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CCI Newsletter, No. 27, June 2001

CCI Services: Lectures, Workshops, and Site Visits

In cooperation with provincial museum and art gallery associations, CCI responds to specific needs within the heritage community by offering workshops, lectures, and site visits related to the conservation and care of museum and art gallery collections. CCI staff also participate in and present lectures to meetings of professional groups and associations.

November

At the Walters Art Gallery in Baltimore, MD, Jane Down and Scott Williams took samples from the Archimedes palimpsest (a 10th-century parchment manuscript that contains copies of seven of Archimedes theorems and is considered the oldest copy of these works) to analyse adhesives, identify ink, assess mould contamination, and assess the state of deterioration of the parchment.

At the 47th annual meeting of the Canadian Society of Forensic Science in Ottawa, Marie-Claude Corbeil gave a lecture "Authenticity and Art Fraud: Scientific Examination of Works of Art."

Marie-Claude Corbeil participated in the first International Working Group Meeting on Developing Postgraduate Curricula for Conservation Scientists (CURRIC) at the International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property (ICCROM) in Rome.

Robert Barclay presented a lecture "The Silent Artisan" for the Literary and Historical Society of Quebec in Quebec, QC.

As part of the ongoing Canadian Forces Museums' preventive conservation surveys contracted by the Directorate of History and Heritage of the Department of National Defence, Stefan Michalski visited the Labrador Military Museum in Goose Bay, NF, and the Maritime Command Museum in Halifax, NS.

December

At the request of the Montpelier Foundation, Stefan Michalski visited James Madison's Montpelier in Virginia to provide advice to Michael Quinn (Executive Director) and Lee Langston-Harrison (Curator) about climate control proposals for the exhibit "The Pleasure of Your Company is Requested: A 'Harvest Home Supper' with the Madisons."

Siegfried Rempel visited the Winnipeg Art Gallery in Winnipeg, MB, to consult on upgrading options.

January

In Winnipeg, MB, Brian Laurie-Beaumont facilitated a weekend development planning session for the Transportation Heritage and Technology Centre (a proposed new museum that will encompass more than a dozen transportation-related organizations in the Winnipeg area).

Siegfried Rempel visited the Beaverbrook Art Gallery in Fredericton, NB, to consult on environmental control upgrades.

Judy Logan attended the Archaeological Institute of America (AIA) conference in San Diego, CA, as a member of the AIA's Conservation and Heritage Management Committee.

As part of the ongoing Canadian Forces Museums' preventive conservation surveys contracted by the Directorate of History and Heritage of the Department of National Defence, Siegfried Rempel visited CFB Cold Lake, AB.

Judy Logan presented a paper "Towards an Understanding of the Archaeological Record: Learning Through Conservation" at the annual conference of the Society for Historical Archaeology in Long Beach, CA; she also chaired a session on "Education in Archaeology" and attended a meeting of the Society's Curation, Conservation, and Collections Management Committee.

Jane Sirois and Ian Wainwright visited the Canadian Museum of Civilization in Hull, QC, to analyse (non-destructively) Aboriginal artifacts to detect the presence of arsenic and mercury compounds.

In Chicago, IL, Stefan Michalski met with Karen Sweeney (Director of Restoration) and Cheryl Bachand (Curator) of the Frank Lloyd Wright Preservation Trust to provide advice about climate control proposals for Robie House; he was also asked to survey (with Richard Born, Curator) the Wright furniture collection held by the University of Chicago's Smart Museum of Art and report on its vulnerabilities.

James Bourdeau led a CCI team (including Paul Heinrichs, Nancy Binnie, and James Hay, with the assistance of Marie-Claude Corbeil and Elizabeth Moffatt) on an investigation of the interior finishes in the Supreme Court of Canada building in Ottawa.

February

In response to an increasing number of inquiries on outdoor murals, Debra Daly Hartin visited Chemainus, BC, to examine briefly the condition of the town's many murals.

