From rocket ships and Civil War graffiti, to
Shangri La and Dutch murals
UD graduate student Kirsten Travers has
worked on an extremely wide array of art conservation
projects, most falling under the description of "painted
surfaces." What does that mean in real terms?
Using "paint excavation" techniques
to uncover poetry and art left behind by Civil War soldiers
inside a historic
house in Virginia. Stabilizing and restoring a Saturn
V rocket on outdoor display at the Johnson
Space Center in Texas. Restoring intricate ceiling
art in Hawaii at Doris Duke’s famous Shangri
La estate. Analyzing and restoring murals and other
surfaces at historic sites in the Netherlands.
Travers uses microscopy
to analyze paint at Maastricht's Stadhuis (town hall)
in the Netherlands.
What all these objects and projects have
in common, says Travers, is the cultural significance
contained within the material objects. "I see them
as ‘vessels of value,’" she explains. "That value
may be aesthetic, scientific, cultural or historic – and
while these ‘values’ are intangible, their ‘vessels’ are
material, and therefore prone to damage and deterioration.
As conservators, we preserve and protect these material
forms so that the values they contain can live on for
the enrichment of future generations."
After graduating in 1997 with a degree in
fine arts, Travers initially spent time as a decorative
painter assisting conservators in New York and New Orleans.
Later she worked as a technician conserving murals and
historic decorative interiors, including the Essex
County Courthouse in New Jersey and the Grand
Opera House in Meridian, Mississippi. Since 2002,
she participated in the conservation of outdoor sculpture,
monuments, and industrial artifacts nationwide, notably
the 367-foot Saturn V rockets in Alabama and Texas, where
she served as technician team leader.
The Winterthur/UD program is one of only
four graduate programs in the U.S. that educates and trains
art conservation professionals. The curriculum includes
a heavy science component, covering the history of art
and artifact technology, physical and chemical properties
of materials, mechanisms of deterioration, and the intricacies
of preventive conservation.
"One great thing about this field is that
I don’t have to choose a discipline," comments Travers.
"I climb scaffolding one day, then work under a microscope
the next. I can immerse myself in historic paint-making
treatises in a rare book collection, and then use those
recipes to make traditional paints. Plus, I often must
go to the object – because it can't come to me – so my
work has taken me around the world to places I would never
have seen otherwise."
Travers
helped stabilize and paint plaster at De Kluis (literally
translates to “the vault”), a picturesque 17th-century
hermit's chapel in the forest of Valkenburg, near
Maastricht, the Netherlands.
Travers’ most recent internship projects
were in Honolulu, Hawaii to assist with restoration of
an Islamic interior from 18th-century Damascus, part of
Doris Duke’s Shangri La estate; and in the Netherlands,
restoring wall art in a rural 17th-century hermit’s chapel
and in a town hall building in Maastricht. In the Netherlands,
Travers worked with the Department for Research and Conservation
of Historic Interiors at the Stichting Restauratie Atelier
Limburg (SRAL).
“The internships have been extremely beneficial
as opportunities to apply what I learned in the classroom
to a ‘real world’ project,” emphasizes Travers. “That
was when all of the science started to click, and I realized
I was applying my WUDPAC knowledge and problem-solving
tools to make the most appropriate decisions for each
individual object. These internships also gave me the
opportunity to work with conservators from all over the
world, giving me a deeper understanding of the field on
an international scale. These combined experiences were
crucial to building my professional confidence, and made
me aware of my role in the global conservation community.”
Well-known internationally, WUDPAC’s graduates
have been responsible for the preservation of such irreplaceable
objects as the Declaration of Independence, the Liberty
Bell, Star-Spangled Banner, the Dead Sea Scrolls, and
works of art by Rembrandt to Van Gogh to the Wyeths.
Debra Hess Norris is chair of the Winterthur/UD
program, as well as UD professor of art conservation and
Henry Francis Du Pont Chair in Fine Arts. “Having well-informed,
highly skilled conservators is vitally important to the
preservation of artistic and cultural collections worldwide,”
notes Norris. “Our goal is to infuse our students with
the knowledge and experience needed to protect these irreplaceable
treasures.”
“I wanted a program that would challenge
me,” comments Travers. “The Winterthur/UD program is very
intense, with a strong science component. We also have
amazing resources, including the Winterthur museum and
collection, the museum’s scientific research and analysis
laboratory, state-of-the-art conservation studios and
incredibly dedicated faculty and staff.”
“For me, specializing in architectural
painted surfaces was important. This is a relatively new
field, and WUDPAC recognized the need for conservators
in this area by establishing a painted surfaces concentration,
the only program in North America to do so. Two leaders
in this discipline are Richard Wolbers and Susan Buck,
both WUDPAC graduates who now teach in this program. Having
these internationally-renowned experts as my mentors has
been an incredible experience, and one that I could not
have had at any other program.”
Travers will complete UD’s three-year master
of science in art conservation in 2011.
