Paper Conservation

Victoria holds a MA and certificate of advanced study in art conservation from the State University of New York at Buffalo, and a BA in art history from New York University. She was previously the head of paper conservation at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. Victoria has a particular interest in artists’ materials and techniques, and solutions to displaying unconventional artwork. Her publications and presentations have focused on innovations in dry cast pulp fills, digitally generated fills for photographs, research on photo-offset lithography, and cellulose nitrate film.

Sarah joined the Paper Conservation Department in 2006. She earned her MA and certificate of advanced study in art conservation at the State University of New York at Buffalo, and a BS in art history at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Her interests include preventative care of photographs and experimental photography. Sarah has participated in research and non-destructive analysis on photographs in the museum's collection, which includes extensive holdings of 19th and 20th-century photography from all over the world. She has presented and published on the use of microfadeometry to assess light sensitivity of photographs, technical studies on 19th-century photographic processes, and on the mounting and storage of large-format prints.

Stephen Heer joined Paper Conservation in 2007 and is a specialist in mountmaking for the Museum‘s three paper collections. He received his BA with special emphasis in printmaking from San Francisco State University and an MFA in painting from University of California, Santa Barbara. Prior to the Getty, Stephen worked in a leading Los Angeles photography gallery. In 2012, Stephen presented the poster "The Sacrifice by James Nachtwey: Gallery Installation of a 32-Foot Photograph with Flexible Magnets" at the American Institute for Conservation's annual meeting.

David came to the Getty Museum in 2001, working first in the Preparations Department until 2015 where he specialized in all aspects of gallery installation. Since then David has managed the mountmaking division of Paper Conservation, overseeing all mounting, framing, and storage housing for the drawings, manuscripts, and photographs collections. Prior to his tenure at the Getty, David was a printmaker at Gemini G.E.L. in Los Angeles from 1998 to 2001. He earned his MFA at the University of South Florida, Tampa in 1998. David has also conducted research in papermaking, including the study of traditional techniques in Japan.

Jordan joined the Paper Conservation department in 2024. She comes to Getty from Tate Gallery, London, where she was conservator of photographs. Jordan holds an MA in the conservation of works of art on paper and a BA in fine art photography from Northumbria University, UK. Her training includes internships at the Amsterdam City Archives, the Netherlands; the Center for Research Collections, Edinburgh; and a post-graduate internship hosted by the National Archives, UK and Tate Gallery, London. Her research interests are focused on the preservation of modern and contemporary photographic materials, particularly the conservation issues related to fine art inkjet prints, and she enjoys participating in outreach and educational activities.

Michelle joined the Getty Museum’s Department of Paper Conservation in 2015. She holds an MS and certificate of advanced study in art conservation from the Winterthur/University of Delaware program in art conservation and a BA in art history and studio art from the University of California, Santa Barbara. Her training has included graduate internships and fellowships at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, Smithsonian American Art Museum, and the J. Paul Getty Museum. Michelle’s research interests include non-invasive, in-situ analysis to characterize drawing media and the application of rigid gels in the conservation treatment of works of art on paper, a subject on which she has previously lectured, published, and taught workshops.

Ron Stroud came to the Getty in 2007, bringing specialized skills and strength in the area of graphic design to the mounting of the Museum’s drawings, manuscripts, and photographs collections. Previous to this Ron designed, fabricated, and installed exhibitions at the Japanese American National Museum for nine years and briefly at University of California, Los Angeles. Ron has a Bachelor’s degree in painting from University of Illinois at Champaign/Urbana and an MFA from University of California, Irvine.

Nancy has been responsible for the care of the Museum’s collection of illuminated manuscripts since 1984. Specializing in the conservation treatment of parchment and the stabilization of painted illuminations, she publishes and lectures widely on the materials and techniques of illuminated manuscripts based on collaborative scientific research. Over the years, she has co-curated installations from the permanent collection that highlight the material history of medieval books. She received her training in the conservation of manuscripts and bookbinding by apprenticeship, including an advanced internship at Trinity College Library, Dublin. She holds a BA in art history and anthropology from Stanford University and an MA in history from University of California, Los Angeles.