September 1997 Volume 19 Number 3

Regional News

GREATER LOS ANGELES AND SANTA BARBARA

Scott M. Haskins of Fine Art Conservation Laboratories (FACL, Inc.) has been awarded the GSA Indefinite Quantity Conservation Contract for graphics nationwide. Other team members include Gary Alden and Richard Salas of FACL, Andrea Pitsch in New York City, William Adair in Washington, DC, Bryan Cooke in Los Angeles and Dorothy Adams in Reno. FACL was also included in the team contract with Arthur Page for paintings nationwide. The contract includes: consultation services as GSA completes establishment of their new storage guidelines; conservation estimates and treatments; and disaster response expertise and service for federal collections under GSA's care.

Joseph Fronek recently completed the restoration of a large 17th C. painting by Michael Sweerts which was given to LACMA earlier this year by the Ahmanson Foundation. Depicting the theme of human suffering, Plague in an Ancient City, completed in Rome about 1650, portrays elegant groupings of figures in a setting of classical architecture. The painting was cleaned of a varnish which poorly saturated the surface, and minor cracking and losses were retouched.

Mina Gregory joined the objects conservation lab at LACMA last June for a two-month internship, between her second and third years in the Buffalo Art Conservation Program. Mina worked with Marie Svoboda on a variety of projects, including the restoration of two medieval alabaster reliefs, a limestone relief with salt efflorescence, and on treatments related to metal objects.

Last summer, Duane Chartier, Susanne Friend and Melissa Santala of ConservArt Associates recovered a fresco by Charles Kassler, "Pastoral California", painted on the west wall of Fullerton Union High School's Plummer Auditorium. The mural, one of the few true frescos remaining in Southern California from the WPA period, is 15' x 80' and was created in 1934. It was painted over in 1939, due to pressure from the community. 67 years worth of acrylic, latex and oil paint were removed with the help of a special summer school class made up of Orange County district high school students and local volunteers. This project received a California Heritage grant as well as considerable volunteer and Fullerton Redevelopment Agency support. The enthusiasm generated by student and community involvment will help ensure the mural's long term maintenance and preservation.

ConservArt Associates has incorporated to become ConservArt Associates, Inc., effective July 1, 1997. ConservArt continues to manufacture a growing line of architectural composite materials and to offer architectural support services in addition to conservation services. To augment this change and provide more comprehensive services, ConservArt has also filed for a general contractor's license.

The Getty Paintings Conservation Studio continues to gear up for the opening on December 16 of the new Getty Museum at the Getty Center in Brentwood. In addition to paintings in their own collection, they are working on a Tintoretto from Berlin and a Holbein and a Memling from Sao Paolo, Brazil which will be included in the galleries for the opening.

Earlier this year, Aitchison and Watters Inc. treated a group of 11 works on paper for the UCLA Department of Special Collections which included Richard Neutra and Lloyd Wright architectural drawings. Bob Aitchison and Mark Watters also examined a group of 14 works on paper for treatment which were part of the "Shared Visions" travelling international exhibition organized by the Heard Museum of Phoenix, Arizona.

Last June, Aneta Zebala was invited to be on the final exams panel at the Danish Royal Academy of Arts School of Conservation in Copenhagen, as an "external censor" for an American student Louise Cone. Her thesis concerned the transfer, due to construction, of "The Hidden Painting", a part of a conceptual work by the Danish Fluxus artist Eric Anderson. The final dissertation was twofold: the practical aspects of the transfer of an acrylic painting on plaster; and the theoretical and controversial aspect of the transfer.

