CCC: AIC Workshop

Instructor:
Chris Stavroudis, Paintings Conservator in Private Practice, Los Angeles
Coordinator:
Elena King, Senior Paintings Conservator, The Chicago Conservation Center

at The Chicago Conservation Center
730 North Franklin Street, Suite 701
Chicago, Illinois 60610
312-944-5401

This program is funded in part by The Foundation of the American
Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works (FAIC) and the
Midwest Regional Conservation Guild (MRCG).

REGISTRATION

Registration is now closed.

ABOUT THE MODULAR CLEANING PROGRAM

The Modular Cleaning Program (MCP) is a systemic approach to cleaning artworks and has been developed to assist conservators in cleaning with solvents, solvent gels, and water-borne systems.. The MCP consists of a series of concentrated stock solutions and a computer database. The database assists the conservator in combining the stock solutions and provides information about the solutions and their components. The database also allows the conservator to specify new cleaning solutions and assists him/her in mixing them. The workshop will introduce the participating conservator to the cleaning theories behind the MCP and the use of the MCP database and concentrates. Each participant will leave with a set of the aqueous concentrated stock solutions and, for those not traveling by air, a set of the stock solvent gels.

By taking this course, conservators will gain a solid foundation in the theory and practice of formulating cleaning gels and solutions. Participants will receive information on cleaning and solvent theory through lectures and readings. They will also learn how the Modular Cleaning Program stock solutions and computer database assist in formulating effective cleaning strategies. During lab time participants will prepare the stock solutions and become fluent with the computer database. They will apply what they have learned by using (and modifying) the stock solutions to clean paintings and objects from the study collection of The Chicago Conservation Center.

The course will reinforce the connection between the theory of cleaning and the practice. By learning to think about fine tuning a cleaning through changing the pH of the cleaning solution, adding a chelator, or increasing the hydrogen bonding component of a solvent mixture, the conservator learns to think of cleaning as a rational process rather than a phenomenological exercise or a choice of whose recipe to try next.

Participants are strongly encouraged to bring a laptop computer. They will need a basic knowledge of computing e.g. how to use Windows or Mac operating systems, common office packages, keyboard, and mouse. Participants should have experience in the removal of grime layers and surface coatings from works of art.

Lectures on the modular cleaning program have been presented at the Verband der Restauratoren (Germany) Surface Cleaning Symposium, Western Association for Art Conservation (WAAC), Getty Conservation Institute, and American Institute for Conservation. Half day symposia were presented at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the 2004 WAAC Annual Meeting. The Modular Cleaning Program Workshop was been presented in November 2005 at MoMA and in August 2005, co-sponsored by AIC, at the Intermuseum Conservation Association in Cleveland.

Please download the course outLine.

ABOUT THE INSTRUCTOR

Chris Stavroudis is a paintings conservator in private practice in Los Angeles. He has developed the computer program and the concept of the modular cleaning program. Chris was a workshop assistant in Richard Wolbers’ August 1990 class “Workshop on New Methods in the Cleaning of Paintings” sponsored by the Getty Conservation Institute. In 1993 he was a visiting lecturer in the Conservation of Cultural Materials Program, Faculty of Applied Science at the University of Canberra, Canberra, Australia.

ABOUT THE PROGRAM COORDINATOR

Elena King is the Senior Paintings Conservator at The Chicago Conservation Center. She has assisted in the coordination of many private events at The Center involving conservation lectures and demonstrations. In addition, she has also lectured at various conferences: most recently, she presented “Going Dutch: the Dutch Method as the Only Effective Method in the Treatment of Severe Shrinkage in Canvas,”at the MRCG/CACG joint annual meeting in Chicago in 2007. Elena is familiar with the Modular Cleaning Program, having used it since 2004 while working with Dean Yoder at Yoder Conservation, Inc. In 2005, she attended Chris Stavroudis' Modular Cleaning Program Workshop and has since implemented the techniques in her work.

HOUSING AND TRANSPORTATION

The Chicago Conservation Center is located in the River North District of Chicago. The lab is about a 40 minute drive from O’Hare airport (30 minutes from Midway) and is situated in downtown Chicago, just blocks from the Magnificent Mile. It is easily accessible from all areas by public transportation, and the Brown Line elevated train stops directly outside The Center. Lodging choices within 5 miles of the workshop location range from $150.00-$350.00 per night (single) and up.

For more information, contact:
Elena King
Senior Paintings Conservator at The Chicago Conservation Center
and Coordinator for “The Modular Cleaning Program”

or

Heather becker, CEO
The Chicago Conservation Center
730 North Franklin Street, Suite 701
Chicago, Illinois 60610
Telephone: 312-944-5401
Fax: 312-944-5479