Online course on care of metals

MS223: Care of Metals
Instructor: Helen Alten
Price: $475
Dates: Apr 4 - May 13, 2011

Description: Outdoor sculpture, silver tea service, gold jewelry,
axe head, wheel rim - metals are found in most museum collections
and may be stored or displayed indoor or outdoors depending on the
object. Learn how to identify different types of metal and their
alloys. Gain an understanding of how and why metals deteriorate and
methods for preventing deterioration from occurring or continuing.
The pros and cons of different popular treatments will be covered
along with recommendations for the least damaging approach to
treatment. Care of Metals provides a simplified explanation of the
chemistry and structure of metals, explaining the importance of the
galvanic series and electrochemistry in care strategies. Starting
with an overview of the history and function of metals and how they
are made, the course will cover guidelines for handling, labeling,
exhibiting and storing metals. An overview of treatments, including
cleaning, used on metals and how appropriate they are for the
long-term preservation of the metal object will help students make
care decisions when consulting with conservators.

Course Outline:

    Introduction
    History, chemical and physical properties of metals
    Fabrication technology
    Documentation and Condition Report Writing
    Metals and the Environment
    Handling Metals
    Treating Metals
    Care of Metals in Storage
    Care of Metals on Exhibit
    Conclusion

Logistics: Participants in Care of Metals work through sections on
their own. Materials and resources include online literature, slide
lectures and dialog between students and the instructor through
online forums. The course is limited to 20 participants.

Care of Metals 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 24:46
                  Distributed: Tuesday, April 5, 2011
                       Message Id: cdl-24-46-018
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