The UCLA Fowler Museum of Cultural History welcomed summer intern Karen Beth Abend from the Winterthur/U. of Del. graduate program. Karen assisted Jo Q. Hill in the conservation lab on the examination, treatment, and/or installation of shadow puppets, Pre-Columbian ceramics, molas from the San Blas Islands, and political posters from Cuba. Pre-training intern Caroline Sakaguchi completed her joint Conservation/Registration internship (semi-permanent numbering of museum objects and textiles) in July, which culminated in a workshop given to Registration summer interns. Having attended her first AIC conference (San Diego) and survived, pre-training conservation intern Batyah Shtrum continues work in the laboratory, assisting Jo and Karen.

John Griswold of Wharton and Griswold Associates has been conducting a survey of the Spanish Colonial collections at the Casa de Adobe of the Southwest Museum, funded by an NEA grant. He also participated with Robert McGiffen, Chief Conservator at the Autry Museum of Western Heritage, Wayne Donaldson of MWD Architects and others in presenting a workshop on Care of the Historic Site. The workshop was co-sponsored by the California Association of Museums and the NIC, and was held at the Southwest Museum.

Linnaea Dix of WGA is working with consultants Charles Kibby and Raul Cervantes of Preservation Arts/KCA in the conservation and renovation of the Batchelder tile fountain of the Fine Arts Building in downtown Los Angeles. Paul Pihl has been investigating the nature of artist applied coatings on Inuit soapstone carvings, among other objects and architechtural materials projects during his one year internship at WGA. Glenn Wharton recently taught at a symposium on the maintenance of outdoor sculpture in Taiwan.

Regional Reporters:
Virginia Rasmussen
Conservation Center
Los Angeles County Museum of Art
5905 Wilshire Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90036
(213) 857-6168

John Griswold
Wharton and Griswold Associates
549 Hot Springs Rd.
Santa Barbara, CA 93108
(805) 565-3639
griswold@silcom.com

ARIZONA

Laura Downey has recently returned to Tucson to begin graduate studies in the history of photography at the U. of Arizona and to start a private practice.

Gloria Giffords is continuing to work on several publications related to the arts of Mexico. Intern Amanda Hunter participated in the summer project of the Library at the Semario Barbarigio in Montesiascone, Italy and will be working on medieval books, parchment and pigments. Intern Adrian Lungren worked on a conservation project at Warwick Castle, England. Tonja King is a new pre-program intern at the studio.

Martha Winslow Grimm taught textile conservation in the Heritage League of Greater Kansas City.

Linda Morris held a lab tour and open house at her new studio in Tucson.

Nancy Odegaard presented conservation lectures and traveled to archaeological sites in Argentina and Brazil during July and August with projects initiated through the US Information Agency and the U. of Arizona. Intern Esther Chao toured in Taiwan and China prior to starting the conservation program at NYU.

Regional reporter:
Nancy Odegaard
Arizona State Museum
University of Arizona
Tucson, AZ 85721
(520) 621-6314

ROCKY MOUNTAIN REGION

Rocky Mountain Conservation Center welcomes Matthew Crawford to its staff. Matthew is an objects conservator from the Arizona State Museum. He will be speaking at the MPMA Conference, in October, on Caring for Native American Artifacts.

Victoria Montana Ryan and Hays Shoop recently completed work on a Thomas Gainsborough painting belonging to the U. of Denver. The painting needed to be completed for a reception that the university hosted for visiting world leaders at the Denver Summit of the Eight. Victoria and Hays were included in local news taping of the conservation involved. Victoria was recently named a Professional Associate of AIC.

Heather Tudhope, RMCC Conservator of Paper, spent three weeks in May in the Photo Conservation Block, at Winterthur, taught by Debbie Hess Norris.

Heather also gave a hands-on presentation concerning Disaster Planning and Recovery at the annual meeting of the Colorado Preservation Alliance.

Carolyn Leckie, Conservation Department Manager at the Denver Museum of Natural History, is on maternity leave until January 1998 to celebrate the birth of her daughter, Hailey Ann Leckie Asquin. Jude Southward will be Acting Con. Dept. Manager during her absence. Concurrently, Gina Laurin will be on staff as Conservator through Dec. 1997.

