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BACC's Chief Conservator of Paintings, Alexis Miller, recently conserved one of the few paintings that remain from the original construction of the Immaculata Church in San Diego. The painting by S. Rubiralta was meant to recreate the image that was said to have been shown to Juan Diego in 1531 in Mexico City. As part of the conservation process, Alexis carefully cleaned the dirt and grime off of the work with a special aqueous solution. Touch ups were made to the paint, and a protective synthetic varnish was applied. All of the work was done on site. Learn more by enlarging the article from their church bulletin, The Beacon, below:   The Balboa Art Conservation Center (BACC) is pleased to announce that Sara Bisi has been hired as Associate Conservator of Paper. Bisi started in early November, and will be responsible for the conservation, care and treatment of a wide variety of works on paper and paper artifacts. Bisi will also guide purchases of new equipment for paper conservation made possible by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation's Comprehensive Organizational Health Initiative grant.
Bisi comes to BACC with a diverse background in art conservation and collections care gained by working with both large institutions such as the Yale Center for British Art and the Harvard Art Museums and smaller regional centers such as the Williamstown Art Conservation Center and the Northeast Document Conservation Center. BACC conservation staff have been busy soaking up and sharing valuable information at various conservation conferences and symposia this fall.
 If you saw the 2014 film The Monuments Men you already know a little about a key player in the formation of BACC, even if you don't realize it. Remember Frank Stokes, the main character played by the one and only George Clooney? It turns out that George Leslie Stout, one of the founders of the Balboa Art Conservation Center (BACC), was the real-life inspiration behind Clooney’s mustachioed role.
A pioneer in the field of art conservation, Stout was the Director of Technical Research at Harvard’s Fogg Museum and a part-time Conservator at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum before helping to establish the American Defense Harvard Group. This group was instrumental to the formation of the American Commission for the Protection and Salvage of Artistic and Historic Monuments in War Area. Later known as the Roberts Commission, it was “charged with promoting the preservation of cultural properties in war areas, provided this mission did not interfere with military operations.” In 1943 Stout enlisted in the U.S. Navy where he was initially charged with testing and developing camouflage paint and techniques for military aircraft. Later he was transferred to the Monuments, Fine Arts and Archives section where he used his professional knowledge to help transport and save precious works of art throughout Europe. Harvard Magazine notes that “When George Stout left Europe in August 1945 after little more than 13 months, he had discovered, analyzed, and packed tens of thousands of pieces of artwork, including 80 truckloads from Altaussee alone.”  Alexis Miller, Chief Conservator of Paintings, uses the portable X-ray fluorescence machine that was purchased thanks to a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Janet Ruggles, Executive Director, to Retire after 37 Years of Service
A $700,000 grant awarded by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation in collaboration with the Nonprofit Finance Fund is helping the Balboa Art Conservation Center (BACC), the region's premier art conservation facility, move into its next phase as an institution. Given “to support change and growth capital, as part of the Foundation's Comprehensive Organizational Health Initiative,” the grant has already allowed BACC to improve infrastructural elements. Soon it will provide support while the organization searches for its next executive director. Janet Ruggles, BACC’s chief executive, has announced her retirement effective December 31, 2019 after 37 years of service to the organization. Founded in the 1970s, BACC is a nonprofit organization that offers museum-quality art conservation treatments, investigative technical imaging and analysis, and extensive preservation services for institutions and individuals. It also offers conservation education and often mentors conservation interns and fellows who require years of specialized training before entering the workplace. Like other regional conservation centers in the United States, BACC is dealing with significant structural changes in the field, coupled with funding uncertainties. While art conservation is a field that requires great care and training to protect and restore artistic history, it usually does so with little fanfare or support compared to other fields. That is where the Mellon funding has stepped in. The first phase of the grant allows for both upgrades to existing equipment and investments in new equipment, giving highly trained BACC staff even better and more cutting-edge tools to do their job. These infrastructure improvements include upgrades to BACC’s paper lab, upgrades to BACC’s digital infrared reflectography (IRR) system, purchase of a portable x-ray fluorescence (XRF) tool (that helps identify inorganic materials more precisely when examining objects such as paintings on canvas and panels, polychrome sculpture, works on paper, and gilded ornamental frames), and IT upgrades in support of imaging and for tracking projects. The second phase of the Mellon grant will help BACC look for its next executive director as Janet Ruggles, who has served in the role for more than two decades, has announced her retirement. She currently serves as both chief conservator of paper and executive director, splitting her focus between these two critical areas. The Mellon grant will assist the transition to a new organizational model that provides equal focus on museum-level conservation and organizational sustainability by separating these roles out into distinct positions. The new model also looks toward partnerships with institutions of higher learning, enhancing relationships with museum and private clients, as well as implementing innovative fundraising strategies. Ruggles notes the grant funding could not have come at a more perfect time in BACC’s development. BACC board president Jennifer Nelson says, “Ruggles has been a resourceful leader for the