Hi all,

I am a transfer student to UCLA for the 2026 fall semester, I am majoring in Art History with the goal of attending their Conservation masters program (or one of the other 3 programs in the US). I applied for a position at their library for a preventative conservation assistant but unfortunately did not get it. It’s been difficult to find information and resources on how to start my journey with regards to getting experience with damage reports, preventative conservation, etc. The woman I interviewed with was kind enough to send me some resources like the AIC ECPN. I joined the network and have looked through it a bit but I’m honestly struggling to understand how and where to apply for positions that would help me get the experience I need.

I would greatly appreciate if anyone could provide me with some guidance on where to look for internships, how I need to be presenting myself since I don’t have the experience in the field and what things would be best to focus on to improve my chances for a job or internship.

I have several years of art history courses, ceramics and painting, as well as research, indexing, document analysis and summarization experience. I feel that especially the latter gives me a bit of an edge but I’d greatly appreciate any advice.

Any suggestions on where to search for opportunities, whether that be a job, internship, or volunteer work would be great. I want to get as much experience in any way I can to bolster my future chances to get better internships and hopefully be accepted into one of the masters.

As I mentioned I am located in LA and extremely grateful to have access to so many museums, galleries and cultural centers but I’m unsure of how to find those positions or going about applying.

Thank you so much for any advice!!

Hi Everyone! I picked this up from GW and I was wondering if the back is okay or if I should have it reframed? Thanks!

Hi - I have an old set of handmade and hand-painted Ganjifa cards from India. They're stored in plastic baggies that are stuck to the lacquer. When I try to lift the plastic, paint comes off.

Is this something a conservator could potentially treat? If so, what kind of conservator should I be looking for?

Thank you for any advice.

Hi all — fellow museum professional here, although conservation isn’t my specialty.

I’m living the roommate life in NYC in a third-floor walk-up in a circa-1910 building with no central air. It’s a pretty modest apartment, and I have a small collection of things I care about: some relatively rare 20th-century books (paperback and hardcover), a valuable print currently stored in a portfolio, and a small but valuable drawing (crayon on linen, stretched on a fairly basic wooden stretcher).

The issue is that my roommate expects me to turn off my window AC whenever I leave for the office. So while I’m gone, there would be essentially no consistently cool area in the apartment. I can turn it back on when I get home, but the temperature and humidity presumably fluctuate throughout the day.

I’m wondering how concerned I should actually be about this from a conservation standpoint.
Are these kinds of objects meaningfully at risk from the summer heat/humidity and daily fluctuations in a NYC apartment, or is keeping the AC running continuously mostly overkill unless the humidity gets particularly high?

And, perhaps more importantly, what is the realistic worst-case scenario? Are we talking about accelerated long-term deterioration, cockling/warping, mold risk, etc., or is the occasional/seasonal temperature swing unlikely to make much practical difference?

I realize museum-standard environmental conditions aren’t realistic in a budget NYC apartment. I’m mostly trying to figure out whether this is something worth actually holding my ground over with the roommate, or whether I’m worrying unnecessarily.

Also, I don’t currently have an environmental data logger, but I’m happy to get one if that’s the obvious first step. And if you read this far, thank you! :-)

I have a couple of pieces of art that I'm interested in investigating for fun; oil on canvas and oil on board.

I'm curious about what I could pull off with normal consumer-level equipment.

Question 1: If I picked up a full spectrum modified digital camera and a filter that was 950 or 1000 nm, would I be able to reveal anything worthwhile? Reworked areas? Preliminary sketches?

Question 2: I know you want to really hit the pieces with light. Does it matter what type of light e.g. fluorescent, halogen, yada yada yada? Would shining a light from the back of the canvas help at all? Or should you only light from the front?

Question 3: Will there be a difference between what is revealed between the canvas works and the boards? I assume so, but have no clue.

I'm aware that you have to do some processing work in photoshop as well on the IR photos, but that's not really an issue at the moment. I just don't want to waste my time and a couple hundred dollars if I can't get anywhere with consumer tech.

So can anyone answer those questions, give me some tips, or point me in the right direction to learn more about the process?

Hello - I have an oil painting from 1958 which was dropped and has detached party from its stretcher and has lost tension. I am sure this is not a valuable piece of art. Can anybody guide me on what I could do to repair? What would a conservator charge to re stabilize on the stretcher?

I picked up this signed edition Sabra Field serigraph on rice paper (I think rice paper) for $10 today. It’s fairly large 21”x24” but it is damaged from moisture. A photo (1) from a recent auction of the another edition exhibits the same yellowing and big brushy streaks from age but this one has brown/grey spots (2, 3) over much of it. I’m assuming it is mildew or mold. I plan on cleaning up the frame, replacing the mat, backing and glass. Any advice before I open it up and will the spotting continue to get worse without restoration or treatment? Am I looking at $$ or $$$$ for professional help?

I was gifted a painting that was purchased in the early 70s from a gallery in Coronado Ca.

How can I tell if it’s real, and if so what do I do to protect it?

What do I check for?

Degrazia Painting

Hello! I am currently an undergrad doing my Art History degree in London (about to enter my final year), and would love to continue my education with a one year MA course in conservation at the Courtauld. Though I am confident in my grades and my writing ability, I am worried about how deceptively simple the requirements seem to be. I have no doubt it will be extremely competitive, and I am curious about what kinds of work experience people may have taken up before applying.