Jacque Barrow, a recent graduate of the Anthropology Department's Museum Studies program at the University of Denver, is currently employed as a Conservation Technician, helping to re-house oversize mineral specimens, a project partly funded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services. Angela Steinmetz, also enrolled at the University of Denver, in the Fine Arts program, will assist as a volunteer with the minerals re-housing project.

The Colorado Preservation Alliance, the National Archives and Records Administration, the Colorado Library Association Preservation Roundtable and the Mountain Plains Library Association Preservation, Archives and Special Collections Section held a joint workshop on May 29-30, 1997 at the National Records Center in Lakewood, Colorado. The workshop was devoted to contingency planning and disaster recovery of library and archive collections. Presenters included: Aden Hogan, Jr., former Assistant City Manager in Oklahoma City at the time of the bombing; Ellie Myler, Associate Consultant, Graham Information Management; Mark Ferguson, National Archives & Records Administration; Lance Peterson, State Exercise Training Officer for Utah; Judy Cahoon, Arcus Data Security; Diane Tafilowski, Conservator of Photographs at NEDCC; Heather Tudhope, Conservator of Works of Art on Paper at RMCC; Karen Jones, Collections Conservator at Jefferson County Public Library; Roger Joyce, Documents Conservator at Wyoming State Museum; and Diane Lunde, Preservation Librarian at Colorado State University.

Eileen Clancy presented a workshop for the Brighton Genealogical Society in April. The focus of the workshop was handling and storage of genealogical materials. She recently finished treating a variety of contemporary works of art, including two very large drawings by artist Christo, for the Denver Art Museum. The works are included in an exhibit to be shown in Vienna, Austria. Vienna is sending an exhibit of their contemporary collections to be shown in Denver as part of an exchange agreement.

The Denver Art Museum was awarded a grant from the NEH to reorganize and re-house its native arts collection into new storage systems. Judy Greenfield, as contract conservator, will join Denver Art Museum conservator Carl Patterson on the project which will last three years and encompass over 19,000 objects! The project began over the summer, with a large survey of Native American pottery. Two conservation interns, Deborah Carton, Conservation Center of the Institute of Fine Arts (N.Y.U.) and Claire Smith, University of Wales, Cardiff, provided help with this project. Carl and Judy recently provided brief overviews on bronze and stone sculpture conservation for an SOS! Sponsored presentation in Colorado Springs. Carl Patterson is also pleased to announce that the Institute of Museum Services-funded project to re-house Asian costumes and textiles at the Denver Art Museum has been completed. Judy plans to continue her private conservation practice alongside the re-housing project and hopes to continue treating such strange and wonderful "artifacts" as the human skeleton which was used by an old-time country doctor as a "demo" early this century!

Texas

Cheryl Carrabba, Carrabba Conservation, Inc., has been awarded a two year contract with the State Preservation Board to provide conservation treatment, re-housing and management of photo duplication of the state's 150 oversize architectural drawings. The drawings are of the State Capitol building at Austin, which has just undergone extensive restoration and expansion.

Jessica Johnson and Kathy Hall of the Texas Memorial Museum Materials Conservation Laboratory, University of Texas at Austin, were away from the lab for the summer working on archaeological sites in Gordion, Turkey and Kommos, Crete, respectively.

Mark van Gelder of Art Conservation Services in Austin is examining several paintings damaged in the recent tornado that swept through central Texas. He is also contracted to work on paintings from several non-art departments at the University of Texas, including the School of Business and the School of Engineering.

Sara McElroy, Conservator at the Archer M. Huntington Art Gallery, U. of Texas, will attend a conference on modern materials in Amsterdam in September entitled "Modern Art, Who Cares?" Tracy Grimm, Conservation Technician, completed the McCrone microscopy course at Cornell University in May. Martha Simpson Grant, who has recently moved to Austin to work privately in objects conservation, has treated several objects for an upcoming exhibition of work by self-taught Texas artists entitled "Spirited Journeys."

