May 2013 Vol. 38, No. 3 Inside From the Executive Director 2 AIC News 4 ASG, Past, Present, and Future: Annual Meeting 5 Architectural Specialty Group FAIC News 5 at 25 JAIC News 7 by George Wheeler, Frances Gale, Frank Matero, and Joshua Freedland (editor) Allied Organizations 7 Introduction The Architectural Specialty Group (ASG) is celebrating its twenty-fifth Health & Safety 8 anniversary as a group within AIC. To mark this milestone, three leaders were asked to reflect about the architectural conservation field. The Sustainable Conservation Practice 10 selected group has been involved in educating architectural conserva- COLUMN tors and promoting the field of architectural conservation, and each has New Materials and Research 11 SPONSORED played a role in the development of ASG. Each was asked to indepen- BY A SG dently discuss architectural conservation and education today in the New Publications 12 context of past history and future possibilities. People 13 The need to teach future architectural conservators the philosophical framework for making conservation treatment and interpretation decisions remains clear, as it has Worth Noting 13 since the founding of the professional field in the 1960s. New architectural materials and styles, documentation techniques, and research methodologies threaten to fragment Grants & Fellowships 13 the architectural conservation field into specialists who function more as technicians than professionals. This struggle is neither new nor specific to architectural conservation; Specialty Group Columns 14 Buckminster Fuller warned of this challenge to society before professional education in architectural conservation even began. Keeping in mind that formal education in conser- Network Columns 18 vation is only two or three years in duration, it remains clear that while the technical knowledge that architectural conservators need is changing and will change during a Courses, Conferences, & Seminars 22 career, the burden mostly rests with ASG and other organizations to ensure continued Positions, Internships & Fellowships 26 education opportunities throughout their careers. Although graduate education provides the methodological approach that allows the conservator to accommodate new materials and technology, treatments must be grounded in the core philosophical framework. The need for education to provide the necessary philosophical approach is supported by the JAIC Archives themes presented in the personal perspectives that follow. JAIC’s archives are now available George Wheeler (Columbia University) on IngentaConnect, with 119 As is well known both in and outside the conservation community, art conservation issues online. education in the United States began in 1960 at the Institute of Fine Arts of New York University. By 1974, similar programs had been established in Cooperstown, New York Access and download these (SUNY Oneonta, later to move to Buffalo State College), and Winterthur/University issues for free as part of your AIC of Delaware. Perhaps less well known to the AIC community, Columbia University, membership. through the efforts of James Marston Fitch, was the first to establish graduate educa- Log into the AIC website and visit tion in historic preservation in the United States in 1964. Fitch was a broadminded www.conservation-us.org/jaic for educator and from the earliest days of the preservation program he made sure to include access, by clicking on [free access an understanding of architectural materials—their functional use, history, deterioration, to the JAIC archives]. You must be and conservation—as an essential part of the preservationist’s education. While Fitch was logged in to access the page. ASG, Past, Present, and Future continues on page 3 AIC NEWS From the Executive Director AIC News (ISSN 1060-3247) is published As the annual meeting approaches, I have been musing bi-monthly by the American Institute for on the purpose of AIC and how the organization is Conservation of Historic & Artistic Works, 1156 structured to accomplish its goals—the fundamental goal 15th Street, NW, Ste. 320, Washington, D.C. 20005; being to serve its members. I’d like to use the annual 202-452–9545; Fax: 202-452–9328; meeting as an example to illustrate how AIC is struc- [email protected] tured and how its staff and volunteer members work to www.conservation-us.org advance the field of conservation. Send address changes to: Let’s start with the AIC board of directors—the AIC News volunteer members elected by the membership. The 1156 15th Street, NW, Suite 320 board works with the executive director and other Washington, D.C. 20005 key staff members to create a three-year strategic plan that guides the work of both the board and staff. One Opinions expressed in AIC News are