Lunder Conservation Center

At SAAM’s Lunder Conservation Center, visitors have the unique opportunity to see conservators at work throughout the laboratories and studios. The Center features floor-to-ceiling glass walls, allowing the public to view all aspects of conservation—work that is traditionally done behind the scenes at other institutions.

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The Lunder Conservation Center is a fully visible lab showing you how the Smithsonian American Art Museum conservators preserve our cultural artifacts.

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NARRATOR: Museums can be places of wonder, of discovery, of conversation. But have you ever thought about what goes on beyond the gallery walls? The Lunder Conservation Center preserves our cultural artifacts, so they can be appreciated by visitors today and far into the future.

STEPHANIE STEBICH: What can you expect at the Lunder Conservation Center? A chance to peek into the world of laboratories devoted to framing, and objects, works on paper, paintings, and time-based media such as video. One of the delights of coming to the Lunder Conservation Center is seeing the wide breadth of objects that may be in the laboratories. Always something astonishing, and a reminder of the great variety of objects that we have in the collection of the Smithsonian American Art Museum. We have a sacred trust in caring for these collections, and that’s why the Lunder Conservation Center is critical to all we do here at the museum.

NARRATOR: Caring for these precious works of art takes a diverse set of skills.

AMBER KERR: Conservation is like a three-legged stool. We draw upon the disciplines of science, art history, and the studio arts. Conservators are often compared to doctors in the medical field. We look at each of our patients differently. We figure out what that particular patient needs.

NARRATOR: And sometimes, they are surprised at what they find.

AK: One of the coolest parts of my job is getting so close to artwork. I mean, I’ve seen artists’ fingerprints, and subtle little changes that you don’t often get to see when you just walk by a painting in the gallery.

NARRATOR: As the first permanent visible art conservation space in a museum, the Lunder Conservation Center is a leader in the field of conservation and education.

AK: One of the critical missions of the Lunder Conservation Center is our outreach and advocacy with the public. Raising awareness to the importance of caring for cultural heritage. Our public gets to walk down the corridors of our center, look through the glass walls and observe the conservators working. And you learn the story behind the artwork itself.

NARRATOR: And you can be a part of it. Join us at our labs, on a tour, or workshop, and online. The secret world of conservation is waiting for you.

Studios and Labs

A photograph of a man painting a white frame.

Conservation Work

Before and After

Alfred Thompson Bricher, Castle Rock, Marblehead, 1878

Discover the magic of art conservation! See the challenges and rewards of a successful treatment at a glance. View all before and after conservation treatments.

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Before treatment begins, paintings come to our lab for examination and documentation. If physical deterioration or damage has occurred on any one of the complex layers of a painting, the structural part of a conservation treatment is done here. Conservators try to intervene as little as possible but serious damage does need to be treated so that the artist's work is not lost. In this lab, conservators carefully work to mend tears, secure flaking paint, relax buckling canvas, rejoin cracks, and remove unstable materials.

NARRATOR: The works of American artist William H. Johnson came into the Smithsonian’s collection after suffering severe damage from years of neglect. A thorough analysis, including careful examination using raking light, reveals many structural problems with this portrait of a Danish fisherman.

ANN CREAGER: This Johnson portrait, we suspect, had been off of the stretcher at one time and rolled and folded, and that would account for the severe buckling of the thick paint layer. The cracking is profound, and the burlap fabric that it’s painted on is deteriorated, fraying, and that has contributed greatly to the condition.

NARRATOR: Paintings conservator Ann Creager plans a course of treatment based on the analysis. The first challenge is to relax the paint and bring the painting back in plane. The portrait is placed on a cushioned service, gently moistened covered with blotter paper, and placed under weights. This process is repeated several times over the course of a few weeks. The painting is then placed on moistened blotter paper and sealed onto a vacuum hot table. The heat and vacuum pressure continue the flattening process.

AC: It’s really, in a way, a little steam treatment, too, because you’ve got the moisture and the heat, and this actually brought the painting back in plane and relaxed the paint as much as I could hope for. It’s the challenge that’s the fun in conservation. If it was the same kind of work we did every day on paintings that just needed a little spiffing up, or tarting up, as we like to say, that would get kind of “old hat” very quickly.

NARRATOR: Once the paint is safely attached to the surface, it’s possible to fill and stabilize the deep cracks. Each step of the process requires skill, patience, and care so as to protect as much of the artist’s original work as possible. One of the final steps, in painting, replicates the surrounding areas and colors.

AC: I can make it sparkle. Making it look terrific is very gratifying, but the fun part for me is the structural. That’s where the challenge is, bring it back to its safe condition.

NARRATOR: Now that the paint is secure and the structure sound, it’s ready for the museum to exhibit.

Videos

Treatment videos and recordings of conservation-focussed programs from the Lunder Conservation Center. View all conservation videos.

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View all conservation related stories on our blog, SAAM Stories

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