In September, Dana Hemingway, a third-year student in the U. of Del./Winterthur Mus. Art Conservation Program, will begin a seven-month internship in photograph conservation with Barbara Brown in the Conservation Department at the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center (HRHRC) at the University of Texas at Austin. The beginning of the internship coincides with the completion of renovations to the photograph conservation lab.

Priscilla Spitler worked this summer in the Book Conservation Lab at the HRHRC boxing the Pforzheimer Collection. Martha Simpson Grant participated this summer in surveys and minor treatment in the Paper Conservation Lab at the HRHRC, including the Eric Gill collection of drawings and the Lake Collection of Jean Cocteau materials.

Karen Pavelka left the HRHRC at the end of May to begin a new position as Senior Lecturer in the Preservation and Conservation Studies Program of the Graduate School of Library and Information Science at the University of Texas. She can now be reached at: S2B 564/D7000, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712-1276, ph: 512/471-8286, fax: 512/471-8285.

Paul Banks was in Austin during the summer teaching two courses in the Preservation and Conservation Studies Program of the Graduate School of Library and Information Science. One was entitled "Protection and Care of Recorded Materials," and the other "Methods and Materials of New Technology in Recorded Information."

Regional Reporter:
Martha Simpson Grant
Objects Conservator
5201 Avenue H
Austin, TX 78751
(512) 371-9387
msgrant@swbell.net

PACIFIC NORTHWEST

The WAAC Northwest community welcomes Dr. Anna Grishkova-Smith to the world of conservation in the United States (nearly one year now). She was involved in conservation for many years in Moscow, where she trained at the State Scientific Research Institute of Restoration and was the senior scientific researcher and textile conservator and worked at the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts. She is now in private practice in the Northwest. Of late she has been invited to give a paper at the SFT Jubilee Conference "Silk-Different Aspects" in Stockholm in September. It has been a very interesting year for her setting up a private practice and learning about conservation in the United States.

In May, Sarah Melching participated in "Expanding Your Horizons": A math, science and non-traditional careers conference for girls grades 5 through 10. Women in various careers participated and conducted workshops throughout the day. It was a tremendously rewarding experience. Consider contacting your local chapter of American Association of University Women to get involved!

Besides field work in Texas, Wyoming, and Colorado, and teaching for the National Park Service in Santa Fe, J. Claire Dean has been having fun. She served as a speaker at a breakfast for high-school girls interested in careers in the sciences, has been the subject of a poster focusing on professional women in the sciences, and was a judge in a Statewide high-school aged inventors convention. These activities are part of her involvement in Advocates for Women in Science, Engineering and Mathematics--an education outreach program based in Portland, OR that encourages high-school girls and young women to study and pursue careers in science. In May she was also elected to the Board of Directors of the American Rock Art Research Association, where she already serves as a member of both their Conservation and Preservation, and Education Committees.

Earlier this year, Portland area conservators Troy Lucas and Elizabeth Osiak completed restoration of paintings at the St. Mary's Catholic Church of the Archdiocese of Portland, and are currently evaluating water damage on murals at The Grotto Catholic Shrine, home to Portland's second largest rose garden. Troy will also be traveling to Umatilla OR to evaluate a collection of paintings by Renquist, under consideration for acquisition by the local Arts and Historical Society, for their long term treatment and conservation needs.

Finally, regional reporter Jamie Hascall is taking a break from his busy schedule of building mounts at Seattle's Burke Museum for everything from fossil bird tracks to NW Coast transformation masks, to apologize for last issue's errata. In the heat of deadline writing, names became a bit disconnected from their appropriate stories. The notice that Sandra Troon was now working as a conservation tech with Alice Bear was of course erroneous as Sandra maintains her textile conservation practice in Portland. The appropriate person was Vicki Parry, who is spending the summer in Washington, DC doing an internship at the National Museum of African Art under Steve Mellor.

