Conservation

Preserving the collections for the future

Research Providing a deeper understanding

The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation recognized the important role of scientific research at the Nelson-Atkins and established an endowment to support this in 2009.

The structure of the research program fosters collaborative “looking” among the project team – scientist, conservator and curator – and leads to new findings that might have been overlooked otherwise. Projects address questions of authenticity, provenance, condition or exhibition display.

The multidisciplinary approach results in exciting discoveries that provide a deeper understanding of the collection for museum visitors and scholars.

Resources Information for conservation questions

Need to find a local Conservator? Interested in becoming a conservator? Contact the American Institute for Conservation.

Additional Resources
Shelly, Marjorie. “The Care and Handling of Art Objects.” New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1987.

The National Committee to Save America’s Cultural Collections.“Caring For Your Collections.” New York: Abrams, 1992

MacLeish, A. Bruce. “The Care of Antiques and Historical Collections.”of Per E. Guldbeck’s “The care of Historical Collections”, Nashville, Tennessee: AASLH Press, 1985.

Sandwith, Hermione and Stainton, Sheila. “The National Trust Manual of Housekeeping.” London: Viking, 1991.

Thompson, Gary. “The Museum Environment.” Conservation in the Arts, Archaeology and Architecture. London: Butterworths, 1978.

Case Studies Restoring and Protecting

The conservation department at the Nelson-Atkins works on a variety of objects including paintings, sculpture, furniture, decorative arts and more.

Sculpture Park Studies

In-Museum Studies