Icon Conference 2022: Reaching Out for Recognition

Donatella Banti

Donatella Banti is both a conservator and a scientist, having gained a PhD in Chemistry from King’s College London and a PG Dip at the Courtauld Institute of Art. After working 12 years in British Academia Donatella is currently working freelance for private practices in London (JNC, K&S Conservation) as well as for Tate Scientific Department and the Houses of Parliament. Her specialist interest lies in applying scientific methods and research to innovations in practical art conservation. 

Donatella has been involved in the volunteer world since a university student and through the years has worked with refugees and for environmental groups.

Miranda Brain

Miranda gained an MA (honours) degree in the History of Art from the University of St Andrews, Scotland, before going on to study at Northumbria University, gaining an MA in the Conservation of Fine Art, with a specialism in easel painting. She undertook placements at the Guildhall Art Gallery, London, and The Trumpington Gallery, Cambridge until taking up the post as the Heritage Lottery and ICON funded Painting Conservation Intern at the Bowes Museum, Barnard Castle. She joined Royal Museums Greenwich in 2019 and is currently employed as Painting Conservation Manager. 

Dr Duygu Çamurcuoğlu ACR

Senior Inorganic Objects Conservator, British Museum

Dr Duygu Camurcuoglu ACR, FIIC has completed her BA in Classical Archaeology in Istanbul University, Turkey. She has pursued her education at the Institute of Archaeology, UCL, London where she completed her MA and MSc in the Conservation for Archaeology and Museums programme in 2004, followed by a PhD in Material Science. She gained a post at the British Museum as a ceramics, glass and metals conservator whilst she worked as the head conservator for the renowned Neolithic site of Catalhoyuk (Turkey) for 8 seasons, supporting the site to gain ‘World Heritage Site’ status, as well as several students and colleagues through their career development.

Currently Duygu works as a Senior Inorganic Objects Conservator at the BM. Most recently she became the Lead Conservator for the Beirut Glass Project which is an international collaborative project between the BM and the Archaeological Museum of the American University of Beirut. Duygu was also a part of the team who won Icon’s Nigel Williams Prize in 2019.

She just completed her 3 years work on the Icon Board of Trustees. She is also a Professional Accreditation assessor and mentor for Icon. She is well-connected both nationally and internationally and actively collaborates with international conservation institutions, such as IIC and ICOM-CC organising large scale conferences. She gives lectures for conservation students at various universities in the UK and abroad.

Steve Clare ACR

Steve Clare commenced working in the field of stained glass in 1980, working at the renowned Fulham Glasshouse, for prominent designer and restorer Carl Edwards, the designer of the Great West Window at Liverpool cathedral. The glasshouse had a continuous history in stained glass from 1906, being a hub for the major figures of the Arts and Crafts movement. After five years, he moved to work with Alfred Fisher at Chapel Studio, helping Alfred to establish one of the first independent conservation studios in the UK, where he worked for a decade.

In 1995 he founded Holy Well Glass in Wells. The Company has worked on many major conservation schemes including the cathedrals at Wells, Gloucester, Exeter, Worcester, and Winchester, as well as other significant buildings such as St. George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, and King's College Chapel, Cambridge.

For many years he has worked as a consultant for Wells cathedral, Winchester cathedral, Exeter cathedral, St. George's Chapel, and King's College chapel, Cambridge, assisting in developing medium and long-term conservation strategies, often through large scale condition surveys.

Stephen is an Icon accredited conservator (ACR), a Fellow and acting chairman of the British Society of Master Glass Painters (BSMGP), and a Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Glaziers.

His Company proudly holds the Royal Warrant from Her Majesty the Queen, by Royal Appointment for stained glass conservation, awarded in 2018- the only Company in the field to hold that honour.

In 2020 he was awarded an MBE in the Queen's birthday honours list for services to stained glass conservation.

For the last twelve years, Stephen has acted as national adviser for stained glass to the National Trust. Steve acts as external assessor for AABC (Architects accredited in Buildings Conservation) and serves on the accreditation committee for Icon (Institute for Conservation). He also serves on the stained glass committee for the Church Buildings Council.

In 2021 Steve was awarded the Plowden medal, with emphasis on his work in the area of education and training.

Stephen is the author of 'Stained Glass- Art, Craft, and Conservation' Robert Hale & Company 2013.

Kate Clark

Sara Crofts

Sara is Icon’s Chief Executive and is responsible for strategic planning and implementation, internal operations and external relations. She manages the staff team and works closely with the Board of Trustees and Board committees.

Sara trained as an architect at Edinburgh College of Art, specialising in building conservation and is a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts as well as a Council Member of Europa Nostra.

Laura Drysdale

Conservation for Wellbeing (C4W)

Laura Drysdale is director of the Restoration Trust. Laura managed English Heritage collections conservation team and was a senior manager at the Museums Libraries and Archive Council before supporting people living with complex mental health problems at Stonham, Julian Support and Together for Mental Wellbeing. The Restoration Trust was founded in 2014, and now runs culture therapy partnership projects involving participants with archaeology, archives, museum collections, contemporary art and music..

About Conservation for Wellbeing (C4W)

Conservation for Wellbeing (C4W) was a pilot project that combined conservation, archives and mental health. Run by the Restoration Trust, the partners were London Metropolitan Archives, St Mary Abbots Rehabilitation & Training (SMART) and Icon, with University College London, funded by City Bridge Trust.

