Accreditation Committee

Sarah Peek ACR

Chair

Sarah began her career as an Art teacher working with primary age children in the US before moving back to England to attend West Dean. For nearly 20 years she has run her own commercial conservation studio in Brighton looking after ceramics during auction process, for exhibition, private collectors and lovely members of the public.

Qualifications: BA Art, PGDip Conservation West Dean Ceramic and Related Materials.  Chemistry for Conservators, Preventive Conservation short course, ACR
Associations: National Trust, IIC, Icon

David Carrington ACR

Vice Chair, Stone and Plaster

Director of Skillington Workshop, private conservation firm, since founding in 1997. Prior to that worked for various private conservation firms. Also worked as an archaeological conservator at the Museum of London. Consultant conservator to Lincoln Cathedral.

Qualifications: BSc (hons) in Archaeological Conservation from Cardiff, 1986; MA in Conservation Studies, University of York, 1993; DPhil in Archaeology, University of York, 2001
Associations: Member of Durham Cathedral FAC. Conservation Cases Recorder for the Church Monuments Society. SPAB caseworker. Member of IIC as well as Icon

Pieta Greaves ACR

Vice Chair, Objects and Archaeological Materials

Pieta is partner of Drakon Heritage and Conservation, a private company that provides conservation and heritage services. Prior to setting up the company, she was the conservation coordinator of the Staffordshire Hoard 2013-2016, the project won the 2015 The Pilgrim Trust Award for Conservation at the Icon Conservation Awards.  Pieta’s specialism is the conservation of museum and archaeological objects and she has considerable field experience in conservation and archaeology, working in the UK and abroad.

Qualifications: BA (Hons) Anthropology/Geography -Auckland University NZ. BSc Conservation of objects: Museums and Archaeology- Cardiff University MSc Architectural Conservation -University of Edinburgh
Associations: IIC, Maya Research Project

Kerren Harris ACR

Vice Chair, Preventive

Conservator with Historic Royal Palaces working on Paper Conservation, IPM, Storage, Collections Management, showcase design Environmental management, Risk Management, Salvage, Project Management.

Qualifications: BA(Hons) Paper Conservation, PgDip Museum Studies. ACR
Associations: Icon Collections Care committee

Lara Artemis ACR

Libraries & Archives

​Senior Conservator at Lambeth Palace Library, London. Previously worked in Collections Care at the Parliamentary Archives, British Library, Wellcome Collections and the National Archives, Kew; as well as freelance consulting in management and parchment conservation. Lara’s specialism is as a parchment conservator, and frequently teaches this.  Her career has focused on library and archive conservation and preservation, including leading teams through change and covering project management for large scale collection moves, including risk management.  

Qualifications: CMI Level 5-Leadership and Management 2016; MA Medieval History, UL, 2006; Icon ACR, 2004; BA Conservation (Library and Archives), Camberwell College of Arts, 1994. 
Associations: ACR; Fellow of IIC; Previously co-editorial panel member for Icon Publications.

Julie Bon ACR

Conservation Management & Preventive

​After completing her studies Julie worked on a number of project roles in Scotland before joining the National Trust for Scotland as a Regional Conservator in 2006. While at the Trust she managed a number of conservation projects including in-situ panel painting conservation in a historic chapel and a nation-wide project to write emergency response plans for 50 historic sites. In 2019 she joined the National Library of Scotland as Head of Collections Care and now heads a team of 15 Conservators, Preservation Assistants, Registrar and Audit Officer working to protect and preserve the nation’s memory.

Qualifications: Qualifications: MA Hons Art History – Modern History, St Andrews University; MA Conservation of Historic Objects, University of Lincoln. PRINCE 2 qualified. Regular Icon Intern Supervisor and Mentor. Icon Leadership Launchpad graduate.
Associations: NTS, HES, IIC

Susan Catcher ACR

Works of Art on Paper

Based at the V&A specialising in mixed media, ephemera and Eastern works of Art, especially Chinese and wallpaper.

Qualifications: BA History of Art, MA Conservation, ACR
Associations: IIC

Steve Clare ACR

Stained Glass

Following five years at Art School in the seventies, studying fine art and silversmithing, I took a five-year apprenticeship route into stained glass commencing 1980 at the Fulham Glasshouse. Ten years working with my mentor Alfred Fisher at Chapel Studio, Hertfordshire. I set up Holy Well Glass, an independent conservation studio in 1995, and have worked at many of the great cathedrals, churches and houses in the UK. Recently supervising major projects at Worcester, Winchester, and Exeter.

Qualifications: BA Art, PGDip Conservation West Dean Ceramic and Related Materials.  Chemistry for Conservators, Preventive Conservation short course, ACR
Associations: National Trust, SPAB, BSMGP, Glaziers Company, AABC

Fran Coles ACR

Conservation Management

Conservation & Documentation Manager at Bristol Culture. I originally trained as an objects conservator at Cardiff University, graduating in 2002 and achieved accreditation in preventive conservation in 2009. Having started my career with HRP and English Heritage I worked at the Science Museum for 11 years before relocating to Bristol. I now manage a team of conservation and documentation specialists for Bristol City Council. I have been an assessor and CPD reader since 2012.

