GCI Conservation News, August 2023

Managing Collection Environments: Technical Notes and Guidance

Edited by Joel Taylor and Vincent Laudato Beltran

Managing Collection Environments: Technical Notes and Guidance is a suite of sixteen technical notes from eleven authors presenting a holistic perspective on the sustainable environmental management of collections in museums, galleries, archives, and libraries.

Originally developed for the course “Preserving Collections in the Age of Sustainability,” the publication presents fundamental concepts such as climate physics and data collection/analysis, practical issues and approaches to managing the indoor environment, and broad-scale topics such as historical and organizational contexts and consensus building.

Available in free downloadable (PDF) and print-on-demand editions

Challenging the Narrative: Conservation and Replication of Immersive Artworks Symposium

November 11, 2023

Haus der Kunst, Munich

A one-day symposium addressing the possibilities, challenges, and questions regarding conservation and replication of immersive artworks, including Environments.

Call for Case Studies

Haus der Kunst and the Conservation Institute are seeking case studies as well as theoretical contributions to provide current and new perspectives that would help museum professionals.

Deadline for proposals is September 10, 2023.

Read submission and symposium details

Registration details will be available by early September.

Public Art Inside Out Symposium

May 7–8, 2024
Museo delle Culture (MUDEC), Milan

A two-day international symposium co-organized with MUDEC exploring issues related to public art in all its forms and multi-vocality

Call for Proposals

We are seeking original, theoretical, and empirical proposals to contribute to and promote the debate on art in the public sphere. Papers will be presented in a dynamic format based on short presentations and panel discussions to allow maximum exchange of ideas between the speakers and the audience.

Deadline for abstracts is October 15, 2023.

Read areas of interest and submission details

Registration details will be available in fall 2023.

Changing Climate Management Strategies: Sustainable Collection Environments and Monitoring Object Response Workshop

February 5–8, 2024

London
Co-organized with the Victoria and Albert Museum

The workshop will address obstacles in developing and implementing more adaptive environmental management strategies in museums.

Learn more and apply online

Deadline to apply is September 20, 2023.

Application Open for Conservation Guest Scholars Program

Applications are now open for 2024–2025 residencies.

The Conservation Guest Scholars Program provides opportunities for professionals to pursue research on topics that bring new knowledge and fresh perspectives to the field of conservation.

Guest Scholar grants are for established scholars, or individuals who have attained distinction in their fields. Applications are welcome from researchers of all nationalities working in conservation, historic preservation, heritage science, and related fields.

Read more and apply

Deadline to apply is October 2, 2023.

Old Cities, New Challenges 2024 Workshop

April 17 – June 22, 2024

An eight-week online workshop for urban conservation in Southeast Asia

To help advance urban conservation practice in Southeast Asia, we are again partnering with Think City Institute to offer our online course for urban planners, architects, and associated urban conservation professionals from Association of Southeast Asian Nation (ASEAN) countries.

The course will follow the Historic Urban Landscape approach and will examine methodologies, practical tools, and techniques for the conservation of historic places. In addition to the online workshop, there is the potential for an onsite case study later in 2024.

Full workshop details and application information will be available on the Getty Conservation Institute landing page of the Getty website in September 2023.

Getty Graduate Internships

Application for advanced internships at Getty for graduate students who are pursuing careers in the visual arts opens in September.

Graduate Internships are offered in all of Getty’s programs—Getty Museum, Getty Conservation Institute, Getty Research Institute, and Getty Foundation—as well as in Getty Publications and Getty Digital.

Placements are typically available in areas such as curatorial, education, conservation, research, publications, web and new media, public programs, digital projects, and grantmaking.

Learn more about the program

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Helps L.A. Come Together to Preserve Historic Spaces

At a community event headlined by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in June, the City of Los Angeles’ Office of Historic Resources and Getty announced four new historic buildings that will be brought forward for nomination as City Landmarks, all of which represent a piece of the region’s African American history.