• Laura Drysdale, Director of the Restoration Trust, Project Manager
• Helen Lindsay, Independent Conservator, Project Coordinator
• Sara Crofts, Icon, Chief Executive, Member of the Project Board
• Caroline De Stefani, LMA, Studio Manager, C4W Conservation Lead
• Aimee Taylor, LMA, Engagement and Learning Manager, C4W Project Liaison 
• Tom Exley, SMART, Art & Design Tutor and C4W Coordinator
• Linda Thomson, UCL, Senior Research Fellow, C4W Senior Evaluating Researcher
• Daisy Rubinstein, BACP HCPC, Psychological Therapist, The Fire Fighters Charity, C4W Evaluating Researcher

James Grierson

Chair, Institute of Conservation

Samantha Hare

Beatriz Haspo

Beatriz Haspo is Collections Officer at Library of Congress (USA). She is a senior conservator managing a broad range of activities to ensure preservation, access, security, and storage of collections. She is responsible for developing and coordinating library-wide projects, studies, and surveys and serves as the key planner for transferring collections off-site and as the primary liaison for projects related to digitization, reformatting, and preservation treatment of the collections managed by the Division. She is a graduate of the Library of Congress Leadership Development Program.

She is docent at the University of Maryland iSchool responsible for the Master course in Library and Archives Preservation. She is a doctorate candidate in Museology at the Lusófona University of Humanities and Technologies (Portugal) with a scholarship from UNESCO- Education, Citizenship and Cultural Diversity. She serves as volunteer manager of APOYOnline-Association for Heritage Preservation of the Americas. She serves as board member of the Journal of the American Institute for Conservation and is a Fellow of the International Institute for Conservation (IIC).

She holds M.A. in Art History (Brazil); B.A. in Simultaneous Interpretation in German-Spanish-Portuguese (Austria). She is member of national and international organizations engaged in cultural heritage preservation, and fluent in five languages.

Professor Jane Henderson ACR

Professor Jane Henderson, BSc, MSc, ACR, FIIC, SFHEA is the Secretary General of the International Institute for Conservation. Jane has been working in and studying conservation and collection care in Wales since 1984. Jane teaches on Cardiff University’s BSc in Conservation and MSc’s in Collection Care and in Conservation Practice. Jane serves on the editorial panel of the Journal of the Institute for Conservation and is a co-opted member on the trustee board of the Welsh Federation of Museum and Art Galleries, she is a visiting Researcher of the Scientific Conservation Institute in Beijing. Jane sits on the British Standards Institute B/560 group concerned with the conservation of Tangible Cultural heritage and acts as a UK expert on the CEN TC 346 WG11, which has looked at standard for: the conservation process; procurement; terminology and principles of documentation. In 2021 Jane was honoured to receive the Royal Warrant Holders Association’s Plowden Medal for significant contributions to the advancement of the conservation profession. http://www.cardiff.ac.uk/people/view/73026-henderson-jane

Helen Lindsay ACR

I trained as a paper conservator in Camberwell College and had the good fortune to join the Bodleian Library for my first job. Along the way I have worked at the V&A, Tate, London Metropolitan Archives and the National Trust. In 2005 I became a Collections Care consultant offering specialist advice across the sector and since 2019 have worked part-time as Head of Preservation at the Imperial War Museum. I also contribute to projects run by The Restoration Trust in 'culture therapy'

About Conservation for Wellbeing (C4W)

Conservation for Wellbeing (C4W) was a pilot project that combined conservation, archives and mental health. Run by the Restoration Trust, the partners were London Metropolitan Archives, St Mary Abbots Rehabilitation & Training (SMART) and Icon, with University College London, funded by City Bridge Trust.

• Laura Drysdale, Director of the Restoration Trust, Project Manager
• Helen Lindsay ACR, Independent Conservator, Project Coordinator
• Sara Crofts, Icon, Chief Executive, Member of the Project Board
• Caroline De Stefani, LMA, Studio Manager, C4W Conservation Lead
• Aimee Taylor, LMA, Engagement and Learning Manager, C4W Project Liaison 
• Tom Exley, SMART, Art & Design Tutor and C4W Coordinator
• Linda Thomson, UCL, Senior Research Fellow, C4W Senior Evaluating Researcher
• Daisy Rubinstein, BACP HCPC, Psychological Therapist, The Fire Fighters Charity, C4W Evaluating Researcher

Sarah Maisey ACR

Jenny Mathiasson

Ann-Marie Miller PG Dip, MA, ACR

Director, Codex Conservation

Anuja Mukherjee

Art Conservator, The City Palace Museum, Udaipur

She has completed her Bachelors in history (hons.) from Indraprastha College for Women, Delhi University and Masters in Conservation from National Museum Institute of History of Art, Conservation and Museology (New Delhi). During her Masters, she has attended Conservation Training Programme held in Institute of Conservation, University of Applied Arts, Vienna from Ministry of culture. She has received the Getty grant to attend the Continued Professional Development Training Programme and Triennial Conservation Conference at London and Belfast organised by the Institute of Conservation, UK and Getty Institute, US. She has worked with private organisations and assisted Freelance Art conservators for various conservation projects. She is working as an Art conservator at The City Palace Museum, Maharana of Mewar Charitable Foundation (MMCF), Udaipursince November, 2017.

Dr Padma M. Rohilla

Kloe Rumsey

Bhasha Shah

Art Conservator, The City Palace Museum, Udaipur

She has completed her Bachelors in History (hons.) from Lady Shri Ram College, Delhi University and Masters in Art Conservation from National Museum Institute of History of Art, Conservation and Museology (New Delhi). She has attended Conservation Training Programme held at Institute of Conservation, University of Vienna during her Masters course jointly funded by Ministry of Culture (GOI) and Institute of Conservation, Vienna. She has been working as an Art Conservator at The City Palace Museum, Maharana of Mewar Charitable Foundation (MMCF), Udaipur since November, 2017.