In cooperation with provincial museum and art gallery associations, CCI responds to specific needs within the heritage community by offering workshops, lectures, and site visits related to the conservation and care of museum and art gallery collections. CCI staff also participate in and present lectures to meetings of professional groups and associations.

For the period May 1 to October 31, 2003, CCI staff were involved in the following activities:

Conferences

Canadian Archaeological Association 36th Annual Meeting, Hamilton, ON, May 7–10, 2003 —Tara Grant attended to strengthen CCI’s ongoing relationship with the archaeological community.

Canadian Museums Association 56th Annual Conference, Winnipeg, MB, May 6–10, 2003 — CCI participated in the trade fair where the booth was staffed by Mary-Lou Simac, Renée Dancause, Paul Marcon, Lucie Paquette, and Myles Bailey (of the Canada Museum of Science and Technology); Charlie Costain also attended.

American Association of Museums Annual Meeting & Museum Expo 2003, Portland, OR, May 18–22, 2003 — CCI participated in the trade fair where the booth was staffed by Mary-Lou Simac, Linda Street, and Jean Tétreault.

Canadian Association for Conservation of Cultural Property (CAC) 29th Annual Conference, Victoria, BC, May 22–25, 2003 — Charlie Costain presented the Per Guldbeck Memorial Lecture “Three Wise Men, and their Role as Leaders in the Conservation Profession”; Kate Helwig presented “Examination of Selected Materials from the Studio of Yves Gaucher” (co-authored with Marie-Chantale Poisson, a student in the Master of Art Conservation program at Queen’s University); Sherry Guild presented “Mould Growth in Heritage Collections — Collection Recovery”; Michael Harrington presented “Rehabilitation of Judges Chairs and Bench, Supreme Court of Canada (co-authored with Alain Vermette, Project Manager, Public Works and Government Services Canada (PWGSC) and John Ward, Heritage Architect, Heritage Conservation Program, PWGSC); Paul Marcon presented “RH Control Module for Display Cases — A New Design with High Output Capacity” (co-authored with Stefan Michalski and Myles Bailey, Canada Museum of Science and Technology); Jan Vuori also attended and everyone assisted Shanna Ramsay in the CCI booth at the trade fair.

American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works (AIC) 31st Annual Meeting, Arlington, VA, June 5–10, 2003 — CCI participated in the trade fair where the booth was staffed by Christine Bradley, Mary-Lou Simac, and Charlie Costain; Carole Dignard presented a talk and poster “A Closer Look at the Gentle Art of Applied Pressure.”

Fifth World Archaeological Congress WAC-5, Washington, DC, June 21–26, 2003 — Judy Logan presented “Conservation in the Field: Achievable Goals” and chaired the session “Achievable Goals: Conservation Choices for the Real World.”

The Galpin Society Conference on Musical Instruments, Oxford, UK, August 2–3, 2003 — Bob Barclay received the Anthony Baines Memorial Prize for contributions to the study, history, and care of historic musical instruments.

Denver X-Ray Conference 2003, Denver, CO, August 4–8, 2003 — Marie-Claude Corbeil presented “Applications of X-ray Diffraction in Conservation Science and Archaeometry” as part of the plenary session devoted to “X-ray Studies of Art and Archaeological Objects.”

Moulds, Health and Heritage International Conference in Braunschweig, Germany, September 4–5, 2003 — Maureen MacDonald attended the conference, and also visited with staff at the Netherlands Institute for Cultural Heritage (ICN) laboratories in Amsterdam and the Vice-Director of the Department of Conservation and Restoration at the University of Applied Arts in Vienna.

NACE International - The Corrosion Society Annual Conference 2003, Ottawa, ON, September 15–17, 2003 — Bob Barclay presented “Deterioration In Situ of Historic Spacecraft.”

ICMS (ICOM International Committee on Museum Security) Annual Conference 2003, Basel, Switzerland, September 14–17, 2003 — David Tremain attended to keep abreast of current knowledge in the subject area and strengthen professional relationships.

5th International Congress on Lasers in the Conservation of Artworks (LACONA V), Osnabrueck, Germany, September 15–18, 2003 — Carole Dignard presented “The Cleaning of Soiled White Feathers Using the Nd:YAG Laser and Traditional Methods.”

