Workshops & Seminars

Various colors of B-72 in silicone molds

Various glass objects for use in practicing loss compensation

Cutting the fill to shape using a Mylar stencil

Various colors of B-72 in silicone molds

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Paraloid B-72 Fills for Glass

Led by Victoria Schussler (Brooklyn Museum), this seminar covered how to make, shape, and apply tinted B-72 fills for glass.

Compensating a loss using painted folder stock (image: Alyssa Rina)

Basketry sample for practice

Selection of materials tested for basketry loss compensation

Compensating a loss using painted folder stock (image: Alyssa Rina)

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Techniques of Basketry Conservation

Taught by Lara Kaplan, this seminar included lecture and hands-on work reshaping basketry materials and testing adhesive and fill methods and materials.

Ivory Identification

Led by Terry Drayman-Weisser, this seminar focused on identification of a variety of ivory types. The seminar consisted of lecture, hands-on examination of study collection specimens and a tour of select ivory artworks in the galleries at the Walters Art Museum.

Jon showing us how to mix and apply epoxy

Mixing and tinting Hxtal epoxy

Area of loss after compensation

Jon showing us how to mix and apply epoxy

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Epoxy Color Fills for Porcelain

John Kovasckitz led this two-day seminar sharing case studies from his portfolio and demonstrating his meticulous technique of epoxy colorfilling for porcelain conservation. Students were able to test out this technique on study collection pieces.

Vivak mount for porcelain bird

Mock up mount made out of folder stock, traced onto Vivak

Vivak mount after being cut and shaped

Vivak mount for porcelain bird

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Mountmaking

Led by Adam Jenkins, this seminar included lecture focused on the various materials used for mountmaking and case studies to discuss and problem solve, and time for hands-on work experimenting to create mounts for objects we were treating.

Lacquer Deterioration and Treatment

Led by Marianne Webb, this virtual seminar included lecture focused on lacquer deterioration and research into microcracking, and discussion of a case study Chinese export lacquer table being treated by WUDPAC 2nd year furniture major Caroline Shaver.

Setting up a mold to cast an epoxy fill in place

Glass with epoxy fed into cracks

In-situ epoxy fill (orange) with silicone backing (white)

Setting up a mold to cast an epoxy fill in place

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Glass: Epoxy Assembly and In-Situ Fills

Led by Lauren Fair, this seminar focused on hands-on work assembling glass and trying different methods for completing an epoxy fill in situ.

Cleaning tests on a painted wood fragment

Solving cleaning problems as a class

A cleaning decision tree

Cleaning tests on a painted wood fragment

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Cleaning of Cultural Heritage Surfaces

Taught by paintings conservator and WUDPAC affiliated professor Matthew Cushman, this full semester course explored current cleaning techniques and materials with an emphasis on gels and the science behind them, with a focus on surfaces found in objects conservation.

Julia explaining her treatment process for this large stone doorway

Penn Museum Conservation Lab Annex

Examining a mounting system for large stone objects

Julia explaining her treatment process for this large stone doorway

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Stone Conservation

Building on the stone and ceramic chemistry lectures given in the first year, this seminar held at the Penn Museum Conservation Lab Annex was led by Julia Commander (Penn Museum) and Anna Serotta (The Metropolitan Museum of Art) and covered aspects of stone conservation with case studies and close looking at objects in the Penn Museum’s collection.

Testing various adhesives on a range of plastic substrates

Filling shallow scratches

Testing various adhesives on a range of plastic substrates

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Plastics Conservation

Led by Caitlin Richeson (assistant conservator at American Museum of Natural History), this seminar consisted of lecture and hands-on work covering adhesive repairs for plastics and filling scratches in PMMA.

Ceramic with various stain reduction materials applied to surface

Post- stain reduction

Ceramic with various stain reduction materials applied to surface

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Stain Reduction for Ceramics

Led by Lauren Fair, this seminar included lectures on the principles of stain reduction as well as hands-on work to test out various poulticing materials and reagents on stained examples from the study collection.