Amaris at UD
We officially only have two real days of class left this semester and all that stands between me and the summer is a research paper and an orgo exam.
After doing two all nighters in a row (not a good choice) and having end of the year wrap ups for clubs, I’m definitely starting to feel the burn. Well, I guess its time to pick up some books at the library and get down to business.
(The above picture is from Art Con Prom, a little end of the year shindig that the Art conservation club puts on. I’m on the exec board, so it was great to see it all come together and get a little bit of break from the end of the year madness. And in case you’re wondering, the theme was Living Paintings hence the Frieda Khalos, Andy Warhol, and Liechtensteins.)
The Monuments Men of World War II
The Monuments Men were a group of men and women from thirteen nations, most of whom volunteered had expertise as museum directors, curators, art scholars and educators, artists, architects, and archivists. The Monuments Men job description was simple: to save as much of the culture of Europe as they could during combat.
Since this week is orgo week and my brain cannot produce words or string them together into sentences (the fact that I have gotten this far is pretty impressive), I’m going to post some interesting pictures. Pictures say a thousand words, right?
(via pbsthisdayinhistory)
I can easily say one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen was an object I worked on at the Field in an exhibit at the Art Institute.
Today I finished one of my favorite classes of the semester… and of college. The historic panel painting class that I talked about in this post was FANTASTIC. Although I wasn’t able to completely finish (I plan on gilding the back and adding highlights and blush), Im really happy with how it turned out.
I am currently taking this amazing ARTC (art conservation) course called “Studio Materials and Painting Techniques.” Pretty much we are preparing and painting with egg tempera using generally the same process and materials as artists from 15th century Italy.
It has been really interesting. In a previous class (chemistry of art) I read all about how people made these paintings and how pigments were prepared. It is has been really interesting to actually experience aspects of what I read. So far we have sanded down panels, applied animal glue sizing, adhered a linen sheet to thte surface and applied a thick layer of gesso grosso… then tragedy struck.
The gesso layer completely lifted off the surface of everyone panel. We redid it and it happened again. This weekend is going to be an epic panel making party as we try to catch up and redo weeks of work in practically one day. Glass half full, more experience!
Some fellow interns and I in the anthropology conservation lab!
I have officially finished my internship. It has been an amazing experience. It was the best kind of challenge that gave me a priceless glimpse into an aspect of art conservation that I am most interested in (museums). I met amazing people and had a fantastic supervisor that actually gave me hands on experience allowing me to work with objects.
Now I’m heading back to Ohio to visit family and then I’ll be heading back to school.
ppalmtree Asks:
amarisudel Said:
Hello! I’m really glad I got this question! Let’s start off with the general requirements in the UD program. There are the expected university requirements as well as the requirements for the college of arts and sciences. In the specific major there are classes in art history, art, art conservation, and four semesters of chem (two semesters of general chemistry and two semesters of organic) and two internships. There is a big emphasis on doing well in chemistry, with the expected grades being B and higher.
From my experiences and what they teach in the art conservation classes is that the UD program is really aiming to help you actually get in to grad school, of which there are only about six programs in North America. Having solely the undergrad degree does leave you options in terms of career, but if you actually want to be an art conservator graduate school is a must.
I am not going to lie, it is a lot of work and I spend a lot of time during my week on homework. My schedule typically starts at 9 and I either have classes or are at work until about 5. My standard semester thus far has consisted of an art conservation, an art history, an art and a chemistry class (with a 3 hour weekly lab). There is also a general requirement that I take too. Sounds hard, and it is, but if it something you really have a passion for, it is really rewarding and fun. I’m more worried about grad school at this point. Hope that helps and if you have any other questions feel free to ask, I love answering them!
When I was looking at my college options my junior year of high school, I had no idea what I wanted to do. I wanted to major in art, then architecture, then history. The schools on my list were there because either they were where everyone goes (*cough* U of I ) or where I was told I should go. Then a friend who was doing a grad program at UD told me about art conservation. It perfectly fused my passions for art and history and my chem abilities. From that second on I knew what I wanted to do. The only problem is that there are about two schools in the country that have an undergrad program in it. UD was on that short list! That is how UD became an option. The other ones were there because they were in the midwest near home or could “create” the major I wanted and then there was UD.
UD and another school ended up as my top two choices. As May 1st approached, I could not decide. And then I had an epiphany. Why would I not go to UD which had exactly what I wanted? And I sent in my purple slip and check.
It was risky considering I knew nothing about the school, would be moving halfway across the country and never had a chance to visit until I moved in the first day of freshman year, but I’m so happy with the decision I made.
Anonymous Asks:
amarisudel Said:
Art conservation is a field that is multi disciplinary. Although art history and art are very important to the field, science is also a huge part. Not only do conservators use chemicals that should be understood, conservators also need to be able to understand what an artifact or material is made out of, what chemical changes have happened to it over time, how it is decomposing and what chemicals should or should not be used to treat it. For my art conservation major in the UD program, I am required to take at the minimum Chem 103 and 104 and two semesters of organic chemistry, as well as the art history and art classes.
So a few posts back I wrote about the conservation effort on Andre Harvey’s “Nubian Goats” by my Art conservation class. After we washed them we applied wax to make them shinny and spiffy. It was a lot of fun to actually go out and get our hands dirty.
Now they look 10 million times better!