Regional Reporter:
Jamie Hascall
Hascall Museum Services
2335 N. 61 St., Seattle, WA 98103
jhascall@accessone.com
(206) 525-6941

BRITISH COLUMBIA

Liz Czerwinski has been very busy lately as the last of the Burnaby Heritage Museum's collection is being transferred into the new storage facility. The collection is ready for freezing and inclusion in the Museum's computerized inventory system. Volunteers are currently working on the reassembly of the 1923 Ross Lumber Carrier and 1905 Wee MacGregor drag saw which will be included in a new saw mill display.

Staff and volunteers are also recuperating from two Disney filming events and bracing themselves for two more as the restoration of an 1893 farmhouse continues on-site. The restoration, in its fourth and final phase, includes rebuilding chimneys, adding a wheelchair ramp, painting the kitchen, papering the main floor rooms, and finding appropriate furniture. In previous phases, the building was stabilized including installation of a new roof, wrap-around porch, sprinklers and electrical wiring. Once the dust settles, Liz is looking forward to treating a weather-weary 1920's gas pump.

Andrew Todd has been continuing to provide conservation treatment and storage support consultation for the Ketchikan Museums in Alaska. The important collection of 33 original totem poles there are stored indoors and have been receiving a new custom designed support system over the past few years. With the exception of stabilization treatments, the poles are mostly maintained in an as-found condition. Emphasis has been placed on providing carefully designed support brackets and braces on new stretcher bases for horizontal support and on environmental concerns.

Murray Frost reviewed existing system reports and advised on new HVAC needs for the Totem Heritage Centre building in Ketchikan. He is also working on sculpture documentation systems to use relational condition information in an inventory database to create priority lists for treatment and maintenance programs. Murray has recently undertaken site visits and written preventive conservation reports for the Wichita Art Gallery, the National Museum of the Philippines, and the Lopez Museum, Manila. A final review of building tender documents was carried out in Hong Kong for the Regional Council Heritage Museum. Preventive conservation advice was provided clients in British Columbia, Kentucky, Alaska, England, and New Zealand.

After extensively revising the disaster plan at the BC Provincial Archives and Record Services (see "Salvage at a Glance" update in the May WAAC Newsletter), Betty Walsh will be recovering more water damaged archival records throughout the summer.

Regional Reporter:
Cynthia Cripps
3149 W. King Edward Ave.
Vancouver, BC V6l 1V4
Canada

NEW MEXICO

The Museum of New Mexico Conservation Lab has four summer interns: two graduate students from the Art Conservation Progam, SUNY Buffalo, Gerri Strickler and Antje Neumann; and two FAIC Pre-Program interns Heather D. Whitemen Runs Him (Crow) and Doreen Red Cloud (Oglala Lakota).

The Museum of New Mexico Conservation Department is in the midst of an effort to complete conservation for the new wing of the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture. The wing is scheduled to open Aug. 16 exhibiting 1500 objects. Pueblo, Navajo and Apache curators and consultants collaborated on all aspects of conservation and exhibition of the collections.

Project Conservator, Landis Smith has been busy coordinating the efforts of various conservators and interns. Debbie Juchem led a two-week project with the interns in which exhibit supports were designed for fragile organic materials. Debbie worked with the MNM Exhibits Dept. in the design and manufacture of nine three-dimensional forms which were then dressed in Puebloan, Apache, and Navajo clothing. Landis, Dale Kronkright, Getty Fellow Linda Landry, David Rasch and Renee Jones have been treating objects for the exhibit, including Pueblo, Navajo, Apache, and Ancestral Puebloan materials.