those of the strategic goal, in every AIC strategic plan, is to provide educational opportunities to contributors and not official statements of AIC. advance the field of conservation. The strategies to accomplish this goal might change in Responsibility for the materials/methods described succeeding plans, but certainly the educational opportunities of the annual meeting are herein rests solely with the contributors. always included. Deadline for July editorial submissions Once the board has approved a strategic goal—in this case to plan and implement ([email protected]): annual meetings—the staff’s role is to implement it. Ruth Seyler, Membership & June 1, 2013. Meetings Director, has years of experience planning and implementing meetings. She We reserve the right to edit for brevity and clarity. researches cities and host sites so that recommendations can be made to the board. Once the board approves a host site, Ruth begins the process of negotiating contracts. ADVERTISING Organizing this complex program means that staff are working on meetings several years AIC accepts position-available ads only from equal in the future, so that planning can proceed smoothly as each meeting approaches. opportunity employers. All position ads must Annual meeting themes are also discussed years in advance, particularly among board conform to the standards for equal opportunity members, staff, and the Internal Advisory Group, and final decisions are now made two employment. The cost of Internships and years out to facilitate planning. The board, program committee, and staff work together Fellowships, Positions Available, and Classified Ads to determine the content and organize the schedule. Sessions, workshops, tours, the are: $1.05 per word for members and $2.15 per Opening Reception, Specialty Group programs, and the various meetings that take place word for nonmembers; the minimum charge is $75. all must be carefully orchestrated by staff and member volunteers to result in an Annual The cost of display ads is: 1/6 page $215; 1/3 page Meeting that meets—or exceeds—our expectations. $360; 1/2 page $445; 2/3 page $570; full page $695. Importantly, following each Annual Meeting time is taken to evaluate outcomes and Deadlines for advertising copy are: February 10, to reflect on how well the event met its goals and served the members. No matter what April 10, June 10, August 10, October 10, and program or initiative is highlighted, as I’ve done so briefly here with the Annual Meeting, December 10. All ads should be submitted to Ruth its success is dependent on the board, staff, and members playing their respective roles, Seyler at [email protected]. being guided by shared strategic goals, and communicating effectively. I am looking forward to seeing as many of you as possible at our meeting in AIC NEWS STAFF Indianapolis. Only after that very busy week will I have time to pause again to reflect on Lisa Goldberg, Editor the state of the organization, on progress made, and goals accomplished. Eryl P. Wentworth, Managing Editor James Martin, Editor, New Materials & Research —Eryl P. Wentworth, Executive Director, ewentworth[at]conservation-us__org Sheila Cummins, Editor, New Publications Bonnie Naugle, Production Editor Ruth Seyler, Marketing Director Eric Pourchot, Institutional Advancement Director © Copyright 2013. AIC News cannot be reproduced in its entirety without permission from AIC. Individual articles may be reproduced if permission has been granted by the owner of copyright and proper citation attributed. 2 AIC NEWS, May 2013 ASG, PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE: ARCHITECTURAL SPECIALTY GROUP AT 25 ASG, Past, Present, and Future continued from front cover Frances (Fran) Gale deeply invested in the idea of creating (in his words) “exquisite (University of Texas at Austin) generalists” through preservation education, he was also aware As a recent graduate of the Master’s of Science program in that the field was becoming more specialized. Acknowledging this Historic Preservation at Columbia University in 1982, Fran Gale growth, scientist Norman Weiss joined the preservation faculty at joined AIC in the early 1980s and became a Professional Associate Columbia in 1977 and university-based architectural conserva- in 1986, two years before the ASG was formed. After graduating, tion education was born in the United States. Weiss, who began she taught materials conservation courses at Columbia and his 36th year of teaching in the program in Fall 2012, became a the University of Pennsylvania. Early on, preparing three-hour leader in the profession, as would colleagues Frank Matero and lectures was arduous, and presenting the material in the classroom Martin Weaver, who were added to the conservation faculty