The Smithsonian’s Museum Conservation Institute in collaboration with the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts is pleased to announce that REGISTRATION IS NOW OPEN for The Mechanics of Art Materials and its Future in Heritage Science: A Seminar and Symposium, to be held at the Smithsonian Institution on October 24-25, 2016. This program brings experts in mechanics research from across the globe to discuss current and future trends in the study and preservation of cultural heritage. Speakers represent a continuum of this research, from its origins to those professionals currently working to shape their field and train future generations of scholars. This special event is designed to engage and inform a broad audience including conservators, collection managers, curators, scientists, engineers, facility managers, students, and policy makers.

Day One of the program will feature the popular paint mechanics workshop created and taught by MCI Senior Scientist Emeritus Marion Mecklenburg, condensed into a single-day seminar. The morning program on Day Two will feature an international group of speakers presenting case studies on the state of mechanics research around the globe, while the afternoon program will feature emerging U.S.-based speakers and their thoughts on the future of the field.  We are excited to announce that speakers from the following institutions have been confirmed for Day Two of this event: the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, the Polytechnic University of Valencia, the Polish Academy of Sciences, the Netherlands Institute for Scientific Research, the Tokyo National Museum, the National Museum of Denmark, the Getty Conservation Institute, the Image Permanence Institute/Rochester Institute of Technology, Northwestern University/Art Institute of Chicago Center for Scientific Studies in the Arts, and the Institute for the Preservation of Cultural Heritage/Yale University.

This intensive, two-day event will provide attendees with an overview of the behavior of art materials and connect that information directly to the activities of those scholars currently shaping the field of heritage mechanics studies. Day Two presentations will focus on the impact of mechanics research in the cultural heritage sector with talks on topics including risk assessment and collections monitoring, the fiscal impact of changes in collections care, new protocols for transit and storage environments, and the application of mechanics research to decorative and archival collections as well as to materials found in contemporary art. Day Two will conclude with a panel discussion on advancing stakeholder participation in mechanics research and application. A post-event publication will include a historiography of mechanics research at the Smithsonian, the case studies and vision papers prepared by the Day Two speakers, Dr. Mecklenburg’s 1982 unpublished report to the Smithsonian on the mechanical behavior of painting materials, and a bibliography of Smithsonian heritage mechanics publications. 

 

Registration will include coffee/tea breaks and lunch on both days, as well as an evening reception on October 24. There is no single-day registration option. Registration for this two-day event is available through Eventbrite at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-mechanics-of-art-materials-and-its-future-in-heritage-science-a-seminar-and-symposium-tickets-26752983895. 

 

We hope you will join your colleagues at this event! Program details and registration link can also be found on the MCI website at www.si.edu/mci. For questions about the program or accommodation contact MCI Paintings Conservator Dawn Rogala at [log in to unmask].