David Grattan presented a course "Introduction to Organics" to 16 students in a new diploma program in Marine Archaeological Conservation at the Department of Conservation Studies, Evtek Institute of Art and Design, Vantaa, Finland (for more information see Web site http://www.evitech.fi/muotoilu/aikuiskoulutus/koulutusohjelmat/marine).

Siegfried Rempel and Brian Laurie-Beaumont undertook a major review of the collections preservation needs of the National Library of Canada in Ottawa.

Brian Laurie-Beaumont and Siegfried Rempel visited the Reynolds-Alberta Museum in Wetaskiwin, AB, to review the facility and its operation to gain insights and information that may be of use to other transportation and technology institutions under consideration.

CCI hosted a meeting with the Canadian Council of Archives (CCA) to discuss archival needs, including modern information carriers, architectural drawings, iron gall ink, mould, and adhesives. In attendance from the CCA were Michael Moosberger, Johanna Smith, Margaret Bignall, John Grace, Rosaleen Hill, and Mireille Minniggio; CCI participants included Joe Iraci, Paul Bégin, Jane Down, Season Tse, Tom Strang, and Charlie Costain.

Geneviève Sansoucy and Jane Sirois visited the Royal Ontario Museum to analyse (non-destructively) 220 objects from the Anthropology Division to detect the presence of arsenic, mercury, and lead.

In conjunction with a CCI workshop in Whitehorse, YK, Debra Daly Hartin and Sherry Guild visited the MacBride Museum Society and the Yukon Provincial Archives to advise on specific objects; these visits were arranged by Valery Monahan (Conservator, Heritage Branch of Yukon Tourism).

Siegfried Rempel visited the New Brunswick Museum in Saint John, NB, in support of a Museums Assistance Program application; he also went to Alberta to visit the University of Lethbridge Art Gallery in Lethbridge in support of a Movable Cultural Property Program inquiry, and the Royal Tyrrell Museum in Drumheller to assist in a facility upgrade planning exercise.

March

Charlie Costain attended meetings of the Advisory Committee and the Council at ICCROM in Rome.

In conjunction with the 25th anniversary of the Master's of Art Conservation program at Queen's University in Kingston, ON, CCI hosted a meeting with private conservators to discuss future directions for conservation as well as training and development needs; CCI's Director General Bill Peters and staff members Charlie Costain, Cliff McCawley, Linda Street, and Sonya Milly participated.

David Tremain presented a one-day workshop "Emergency " Disaster Preparedness for Cultural Institutions" to staff of the George R. Gardiner Museum of Ceramic Art in Toronto, ON.

Brian Laurie-Beaumont and Siegfried Rempel met with members of the steering committee for the proposed RCMP Heritage Centre at "The Depot" (the RCMP national training centre and currently home to the RCMP Centennial Museum) in Regina, SK, to comment on the planning done to date and make suggestions for future development.

April

Many CCI staff participated in the 54th annual meeting of the Canadian Museums Association in Ottawa-Hull, which included an opportunity for delegates to visit CCI's laboratories. Charlie Costain also attended a meeting of the Forum of Provincial Museum Associations to report on CCI's activities and directions, and Stefan Michalski took part in a panel presentation with Bill Barkley, Candace Sweet (Parks Canada), and Rob Waller (Canadian Museum of Nature), on practical risk assessment methods for museums.

Jane Sirois presented a lecture "Analysis of Museum Objects for Hazardous Pesticide Residues" at the symposium "Preservation of Native American and Historical Natural History Collections Contaminated with Pesticide Residues" (sponsored by the Society for the Preservation of Natural History Collections, the National Park Service, and the National Museum of the American Indian) in Shepherdstown, WV.

During a trip to New Brunswick, Brian Laurie-Beaumont and Siegfried Rempel visited Fredericton to discuss the development of a Museum for the Malisseet First Nation, and Eel River Bar to discuss the development of the Medicinal and Aromatic Plants Aboriginal Heritage Garden, a Mi'kmaq project.

James Bourdeau conducted an investigation of the materials and condition of three decorative ceilings in the Official Residence of the Canadian Ambassador to Japan in Tokyo.