Historic Portuguese ceramic tiles on walls at the Museum of Sacred Art in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil. Damage to the tiles is the result of salt coming up from groundwater through the building structure and out between seams in the tiles. Loss to the tile glazing is caused by salt crystallization pressures. At the Museum of Sacred Art, environmental management strategies were developed that integrated the conservation needs of both the historic structure and the collection. Photo: James Druzik.

Managing the Environment: An Update on Preventive Conservation
Recognition of the importance of preventive conservation is growing in virtually every region of the globe. Defined as the management of the environmental conditions under which collections are housed and used, preventive conservation has advanced in both research and application. The older model of conservation—in which the conservator is perceived as the primary, if not the sole, guardian of a collection--is gradually being replaced by long-term preventive conservation strategies in which conservators share responsibility with others.

Preventive Conservation: A Discussion
Catherine Antomarchi of the International Center for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property in Rome, Colin Pearson of the Cultural Heritage Research Center at the University of Canberra in Australia, and Luiz Souza of the Centro de Conservação e Restauração de Bens Culturais Móveis in Brazil, sat down with the GCI’s Kathleen Dardes and Jeffrey Levin to discuss efforts to promote preventive conservation.

Funding Conservation: The Getty Grant Program at Work
The Grant Program, the philanthropic arm of the Getty Trust, provides financial support for projects in conservation. While grants are awarded for different types of conservation activities, a unifying element is the inclusion of educational opportunities and the work's potential to make a significant contribution to the field. Recently funded projects include medieval villages in the Caucasus Mountains of Georgia, the last remaining cathedral in Ghana made of earthen materials, internships for Latin American conservators, and Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater.

Values and Heritage Conservation
Sites, objects, and buildings acquire significance as cultural heritage because of the values ascribed to them—be they historical, aesthetic, social, or others. To ensure that conservation initiatives consider social as well as physical conditions, values need to be analyzed through a participatory process that promotes sustainable conservation by engaging communities in the preservation of their own heritage.

GCI News: Projects, Events, Publications, and Staff
Updates on Getty Conservation Institute projects, events, courses, publications, and staff.

The GCI Newsletter Staff Box