Conservation

Members of the conservation department care for and treat the museum’s celebrated art collection “for the benefit of all the people forever.” Located in the Eric T. and Jane Baker Nord Family Conservation Suite, a beautiful, state-of-the-art 18,000-square-foot facility in the Rafael Viñoly-designed east wing of the museum, the department comprises nine separate workspaces joined by an internal corridor, facilitating cross-disciplinary collaboration that benefits the art being cared for. The internationally trained conservation staff members are experts in Asian paintings, frames, objects, paper, preventive conservation, photographs, textiles, and paintings. Additionally, the department has a dedicated photographer and studio specializing in technical imaging to assist in the documentation of conservation processes and examinations. The conservation staff adheres to the American Institute for Conservation’s Code of Ethics.  

When the department was established in 1958, it was quickly recognized as operating at a high level of excellence and has been expanded over the decades to better mirror the collection. Today, conservators advise on acquisitions, display, loans, and storage and develop and execute treatments to improve the physical stability and interpretation of artworks. Expert technicians prepare art for display and storage following current conservation protocols. A core activity of the department is the examination and research of artworks, which is facilitated by cutting edge technologies, including digital X-radiography capabilities, handheld X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy, multimodal imaging, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, and more. Conservation staff members publish and lecture internationally, engaging with a range of audiences from elementary schools to professional peers. An important focus of the department is training and mentoring the next generation of conservators, and so the department offers multiple paid internships and fellowships, including short micro-internships designed for undergraduates eager to learn more about conservation and museums. CMA conservators also enjoy opportunities to collaborate with the faculty and graduate students in the joint program in art history between the museum and Case Western Reserve University (CWRU), as well as CWRU students from materials science, engineering, and other disciplines. The conservation staff also collaborates with colleagues at Cleveland Clinic and many other Cleveland-area institutions, vastly expanding the department’s technical and expert capabilities. 

Follow along with #CMAConservation on the museum’s Instagram and Facebook accounts and look for conservation-related posts on the museum’s blog, The Thinker!