Canadian Conservation Institute

On February 5, 1946, the Supreme Court of Canada convened its first hearing in the building located at 301 Wellington Street in Ottawa. This classified federal heritage building , with its massive granite cladding and copper roofs, was designed, constructed and decorated by Montréal architect and engineer Ernest Cormier. In preparation for a major rehabilitation of this landmark, CCI’s Heritage Interiors Division is working with Public Services and Procurement Canada and th...e Supreme Court of Canada to record the building’s construction history, including the architectural design elements and custom furnishings. The team will use an integrated workplace management system along with building information modelling technologies and collections management best practices to support the day-to-day operations, conservation processes and life-cycle management of one of Canada’s national institutions. See more

The Conservation Science Division would like to introduce Stephanie Barnes. Stephanie joined CCI in 2020 for a term position as a conservation scientist, though she was first introduced to the field as a conservation science intern in 2012. As a conservation scientist, Stephanie analyzes microscopic samples using techniques including FTIR and Raman spectroscopy in order to identify minerals, pigments, binders and other compounds found in paintings and other heritage objects. ...A chemist and paintings conservator by training, Stephanie earned a Master’s degree in Art Conservation (Paintings) at Queen’s University in 2014 and a Master’s degree in Chemistry at Laval University in 2010. This dual background is an asset to her work as a conservation scientist. Before joining CCI, Stephanie worked and interned as a paintings conservator at both Canadian and American institutions, including the Smithsonian’s Museum Conservation Institute and the Art Gallery of Ontario. See more

This February marks the 25th anniversary of the first national declaration of Black History Month in Canada. As we continue to work together toward an even bett...er and consciously more inclusive future, we honour the contributions that Black communities have made, and continue to make in all sectors of society. #TheFutureIsNow #BHM2021 https://www.canada.ca//statement-by-minister-chagger-on-bl See more

***Deadline Reminder*** CCI is accepting applications until February 15, 2021, for requests for pre- and post-excavation archaeological conservation treatment services in 20212022. https://www.canada.ca//archaeological-conservation-treatme

Here are the SHARE-ORG Competition winners! "SHARE-ORG - Discover Stories, Connect Communities!" is a worldwide competition that promotes creative reorganizatio...n projects of underused museum collections in storage. We received submissions from Belgium, Sweden, Italy, Portugal, Malaysia, and Canada. The goal is to showcase creative initiatives of museums to offer access to their collections in storage and to encourage others to reorganize theirs. The projects that entered the SHARE-ORG competition were scored by the panel of judges primarily for their success in connecting the public with the collections from their reorganized storage rooms. They received special points for their originality (creativity), documentation and impact on local and larger scale. 1st place: Museu de Lisboa, Portugal Corpus Christi Procession 2nd place: Musea Turnhout, Belgium 360 virtual storage tour 3rd place: Museo di Storia Naturale e Archeologia di Montebelluna, Italy Mr. Zamprogno collection This international project is coordinated by Koninklijk Instituut voor het Kunstpatrimonium - KIK (Belgium) in partnership with ICOM Vlaanderen (ICOM Belgium Flanders), ICOM Belgique Wallonie-Bruxelles, Central Institute for Conservation CIK (Serbia) and Diadrasis (Greece), ICCROM - conserving culture, promoting diversity - and Canadian Conservation Institute. SHARE-ORG is funded by Belgium's Politique scientifique fédérale / Federaal Wetenschapsbeleid (BELSPO). Koninklijk Instituut voor het Kunstpatrimonium - KIK (Brussels) and the organizing partners would like to thank all applicants for sharing their outstanding stories and helping further stimulate the interest in Re-Org International. To see more details about the winning projects, please visit the following link: http://share-org.kikirpa.be/results-of-the-share-org.../ LET’S SHARE! http://share-org.kikirpa.be #museum #shareorg #competition #international #reorg #storage #collections

CCI is pleased to announce that a member of its staff co-authored an article in volume 32, issue 1 (2018) of Collection Forum. Seeing is Believing, A Fourteen-year Study on Efficacy and Economics of Visual Inspections to Protect A Large Mammal Collection from Insect Pests was written by Senior Conservation Scientist Tom Strang along with Jeremy Jacobs from the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C. For more information, click on the following link: https://meridian.allenpress.com//Seeing-is-Believing-A-Fou

On November 18, 2020, we will join conservators from around the world to participate in #AskAConservator day on Facebook Live. This year, we will be hosting two separate events, with one in each official language: - 11:30 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. EST: English session hosted by CCI conservators Crystal Maitland and Kate Sullivan on CCI’s English Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/cci.conservation).... - 1 p.m. to 2:15 p.m. EST: French session hosted by CCI conservators Anne-Stéphanie Etienne and Monique Benoit as well as CCI conservation scientist Maeve Moriarty on CCI’s French Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/icc.conservation). You may submit your questions for both events in advance by responding directly to this Facebook post.

