The Conservation Center is fortunate to have specialists with a wide variety of backgrounds under one roof. This allows our conservators to come together frequently to analyze complex pieces and collaborate on treatments. This is especially useful when it comes to treating pieces like large, antique screens, which often require not only the expertise of The Center’s furniture conservators, but also input from The Center’s gilders, paper conservators, and objects conservators. These collaborations, which are often completed in multiple campaigns, require each party involved to dedicate hours to meticulous, step-by-step treatments. One screen, which was recently completed The Center’s team, demonstrates how valuable these types of collaborations can be.

Giving and receiving holiday cards is a beloved tradition, bringing friends and family members from near and far together with just a simple gesture. No matter how far from loved ones you may be, opening a holiday card can make you feel close and connected to those you miss. This was the feeling that one of our clients had when he recently discovered some long-lost original artwork for old holiday cards.

Recently, The Conservation Center’s team had the great honor of conserving several pieces from the interior of the Holy Cross Chapel of St. Andrew Greek Orthodox Church in Chicago’s Edgewater neighborhood. After the objects sustained water damage, The Center’s team was happy to be able to assist in the process of preserving the pieces and the historical identity of the church.

The process of conservation can often yield dramatic results, revealing images that have been hidden behind dust and grime or aging varnish for years. This is certainly the case with a painting that we recently treated here at The Center. When the piece first arrived, it was not completely clear exactly what the painted image portrayed. Though the painting depicts the well-known Biblical scene of the Visitation, showing Mary greeting her cousin Elizabeth, as Joseph shakes hands with Zachariah, the image had been obscured by age-related issues.

To learn more about the conservation of the piece and the dramatic results, we sat down to discuss the process in greater detail with our Senior Paintings Conservator, Amber Schabdach. Read our interview with Amber here, and watch the video at the bottom of the interview to see the conservation process from start to finish.

At The Conservation Center, we are tremendously lucky to act as stewards of history. Representations of the past come to our facility each day in the form of photographs, paintings, drawings, documents, and objects, and collectively, we spend hours studying, interacting with, and conserving each of these pieces. Through conservation projects, we learn more about personal histories, family histories, and international history, and each project presents us with the opportunity to help preserve these histories for generations to come. So, when a client came to us with an important family heirloom, that was also a physical remnant of a formative time in the history of our country, we were honored to assist.  

Dear Friends of The Center:

I am familiar with sharing stories about the life of an object of art but not about the life of a person. It is with great sadness that I share with you that Bob Glick, one of the long standing and dedicated contributors to The Center’s Advisory Board team, recently passed away on April 15, 2017.

The RCA 648PTK television cabinet was announced on August 27, 1947. With 992 units produced in 1947 and 2,500 units in produced in 1948, the television set was a marvel of technology for its time, boasting a 15” x 20” picture, 13 channel coverage, an FM sound system, and Phono input. Marketed as a “striking ‘show-piece,’” the technology was all housed in a sleek, contemporary wooden cabinet, that would “add pride to ownership” for anyone who purchased the piece.

At The Conservation Center, we are always excited to treat pieces that utilize a wide range of our conservators’ skills, and help to preserve important moments in our cultural history. So, when a RCA 648PTK television cabinet came to us from the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis with water damage, we were excited to discuss the treatment options available for the conservation of the piece.

At The Conservation Center, we have the distinct privilege of seeing a remarkable variety of artworks and heirlooms come through our doors. We also have the privilege of getting to learn a bit about varied passions of the many dedicated collectors that seek conservation, and what it is that makes each of their collections unique.

To watch the video, click here.

Recently, while on a visit to her mother’s house, a client of The Conservation Center rediscovered a photograph that she remembered as a constant fixture in her childhood home. She found the photographic portrait, which had hung in her family dining room, in a box alongside an old marriage certificate. Treasuring her memories of the photograph, and wanting the pieces to last for generations to come, our client entrusted The Center with the conservation of the two pieces, and decided to learn more about the items.

November was an exciting month for the city of Chicago, as Cubs fans celebrated the team’s first World Series victory since 1908. Dedicated fans have waited decades, and families loyal to the team have waited generations to see the Cubs crowned World Series champions. Through all of the ups and downs, fans have stuck by the team, collecting memorabilia every step of the way. It comes as no surprise, then, that over the years The Conservation Center has seen a number of Cubs-related works come through the doors for treatment.