Qualifications: BSc Archaeological Conservation, ACR
Associations: Icon, ICOM, UKRG

Beky Davies ACR

Ceramics

Ceramic conservator since 2002 – as a freelance conservator and running my own private practice working for private collections, specialist dealers, auction houses and the National Trust.  For 2 years I taught ceramic conservation at HND level and have run short courses on to specialist techniques.

Qualifications: HND Antique Conservation & Collections Management.  Chemistry for Conservators
Associations: IIC

Fred van de Geer ACR

Social History

Conservation is my second career, which started at the Hampshire Museums Service in Winchester on a one year MGC-funded internship and continued full-time for eight more years. Since 2006 I work as conservator for the University of Reading which encompasses five collections with the main one being the Museum of English Rural Life BC.

Qualifications: BA Conservation & Restoration Lincoln, ACR 

John Hartley ACR

Furniture & Historic Joinery

1977 founded Tankerdale Ltd with Hugh Routh.

1979 became one of the National Trust’s three furniture conservation advisers (the others being Hugh Routh and John Hart, both now retired).

Qualifications: Educated at Bryanston School, Dorset, and Bedales School, Petersfield.  Initially studied Mechanical Engineering at Portsmouth Polytechnic whilst working for Vickers Sperry Rand in Havant
Associations: Icon Assessor from 2003-2015, Member of IIC and Furniture History Society, Occasional lecturer at West Dean College

Sarah Howard ACR

Textiles

Freelance textile conservator and conservation consultant and director of Elm Heritage Conservation Consultancy working for a variety of heritage organisations including national and independent museums, the National Trust, and historic churches.  Prior to becoming freelance, work included Conservation Manager at the Imperial War Museum during the Regeneration of the First World War London galleries and Principal Conservator for Hampshire County Council Arts and Museums Service.

Qualifications: BA in History, PGDip Textile Conservation at The Textile Conservation Centre/ Courtauld Institute of Art. Prince 2 Practitioner, ACR
Associations: Trustee at Petersfield Museum, Member of the Southern Regional Conservation Network, Member of the Dress and Textiles Specialists Subject Network

Mike Howden ACR

Gilding and Decorative Surfaces

Private practice conserving carved and/or gilded objects. Began career in Conservation with internships at the Royal Collection and Tate Gallery.

Qualifications: BSc (Hons) Restoration & Conservation of Decorative Surfaces, ACR

Rachel Howells ACR

Easel Paintings

Private practice conserving easel paintings based in South Wales area.  Began career working for the Area Museum Service for Yorkshire and South Humberside.

Qualifications: BSc. in Chemistry with Education, Pg Dip in the Conservation and Restoration of Easel paintings Courtauld Institute of Art 1984, ACR
Associations: Member of Icon, ICOM and BAPCR 

Jane Rutherfoord ACR

Wall Paintings and Architectural Polychromy

Jane began her training in Florence, initially at L’Università Internazionale dell’Arte, and then in the private studio of Professor Paolo Gori, conservator at the Uffizi, specialising in easel paintings. She was subsequently awarded bursaries to continue her training in Munich and Vienna, with the State and Federal Offices for Historic Monuments. An independent practitioner since 1980, Jane runs her own company and has specialised in the conservation of wall paintings, architectural polychromy and easel paintings in the UK and Europe. Over the past 18 years, conservation students and trainee apprentices have joined her for individual tuition, supervised work experience and specific research/practical projects as part of university courses.

Qualifications: 2007-2008 Appointed examiner of bachelor and diploma students with the Conservation & Restoration Faculty of Hildesheim University of Applied Arts & Sciences (Germany).
Associations: Fellow of IIC.

Tracey Seddon ACR

Ethnography and Organic Materials

Organics Conservator for National Museums Liverpool. Began career as a trainee with Merseyside County Museums and in that role studied for the Diploma in Archaeological Conservation at the Institute of Archaeology 1987-1989. Established the Organics Conservation Section for NML. Responsible for lPM, preventive conservation, collections management, objects conservation.

I achieved ACR status in 2002 and became an assessor in 2003.

Qualifications: DipCons (Archaeological Conservation); ACR
Associations: IIC

Joyce Townsend ACR

Heritage Science

Joyce is Senior Conservation Scientist, Tate Britain. Her research covers paint, making and meaning of 19th- and earlier 20th-century traditional artists’ materials generally, and research documentation for the institution, but extends to technical examination of paint on paintings, works on paper, sculpture and frame, microfading, and storage environments for historic plastics. She is an experienced research supervisor both internally and externally, has supervised or examined a number of masters and doctoral dissertations, and mentors conservators and interns at Tate.

She joined Tate in 1987 as a conservation scientist, when she worked on funded PhD research 1987-91 before becoming a member of the permanent staff. Prior to that she was Acting Chief Conservation Scientist during some of 1987, and Conservation Scientist from 1979, at Glasgow Museums (today Glasgow Life).

Qualifications: FIIC 2003, ACR 1999, PhD 1991, BSc 1979
Associations: IIC Director of Publications; IIC council member and officer; technical editor for Archetype Publications and for many congress proceedings; Co-Chair of the institute of Conservation Science until it merged with Icon and became the Icon Heritage Science Group; gave evidence in 2007 to the House of Lords Select Committee Inquiry into Science and Heritage; past editor of The Conservator and Conservation News; committee member of the former SSCR; co-organiser of many conservation conferences.