Ontario Museum Association 2003 Colloquium “Issues in Contemporary Collecting,” Hamilton, ON, September 16, 2003 — Scott Williams gave the keynote address “Collecting the Contemporary: Preservation Issues.”

Lectures

“The Importance of Conservation to Cultural Communities” was presented by Michael Harrington on June 6, 2003, at the York Region Funders Forum in Newmarket, ON.

“Time Capsules: Longevity and Security” was presented by Bob Barclay on September 17, 2003, at the monthly meeting of the Rideau Township Historical Society, North Gower, ON.

“The Science of Wood — Three Things to Remember about the Wood in your Site” was presented by Michael Harrington on October 7, 2003, at a meeting of the National Historic Sites Alliance for Ontario in Sharon, ON.

Workshops

Care and Preservation of Musical Instruments was presented by Bob Barclay on May 5–6, 2003, at the Cantos Music Museum in Calgary, AB.

Aboriginal Facilities Development was presented by Brian Laurie-Beaumont and Siegfried Rempel on May 28–30, 2003, for the Ontario Museum Association in Manitoulin Island, ON.

Construction of Mannequins for Historic Costumes was presented by Janet Wagner and Renée Dancause on September 27–28, 2003, for the Museum Association of Newfoundland and Labrador in Bird Cove, NL.

CCI’s PVAC, Acrylic and VAE Adhesive Research and Some Aspects of Skin and Leather Bonding was presented by Jane L. Down on September 29, 2003, at the Adhesive and Leather Symposium, which was part of the “Topics in Conservation Science” series presented by the Library of Congress Preservation Directorate in partnership with the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, DC.

Storage Planning for Cultural Facilities was presented by Siegfried Rempel on September 29–30, 2003, for the Ontario Museum Association and the Ontario Historical Society in Minesing, ON.

Emergency and Disaster Preparedness for Cultural Institutions was presented by Deborah Stewart and David Tremain on October 20–21, 2003, for the Archival Association of British Columbia at the Maritime Museum of British Columbia in Victoria, BC.

Artifacts in Aboriginal Cultural Centres was presented for the first time by Tom Stone and Janet Mason on October 22–23, 2003, at the Yukon Arts Centre in Whitehorse, YT.

Preservation of Historical Furniture was presented by James Hay and Alastair Fox on October 23–24, 2003, for the Prince Edward Island Museum and Heritage Foundation in Charlottetown, PE.

Plastics in Museums was presented by Scott Williams on October 24, 2003, for students in the Master of Art Conservation program at Queen’s University in Kingston, ON.

Site visits for facilities development or upgrading

Site visits conducted by Siegfried Rempel and/or Brian Laurie-Beaumont include the following:

British Columbia — Nelson & District Museum, Nelson; Canadian Museum of Rail Travel, Cranbrook.

Alberta — Metis Nation of Alberta, Victoria Landing; Naval Museum of Alberta, Calgary; Provincial Museum of Alberta, Edmonton.

Manitoba — Transportation Heritage and Technology Centre, Winnipeg Art Gallery, and Métis Resource Centre, Winnipeg; Métis Interpretation Centre, Saint Laurent; National Residential School Museum, Portage la Prairie.

Ontario — Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery, Kitchener; Peterborough Centennial Museum and Archives, Peterborough; Agnes Etherington Art Centre, Kingston; Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art, Toronto; Wikwemikong Heritage Centre, Manitoulin Island.

Quebec — Canadian Aviation Heritage Centre, Montreal.

Yukon — Kwanlin Dun Cultural Centre, and Old Log Church Museum, Whitehorse; Carcross/Tagish Interpretation Centre, Carcross; George Johnston Museum, and Teslin Tlingit Cultural Centre, Teslin; Danoja Zho Cultural Center, Dawson; Binet House Interpretive Centre, Mayo; Keno City Mining Museum and Alpine Interpretive Centre, Keno.

Nunavut — Nunavut interpretation centres, Iqaluit.

