GCI Conservation News, October 2023

Conserving Canvas

Edited by Cynthia Schwarz, Ian McClure, and Jim Coddington

The most authoritative publication in nearly fifty years on the subject of conserving paintings on canvas.

Conserving Canvas compiles the proceedings of a conference, held in 2019, which addressed the question of how best to conserve paintings on canvas. The book presents a wide array of papers and posters that provide important global perspectives on the history, current state, and future needs of the field. 

Read online or download a free PDF or EPUB file

Purchase a copy from the Getty Store

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.

Registration will open in mid-October.

Read symposium details

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 extended to October 30, 2023. Submissions are accepted online via the conference website

Library Research Grants

Getty Library Research Grants provide partial, short-term support for those seeking to use our Conservation Collection of materials related to the preservation and conservation of material cultural heritage.

Learn more and apply online by Oct 16

Getty Graduate Internships

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

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 and apply online by November 1

Postdoctoral Fellowship in Conservation Science

Are you a recent PhD in chemistry or other physical or material sciences with experience in conservation science? Apply for our 2024–2026 Postdoctoral Fellowship in Conservation Science. 

Our Postdoctoral Fellowship in Conservation Science is a two-year program designed to provide recent PhDs in chemistry and other physical or material sciences with experience in conservation science. The 2024–2026 Postdoctoral Fellow will be an integral part of our Science department’s Built Heritage Research initiative.

Learn more and apply online by November 1

Post-Baccalaureate Conservation Internships

Applications are open for Getty’s Post-Baccalaureate Conservation Internships.

These internships aim to diversify the conservation field by increasing the number of students from underrepresented backgrounds enrolled in graduate degree programs related to museum conservation.

Over the internship year, interns will spend six months working in the conservation labs at Getty and six months at one of our partner museums in Los Angeles.

Learn more and apply online by November 1

Old Cities, New Challenges 2024 Workshop

April 17–June 22, 2024

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

Application now open

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.

Read details and apply online via the Think City Institute Website

Deadline to apply is January 10, 2024.

AAHPLA Team Visits Colleagues in Sydney

Last month, while in Sydney for ICOMOS GA, members of the African American Historic Places Los Angeles (AAHPLA) team from the Conservation Institute and Los Angeles City Planning met with staff from New South Wales Planning and Environment, Transport for New South Wales, and the City of Sydney Strategic Planning and Urban Design office.

The AAHPLA team and staff members had the opportunity to share experiences and ideas around underrepresented heritage (particularly First Nations), reconciliation, and urban placemaking.

Second Meeting of the Conservation Association of Los Angeles

November 14, 2023

Autry Museum of the American West, Los Angeles

As a network of professionals dedicated to caring for art and historic materials in and around Los Angeles, the Conservation Association of Los Angeles (CALA) will hold its second meeting on the topic of partnering with artists, communities, and stakeholders.

This theme recognizes the work of conserving heritage often goes beyond technical expertise and hand skills.

Register for CALA’s fall meeting

Stay apprised of CALA events by signing up for emails and following on Facebook

The Unwhitewashing of América Tropical

On Easter Sunday 1930 the Oakland-born entrepreneur Christine Sterling launched Olvera Street as a Mexican-themed marketplace designed to draw tourists to a nostalgic version of the city’s Mexican past. In preparation for the 1932 Summer Olympics in L.A., and in the spirit of civic boosterism, a local Olvera Street art gallery director commissioned the renowned painter David Alfaro Siqueiros—one of a trio of artists, along with Diego Rivera and José Clemente Orozco, known as “Los Tres Grandes”—to paint an idealized tropical scene on the gallery’s second-story exterior wall.

Siqueiros would depict something else entirely though: an Indigenous man lashed to a double cross, with a Maya pyramid emerging from a dense jungle behind him. 

Read the full story

Related Event

América Tropical: The Martyr Mural of Siqueiros
Film Screening and Discussion
Saturday, October 28, 2023, 3:00 pm at Getty Center

This new KCET ARTBOUND documentary delves into the story of América Tropical, a large-scale outdoor mural painted by David Alfaro Siqueiros that was the focus of a multiyear Getty–City of Los Angeles project.

Read details and reserve your free ticket

Shining a Light on Neon

From the 1920s to the 1960s, Americans discovered the advertising power of neon. Putting high voltage to gases inside glass tubes sparked bold, hypnotic hues that could be seen at night and from a distance. Flashing signs soon decorated cafes, car repair shops, liquor stores, nightclubs, dive bars, theaters, and restaurants.  These signs caught the gaze of artists, who saw that they could use the fluorescent medium to advertise art, itself.

Now heritage collections across the world hold neon art and signs, which pose challenges for collection stewards, who find neon difficult to install, pack, repair, and document. Most conservation professionals don’t have a background in neon, let alone light-based art, explains Ellen Moody, an associate project specialist at the Getty Conservation Institute. To make matters more complicated, there are currently no agreed-upon guidelines for how to safely preserve this technology.

Read the full story

New in the Conservation Collection

New to the Conservation Collection are books about neon, archaeological footwear, ceramic art, vernacular architecture and climate change, 11th–14th century graffiti, and globes.

See the full list of new titles (PDF)

AATA Online Fall Update

The fall 2023 update includes abstracts on book bindings, contemporary painted surfaces, metals corrosion, building information modeling, and the conservation of castles and furniture, as well as from the first 10 volumes of Technical Studies in the Field of the Fine Arts (1932–42).

Search AATA Online

Stop By Our Conference Booth

We will be at the Association of Preservation Technology International conference in Seattle, October 11–12. 

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

Robert Bevan Visits Getty Center

We were excited last month to have author Robert Bevan visit the Getty Center to discuss his new book, Monumental Lies: Culture Wars and the Truth about the Past.

Bevan is a member of ICORP, the expert committee of ICOMOS on risk preparedness, and author of The Destruction of Memory. He has been described as “one of the most compelling progressive voices in the heritage world” (Tribune).

Senior Project Specialist, Archaeological Collections

We are seeking a conservation professional with a high level of experience in the conservation of archaeological collections and a keen interest in research and education to fill the position of Senior Project Specialist. 

In this role, you will be an integral member of our Collections Department and will plan, develop, manage, and implement conservation projects, research, and workshops to address current and emerging needs related to collections of excavated materials of all sizes and in all settings across cultures and geographic regions.

Learn more and apply online by October 31

Associate Editor, GCI Publications

We are seeking an Associate Editor to provide editorial and administrative support for our publications program. Reporting to the Publications Manager, you will contribute to the production of conservation-related publications for professionals and organizations involved in conservation of the world’s cultural heritage. 

Learn more and apply online by October 31