MS213: Museum Artifacts: How they were made and how they deteriorate
Instructor: Helen Alten
Price: $475
Dates: Jan 7 through Feb 15, 2013
Location: online at www.museumclasses.org

Description:
Every museum object is unique, but items made of similar materials share 
characteristics. Museum Artifacts gives participants an understanding of 
the materials and processes used to make objects - knowledge that better 
prepares them to decide how to care for their collections. Participants 
study two objects that represent all materials found in our museums. 
Through an in-depth analysis of their components, participants explore 
all possible objects found in any museum.

Logistics:
Participants in Museum Artifacts work through 12 sections on their own. 
Instructor Helen Alten is available for scheduled email support. 
Materials and resources include online literature, slide lectures and 
dialog between students and online chats led by the instructor. The 
course is limited to 20 participants.

Museum Artifacts runs six weeks. To reserve a spot in the course, please 
pay at http://www.collectioncare.org/tas/tas.html If you have trouble 
please contact Helen Alten at [log in to unmask]

The Instructor:
Helen Alten, is the Director of Northern States Conservation Center and 
its chief Objects Conservator. For nearly 30 years she has been involved 
in objects conservation, starting as a pre-program intern at the 
Oriental Institute in Chicago and the University Museum of the 
University of Pennsylvania. She completed a degree in Archaeological 
Conservation and Materials Science from the Institute of Archaeology at 
the University of London in England. She has built and run conservation 
laboratories in Bulgaria, Montana, Greece, Alaska and Minnesota. She has 
a broad understanding of three-dimensional materials and their 
deterioration, wrote and edited the quarterly Collections Caretaker, 
maintains the popular www.collectioncare.org web site, lectures 
throughout the United States on collection care topics, was instrumental 
in developing a state-wide protocol for disaster response in small 
Minnesota museums, has written, received and reviewed grants for NEH and 
IMLS, worked with local foundations funding one of her pilot programs, 
and is always in search of the perfect museum mannequin. She has 
published chapters on conservation and deterioration of archeological 
glass with the Materials Research Society and the York Archaeological 
Trust, four chapters on different mannequin construction techniques in 
Museum Mannequins: A Guide for Creating the Perfect Fit (2002), 
preservation planning, policies, forms and procedures needed for a small 
museum in The Minnesota Alliance of Local History Museums' Collection 
Initiative Manual, and is co-editor of the penultimate book on numbering 
museum collections (still in process) by the Gilcrease Museum in 
Oklahoma. Helen Alten has been a Field Education Director, Conservator, 
and staff trainer. She began working with people from small, rural, and 
tribal museums while as the state conservator for Montana and Alaska. 
Helen currently conducts conservation treatments and operates a 
conservation center in Charleston, WV and St. Paul, MN.

-- 
Brad Bredehoft
Sales and Technology Manager
Northern States Conservation Center
www.collectioncare.org
www.museumclasses.org

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