Patricia Morris treated a group of Native American paintings on paper for the new wing. Steven Prins treated a very large painting on canvas by San Ildefonso artist, Awa Tsireh. Linda Landry worked with Museum of Indian Arts registrar, Anita McNeece and Assistant Curator, Yu-Ling Huang, in the nitrogen anoxia insect eradication of over 500 cubic feet of recently collected plant and animal materials to be used in the construction of traditional architectural styles in the new wing, as well as household goods to be used in contemporary settings in the exhibit.

Linda Landry, Getty Advanced Fellow in the Con. of Cultural Materials, is working with the Mus. of Indian Arts and Culture/Laboratory of Anthropology's repatriation staff and tribal representatives to establish safe handling protocols for the repatriation of materials previously treated with biocides.

NM Chief Conservator, Claire Munzenrider, along with McCune Pre-Program intern, Cruz Lopez, is working with New Mexican Pueblos and villages studying altar screen painting techniques using cross-section analysis, pigment analysis and FTIR spectroscopy to identify binders and varnishes.

Dale Kronkright has been conducting fiber analysis and FTIR analysis of paints, coatings, adhesives, and grounds for archaeological materials, as well as computerizing the polarizing light microscopy protocols used in pigment identification of painted hides from both Native American and Colonial New Mexican sources.

Book conservator, Martha Little, has moved her studio to 2300 West Alameda, Santa Fe, NM 87501, tel. (505) 473-4003.

Landis Smith and family will be moving to the Washington DC area in late August after 12 incredible years in beautiful New Mexico. Landis is exploring contract work possibilities in DC (and wonderful schools for her kids). Despite the move, she will remain a WAAC member-for-life!

Regional reporter:
Landis Smith
5 Baya Court
Santa Fe, NM 87505
(505) 466-0475

SAN DIEGO

The Twenty-fifth Annual Meeting of AIC was held in San Diego from June 9-15. Nearly 1000 participants attended the meeting, which included a Museum Exhibition Lighting Workshop, the George Stout Lecture, the General Session and Specialty Group lectures, as well as numerous receptions, tours and dinners. The Local Arrangements Committee consisted of: Janet Ruggles (Chair), Alise Bowler, Elizabeth Court, Laura Downey, Monica Jaworski, Sarah Murray and Janos Novak. Monica Jaworski reports that Daniel Fabian traveled from Switzwerland to attend the meeting and was her house-guest.

A reminder from Monica that the "Artivity" show, a trade show for artists and suppliers of art materials, will be held again in mid-October at the Pasadena Convention Center.

Alfredo Antognini has been treating a series of paintings by William Keith, which have proven very challenging, due to the unorthodox techniques employed by the artist. An interesting monologue on the artist by Brother Cornelius has provided plausible explanations for some of the artist's more puzzling techniques.

William Chandler reports that the House of Hospitality in Balboa Park is entering its completion phase. More than 4,000 historical elements were salvaged, repaired, and replicated for re-use in the new structure. Among other consultants, Rosa Lowinger, et al,, Sculpture Conservation Studio, is working with the contractor, Soltek of San Diego, conserving the antique tile fountains and an important limestone fountainhead sculpture by Donal Hord (1935). Preliminary studies and specification development for this project were provided by Wharton, Griswold & Assoc. of Santa Barbara.

Frances Prichett attended the Fourth International Conference of the Institute for Paper Conservation in London, June 6-9. The meeting was attended by over 650 delegates and included an opening reception at the Tate Gallery, many excellent lectures, and opportunities to tour the conservation laboratories of Greater London's major museums and libraries.

Regional Reporter:
Frances Pritchett
5235 35th Street
San Diego, CA 92116
(619) 283-0368

HAWAI'I

Laura Gorman, Bishop Mus. Conservation Services, and Mellon Fellow Christine Thede worked on the restoration of Queen Liloukilani's Carriage for a special presentation at the Bishop Museum.