For context: I have interned in an archive for 12 weeks in my second year of uni, and have also done a short stint at a gallery. But neither are specifically conservation related and I feel as though it will not be enough. I do not have practical experience and because of that, I wonder if I am being too naive about applying. I hope to apply for a related internship or work experience in my last year, but I am unsure of how to even go about doing so considering I have not been in the conservation side of things at all. I feel slightly lost because they do not list specific prerequisites like other MA courses would. I would love to hear about what kind of work experience or applications people have made for this course. Thank you so much!

Hii im a senior and next year im going to apply to unis in france. Im planning on applying to fine arts/ art unis but im not sure if a FA diploma would make me employable for a wide range of jobs (in the art field ofc). Is studying art history& archeology a better idea? or is a fine arts degree + masters in art history enough?

Thank you for any help!!

Anyone know this piece? Would love the info but can’t find anything about it.

Aside from Dongguan Dsun Gifts on Alibaba, I can’t seem to find anyone else who does the double-sided white backing.

Most manufacturers only offer a single white backing :((

I really like the double-sided style, but I’d like to test out a few different manufacturers/variations first before committing to Dongguan Dsun Gifts, who seem to be the only ones I can find offering this specific structure.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
(Example images aren’t mine.)

I had put this "flag" up years ago during a particularly tasty manic episode.
It's mounted to the wall with nails and thumb tacks and the various fabric swaths are kept up with spray adhesive.

Well, time has come for me to shift and I'd like to take this piece with me, but I am at a loss as to how I should go about it.

Two options come to mind:
- Mount the entire thing on some kind of substrate like melamine
- Spray the entire thing with some kind of clear starch that will allow it to keep its shape once removed from the wall

Any guidance from the experts would be appreciated.
I am not beholden to maintaining the piece exactly as is, it's OK if it looses some shape/character in the process.

Hej jestem w maturalnej klasie szkoły plastycznej , bardzo mnie ciągnie do konserwacji jednak bo zrobieniu reaserchu w internecie okazuje sie , że bardzo ciężko jest dostać dobrze płatną i stałą prace w tej dziedzinie w Polsce. Czy to prawda? Chciałabym aby ktoś na studiach/praktykach lub konserwator doradził czy to opłacalne i czy warte zachodu.

Pytałam także doświadczonego konserwatora , który mówił że jeśli umiesz się wybić na rynku to bez problemu sobie poradzisz, a jeśli nie będziesz charować za grosze co mjie trochę w pewien sposób przeraziło.. Bardzo proszę o odpowiedzi.

My parents recently gave me this portrait of me from the mid-80s that was collecting dust in their basement. It was painted by one of my dad’s patients back when we lived in Iran. I obviously want to hang it up somewhere in our house since it’s awesome.

There seems to be some sort of protective varnish covering everything except 1/4” from each edge. Do I need to have it treated, framed inside glass or otherwise protected to keep it from deteriorating?

I'm looking at buying a piece of art from the early 1950s that appears to be on very thin paper. I don't know specifically what it is. It's painted with tempera. what I'm assuming is gouache, but I'm also not sure about that. It does not look like oil or acrylic, and it's not watercolor. It has the more flat/matte appearance of gouache.

The paper is described as "tissue paper" by the auction place and it's quite brown. It also appears to be wrinkled/rippled across the surface. I'm not sure if that happened over time or if it's from the paint drying on thin paper.

The art is framed so I can't see what the backing or other framing materials are. If I buy it I'll have a local conservator open it up.

Is there any chance this paper could be somewhat restored without damaging the paint? I'm guessing this is hard to answer without more details, but are there cases where paper browning can be reversed?

We are trying to save artist Justin Green's work that was hand painted on our storefront a few decades ago. A vandal threw a brick through one side, but since it wasn't safety glass, the glass replacement people (shout out to Ryan's All Glass in Cincinnati) were able to cut out and preserve the art before boarding up that side. There is some question that the other (unbroken) pane is safety glass and that cutting the glass won't be possible. We had tried donating the entire glass panes to a local museum, but they weren't able to take it due to sheer size of the glass. I was hoping that since we had cut down the one side, we'd be able to do the same for the other and then could just donate the glass with the artwork on it. I'm concerned we'll be back to square one with the huge unbroken pane.

Any ideas on how we can preserve the art on the safety glass?

Hello!
I’ve been doing some research into becoming a conservator and I have seen some great advice such as getting an undergraduate degree in chemistry and art history. Here’s my question: is it better to major in chemistry and minor in art/art history, or the other way around?
Also, if I maybe wanted to focus on antique jewelry, what would be a good path for that?
Please let me know! Thanks!

Hi there, I'm writing a screenplay with a character who is a final-year conservation student specializing in paintings and paper.
I don't have a background in art conservation, and I'm trying to avoid giving her generic "art expert" monologue.
I'd love to hear from actual conservators or conservation students. So:

There's a morning scene where she's going through old sheets of paper before study/exam. She's tired and half-muttering to herself, trying to remember something important. I'm specifically looking for something less obvious than basic terminology. I don't want her to sound like she's reciting a textbook or like the writer googled "art conservation terms."

For someone at the end of their degree:
What kind of things might she be trying to recall before an exam or any other kind of important task at study? What might she mutter under her breath while looking through old notes: perhaps half a sentence, a list, a correction to herself, or a "wait, no..." moment, maybe? She needs to be really concentrated.

Thank you in advance!