Student Blog: Lunder Conservation Center

My name is Keara Teeter and I am in the Winterthur/University of Delaware Program in Art Conservation (WUDPAC) Class of 2019.  During the past ten months, I have been interning in the publicly-visible studios of the Lunder Conservation Center at the Smithsonian American Art Museum (SAAM).  My supervisors include Chief of Conservation Amber Kerr (WUDPAC 2008) and Paintings Conservator Gwen Manthey (WUDPAC 2011).  While working there, I am thrilled to have been involved with a range of activities from gallery checks and preventive monitoring, to mentoring pre-program interns who intend to apply to Master's programs, and interacting with public tour groups.  I have also spent a large amount of time conserving 20th-century artworks in the museum collection and researching historical lining practices (a structural treatment for canvas paintings).  Some of this work has been shared on social media pages already, such as the University of Delaware's Third-Year Fellow, Keara Teeter . . . and the Smithsonian American Art Museum's Conservation Cart: Full STEAM Ahead.

This past April, I presented two of my conservation treatments – Hans Hofmann's Fermented Soil and William H. Johnson's Historical Scene with Mary McLeod Bethune – to the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at the University of Delaware.  That presentation was titled Paintings Conservation on Permanent View: Working Behind Glass at the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the lecture video can be accessed via Osher's Distance Viewing Website.

This upcoming October, my research into wax-resin linings will be shared at the 2019 Conserving Canvas Symposium hosted at Yale University.  I am excited to attend this conference where I will learn about historical theories, current methods/materials/research in structural treatment, and challenges affecting modern and contemporary paintings.

In addition to my work with SAAM this past year, I joined the Washington Conservation Guild (WCG) which has allowed me to become more involved with the local conservation community.  As a student member, I have attended monthly events hosted at different historical sites throughout the city, shared my portfolio with pre-program interns during WCG's Career Day, written blogs such as my review of Stacy Bowe's presentation on the Smithsonian Cultural Rescue Initiative, and shared my WUDPAC research on Edward Steichen's In Exaltation of Flowers murals at the WCG 3-Ring Circus.

I have been able to directly apply my WUDPAC training to my internship in paintings conservation at SAAM and to my professional involvement with WCG.  These experiences in the District of Columbia have reciprocally contributed to my graduate education and helped me grow as an emerging conservation professional.  I anticipate that my professional growth will continue to develop throughout the upcoming post-graduate year.

—Keara Teeter, WUDPAC Class of 2019