Paid Post-graduate Interns at CCI — 2009
Nicole Charley

I completed an Honours Bachelor degree in Art History and French studies at York University, followed by a Maîtrise in Art History at Université de Paris I. I also obtained a diploma in textile conservation at Institut National du Patrimoine (Paris, France) in September 2004. As part of my thesis work in the final year of this program, I treated one of the dresses worn by Vivien Leigh in the 1939 movie Gone With the Wind.  The conservation research for this project centred on the use of clay poultices with regenerated cellulose membranes as a barrier. In addition to my formal education, I have interned at the Musée National des Arts et Traditions Populaires (Paris), the Musée Galliera (Paris), the Musée Historique des Tissus (Lyon, France), and the Centre de Conservation du Québec, and have also worked on a number of private contracts. I am an active member of the Canadian Association for Conservation, for which I am currently Chair of the Translations Committee.

I was especially pleased to join CCI as one of the successful applicants to the Paid Internship Program in 2008. Throughout my one-year internship in the Textile Lab, I will be assisting with a number of treatment projects. One of the most interesting is the treatment of a suite of Egyptian Revival furniture — a challenging treatment due to the very complex, three-dimensional, and composite nature of the furniture. I will also be involved in the treatment of an 1831 needlework sampler belonging to Pinhey’s Point Foundation, and the conservation of three flags: the Colours of the York Sunbury Militia, the 3rd York Militia King’s Colours, and the 3rd York Militia Regimental Colours. These flags require very lengthy treatments and will not be completed during my internship.