The Museum Conservation Institute (MCI) in collaboration with the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts (KADK) is pleased to announce The Mechanics of Art Materials and its Future in Heritage Science: A Seminar and Symposium at the Smithsonian Institution on October 24-25, 2016. This program will bring experts in mechanics research from across the globe to discuss current and future trends in the study and preservation of cultural heritage.

Speakers will represent a continuum of this research, from its origins to those professionals currently working to shape their field and train future generations of scholars. This special event is designed to honor previous research while encouraging forward thinking through opportunities to meet and hear from scholars at the forefront of innovative mechanics research in the cultural heritage sector.

Day One of the program will feature the popular paint mechanics workshop created and taught by MCI scientist emeritus Marion Mecklenburg, condensed into a single-day seminar.  The morning program on Day Two will feature an international group of speakers presenting case studies on the state of mechanics research around the glove, while the afternoon program will feature emerging U.S.-based speaker and their thoughts on the future of the field.  We are excited to announce that the following speakers have been confirmed for Day Two of this event:

• Cecil Andersen (Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts) and Laura Fuster-Lopez (Polytechnic University of Valencia)
• Roman Kozlowski (Jerzy Haber Institute of Catalysis and Surface Chemistry, Polish Academy of Sciences)
• Stina Ekelund (Netherlands Institute for Scientific Research)
• Nobuyuki Kamba (Tokyo National Museum)
• Poul Klenz Larsen (National Museum of Denmark) and Morten Ryhl-Svendsen (Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts)
• Michal Lukomski (Getty Conservation Institute)
• Alice Carver-Kubik (Image Permanence Institute, Rochester Institute of Technology)
• Ken Shull (Norhtwestern University/Art Institute of Chicago Center for Scientific Studies in the Arts)
• Lukasz Bratasz (Institute for the Preservation of Cultural Heritage, Yale University)

This intensive, two-day event will provide attendees with an overview of the behavior of art materials and then connect that information directly to the activities of those scholars currently shaping the field of heritage mechanics studies. Day Two presentations will focus on the impact of mechanics research in the cultural heritage sector with talks on topics including risk assessment and collections monitoring, the fiscal impact of changes in collections care, new protocols for transit and storage environments, and the application of mechanics research to decorative and archival collections as well as to  materials found in contemporary art.  Day Two will conclude with a panel discussion of advancing stakeholder participation in mechanics research and application.  A post-event publication will include a historiography of mechanics research at the Smithsonian, the case studies and vision papers prepared by the Day Two speakers, Dr. Mecklenburg’s 1982 unpublished report to the Smithsonian on the mechanical behavior of painting materials, and a bibliography of Smithsonian heritage mechanics publications.

We are anticipating registration for this two-day event to be priced at $50 (to include coffee/tea breaks and lunch on both days).  There is no single-day registration option. Schedule and registration for this event will be announced at www.si.edu/mci.  For more information, please contact Dr. Dawn Rogala, paintings conservator at the Museum Conservation Institute, at RogalaD@si.edu.

The event is designed to engage and inform a broad audience of scholars, students, practitioners, and policy makers.  We hope to see you in October!