The Balboa Art Conservation Center (BACC) provides conservation and preservation services for cultural institutions, private collectors, and the general public for their works of art, cultural objects, and historic artifacts.
In accordance with the American Institute of Conservation's Code of Ethics and Guidelines for Practice, BACC’s graduate school-trained conservators offer a rigorous and scientific approach to the preservation, examination, and treatment of cultural heritage objects.
In accordance with the American Institute of Conservation's Code of Ethics and Guidelines for Practice, BACC’s graduate school-trained conservators offer a rigorous and scientific approach to the preservation, examination, and treatment of cultural heritage objects.
History
The first director of BACC, Richard Buck (third from left) and a pioneer in the field of art conservation, George Stout (second from left) with colleagues at BACC, 1973.
The Balboa Art Conservation Center was founded in the ‘70s as part of a national movement to create regional conservation centers that would serve collecting institutions within a certain geography. The goal was to centralize conservation and preservation services, bringing relief to museums, historical centers, libraries, etc., fulfilling their conservation needs without having to replicate the administrative, equipment, staffing and resources needed to run an entire conservation lab at every single institution. There are fewer than a dozen of these regional conservation centers in the country and BACC is the only regional conservation center on the west coast.
Our center is located in San Diego, CA on the ancestral homelands of the Kumeyaay Nation and our geographic area includes California, Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, Hawaii, Oregon, Washington, Colorado and Alaska. We are currently a mighty eight-member team, in a 4,000 square foot facility on the second floor of a historical building in beautiful Balboa Park.
TODAY
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For more than 45 years, BACC has been fulfilling its mission as a conservation lab to provide conservation and preservation services for cultural institutions and private collectors for their works of art, cultural objects, and historic artifacts. In accordance with the American Institute of Conservation’s Code of Ethics and Guidelines for Practice, its highly trained conservators offer a rigorous and scientific approach to the preservation, examination, and treatment of cultural heritage objects. BACC has various scientific and technological equipment to aid in the examination of works including Infrared Reflectography, X-radiography, and X-Ray Fluorescence Spectrometry (XRF).
As a nonprofit organization, BACC is also committed to benefiting the public good by supporting training and education opportunities and partnering with stewards of community cultural collections. BACC is expanding access to the field of conservation to historically underrepresented communities by expanding the existing knowledge base to include culturally conscious and responsive methods of conservation. In turn, BACC is committed to learning from and dialoguing with artists and caretakers of diverse cultural heritage and ancestral collections. Learn more about what BACC offers. Support our important work with a donation. Read our Cultural Equity Statement. |
Fun Facts
Watch this video from the "Balboa Park 2 You" series to learn a few fun facts about the Balboa Art Conservation Center.