The Washington Conservation Guild is pleased to provide this slate of candidates for the Officer and Director positions. The ballot will be emailed to the membership; if you did not get your ballot, please contact Sarah Stauderman, nominating committee, SStauderman@washingtonconservationguild.org. The vote closes on May 3, 2022.
Officers (two year terms)
President (Officer): RACHEL GREENBERG (term ending 2024)
Rachel Greenberg completed her undergraduate degree in Art History and Ancient Studies at Mount Holyoke College before moving to the United Kingdom to continue her studies at University College London. There she completed three master’s degrees in Classical Art and Archaeology (MA), Principles of Conservation (MA), and Conservation for Archaeology and Museums (MSc). She has worked in objects conservation at a number of leading Institutions including the Charles Dickens Museum, the British Museum, and the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum. She is currently working at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum on the Transformation Project, preparing the collection for long-term display in what will be a fully renovated building on the National Mall. Rachel is a Professional Associate of the American Institute for Conservation (AIC) and has been an active member of the Washington Conservation Guild for many years, having volunteered on the Board of WCG as a Director for two years and Vice President for the past three years. When not serving the conservation community, you can find Rachel touring archaeological sites of Europe.
Vice President (Officer): KEARA TEETER (term ending 2024)
Keara Teeter is a graduate of the Winterthur/University of Delaware Program in Art Conservation who works as the Lunder Fellow in Paintings Conservation at the Smithsonian American Art Museum. She is actively involved in the local conservation community, currently serving as a WCG Director and previously volunteering as a 2019-21 Professional Education and Training Officer with AIC’s Emerging Conservation Professionals Network.
Membership Secretary (Officer): This position is open and self-nominations may be made directly to Jayne Holt, President, Washington Conservation Guild jholt@washingtonconservationguild.org
Directors (one or two year terms)
Director: JOANNA BAKER (incumbent, term ending May 2023)
Director: PAM KIRSCHNER (term ending 2024)
Pamela Kirschner is a Wooden Artifacts Conservator in Washington, DC. Ms. Kirschner specializes in the research and treatment of Frank Lloyd Wright wood and clear finishes, performs Preservation Assessments and Emergency Response and is a Preservation Specialist at the National Archives and Records Administration in Environmental Management and Preventive Conservation. She has an MS in Art Conservation from the University of Delaware/ Winterthur program and a BFA from Virginia Commonwealth University. Ms. Kirschner has published and presented results of research as a recipient of grants from National Endowment for Humanities, National Endowment for the Arts, Heritage Preservation, National Trust for Historic Preservation’s Cynthia Woods Mitchell fund for Historic Interiors and the Kress Foundation. Ms. Kirschner remains an active member and Architectural Consultant to the Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy after serving on their Board of Directors. She is a member and Professional Associate of AIC.
Director: RHEA DESTEFANO (term ending 2024)
Rhea DeStefano completed a three year course, 1994-1997, at the European School for Conservation of Library Materials in Spoleto, Italy of which the third year was spent at West Dean College in West Sussex, England in the division of Rare Books and Manuscripts. Between 1998 and 2002 she worked in Berlin, Germany at the German Historical Museum and the Berlinische Galerie: Museum for Modern Art. Since 2002, she has been employed as a senior paper conservator at the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington D.C. She is a member with the Washington Conservation Guild and a professional associate with AIC since 2012.
Director: NICK PEDEMONTI (term ending 2024)
Nick Pedemonti is an Objects Conservator at the National Museum of African American History and Culture. He was previously Associate Conservator at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where he recently worked on the renovation projects for the Michael C. Rockefeller Wing and the British Galleries. He holds an MSc in Art Conservation from the Winterthur University of Delaware Program in Art Conservation. His interests include investigating manufacturing techniques, conservation decision theory, and developing cross-disciplinary and collaborative approaches to the preservation of cultural heritage. Over the years, he has worked at the Brooklyn Museum, the American Museum of Natural History, and with private studios; CSOS in Chicago and Fine Wood Conservation Ltd. in Brooklyn.
Director: LIZ PEIRCE (term ending 2024)
Elizabeth “Liz” Peirce is the Objects Conservator at the Library of Congress and has previously worked at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Historic New England, and Winterthur Museum. She received her BA in Art Conservation from the University of Delaware, and her MA in Principles of Conservation and MSc in Conservation for Archaeology and Museums from the University College London. She has a particular interest in the conservation of organic material, particularly wooden artifacts and gilding, and enjoys the variety of material that comes across her bench. She has spent the past two years as Assistant Program (2021) and Program Chair (2022) for the Wooden Artifact Group for the AIC annual meeting, and is looking forward to becoming more involved in the conservation community in the DC area. Outside of the lab, she enjoys knitting, baking, and rock climbing.
Director: TBD (term ending 2024): This position is open and self-nominations may be made directly to Jayne Holt, President, Washington Conservation Guild jholt@washingtonconservationguild.org
