Art Conservation- Questions about how to go about it

[TaraGreen89]

Hey Everyone

I realized somewhat late in my undergraduate career that I wanted to go into art conservation, so I'm going to have to work on fulfilling my Chemistry requirements & bone up on languages on the side while I work and hopefully squirrel away a little money for grad school. Since I go to Hampshire (A non traditional school) I don't strictly speaking have a GPA, but all of my course recommendations were pretty glowing, and in the courses I took outside of Hampshire I got lots of A's and A minuses, a couple of B's, and one C (in Intro to Chem but I'm going to retake that course and take the other Chem classes I need to to make up for that).

I have a couple years of experience working in local art galleries in a museum guard/administrative assistant sort of position. I also have a couple of internships set up for this year- one at a local historical society doing collections management work, and another with the Smith Frame Conservation Program,

I've been looking pretty hard at the academic requirements for Conservation programs, and I realize that even with glowing Chemistry grades and an excellent portfolio- its going to take me a few years to get into a good program. But I want to use my time wisely, and go about this in a focused and effective manner- so I was wondering if anyone had advice they'd be willing to give me.

Also I'm considering applying for a Masters in Art History in the interim- I could hopefully get some work in the museum field once I graduated, and academically it might give me a little bit of a head start for conservation programs. Would that be a good idea- or would I be better served trying to find more conservation internships/work experience?

Thank you for your time

[asdf123]

Consider applying to the MA program at Williams College -- while working on your MA you are able to apply for internships at the wonderful Stone Hill Conservation Center -- it's located just behind the Clark museum. Since you're already in Western Mass -- consider taking a trip there, it's certainly worth a visit for anyone interested in conservation. You could email the graduate program coordinator in advance and perhaps ask to meet with current graduate students who have the internship. The building alone is worth a trip -- it's new, completely state of the art, designed by Tadao Ando (http://www.clarkart.edu/visit/content.cfm?ID=305).

Good luck!

[TaraGreen89]

Thank you-yes the Williams College program is one I have been looking at- its got quite a good reputation. One big concern for me, however, is finances. My family isn't very well off and the economy isn't great. I managed to escape undergraduate without incurring too much student debt but I haven't heard much about what kind of funding Williams can/does offer its students. All the homepage for the graduate program says is that it offers partial scholarships.

[mooncake88]

I would definitely apply for the conservation programs! It seems like you have a good background and a good grasp of what knowledge you still need to make it. They don't expect you to be a conservator going in--there isn't really an undergrad degree in it, so you learn as you go along, to a certain extent.

If you do need another backup option the IFA's master students can take conservation courses, and you could possibly even do a master's thesis on conservation issues. I wouldn't suggest doing a program that doesn't have a close link with a conservation center if art history is not really what you want to go into. It seems like it might just be a waste of money.

[TaraGreen89]

Yeah- I mean it'll probably take me a couple of years to fulfill the remaining pre-admission requisites for Chemistry (with everything else I have to do), but I can continue to work on languages and try to get more internships in the interim.

[anonymousbequest]

Since you are at Hampshire and it sounds as though may be staying in the area, have you considered UMass's MA program in art history? The school seems to have a good relationship with Delaware, and has sent students to its conservation program. I do believe Williams funds many of their MAs (if not all of them) but I'm not sure how much more cachet it would lend your CV for your interest in conservation, but if you are a MA resident UMass might be a cost effective way to get further coursework in both art history and chemistry. I'm not sure I know where some of the conservators I work with received their art history degrees, I look more at their experience with similar objects and reputation among colleagues.

[tendaysleft]

Williams has a conservation fellowship at the Stone Hill Conservation Center that's reserved for one of its graduate students, you should take a look on its website.

[losemygrip]

You don't have to have an MA to get into a conservation grad program. Just the equivalent of a double major in art history and chemistry!!

They have a grad program in conservation at Buff State, I think. There's not many of them around--3 or 4, I think.

[TaraGreen89]

Yeah- my only problem is that I graduated in History and Studio Art so I'm going to have to make up some ground now that I've graduated- particularly in Chemistry.But I'm determined, I've got two decent paying part-time jobs, a couple of internships going, and I live in a pretty good area to pursue future internships. It would have been better if I could have figured out I wanted to go for conservation earlier in my academic career but I could be in much worse positions.

[losemygrip]

You've got a perfectly reasonable degree for a conservator. Just go back and pick up the additional coursework in art history and chemistry, and you'll be fine.

[TaraGreen89]

Thank you- and I actually have about half of the required art history courses (for application) out of the way already . Working the remaining art history classes & the chemistry classes around internships and trying to make a living is going to be a little tough but this is what I really want and I'm going to make this work-even if it takes me longer than I'd want.

[conserved]

Hi Tara,

I'm currently in graduate school for art conservation and came in with a similar undergraduate background to yours. I have to warn you that this career is not for the faint of heart and requires a lot of hard work and passion for the field. After college, it took me six years of extra course work (chemistry and studio art) and hands-on experience in conservation laboratories to prepare for the masters program. It was all well worth it in the end.

Getting your M.A. in art history would not be a bad thing, I would not recommend it to someone with limited financial means. Conservation is not a very well paid profession, so going into massive student loan debt is not a good idea! Most conservation MA programs (Buffalo, Winterthur and NYU) are fully funded at the present time, so that's a plus!

You will need excellent grades in chemistry (community college courses OK) to get into these programs. They are extremely competitive. You will likely need glowing recommendations from people in the field and significant experience. NYU is a little bit different-- their focus seems to be on art history, writing and thinking. NYU does not require conservation experience, but it helps, as almost everyone who gets in has worked or interned in the field.

Join AIC now and become a member of their listserv. Join their Emerging Prosessionals Group (ECPN). Get an internship or volunteer in a lab.

Hope that helps! Good luck.

[TaraGreen89]

Dear conserved

Thank you for all your advice. I didn't even know I could join the AIC, or about their ECPN group, and that sounds like a really good idea.

I haven't started taking the chemistry classes yet but there's a good local community college that I should be able to take the classes with. I've been studying French independently with Rosetta Stone & have signed up with my local university to take my last couple of art history courses in the spring.And I started volunteering in a local conservation lab in November, and the individual running it seems quite pleased with my efforts so far, and how quickly I'm picking up basic concepts so I'm feeling in pretty decent shape overall. I think if I can keep up this pace (I'm working three different part time jobs in addition to everything else- oy!), I can be in shape to apply for a master's program sometime in the next 3-5 years- no guarantee anyone will say yes of course, but I can have the coursework done, and the requisite experience to make me a viable candidate.

Again, thank you so much for all your advice- if I might be so bold what in particular are you focusing on for your Master's? (object/paper/painting/etc.?)

[conserved]

Hi again Tara

 

That's so great that you have a volunteer spot in a conservation lab. You are on the right track. Three different part time jobs plus supplemental coursework sounds about right. Sometimes it seems ridiculous what we do to get into this profession! The work is so satisfying though.  

 

I decided to specialize in paper conservation after trying almost all of them!  Feel free to message me if you have any specific questions.

[TaraGreen89]

Dear conserved- thank you again for your advice and encouragement- its been a busy few weeks for me. I do have a couple of questions about internships I can/should be pursuing etc, and a couple of other topics which I would love to pick your brain about a little bit.