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The Grand Reopening of the Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts

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The Grand Reopening of the Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts

The Conservation Center often assists museums, institutions, foundations, and non-profit organizations with conserving and caring for their collections. In addition to comprehensive conservation services, The Center's team assists with long-term preservation planning, digitization of archives and historical documents, creation of custom displays, packing and transportation, and long-term storage of collections. Over the past two years, The Center has worked with the Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts (AMFA) on several conservation projects while their building underwent an expansion and renovation campaign, partnering with renowned architecture firm Studio Gang to design their new facility. 

A Letter from Heather Becker, CEO of The Conservation Center

A Letter from Heather Becker, CEO of The Conservation Center

The Conservation Center CEO, Heather Becker, shares an update on the state of the company and staff since the start of the COVID pandemic in March 2020.

I sent out a letter in March 2020 at the beginning of the pandemic, and then I sent an update in September 2020, which ended with "so stay tuned."

As many of you know, we have been writing and sending out monthly newsletters for the last 15 years, and a great number of you are loyal readers. So, thank you for "staying tuned," whether over the last 2 or 15 years, as our community of 30,000+ readers has grown.

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A Community Comes Together: The Fisher Foundation Project Part 1

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A Community Comes Together: The Fisher Foundation Project Part 1

In 2014, a small group of volunteers in Marshalltown, Iowa, met to discuss the restoration of the Fisher Community Center Art collection, which had been untouched since the 1960s. The artworks were in desperate need for repair, care, and cataloguing, so the group set to work filing for grants and hiring specialists to help.

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Lincoln’s Loveseat: Restoring a Historical “Courting Couch”

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Lincoln’s Loveseat: Restoring a Historical “Courting Couch”

Love is in the air with Valentine’s Day this month, and we couldn’t think of a more suitable time to finish restoring Abraham and Mary Todd Lincoln’s “Courting Couch” for The Springfield Art Association’s collection in Springfield, Illinois. Romantic sparks flew between the 16th U.S. president and his future First Lady, Mary Todd, right on this horsehair-upholstered sofa built in the 1830s. The Conservation Center revived an 180-year old loveseat and along the process, uncovered a lost piece of history hidden in the arm cavity.

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Through The Eyes of Lincoln: A Very Special Pair of Opera Glasses

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Through The Eyes of Lincoln: A Very Special Pair of Opera Glasses

Located in the Land of Lincoln, The Conservation Center sees its fair share of memorabilia connected to the 16th President of the United States. Among various Lincoln memorabilia, in 2014 we had the honor of restoring the courting couch, the sofa on which a young Abraham Lincoln and Mary Todd actually sat throughout their courtship in the home of Mary’s sister, Elizabeth. So when a Lincoln relic causes our conservators to stop in awe, rest assured it is a truly special item.

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A Refreshed Frame for "Madonna and Child"

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A Refreshed Frame for "Madonna and Child"

Just in time for the holidays, The Conservation Center completed extensive frame work for a beautiful Madonna and Child painting for the Diocese of Rockford collection. Josh McCauley, one of our Senior Conservators, carved out new decorations by hand, showing off his true attention to detail and expert craftsmanship. Learn how the Madonna and Child frame was conserved.

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Our Furniture Department: A Retrospective

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Our Furniture Department: A Retrospective

Over the years, the Furniture Department of The Conservation Center has helped conserve many works of antique and fine furniture, both from museums and private clients. So this month, as the weather chills and we all get cozy in our big comfortable chairs, we wanted to highlight them, their work, and what we think are their best treatments.

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Timeless Techniques: Treating a Gilded Mirror

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Timeless Techniques: Treating a Gilded Mirror

The Center's Gilding Department specializes in the preservation of frames and objects with gold, silver, and metal leaf applied to the surface. A wonderful example of the type of projects our Gilding Conservators frequently undertake recently came to us in the form of a mirror in need of conservation.

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A Looking Glass to the Past: Preserving a Window from Oak Park Public Library

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A Looking Glass to the Past: Preserving a Window from Oak Park Public Library

The Conservation Center is proud to be part of a vast community of individuals and institutions dedicated to conserving the past. We recently had the opportunity to work with such an institution, the Oak Park Public Library, to help conserve a part of their history.