BACC, developing and overseeing programs that have spanned conservation, education, scholarship and field services throughout the Western United States. I’m especially impressed by her expert conservation work as chief conservator of paper. We are so grateful for the foundation she has laid through her tireless work, and acknowledge her great contribution to the field of art conservation.” Karen Coutts, vice president of BACC’s board, says “The Mellon Foundation has been a partner of the Center for decades, and they have always been supportive of conservation as a practice across the country. This funding is allowing us to evolve, to better meld tried-and-true practices with cutting edge technology. The expertise of our staff, combined with new equipment and innovative practices, will allow us to make great strides in preserving and restoring important art — important history — for years to come.” With funds from the Mellon Foundation, and an invigorated board that has been diligently planning next steps, BACC looks forward to launching a new business and leadership model. For those interested in applying to the Balboa Art Conservation Center’s executive director position, please visit www.bacc.org/job-opportunities.html About the Balboa Art Conservation Center With more than 40 years of experience, the Balboa Art Conservation Center (BACC) is the region's premier art conservation facility, offering museum-quality conservation treatments, investigative technical imaging and analysis, and extensive preservation services for institutions and individuals. A nonprofit organization, BACC is located in the heart of Balboa Park. Learn more at www.bacc.org (Click here to download a copy of this press release in PDF format) Maybe you’ve seen this video already on social media. The one masterfully produced by Great Big Story that features intriguing glass vials filled with colorful pigments that have been collected from all over the world. The deep blues, vibrant yellows, earthy reds, and myriad other colors inside are made up of minerals, plant dye, dried insects, and many other materials, and are an important reference point for conservators, scientists, technical art historians, and others. Referred to as the Forbes Pigment Collection, this more than 3000 sample strong assortment is stored at the Straus Center for Conservation and Preservation as part of the Harvard Art Museums. Back in the 1920s a gentleman named Edward Waldo Forbes (grandson of the famed philosopher and poet Ralph Waldo Emerson) began collecting pigments and their source materials over a period of several decades. An art historian, he directed Harvard’s Fogg Art Museum from 1909 to 1944 and laid the foundation for this unique collection. George Stout, a graduate student at Harvard at the time Forbes was the museum director, began using the samples as a teaching tool. Later Stout worked for the Fogg Museum, as well, becoming a pioneer in the field of art conservation.
Fast forward to the 1970s in San Diego: Henry Gardiner, San Diego Museum of Art director from 1969 to 1979, was significantly expanding the museum’s collection, and grew concerned about its ongoing care. In November 1973, Gardiner sought the counsel of George Stout, who happened to be the visiting director of the Timken Art Gallery (now the Timken Museum of Art) at the time. Together, Gardiner and Stout developed a plan to establish a conservation center in San Diego, and in 1974 hired Richard Buck, an important leader in the field of conservation, and fellow Harvard alum, to establish and direct the Balboa Art Conservation Center.
Buck had experience opening regional conservation centers. He had also been a conservator at the Fogg Museum, where he had helped organize and manage the Forbes Pigment Collection. At the time Buck was starting BACC, conservation centers could obtain a portion of the pigment collection to keep as a reference resource in their analytical toolbox. So, with Buck’s connections, the Balboa Art Conservation Center did just that. To this day, BACC is one of only a handful of institutions that house a subset of this extraordinary pigment collection, both maintaining a tangible connection to the very beginning of the professional art conservation movement in the United States, and creating a new and fun connection to that wildly popular (more than 2 million views! ) video on YouTube. 17th Century Masterpiece Returned to its former glory for "Art and Empire: The Golden Age of Spain"7/2/2019
The San Diego Museum of Art (SDMA) opened "Art and Empire: The Golden Age of Spain" this May. In it, a gorgeous oil on canvas titled Virgin and Child with the Young Saint John the Baptist by Francisco de Zurbarán is featured. Painted in 1658, it's a magnificent example of a devotional painting by this Spanish artist.
Exhibition goers may not realize that the painting had been removed from the SDMA galleries in 2017 to undergo a meticulous conservation treatment. Assistant Conservator of paintings shares knowledge of 14th century Italian Painting Techniques4/29/2019
BACC's Assistant Paintings Conservator, Bianca García, recently presented a talk on 14th Century Italian paintings at the Timken Museum of Art as part of its docent training.
Garcia spoke about the traditional materials and techniques used to create egg tempera panel paintings with gilded backgrounds, a technique that was common during that time. She also brought some of the materials and tools (like gold leaf and powdered pigments) to share with the docents so they could get an idea of what the pigments and layers of the painting look like before the piece is finished. Learn more about the Timken's collection, here.  Courtney Books, BACC's new Mellon Fellow in the Conservation of Paintings, joined us in September 2018. Before arriving in San Diego, Courtney finished an internship with Boston's acclaimed Gianfranco Pocobene Studio.
Learn more about Courtney by visiting the Staff section of our website.  Photo courtesy Laguna Art Museum. After a year-long conservation treatment of California Impressionist Edgar Payne's mural Settlement, the painting can now be viewed at the Laguna Art Museum for their exhibition California Mexicana: Missions to Murals, 1820 - 1930!
The mural was originally one of four, installed in 1935 to adorn the walls of the New Lynn Theater, which later became the Laguna South Coast cinema. For more information about BACC's treatment, the exhibition, and the painting, see the great article written by The Laguna Beach Indy. |
