Conservation facilities and the public

Cristina Albillos <cristina.albillos [at] slwa__wa__gov__au> writes

>My institution is planning to bring awareness to the public of what
>conservators do and what our role is by replacing part of the
>laboratory's wall with glass, thus allowing the public to peer in
>and observe ...

We will have a 25 foot x 10 foot wall installed in one wall of our
lab in 2012 and I am interested in further comments for this popular
trend.

As a paper lab we work on flat objects with our heads down, so we
are being asked about cameras in the direct workspace that would
allow the public to view our projects in real time.  There is great
opportunity to educate the public, but we hesitate to enter into a
monologue (or worse, a dialogue) about the actual hand activity as
we are treating an item. We are considering using a trained
conservation technician to help interpret and answer questions for
the public if those cameras with monitors just outside the lab are
to come about.  This would take daily meetings prior to open hours
to convey the changing aspects of treatment to the technician.

Conservation looks fascinating but it takes clear focus, especially
during testing phases.  We hope our public will rise to the occasion
and understand that the conservators must focus on what we they
doing. Timed interactions just beyond the window with conservators
are a consideration.

At a November 2011 conference at Colonial Williamsburg " Playing to
the Galleries; The Public Face of Conservation" this overall topic
was addressed with over 35 presentations by major institutions;
there will be post-prints of each presentation.  Most of the
presentations dealing with the topic of direct observation were
gallery-based experiences that included conservators working on an
object for a relatively short period of time. If this is type of
construction/programming for conservation labs is a trend,
addressing current methods for coping would be helpful.

Ramona Duncan-Huse
Senior Director, Conservator and Preservation Imaging
Indiana Historical Society
450 W. Ohio St
Indianapolis, IN.  46202


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 25:29
                 Distributed: Sunday, December 18, 2011
                       Message Id: cdl-25-29-005
                                  ***