Art conservation prof wins national recognition

Art conservationist and hardcore Beatles fan Debra Hess Norris at work in her lab in Old College in the company of cardboard cutouts of two of the Fab Four.

3 p.m., July 29, 2004--Debbie Hess Norris, Henry Francis du Pont Chair in Fine Arts and chairperson of the Department of Art Conservation, has driving interests in life—art and photography conservation and The Beatles, and her office in Old College attests to the latter, since it’s crammed with Beatles memorabilia. When Norris received the prestigious Sheldon and Caroline Keck Award last month for “excellence in the education and training of conservation professionals,” it was only fitting that the presentation had a Beatles theme.

Shelley Sturman, a graduate of the Winterthur/UD Program in Art Conservation and now objects conservator at the National Gallery of Art, presented the award from the American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works (AIC). Sturman sang takeoffs on lyrics from Beatles songs as she cited Norris’s contributions to the field of art conservation. She began with “I once knew a girl, or should I say, all of us know her, too,” and continuing with, “It’s been a hard day’s night, and she was working like a dog.” She ended with, “We love you yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah!”

Norris was celebrated at the ceremony for developing course materials that have been disseminated internationally on the conservation of photographs; for her dedication to her students; for her service as president of AIC, which has more than 3,000 members; for her work as chairperson of Heritage Preservation; and for her contributions that led to her appointment as chairperson of UD’s Department of Art Conservation and as Henry Francis du Pont Chair in Fine Arts.

Sturman also read accolades from Norris’s students. One said, “her energy and organizational abilities are legendary,” while another said that she “possesses an energy that flows and charges and ignites those around her to be the best they can be.”

“The award is especially meaningful to me because Caroline
Keck and her late husband, Sheldon, have been so supportive of graduate art conservation programs,” Norris said. Caroline Keck was a pioneer conservator who studied at the Fogg Museum at Harvard and advised on the founding of the Winterthur/UD and New York University graduate art conservation programs and established the art conservation graduate program in Cooperstown, N.Y., now relocated at Buffalo State College.

When not teaching conservation courses or working with undergraduate and graduate students at UD, Norris is in demand here and abroad to present workshops on conservation treatments and to advise treatments for different collections, ranging from the negatives of the Dead Sea Scrolls to Andy Warhol photographs. One of her favorite projects for a private collector was the restoration of a scrapbook of previously unpublished Beatles photographs assembled by a fan in Liverpool from 1961-63.

Her globetrotting has taken her to Russia, Australia, Israel, Paris, Denmark, the Netherlands and Italy. A trip to Finland is scheduled in the near future. In spite of her busy professional schedule, she managed to find time to attend three Paul McCartney concerts during his last United States tour.

In some countries, Norris said, she requires the services of a translator. She recalled that in Russia, she depended on an army translator—art conservation was not his field. “After a while, however, he became so adept and heard it so often that he would give the first part of my presentation to different groups without me saying a word,” she said.

Her lectures and workshops aren’t always for professionals. She has given several talks, entitled “Don’t Leave Grandma in the Attic” about the preservation of family photographs, to groups at UD, in Delaware and other parts of the country.

The University of Delaware is one of the few schools offering graduate degrees in art conservation, Norris said, the others being Buffalo State University, New York University and the University of Texas. The schools have collaborated on fund raising for graduate conservation education. “It’s a different approach that has worked well in our field as we share resources and methodology,” Norris said.

Norris is a UD graduate with a bachelor’s degree in art history and chemistry awarded in 1977, and she received her master’s degree in 1980 in art conservation, with a concentration in photograph conservation, a relatively new field at that time. She joined the faculty as a part-time instructor of photograph conservation in 1982.

UD is a family affair for the Norris family, who all also are graduates of Brandywine High School. In addition to Norris, her husband, Bob, and daughter, Sarah, are UD alumni, and her daughter, Maggie, will be a freshman next year.

One of the honors Norris said she treasures most is her induction into the UD Alumni Wall of Fame in 2002.

Article by Sue Moncure
Photograph by Kathy F. Atkinson

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