Leon Golub's Burnt Man

Leon Golub's Burnt Man

After seeing his work for the first time in the 1960’s, Ronald, a client of The Center, has had a deep appreciation for the art of Leon Golub. When a fellow artist personally introduced Ronald and his parents to Golub, they were immediately taken with his work. “When we met him we were so impressed with his technique and his subjects, that we immediately bought three examples of his work.” One of the three paintings, titled Burnt Man, arrived at The Center over fifty years later to undergo treatment for an unstable paint layer.

Italian Landscapes And An American Painter

Italian Landscapes And An American Painter

Earlier this year, two small travel paintings by Grant Wood went up for sale at an auction in Florida. Although they are not the regional subject matter people have come to expect from Wood’s work, these lovely paintings showcase his style while traveling abroad during the 1920’s. Greg, a longtime client of The Center and a collector of American Regionalism art for many years, couldn’t pass on the opportunity to buy these two Wood paintings. “I bought them sight unseen and had them shipped directly to The Conservation Center, as I knew you would do a wonderful job making sure all was well and in order with them.”

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Norman Lewis, Abstract Expressionist

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Norman Lewis, Abstract Expressionist

During the progressive early-mid 20th Century, the genre of Abstract Expressionism became a wildly popular timeperiod in American art history.  New York School, as some called the movement, was a way for artists to break traditional and social conventions surrounding the art world, and adopt more emotional expression through abstraction.  Among the list of Abstract Expressionist artists was Norman Lewis. 

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Displaying Waterbodies: A Look into Conservation Collaboration with former Chicago Bear, Israel Idonije

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Displaying Waterbodies: A Look into Conservation Collaboration with former Chicago Bear, Israel Idonije

It seemed like any other Wednesday in September at The Center.   Things were relatively quiet after a previously hectic week at EXPO CHICAGO, and the Client Services team was expecting an appointment with Israel Idonije who had a large watercolor piece that needed display options.  When the client arrived with the watercolor, the team quickly realized that “display options” was an understatement.   The Conservation Center prides itself on interdepartmental collaboration and the consultation soon included several conservators from many departments, all of whom were ready to Bear Down and tackle the task at hand.  

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Saving Superman

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Saving Superman

When Joe went down into the basement of his girlfriend’s house to repair a leaking pipe, he would have never guessed that within hours he would be at The Conservation Center’s doors with a striking, but severely deteriorated, painting of Superman in hand. It was wet, stained, moldy, and even had insects living behind the frame.  Fortunately, The Center’s team was at the ready to stop this kryptonite before it could do its worst.

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Common Culprits of Damage: Causation and Prevention 101

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Common Culprits of Damage: Causation and Prevention 101

Given The Conservation Center’s history of treating artworks that have succumbed to fire and flood damage, it may surprise you to know that a few of the most common culprits of damage are poor materials, framing, and storage techniques. Luckily, with proper foresight and preparation, most of this damage is preventable. In this article we will examine some of the common "red flags" to look for in consideration of your own framed art and heirlooms.

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Lilias Trotter: Missionary, Artist

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Lilias Trotter: Missionary, Artist

In the 1890’s, an English woman named Lilias Trotter sketched and wrote entries in her journals nearly every day for the last 40 years of her life. These small masterpieces documented her time spent in North Africa on missionary work. Three of those journals were recently discovered in Surrey, England and have been restored and digitized by The Conservation Center for future generations. Provided is a narrative of Trotter’s life and the challenge of tracking down these journals and sketchbooks as told by her biographer, Miriam Rockness.

More on Lilias Trotter >

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"A Day in the Life" at The Conservation Center

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"A Day in the Life" at The Conservation Center

At The Conservation Center, we're passionate about caring for fine art and artifacts from around the country, right here in Chicago. So we thought what better way to show off what we do best by giving you a close-up look of "a day in the life" at our workspace through a photo essay, shot by two photographers in different styles. There are treasures and intimate moments everywhere to be found. C'mon in!

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A Renewed Appreciation for Frank Zappa

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A Renewed Appreciation for Frank Zappa

What happened in 1961? John F. Kennedy was sworn in as the 35th president of the United States; “Will You Love Me Tomorrow” by The Shirelles was a #1 hit; and the non-dairy creamer was one of the greatest inventions of the year. It was also the time when a budding young musician named Frank Zappa discovered his artistic creativity and painted Horny. More than five decades later, the painting made its way to The Conservation Center, where we restored the masterpiece to its original glory. More on the “Mother of Invention” and how we conserved his work.

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