Icon Accreditation Committee
The role of the Accreditation Committee (AC) is to ascertain based on the balance of evidence whether a candidate should be awarded Accredited Conservator-Restorer Status. Our accreditation committee are all ACRs and are drawn from right across the conservation profession.
Read on to find out more about our current Accreditation Committee.
Sarah Peek ACR
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
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
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
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
Julie Bon ACR
​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
Fran Coles ACR
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
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
Sarah Howard ACR
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
Jane Rutherfoord ACR
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.
Joyce Townsend ACR
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.