Hi there! I’m a mid-career conservator and I’m starting to make plans to leave the field. Mostly for the usual reasons: poor salary, terrible managers, needing to uproot my life and move to a new city every time the poor salary and terrible managers become too much to deal with. I can no longer work in a field that expects me to have a higher-earning partner or generational wealth to survive, and juggling freelance jobs on top of my day job is burning me out. Have you left the field, or do you know someone who has? I would love to hear stories of people who have made that pivot - I know there must be a few!

I am a member of a parish, and we have a statue of "Jesus and the children" at the front of the building. According to the Newspaper articles I have been able to find, the statue is made of "travertine stone quarried near the Holy City and also used in building St. Peter's." It was designed and built in Rome and shipped here in 4 pieces. It was installed around 1954. I don't know if anything has been done to it since.

Recently, I noticed a crack beginning to form across Jesus's face, and the statue is also in need of cleaning.

I am looking for advice for who to contact to help care for this statue. I reached out to a university but the contact they gave me never answered. I am in Delaware.

Hello! I made the project in picture when I was in 3rd grade, nearly 15 years ago. It is made of curved wire, presumably aluminum, with pantyhose stretched over it, then gesso-d and painted with acrylic. My father has it in his house and says it has started to flake and is weirdly sticky. I assume the hosiery or something underneath is degrading. What are some ideas you all might have on saving this piece? It means a lot to my dad to keep it and I’m all out of ideas. Is it too late?

I hope someone here can help. It's not about art but about saving an important letter my brother wrote me many years ago. You see one (or more) of my kids got into a box of memories I had and took out a letter my brother wrote me in 94 while I was in Indiana. The cat decided to pee on it. Now it's wet but that will dry. The smell probably won't go away, i could live with that. I just want to stop any further damage by the urine acid. I thought they couldn't get in to my box once again they proved me wrong. Someone please please please help it's the only thing I have left of my brother as he passed in 2002. Tia

Hello, I hope I’m in the right group for this. I found this artwork at a thrift store, but it has these yellow spots on the back of the frame. Is this mold or something else I’m not familiar with? Any way to treat this kind of thing or is the picture ruined?

I'm a freshly graduated high school student who is interested in studying art restoration/conservation in Germany. However, the program I'm trying to apply to requires 10 months of preliminary internship experience. I have been looking for an internship for months, and want to know if anyone would be able to give me some tips for landing an art restoration internship in Europe, I'm not picky where. Any help would be appreciated.

I’m trying to make up a batch of 20% Paraloid B67 in white spirits and it’s been 5 days and it’s not dissolved. I’ve followed as much of the infomation I could find about it online but it doesn’t seem to be working.

I put the beads of Paraloid into a sealable glass jar added the white spirit on top and stirred frequently.

I’ve also made up plenty of successful batches of B72 in acetone and it doesn’t prove nearly this difficult.

Any tips?

I have a Yaacov Agam Polymorph that is in need of restoration. In its simplest terms, the artwork is a piece of "paper" folded like an accordion/bellows and valleys of that "paper" is glued to a substrate creating a 3D artwork. I believe that the folded "paper" artwork is separating from the glue.

I live in the NYC area and am looking for a specialist to repair the artwork. Any recommendations?

I made this 3 years ago and I've had this on my wall ever since. It's gotten smudged quite a bit because the medium is so soft, any recommendations of a spray or something?

Hello! I am a conservator currently pursuing a Master's in tourism. For my thesis, I am studying the relationship between tourism and heritage conservation, its impacts, and how to find a balance between the two.
For the research, I need to conduct a survey among professionals in the fields involved. If you have time, could you answer it? Your answers would help a lot in the study. It takes less than 10 minutes to complete the survey; you can find the link below:

https://forms.office.com/e/mPyisajQH7

You can also share the survey if you know someone that might be interested in answering it.

Thank you for your help! Have a great week!

Hi all,

I collect vintage sheet music (mostly Scott Joplin sheets) from the early 1900s.

I'm aware of the need to conserve them and common advice says store the sheets in an appropriately sized polypropylene slip (usually 11" x 14") which is currently what I do. However, once intered in their plastic sleeves, these sheets end up stacked in a cardboard box and occasionally shuffled around....