Northwest Territories — Hay River Museum, Hay River; Northern Life Museum and National Exhibition Centre, and Métis Cultural Institute, Fort Smith; Ndilo Cultural Interpretation Centre, Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre, and Heritage Mining Museum, Yellowknife.

Other site visits

The University of Lethbridge Art Gallery, Lethbridge, AB, May 7, 2003 — Bob Barclay consulted on the mounting and support of a bronze sculpture Moses by Sorel Etrog.

Sharon Temple National Historic Site and Museum, Sharon, ON, May 30, 2003 — Bob Barclay consulted on care and preservation of pipe organs by Richard Coates.

Manotick United Church, Manotick, ON, June 10–11, 2003 — Bob Barclay opened a time capsule from 1903 and consulted on preservation of the contents.

Coordinación Nacional de Restauración del Patrimonio Cultural, CNCA-INAH, Mexico City, Mexico June 9–15, 2003 — Tara Grant met with Alejandra Alonso-Olvera, Restaurador Dictaminador, to inspect the condition of wooden sculptures from the Olmec period (Ms. Alonso-Olvera will bring the sculptures to CCI for treatment next year).

Royal Saskatchewan Museum, Regina, SK, July 7–8, 2003 — Jane Sirois and Tom Stone tested natural history specimens for traces of arsenic, mercury, and lead pesticides.

Glenbow Museum, Calgary, AB, July 10–11, 2003 — Jane Sirois and Tom Stone tested ethnographic and natural history specimens for traces of arsenic, mercury, and lead pesticides.

Igloolik Field Excavation, Igloolik, NU, July 11–27, 2003 — Tara Grant provided field conservation for the excavation of several Pre-Dorset sites (excavation conducted by Dr. D. Stenton, Director of Heritage, Department of Culture, Language, Elders and Youth, Government of Nunavut, and Dr. R. Park, University of Waterloo).

Senate Banking and Commerce Committee Room, Parliament Hill, Ottawa, ON, July 17 – September 5, 2003 — Wendy Baker, Robert Arnold, Debra Daly Hartin, and Helen McKay, assisted by private conservator Mary Piper Hough, conducted emergency stabilization of the painted ceiling and some architectural elements as well as ongoing treatment of marouflaged paintings; Nancy Binnie conducted colour analyses and Kate Helwig carried out paint layer analysis in support of this work; and James Hay directed the work of Keitel Furniture Repair during the reinstatement of four doors to their original finish.

Colony of Avalon, Ferryland, NL, July 24 – August 21, 2003 — Charlotte Newton worked in the field conservation lab at the excavation of Avalon (excavation conducted by the Memorial University of Newfoundland).

Wilder/Davis Luthiers, Montreal, QC, September 3, 2003 — Bob Barclay consulted with Tom Wilder regarding a projected publication on violin and bow restoration and care.

Nepean Museum, Ottawa, ON, September 8, 2003 — Bob Barclay and Siegfried Rempel examined storage facilities and provided advice.

The Bytown Museum, Ottawa, ON, September 19, 2003 — Bob Barclay examined the storage area and prepared a report.

McCord Museum, Montreal, QC, October 14–16, 2003 — Jane Sirois and Jennifer Poulin non-destructively analysed a selection of objects using portable X-ray fluorescence spectrometry to detect the presence of possible pesticide residues such as arsenic, mercury, and lead; micro-vacuum samples of particulate material were also taken from the surface of the objects for further analysis in the lab at CCI.

Redpath Museum, McGill University, Montreal, QC, October 16–17, 2003 — Jane Sirois and Jennifer Poulin non-destructively analysed natural history specimens using portable X-ray fluorescence spectrometry to detect the presence of arsenic, mercury, and lead.

Awards

A number of CCI staff were honoured with Departmental awards during Public Service Week in June 2003:

Bill Peters and Charlie Costain each received a People Management Award; David Grattan received a Deputy Minister’s Award for his work with the International Council of Museums Committee for Conservation; and the team comprising Charlie Costain, Renée Dancause, Bruce Gordon, David Grattan, Colette Landry, Linda Leclerc, Joy Patel, Lise Perron-Croteau, Tom Stone, and Season Tse received a Deputy Minister’s Award for work on the CCI Competencies Project.