (Summer 2018) Scientific Research and Analysis Laboratory (SRAL). The second-year science curriculum, offered during two contiguous semester courses, addresses the basic theory, procedures, and capabilities/limitations associated with the spectroscopic and chromatographic techniques most commonly encountered in collections interpretation and art conservation research. Learning goals focus on understanding and using recent scientific journal publications.
These courses enable our students to gain hands-on experience in data collection, interpretation, and evaluation for a range of instrumental techniques, including Raman, x-ray fluorescence (XRF), x-ray diffraction (XRD) and Fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopies, gas- and liquid- mass chromatography (GC- and LC-MS,), pyrolysis GC-MS, and scanning electron microscopy with x-ray microanalysis (SEM-EDS). Students also have access to instrumentation at the University of Delaware. For example the Advanced Materials Characterization Laboratory, the Mass Spectrometry Facility and the Surface Analysis Facility. This experience familiarizes our students with scientific methodology, proper sample preparation procedures, the challenge of accurate data interpretation, and current research in the field of cultural heritage science. A year-long materials research project (previously a Technical Study) ensures that our students have working familiarity and hands-on experience with instrumental methods of analysis as they relate to the activities of collections interpretation and conservation.
Many of these projects have contributed new scholarship to the understanding of unusual cultural materials, treatment procedures and preventive practice. The ultimate goal of our second-year science curriculum is to produce conservators who will work as informed collaborators with scientists. This year's research projects include the technical study of a paper doll house, research of a Fraktur birth and baptismal certificate, determination of the fungistatic and fungicidal effect of linalool on textiles, a study of the impact of benzyl alcohol on oil paint films, an investigation of works by Joachim Patinir and other Netherlandish painters, the scientific analysis of a Tafsir manuscript and leather case from Gambia, the characterization of nontraditional paint media in one of Robert Rauschenberg's paintings, the technical analysis of a blue Japanned chair attributed to Giles Grendey, an analytical and archival investigation of Robert Rauschenberg's Borealis metal paintings, and the study of artistic techniques and materials in a 19th-century monochromatic drawing.
Dr. Jocelyn Alcantara-Garcia, Dr Rosie Grayburn, Catherine Matsen, and Dr. Liora Mael provide student supervision and instruction in the Scientific Research and Analysis Laboratory. They are assisted by SRAL volunteers, including Dr. Chris Petersen.
Textiles Laboratory
The master’s-level first-year textile block covers textile history, technology, terminology, fiber identification, weave structure analysis. A wide variety of world textiles are addressed including embroideries, domestic textiles, carpets, costume, archeological textiles, and upholstery. The course focuses on the care, display, and storage of textiles with lectures on cleaning methods, stitched and adhesive stabilization, loss compensation, and exhibition mounts. Lectures are augmented by an extended object examination and documentation project, textile techniques projects, hands-on treatment exercises, and field trips to collections and exhibitions in New York, Philadelphia, or Washington, DC.
Areas of study for second-year textile majors include cleaning, stabilization, support, compensation for loss, exhibition, storage, and special problems associated with composite objects. Topics covered in theory during the first year are expanded through independent research, while students gain practical experience completing projects chosen to develop skills in accomplishing a broad range of conservation activities.
Textile conservation majors are supervised by Kate Sahmel. Textile majors may explore additional concentrations in objects conservation, painting conservation, or preventive conservation.