I like the idea of being able to conserve them in a way that also allows me to view them more easily, such as in a binder. Having said that, it seems hard (in my country at least) finding appropriately sized sleeves that are made for this purpose. I.e. with holes for a binder.

Surely the King of Ragtime deserves better than a cardboard box. What more elegant solutions are a available to me?

How do you, American conservators, feel about how the next four years will impact your work?

I’m just wondering if pursuing a bachelors degree in art conservation is worth it. I know to have a career in this you need a masters and most places accept science, art history or art studio bachelors, but I wasn’t sure if a bachelor in conservation would be more beneficial. I also don’t know what school would be good, I’d be looking for a program preferably in Europe and either in English or French

Hi everybody, I am a high schooler and have 2 more years left 'till college. I am extremely interested in art restauration and need some advice and if you'd be so kind to help a new-comer out I would be really grateful.
Some info about me: I live in Europe and I speak English (B2 level), French (A2 level) and some Italian (been learning it about a year or so) and some Slavic languages; I love art, I am great at languages, history and biology, not so great in chemistry and physics but find them incredibly interesting.
What should I be learning, doing, researching...? Do you have any recommendations for universities in Europe? Are there any common misconceptions about this field I should know about? How are the job opportunities? Anything you think someone getting into this should know. I would appreciate some perspective from someone who has been thru this.
Any advice is welcome!

Hello everyone! My name is Dudu, and I am a Visual Arts student in Brazil with a strong interest in art conservation and restoration. I’m currently doing an internship at a studio that specializes in this field. However, there is limited formal education on this subject in Brazil, so I’m considering studying abroad to improve my skills and knowledge.

I’ve heard that Italy and Poland are good options for this field, but I would love to know more about other countries that offer strong programs in art conservation and restoration.

Could you recommend any countries, universities, or scholarships that would help me pursue my undergraduate and master’s degrees in this area?

Thank you so much for your help!

Hi. So I've been reading up on some of the "help" posts here when it comes to getting into the field. I've been skimming online but I can't quite find anything, though I'm not sure if it's the time of year means there's no positions or I'm looking in the wrong places.

As noted in the title im a NM resident (central NM) and the best bachelor's degree i could find that would help me at my current stage is the NMSU Bachelor's in art (museum conservation). Its a big choice if i decide to go there because id have to live on campus since there's no train or bus directly i could take and the shortest comute would be like 12 hours. I've taken the slow approach to my degree thus far due to family responsibilities and finances. I got some credits going from a local community college and transferring to the local university though I was only going part time/slightly above the part time base amount. Ive just about finished my sophomore year credit wise, though the focus was mostly on Studio Art before so my credits don't fit the chemistry requirements needed for grad school even if I just complete my studio art degree.

I was wondering if anyone here had done work or is a practicing conservator in the NM state that could give some realistic figures on how many opportunities are available in the state (either via Bench learning after the BFA degree and/or positions, fellowships, etc after completing a Masters) and where to start looking pre-emptively as I have commitments to family that would make moving out of state for extended periods (without being able to come back and visit/help over the weekends) within the next 5 years extremely difficult to impossible. Because of that I'm figuring I'll have to do the majority of the minimum 400 hours of experience/internships in the NM state.

Also, what is considered common for internships length/timeframe wise here? Because calculating the base 400 hours at full time (40 hours a week) is only 10 weeks which isn't too bad but I assume that it's rare for a full time internships that's 10 weeks long to slam out the minimum hours in 1 go.

(I don't know if it matters for tips but ideally after getting my masters I would like to work with paintings &/or books as my main focus.)

as the title states i’m writing a short story about someone who does art conservation for work. it’s a huge plot point so i was wondering if anyone would be open to me asking some questions about day to day work activities and other things of that matter. if you’re open to it, please comment and i will message you :) thanks everyone

hi everyone - i’m graduating with my bachelors degree in art history in the spring, summa cum lade, with a concentration in classical studies. i’ve been looking forward to pursuing conservation for grad school and onwards, specifically objects conservation, and as i’m getting closer to wrapping up my undergrad everything feels very real and very scary.

