Online course on care of baskets

MS 225: Care of Baskets
Instructor: Helen Alten
Price: $475
Dates: Feb 7 - Mar 18, 2011

Description: Baskets are an important part of nearly every world
culture. Caring for baskets requires an understanding of why and how
they deteriorate. Care of Baskets provides a simplified explanation
of the chemistry and structure of basketry materials. Starting with
an overview of the history and function of baskets and how they are
made, Care of Baskets will cover guidelines for handling, labeling,
exhibiting and storing baskets, including condition assessments and
an introduction to integrated pest management. An overview of
treatments used on baskets and how appropriate they are for the
long-term preservation of the basket will help students make care
decisions when consulting with conservators.

Course Outline:

    Introduction
    The biology and chemistry of materials used for basketry
    Basket Styles and Structures
    Documentation and Condition Report Writing
    Baskets and Their Environment
    Handling Basketry
    Treating Baskets
    Care of Baskets in Storage
    Care of Baskets on Exhibit
    Conclusion

Logistics: Participants in Care of Baskets work through sections on
their own. Materials and resources include online literature, slide
lectures and dialog between students and the instructor through
online forums.

Care of Baskets runs four weeks.

To reserve a spot in the course, please pay at
<URL:http://www.collectioncare.org/tas/tas.html>. If you have
trouble please contact Helen Alten at helen<-a t->collectioncare< . >org

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
    <URL:http://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.


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 24:37
                 Distributed: Sunday, February 6, 2011
                       Message Id: cdl-24-37-020
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