African American history in Los Angeles is everywhere, but only about 4% of Los Angeles’ designated Historic-Cultural Monuments are connected to Black history. We aim to expand that.

Read the press release and the News & Stories article

The International Course on the Conservation of Modern Heritage Continues in Southern California

The online component of this blended course finished up in July and, this past weekend, participants gathered in Los Angeles for two weeks of in-person programming. 

The course aims to advance the conservation of modern heritage and architecture by providing participants with methodological and practical tools. Through lectures, discussions, exercises, demonstrations, and site visits, participants are learning conservation approaches and practical skills related to modern heritage conservation.

Read more about the course

Visit our Facebook page for updates as the course progresses

Interpretive Center Inaugurated at Church of Santiago Apóstol

High in the Peruvian Andes sits the remote village of Kuñotambo and the 17th-century colonial Church of Santiago Apóstol. The church was built with thick adobe walls and adorned with wall paintings, but lack of maintenance, harsh environmental conditions, and earthquakes left it severely damaged.

For over a decade, we have been researching, designing, and implementing seismic retrofitting measures for earthen historic buildings using traditional materials and local expertise as part of the Getty Seismic Retrofitting Project. The Church was retrofitted and inaugurated in 2019.

Four years later, in June 2023, community members participated in the inauguration of the interpretive project of their church, created in collaboration with Getty. The panels tell the story of the site, its conservation, as well as the importance of the use of adobe and traditional materials.

Read more about the Seismic Retrofitting Project

Becoming Artsy

This video series, with host Jessie Henricks, features a dynamic ride through Getty’s collections, laboratories, gardens, and more.

Why we are recoloring dead birds

Jessie Hendricks, host of “Becoming Artsy,” talks with Vincent Laudato Beltran, sceintist, about his work using light to recolor faded objects––in this case, dead birds!

Watch the episode

Susan Macdonald Named Co-President of International Scientific Committee on 20th Century Heritage

Susan Macdonald, head of Buildings and Sites, has been elected co-president of the International Scientific Committee on 20th Century Heritage (ISC20C) by the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS).

Read more from ICOMOS

Getty Publications Summer Sale

Now through August 27 get 50% off the retail price of dozens of books, including volumes on painting conservation, rock art, modern metals, and many more!

Shop the sale

New in the Conservation Collection

New additions to the Conservation Collection include books about pigments, cultural landscapes, textiles, adaptive reuse, archaeology, mural paintings, mosaics, and preservation of 20th-century architecture.

See the full list of new titles (PDF)

AATA Online Summer Update

This update includes abstracts on the preservation of library and archival materials, historic environment education, Hungarian cultural heritage, and the conservation of leather, bronze, and the supports of contemporary paintings.

Search AATA Online

Stop by Our Conference Booths

Conservation Institute staff will be attending both ICOMOS General Assembly in Sydney, Australia, and ICOM-CC in Valencia, Spain, in September.

Please stop by! We would love to meet you and share about our work.

Editor/Senior Editor, Conservation Perspectives

We are seeking a manager and editor for our biannual periodical, Conservation Perspectives, the GCI newsletter.

Conservation Perspectives is a highly accessible magazine highlighting our conservation work and the work of our colleagues around the world.

Learn more and apply

Associate Project Specialist, Managing Collection Environments, limited-term

We are seeking a conservation professional with a background in preventive conservation and a keen interest in education to fill a four-year limited-term position in our Collections Department.

In this role, you will be an integral team member of the multidisciplinary Managing Collection Environments Initiative, which conducts research, education, and field activities that address technical and practical issues pertaining to the sustainable control and management of collection environments in museums, libraries, and archives.

Learn more and apply online

Project Specialist, Preservation of Archives

We are seeking a professional with a background in preservation or management of archives and a keen interest in research and education to fill this position in our Collections Department.

In this role, you will contribute to projects and research focused on the conservation of archival and bibliographic materials.

Learn more and apply