Downey Manoukian, Paper Conservator, Private Practice has been working on a variety of projects at the San Francisco Legion of Honor and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

Gregory Thomas has been working with Perry Huston and Associates in Ft. Worth, Texas providing paper conservation services to private collectors and regional institutions since January 1, 1997. This spring semester he taught the course, Historic Media, a history of painting technology, for the art history department at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas. Greg is now back in Hawaii for a couple of months treating paintings for the State Foundation on Culture and the Arts, individual Art Care clients and the Kauai Museum. He will be returning to Ft. Worth in August of this year.

Linda Hee attended the AIC Meeting in San Diego.

Laurence A. Pace, Pace Art Conservation Enterprises, Inc. attended the AIC meeting in San Diego, and finally got to see Greg Thomas in person after living in the same state within just a few miles of each other for over seven years. The last time they saw each other was over 15 years ago in Fort Worth at the Kimbell Art Museum. Larry has given a series of lectures at the Contemporary Museum of Art to docents and collectors regarding collection care.

Regional Reporter:
Laurence Pace
Pace Art Conservation Enterprises, Inc.
1645 Haku St.
Honolulu, HI 96819-1648
(808) 833-1999

SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA

SFMOMA is pleased to announce the appointment of two advanced fellows beginning in September 1997. With funding from the Getty Grant Program and the Kress Foundation, Dawne Steele Pullman will work with Neil Cockerline and Paula DeCristofaro on paintings, and Heida Slobin Shoemaker will join Jill Sterrett in paper/photograph conservation. Dawne trained at the Istituto per l'Arte e per il Restauro in Florence, and has worked at the Indianapolis Mus. of Art, Perry Huston & Assoc., and most recently with Rustin Levenson. Heida is a graduate of the Winterthur/U. of Delaware conservation training program, and has been working in the private practice of Karen Zukor in Oakland, since 1996.

Neil joined forces with Janice Schopfer, WRPCL Paper Conservator, to present a seminar on preserving circus memorabilia and paper artifacts, during the 67th National Convention of the Circus Fans Association of America, held in San Francisco, June 10-14. Neil was also Convention Chairman for the event which drew registrants from across the U.S., Canada, and Europe.

Jill Sterrett traveled to Seoul, Korea, in July, in preparation for a traveling exhibition of masterworks from the SFMOMA Photography Collection. Lucy Pearce is currently working as a contract conservator at SFMOMA, on the conservation treatment of David Dashiell's Queer Mysteries. The painting is an acrylic emulsion reverse painting on 24 sheets of 8' x 4' Plexiglas.

Valerie Wolcott, SFMOMA Conservation Admin. Assistant, married Larry Hulse, owner of Lawrence Fine Arts, Inc., one of SF's major art storage, shipping and handling companies, on May 17. Ria German, former Bay Area WAAC News Reporter, now at the Art Institute of Chicago, married Barry Carter, a building engineer at SFMOMA, on June 28.

In May, John Burke conducted a 4-day workshop on Anoxic Enclosures and Microenvironments at the NPS Headquarters in Santa Fe, New Mexico with co-instructor Tom Strang from the Canadian Conservation Institute. The course, offered through International Academic Projects and coordinated by Sally Shelton of the San Diego Natural History museum, will be repeated at Yale University in September.

The Conservation Center staff (John Burke, Kathy Gillis, and Susana Zubiate) are currently involved in the conservation of artifacts for the Oakland Museum of California's Gold Rush Exhibit, including CO₂ fumigation and assembly of a 19th C. hewn log cabin, and are completing a conservation assessment of a diorama of the Panama Pacific International Exposition housed at the S.F. Presidio Museum.

The Oakland Conservation center also provided facilities for the concurrent examination of two 12'x18' paintings by Charles Nahl, 1856, last treated in 1953. The examination was undertaken by conservators Anne Rosenthal, Helen Houp and Susan Roberts-Manganelli, in preparation for extensive treatment. Anne recently returned from the Art Institute of Chicago where she examined a rare 10th Century Chinese wall painting fragment.

