Midwest Regional Conservation Guild

Midwest Regional Conservation Guild

Predecessor	Indianapolis Museum of Art and Cleveland Museum of Art
Established	1980 (1980)
Type	Professional conservation association
Region served	Midwestern United States
Membership	over 100
Website	themrcg.wordpress.com

The Midwest Regional Conservation Guild (MRCG) is a professional conservation association in the Midwestern United States.

History

Members of the MRCG attending the 25th Annual Meeting in 2005 at the IMA

The MRCG was formed in 1980 by art conservation and restoration professionals with the purpose of bringing together those individuals in the Midwest region (and beyond) interested in the preservation of historic and artistic works and to promote fellowship and exchange of ideas on a professional level.^[1]

The first meeting of the Guild was held at the Indianapolis Museum of Art (IMA) on Saturday, October 25, 1980. Art conservation experts specializing in archive, painting, paper, object, and textile conservation from Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Ohio met that day to discuss conservation treatment issues, conservation techniques, and the "formation of an information network and cooperative disaster policy for the Midwest."^[2] (IMA) paintings conservator David Miller was the Guild's first president and presided over the first meeting of approximately 40 participants. The program consisted of an organizational meeting, museum tours, and two slide presentations.^[3]

The Guild was organized in recognition of the pressing concerns of "museum curators and private collectors alike to preserve great works of art against the ravages of time and the environment, as well as to uncover increasingly sophisticated forgeries."^[4]

The original purpose and character of the guild was defined by six principles:

The Guild should provide a framework for knowing other conservators and laboratories in our region.
The Guild should provide informal exchange of ideas with our colleagues.
The Guild should serve as a "problem solving forum."
The Guild could accurately represent our needs to national level agencies.
Meetings could be held twice a year, rotating geographic location.

Meeting locations

Main article: List of meeting locations of the Midwest Regional Conservation Guild

For more than 30 years, the Guild has had annual meetings throughout the Midwest region, often at area museums. There have been at least 49 annual meetings in 12 different states. The museums that have hosted the most meetings are:

**Top museums that have hosted MRCG meetings**
Name of museum	Number of meetings hosted
Nelson-Atkins Museum	3
Detroit Institute of Arts	3
Cincinnati Art Museum	4
Cleveland Museum of Art	6
Indianapolis Museum of Art	5

Publications

Starting in 1981 the Midwest Regional Conservation Guild Newsletter has been published bi-annually highlighting news gathered around the Midwest.

In 1993 the MRCG began producing its Membership Directory, which appears yearly.^[5]

Organisation and Governance

Current MRCG Officers

President (2015) Megan Emery
Vice President (2015) Claire Walker
Secretary (2015) Suzanne Davis
Treasurer (2015) Nicole Grabow

References

↑ "MRCG By-Laws". Retrieved 13 November 2010.
↑ Garmel, Marion (October 24, 1980). "Art Conservators To Form Guild". The Indianapolis News.
↑ Chicago Area Conservation Group Newsletter 3 (1). January 1981. Missing or empty |title= (help)
↑ Garmel, Marion (October 24, 1980). "Art Conservators To Form Guild". The Indianapolis News.
↑ Midwest Regional Conservation Guild Newsletter XIII (2). September 1993. Missing or empty |title= (help)

External links

Midwest Regional Conservation Guild Website

Conservation-restoration of cultural heritage

Specialties	Antiques restoration Architectural conservation Art conservation Archaeological conservation Book and paper conservation Conservation science (cultural heritage) Heritage science Digital preservation Film preservation Frame conservation Furniture conservation Historic garden conservation Horological conservation Media preservation Metals conservation New media art preservation Object conservation Optical media preservation Paintings conservation Preventive conservation Stained glass conservation Textile conservation

Collections care	Collections care Collections maintenance (museum) Collections management (museum) Collections Management System Collections policy Deaccessioning Documentation of cultural property Emergency response (museum) Found in collection Inherent vice Museum integrated pest management Preservation survey Storage of cultural heritage objects

Conservation-restoration techniques	Anastylosis Conservation and restoration of archaeological sites Conservation and restoration of books, manuscripts, documents and ephemera Conservation and restoration of ceramic objects Conservation and restoration of clocks Conservation and restoration of copper-based objects Conservation and restoration of ivory objects Conservation and restoration of ferrous objects Conservation and restoration of frescos Conservation and restoration of glass objects Conservation and restoration of human remains Conservation and restoration of leather objects Conservation and restoration of metals Conservation and restoration of musical instruments Conservation and restoration of neon objects Conservation and restoration of outdoor artworks Conservation and restoration of outdoor bronze artworks Conservation and restoration of outdoor murals Conservation and restoration of painting frames Conservation and restoration of photographs Conservation and restoration of silver objects Conservation and restoration of shipwreck artifacts Conservation and restoration of textiles Conservation and restoration of time-based media art Conservation and restoration of Tibetan thangkas Conservation and restoration of totem poles Conservation and restoration of vinyl disc records Conservation and restoration of wooden furniture Cradling (art restoration) Detachment of wall paintings Desmet method Historic paint analysis Mass deacidification Mold prevention Paper splitting Preservation metadata Preservation of illuminated manuscripts Radiography of cultural objects Transfer of panel paintings

Collections roles	Art handler Collection manager Conservation scientist Conservator-restorer Conservation technician Curator Mount maker Objects Conservator Paintings conservator Photograph conservator Registrar (museum) Textile conservator

Professional organizations	American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works Association of North American Graduate Programs in the Conservation of Cultural Property International Institute for Conservation Guild of Bookworkers Midwest Regional Conservation Guild Western Association for Art Conservation Washington Conservation Guild

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