CCI is pleased to announce that a member of its staff co-authored a chapter in the book Preventive Conservation: Collection Storage. Chapter 18: Integrated Pest Management for Museum Collections was written by Senior Conservation Scientist Tom Strang along with Jeremy Jacobs from the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C., and Rika Kigawa from the Kyushu National Museum in Dazaifu, Japan. For more information, consult the following page: https://spnhc.biowikifarm.net/wiki/Collection_Storage

CCI and CHIN are proud to join forces with ICCROM (International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property) and other international partners on a new initiative called Our Collections Matter. The initiative aims to ensure that all collections-based institutions play their fullest part in environmental, economic and social sustainability. It will help raise awareness across sectors of the contributions that heritage institutions make in sus...tainable development through their conservation and collection-related activities. This initiative also seeks to highlight the central role of conservation in unlocking the potential of collections for the benefit of all people. Projected activities over the upcoming years include: an environmental scan of existing practical tools and methods, leading to the development of a toolkit for worldwide dissemination; a number of field projects to test the tools and methods in heritage institutions and to identify any gaps; and research into and development of new tools and methods accompanied by training to ensure their effective use. ICCROM launched a survey to collect information from heritage professionals and institutions like yours on useful tools and methods currently in use. We invite you to take a few minutes to answer the survey by clicking the following link: https://surveys.iccrom.org/index.php/652145?lang=en Learn more about Our Collections Matter by clicking the following link: https://www.iccrom.org/news/our-collections-matter

CCI is pleased to announce that a member of its staff co-authored a book of technical guidelines for the Getty Conservation Institute: Acoustic Emission Monitoring for Cultural Heritage. Senior Conservation Scientist Eric Hagan collaborated with Micha ukomski and Vincent Beltran from the Getty Conservation Institute and ukasz Bratasz and Marcin Strojecki from the Polish Academy of Sciences. For more information and to download a free copy of the publication, click on the following link: https://www.getty.edu//acoustic_emission_monitoring_for_cu

Winter is coming. A friendly reminder: before the snow conceals everything in sight, check your building envelope. Take a stroll around the outside of your building and look for: gaps, cracks and other voids broken, loose or otherwise damaged components... wet or damp areas drainage issues, such as detached or missing downspouts cigarette butts, garbage, vandalism and other signs of undesirable behaviour signs of pest activity (Watch out for evidence of mice! Mice seek shelter in our cozy indoor spaces when the weather turns cold.) overgrown vegetation or clutter Protect your collection by making repairs and adjustments. If you can’t get it done right away, make a plan to address issues as soon as possible. Be sure to document the issues so that you can detect a worsening situation over time. Remember, a reliable building envelope blocks, or at least reduces, the effects of all the agents of deterioration that have sources outside the building that is, physical forces (storms, earthquakes, etc.), fire, thieves, vandals, water, pests, pollutants, sunlight, incorrect temperature and incorrect relative humidity.

On November 18, 2020, CCI will join conservators from around the world to participate in Ask a Conservator Day on Facebook Live. This day is an opportunity to celebrate international collaboration and to foster the exchange of knowledge in the conservation field. Details about the event and how to join will follow soon. Learn more about #AskAConservator Day by clicking the following link:... https://www.culturalheritage.org//co/ask-a-conservator-day

Recently, CCI Conservation Scientist Maeve Moriarty analyzed a wallpaper fragment from the parlour of Robertson House (Upper Canada Village) in Morrisburg, Ontario, to determine if it contained toxic pigments. The early 19th-century wallpaper features pink flowers and various shades of green foliage. In this period, green colours were often produced with copper arsenite-based pigments called Scheele’s green or emerald green. Maeve used a specialized X-ray fluorescence (XRF) m...apping technique with a spot size of less than 1 mm to analyze the fragment. As seen in these images, she found that arsenic and copper are both present in the vibrant green leaves of the motif. The wallpaper is indeed a wonderful (albeit toxic) example of the use of a copper arsenite-based pigment. Further health testing has been completed by another company, who confirms that viewing the wallpaper poses no hazard to staff or visitors, thus ensuring that it can be safely appreciated for years to come.

In August 2018, CCI began the conservation treatment of a delta-winged test vehicle that had been recovered from Lake Ontario under an archaeological permit. The recovery project was led by the OEX Recovery Group Incorporated for the Canada Aviation and Space Museum and the National Air Force Museum of Canada. The conservation treatment was multidisciplinary, involving Archaeological Conservators Tara Grant and Kate Sullivan, Metals Conservator Monique Benoit and Conservation... Scientist Nancy Binnie. As part of the documentation, Senior Scientific Documentation Technologist Mylène Choquette put together two short videos showing the overhead and side views of the telemetry board. Due to its size, the telemetry board was X-rayed in two separate sections (left and right). The two radiographs were then digitally stitched together to show the object in its entirety. The same view was photographed under normal light, in a single shot. The two imaging techniques were superimposed one over the other in Adobe Photoshop. This slow transition from normal light photography to radiography provides a better understanding of the components and circuits. In addition, scientific Documentation Technologist Germain Wiseman produced a time-lapse video that showcases the treatment, which began with cleaning on August 13, 2018, and ended with paint consolidation on March 28, 2019. Two GoPro HERO6 cameras mounted above the delta test vehicle captured an image every 30 seconds. The cameras ran 24 hours a day, producing nearly 660,000 still images.