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October 2010 - Vol 4, No 4
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The Vitrolite Building, home of the ICA Conservation Center. Photo by Chuck Mintz.

As 2010 draws to a close, we are hard at work on a number of new projects and initiatives here at the ICA. One of the most exciting is a restructuring of our membership program, to offer an array of customizable benefits that we believe will better serve our members' needs. Details will follow in our January issue, so stay tuned!

Christina Simms assists Paper Conservator Jamye Jamison in relining a map.
By Wendy Partridge, Paintings Conservator

Last summer, Christina Simms contacted the ICA. She was interested in applying to graduate school in conservation and wanted to do a pre-program internship with us. Conservation training programs all require that applicants have a significant amount of experience in the field prior to starting a degree.

When Christina contacted ICA, she was working as an intern at the Buffalo Bill Historical Center in Cody, Wyoming. When she returned home to Ohio in the winter, she began volunteering one day per week at the ICA. She worked mostly with Paintings Conservator Heather Galloway and Paper Conservator Jamye Jamison, but was able to observe projects in all ICA departments.

One day at lunch, Christina was asked how it was she became interested in conservation. To the staff's amazement, she said that a few years earlier while still in college, she had attended a public lecture on the field of conservation given at the local library by ICA's Senior Conservator Andrea Chevalier. In the course of the presentation Andrea outlined the history of the field, highlighted ethical and philosophical issues, gave some examples of interesting treatments, and explained how a person went about becoming a conservator.

Christina decided to transfer from Baldwin-Wallace College near Cleveland to the art conservation department at the University of Delaware, to fulfill prerequisites for graduate school and finish her degree in material culture preservation and art history. After graduation, she moved to Wyoming and then came to volunteer at the ICA. At the same time, she also took welding classes since she was interested in working on metal sculpture. Since then, she has applied for and received a paid internship at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, D.C., working primarily on outdoor sculpture, and this fall will complete her chemistry requirements and apply to graduate training programs.

The astounding thing about educational programs is that often one has no idea what their true impact has been. ICA had not considered the public lecture series that Christina attended back in 2007 to be a great success because the talks were not as well attended as we would have liked. However, we now know that a single lecture impacted at least one person's life in a very profound way.

ICA Home Page
On October 1st, the ICA launched our newly redesigned website. ICA was one of the first conservation centers to have a web presence; our last web "overhaul" occurred in early 2007. The new site has many more visual images of conservation work and some exciting new features. Our "What's New" page is now a blog with RSS feed capabilities. And we have added an interactive regional map that showcases some of the many projects we have completed across the Midwest. We will be adding even more new pages in the months to come, including an archive of historic ICA publications and "case study" descriptions of numerous conservation projects. Please visit and let us know what you think.

Octavofest Logo
ICA is very pleased to participate in this year's Octavofest, a celebration of the book and paper arts in the Cleveland area. Octavofest was created in 2009 by Art Books Cleveland (ABC), an organization established in 2008 and dedicated to advancing the appreciation of the book and paper arts throughout northeast Ohio.

In 2010, ABC and a loose federation of institutions and organizations was coordinated by Cleveland State University's Michael Schwartz Library to continue and expand the promotion of an annual celebration of the book and paper arts. The group includes libraries, museums, and other cultural institutions in the Greater Cleveland area.

ICA will offer two educational programs in October, a public lecture on the care and handling of paper-based materials at Case Western Reserve University and a workshop on book mount making that sold out the day after it was announced. The Conservation Center will also host an invitation-only closing reception for Octavofest in November. For a complete calendar of events, visit the Octavofest website. Additional information can also be found on the event Facebook page, and you can shop for Octavofest-related items (while also financially supporting next year's programming) on CafePress.

Conservator Andrea Chevalier surveys the Oberlin Heritage Center.
The ICA is pleased to announce its fourth annual Subsidized Survey Program. The purpose of the program is to help a cultural institution identify its preservation needs. The information gained through the assessment can help an institution raise funds or apply for grants to address those needs.

The ICA will offer a collection survey focusing on a pre-selected group of artifacts within an institution. An ICA conservator will visit the institution to examine the objects on-site for up to two days, and written condition reports and treatment recommendations will be provided. The institution will be asked to contribute only the travel costs associated with the on-site visit(s). Any non-profit cultural institution that can demonstrate a commitment to collections care is eligible to apply for this survey.

The application form can be found here. Applications can be mailed, e-mailed, or faxed and are due October 29, 2010. Preference will be given to applicants in Ohio and its adjoining states. Contact Director of Education Nicole Hayes at nhayes@ica-artconservation.org or 216.658.8700 with any questions.

C2C Logo
The IMLS-funded Ohio Connecting to Collections planning grant is drawing to a successful close. After completing an electronic survey of collecting institutions that had one of the highest response rates in the nation, the planning committee then offered both a statewide summit and five regional meetings around Ohio. More than 150 representatives of museums, libraries, historical societies, government agencies and civic groups attended the meetings and provided feedback on the current status of preservation activities across the state.