Krassi Gatev and Doug Lawler have moved their Oakland Lab to San Rafael. The new location is in The Center for The Arts and Humanities, 1565 Vendola Dr. #1. Lately they have been working on an early Rodin plaster and a pair of 7th century Chinese figures.

At the Fine Art Museums of San Francisco, Blanche Kim, from the Winterthur program, is spending a summer internship in the objects conservation lab. Lee Topar is a new pre-conservation intern. Lee comes to us from the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC.

Lesley Bone has finished with condition reports and installation for pre-Columbian ceramics and objects from the Larco Collection in Lima, Peru. It will be a traveling exhibition.

Tammy Flynn Seybold has returned to the Bay Area after four years in Toronto, Canada and Fontainebleau, France. She has set up a private paintings conservation practice, and can be reached at: 530 Hampshire Street #300, San Francisco, CA 94110; telephone/fax: 415-551-1600; e-mail: seybold@msn.com.

Susan Sayre Batton became the acting head of conservation at the Asian Art Museum in February for six months while the museum continued its search for a permanent replacement for Linda Scheifler Marks. She concludes her term in early August and returns to her private practice based in Los Angeles.

The conservation Staff at the Asian Art Museum concentrated on work for "India: A Celebration", which opened 28 June. Julie Goldman treated the 60 Indian paintings for "Pahari Painting: Tales from the Punjab Hills" and coordinated production and installation of 60 contemporary photographs for "India: A Contemporary View". Vicki Cassman treated and installed the "Lifting the Veil: The Art of the Sari" exhibition, and Tracy Power treated and cleaned all the sculpture for "Shiva: Lord of the Dance".

In May, Tracy Power traveled to China with the Guggenheim Advance Team, a whirlwind seven-city tour examining over 70 objects for the Guggenheim's upcoming exhibition of over 600 traditional, modern and contemporary Chinese art works.

The Asian Art Museum welcomes two new interns in objects conservation: for the summer Sophia Strang Steel, who has completed her second year of the RCA/Victoria & Albert conservation MA course, with a specialty in metalwork conservation, prior to the V & A program Sophia received her MA in art history at Edinburgh University; and in September, Blanche Kim from the Winterthur program will begin her third year internship. A California native, Blanche has prior experience on excavations in Greece, and internships with Wharton & Griswold, and the GCI. Both students will work under the supervision of Tracy Power.

Antoinette Dwan, who is included here because of our lack of a Central California Region, is moving her home and studio in September. Her new address will be 974 E. Buckhill Ave., Fresno, 93720 tel. (209) 433-9086.

Regional Reporter:
Paloma A�overos
Lucasfilm Archives
P.O. Box 2009
San Rafael, CA 94912
Tel: (415) 662-1650
Fax: (415) 662-1553
e-mail: paloma@kerner.com

OKLAHOMA

In preparation for the centennial celebration for the City of Tulsa, artworks by the American landscape painter Thomas Moran are being treated in Gilcrease Museum's conservation department. The Moran exhibit is in association with the National Gallery, Washington, DC.

Reviewers of the booklet "The Numbering of Objects for Museums, Historical Houses, and Private Collections" have been sent the booklet's Schedule of Completion for Publishing. Reviewers of the booklet are Robert Futernick, Helen Alten, Vicki Cassman, Gregory Landrey, Jo Hill, April Berry, Lori van Handel, Thomas Taylor Jr., Julie Reilly, Carol Turchan, Karen Tidwell, and Carrie Ann Calay. Helen Alten will work with Gilcrease Museums Department of Conservation to review, edit, and format the booklet for publication and serve as the liason between AIC and the American Association of Museums on the booklet project. Publication is slated for Feb. 1998.

Regional Reporter:
Gayle S. Clements
Thomas Gilcrease Museum of American History and Art
Conservation Department
1400 Gilcrease Museum Road
Tulsa, OK 74127
(918) 596-278