i have all of my art history credits and studio art credits, and i’ll be taking organic chemistry in the spring with already completely general chemistry. i’ll also be starting a conservation internship in the spring as well, and i have experience working on an archaeological site in sicily with very minor experience working in a conservation lab on site (which i will be working at this upcoming summer as well).

i know how competitive conservation graduate programs are, especially in the states. i live in the united states, with my degree from a state university in florida, and would ideally attend a grad program in the states but i’d just as readily move overseas for a grad program, as well. for anyone who has graduated with their higher degree in conservation, or has been accepted to any programs, i’m curious as to what your undergrad experience looked like and if you have any advice to give me that could possibly make me a better candidate.

there’s genuinely nothing else i can imagine myself doing in the future. im twenty-five, and have worked a handful of odd jobs, but everything comes back to ancient history and art conservation for me. it’s just that my acceptance into a grad program can’t be ensured, and i want to make sure im the best version of myself to apply for such programs. any and all advice is truly appreciated!!!!

Hi! this is the first time i've ever posted on reddit, plz be kind x

I'm(27F) living in Paris, and from Ireland. I currently work in a massive machine of a chain bar and have worked my way up from waitress to assistant stock manager and HR assistant. Long story short, I'm miserable, and this job and my managers create a very old anxiety in me that i am already trying to work on in my personal life. I do not want to handle this level of anxiety, and the feeling of walking on eggshells, especially in my daily life at work. I have always been a practical based person, drawing, painting, object restoration such as clocks and street signs, me and my dad restored a very old wardrobe once, he taught me to weld when i was younger too, I've loved woodworking since i was around 17, and did art history in school. Basically almost anything creative i adore, and feel fulfilled in. I always thought i would never pursue something in these kinds of fields because there was no money/jobs, especially in Ireland, but now i feel that my mental health is more important, and i want to be happy, and make a comfortable wage, that i can live off and make some savings, buy a house somewhere with my partner when we're older. That sort of thing. Wholesome.

Now, does anyone have any advice? I am only just starting this journey, and I don't know what i don't even know, so aaaany help is greatly apreciated. I'm open to going back into education, or to do apprenticships or just work my way through while i learn more, I have just had enough. I've had enough of taking whatever job will take me, usually service and retail, and working my ass off, when it doesn't fulfil me or benefit me, if anything it does the opposite. I'm just letting my life happen to me, and I have decided that i should put the hard work i do at work, into myself now. I deserve to be happy too.

What do you do? How did you get there? Generally how do you get there and what might I need? What's the money like? Does it fulfil you? Do you enjoy it? Where are you based? Do you know anyone who could help out a friendly but anxious, hardworking and passionate girl in Paris? (now it feels like an ad huh)

If you read all the way thank you, and if you leave advice, please know i really appreciate it. Conversation and research are the first steps.

Thanks xxx

Based in the UK. I am looking into Textile Conservation as a possible career. I do understand it is a competitive field and difficult to get into.

I currently sew and make my own clothes, and also started doing some hand embroidery this year. I plan on taking some courses/classes in hand embroidery in the new year.

I would like to know what relevant courses there are out there (Non-University), short courses, classes etc. Or where I can find them? I can travel, so courses in other Countries within Europe are welcome

Hello, I'm posting on behalf of my boyfriend who doesn't use reddit. We are currently in community college in California and looking at UCs to transfer to that can accommodate both of our majors.

His goal is to get the degrees he needs to work in conservation of cultural heritage objects with a specialty in textiles. He already has a lot of personal experience from the collecting/antiques community he has been a part of his whole life, he's worked for auction houses identifying objects and verifying their authenticity, etc... but has no degree.

Every time I Google "conservation of cultural heritage objects degree" I get pretty vague information about what the Master's programs require for a prerequisite.

The conservation bachelor's at UC Berkeley seems more focused on nature. We are mostly looking at UCB and UCLA. Would this still be viable? Or should he focus on art history?

He thinks he's going to need chemistry and things to learn about the preserving process, which makes a lot of sense, but isn't part of this program.

What bachelor's degree is best to get a Master's in Conservation of Cultural Heritage Objects, specializing in textiles? What lower division classes can you recommend that would fulfill the requirements for the major?

Any other advice from people who have this Master's degree?

Thank you!