The planning committee then conducted telephone interviews with selected institutions, with the result that we can proudly report a 100% participation rate for Ohio's 88 counties, again one of the highest in the nation.

At present, the Connecting to Collections project partners are preparing a Strategic Initiatives Report on the findings of all these proceedings, as well as preparing a grant application for an IMLS implementation grant. The focus of the Strategic Initiatives Report is on tasks that can be undertaken immediately to improve the quality of collections care and information flow in Ohio; the implementation grant application will focus on larger-scale projects that could be undertaken were additional funding support available.

If you have any questions or comments about the Ohio Connecting to Collections project, please contact ICA Director of Education Nicole Hayes.

Facebook Logo
One year after joining the social networking world, we are happy to report that the public is very interested in conservation and preservation! Our Facebook page has nearly 350 fans from across the globe, an active community of supporters who routinely post questions and comments about our work. And our YouTube page currently has sixteen videos of conservation treatments and educational programming that have been viewed nearly 3,000 times!

While our newly redesigned website will more seamlessly integrate image and video content, we will continue to reach out through these other online platforms. And as always, we are interested to learn what you would like to know more about. Please visit these sites and let us know if you have any suggestions for additions or improvements.

ICA Logo
October 7, 2010
Association of Midwest Museums 2010 Annual Conference
Cleveland Renaissance Hotel, 24 Public Square, Cleveland, OH 44113
ICA staff will be offering two sessions at the conference. Paper Conservator Jamye Jamison will be part of a panel discussing a successful collaboration between ICA and the Denison University Museum. Director of Education Nicole Hayes and Paintings Conservator Wendy Partridge will review the origins and accomplishments of ICA's education program. For a full program and conference registration, click here.

October 7, 2010
7PM-8PM
The Importance of Restoration
Lakewood High School, Lecture Hall 2A, 14100 Franklin Boulevard, Lakewood, OH 44107
Three ICA staff members will speak on the conservation of two murals recently re-installed in Lakewood High School. This program is free and open to the public, and refreshments will be served.

October 18, 2010
9AM-12PM
Digital Media: Disaster Preparedness and Recovery
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, 1100 Rock and Roll Boulevard, Cleveland, OH 44114
The Northeast Ohio chapter of the Alliance for Response is offering this free half-day symposium. Although the symposium is free to the public, registration is required; please email ICA Director of Education Nicole Hayes by October 15.

October 20, 2010
3PM-4PM
Care and Handling of Paper-Based Materials
Dampeer Room, Kelvin Smith Library, Case Western Reserve University, 11055 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, OH 44106
Octavofest event! ICA Paper Conservator Jamye Jamison will present this free illustrated lecture. Topics covered will include: understanding the needs of your paper objects; preventing damage through appropriate care, handling, and storage; best practices in matting and framing objects; and the importance of regular collection monitoring.

October 26, 2010
6PM-9PM
Make Your Own Book Mounts-Cheap!
ICA Conservation Center, 2915 Detroit Avenue, Cleveland, OH 44113
Octavofest event! While this workshop is presently sold out, we are maintaining a waiting list for a possible second date. If you are interested in attending, please contact Director of Education Nicole Hayes.

October 29, 2010
Application Deadline for Fourth Annual Subsidized Survey
Applications can be mailed, e-mailed, or faxed. If you have questions, please contact ICA Director of Education Nicole Hayes.

November 1, 2010
Deadline for Optium Conservation Grant
This grant, funded by Tru Vue and administered by FAIC, supports projects in glazing applications for the preservation of museum and library collections. Each year, up to four awards of $4,000 each, plus donated Optium product, are made available to qualifying museums and libraries. Details and application can be found here.

November 1, 2010
Deadline for IMLS Museums for America Grant
This grant program includes support for activities including collections stewardship. Details and application can be found here.

November 4, 2010
5:30PM-7:30PM
Octavofest Closing Reception
ICA Conservation Center, 2915 Detroit Avenue, Cleveland, OH 44113
This event is by invitation.

November 17, 2010
ICA Annual Meeting
Tremont Pointe Housing Complex, Cleveland, OH 44113
Our members and friends will soon receive additional information about this upcoming event.

December 1, 2010
Deadline for Preserve America Community Designation
Details and application can be found here.

December 1, 2010
Deadline for Sustaining Cultural Heritage Collections Grant
This NEH program supports "preventive conservation measures that mitigate deterioration and prolong the useful life of collections." Grants are offered for "Planning and Evaluation" (up to $40,000) and "Implementation" (up to $400,000). Details and application can be found here.

Grant Agency Logos


Nicole M. Hayes, Director of Education and External Relations
Intermuseum Conservation Association

p: 216-658-8700 f: 216-658-8709
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