Annual general meeting and talk on conservation training - working with Charitable Funders
Talk Title: Conservation Training - Working with Charitable Funders
The cost of training in conservation, and of developing skills further, is a major challenge and a barrier to entry that is partly responsible for the un-diverse character of the conservation professions. It is, however, something that some specialist charitable funders are keen to support. James Grierson, Icon Chair, has been a trustee of the York Consortium for Conservation & Craftsmanship for many years and has managed a bursary scheme which now makes about 25 awards a year. In this talk James will discuss the scheme and explain how it sits in a small but highly motivated eco-system of heritage funders. He will also share his perspective on what funders are looking for and how to submit a strong application.
Chair, Institute of Conservation
James Grierson is a Chartered Surveyor. He was a partner and board member of a major international real estate advisory practice and has advised public authorities and international companies on large scale, strategic estates and regeneration programmes. He has extensive non-executive experience in central government, NHS, university and commercial sectors. James is particularly interested in heritage and current roles, in addition to Icon, include serving as a Council member at Durham University, as a trustee of York Consortium for Conservation & Craftsmanship and as Chair of York Museums Trust.Alexandra Taylor is an assistant paintings conservator at Saltmarsh Paintings Conservation in Cambridge. She is a Graduate of the Universities of Auckland, New Zealand (BA/BFA (Hons.)), and Melbourne, Australia, where she obtained her Masters in Cultural Materials Conservation. Alexandra is a 2019 Fellow of the George Alexander Foundation and the International Specialised Skills Institute (ISSI). Her Fellowship investigated current practice in preventing art crimes in conservation, and her investigation took place with the Association for Research into Crimes Against Art (ARCA) in Italy. She is the newly elected Book Reviews Coordinator at the International Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works (IIC). Alexandra has actually assisted the Icon Paintings Committee before by reviewing one of our Talks last year, and she also assisted IIC as a digital engagement officer with their 2020 Edinburgh Congress.
Jane McCree is a paintings conservator and joined the Tate Conservation Department as Head of Paintings & Frames Conservation in 2016. She initially studied History of Art & Architecture (BA – UEA) and Art Museum Studies (MA – Courtauld Institute of Art), later obtaining a PGDip in the Conservation of Easel Paintings from the Courtauld Institute of Art. She has held a research placement at MoMA, NYC and internships at the Hamilton Kerr Institute, University of Cambridge and Victoria & Albert Museum. Prior to joining Tate, she was Head of Conservation at the Hugh Lane Gallery, Dublin and lead conservator on major conservation projects for a wide range of national institutions. She has also worked internationally for museums and in private practice conserving a wide range of paintings with diverse issues. She has undertaken structural treatments on large scale paintings and specialises in the conservation of modern and contemporary paintings. At Tate she leads a large team of paintings and frames conservators to deliver Tate's programme of exhibitions & displays, loans, acquisitions, across six sites. She has developed conservation strategy for collection care, champions practice-based research for the department and is a strong advocate for access and engagement with conservation research at Tate and beyond. She has supported a wide range of research projects including multiple treatment based and technical art history research projects, the Getty-Greenwich Lining Canvas Project and NanoRestart. She is currently leading on a research project with a focus on Conserving Contemporary Canvas.