Research into Practice Initiative

The modern profession of conservation began to emerge in the 19th century with the work of chemist Michael Faraday in the 1850s on the cleaning and protection of the collection at the National Gallery in London. In 1888 another milestone was reached in the appointment of Friedrich Rathgen at the Royal Museums of Berlin as the first chemist employed by a museum for the purpose of caring for its collection.

In the early 20th century, chemists Harold Pleinderleith of the British Museum, Paul Coremans of the Institut royal du Patrimoine artistique (Belgium), and Rutherford John Gettens and George Stout at the Fogg Museum (Harvard University) were pioneers in the development of the modern profession of conservation. With them began the symbiotic relationship that exists today between the scientific researcher and the practicing conservator.

Today more than ever, the conservation field looks to the sciences to provide understanding of materials, their deterioration, and their longer-term preservation. In addition to preserving the materials of the more distant past, conservators now are increasingly encountering new materials and media used in the products of modern culture that often pose unprecedented conservation challenges. Continued collaboration and dialogue between scientists and conservators are essential to the investigation and development of appropriate conservation solutions to meet these new challenges.

The goal of this initiative is the enhanced connection between scientific research and its application in the field through the timely movement of research results from the laboratory to the practicing professional. In support of this goal, the initiative aims to:

• present through training workshops, colloquia, and related events the results of new scientific work undertaken by the Conservation Institute and other research institutions
• consider how research advances can inform the understanding of a conservation problem and a choice of intervention
• highlight the various issues at stake for conservators and researchers when integrating new research into practice
• identify areas where further investigation may be needed—whether lab-based research, in-the-field testing and adapting, or both