Sustainable Preventive Conservation
There is currently no formally accepted definition of this concept. My working definition is:
Sustainable preventive conservation is the process of working in community to:
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- identify risks to cultural heritage, in its tangible, intangible, and natural forms
- develop and implement practices to reduce these risks
- all the while taking care to not increase risks to people, our planet, or the world’s financial well-being.
The work I do to evolve the concept of sustainable preventive conservation and teach others about it is shared below through a selection of publications, presentations, course syllabi, and links to graduate students who are contributing to the work.
Publications & Presentations
Publications
Preventive Conservation: Continuously Defining Itself at the Crossroads of Theory and Practice
Journal of the American Institute for Conservation, 2024
Sustainable Preventive Conservation
Postprints APOYOnline 4th Regional Conference, 2023
The Imperative of Soft Skill Development in Preventive Conservation Practice and Training
Studies in Conservation, 2018
Presentations
Proactive, Holistic, and Sustainable: Preserving Collections in an Uncertain Future
Public talk at The Getty Center, Los Angeles, CA. 14 July 2024.
Sustainable Preventive Conservation: Agents of Deterioration in Context
This talk was given as part of the GO Live Global Series, organized by the Centro de Investigación y Conservación del Patrimonio – UTEC, 2019.
Course Syllabi
These four courses are the core of the preventive conservation curriculum at the Winterthur/University of Delaware Program in Art Conservation. All students in the program take the two first-year courses. All preventive conservation majors take the preventive major course. Preventive Conservation Research & Applications is required for those who are majoring or minoring in preventive conservation and it is open to graduate students and advanced undergraduates (with approval) across the university.
M.S. Preventive Conservation Majors
The preventive conservation major was established in 2016, with our first major, Melissa King, completing her degree work in August 2020. To date, seven individuals have made the choice to major in preventive conservation. Here, each of them has provided a way for you to learn a little more about their work. If you want to know more, I encourage you to connect with them.
Image credit: Evan Krape
Sarah Freshnock, Preventive Major, Class of 2023.
Binh-An Nguyen (she/her), 2026 Preventive Conservation Graduate Fellow, WUDPAC
Marie Desrochers (she/her) 2021 Outreach Conservator, Division of Arts & Museums, Salt Lake City
Gianna Puzzo, 2025
Madeline Cooper (she/her), 2021
Associate Preventive Conservator, Conservation Center for Art & Historic Artifacts, Preventive Conservator, MC Conservation
Sarah Freshnock (she/her), 2023 Preventive Conservator, The Walters Art Museum, Preventive Conservation Consultant, Sustainable Heritage
Melissa King, 2020
Margalit Schindler (they/them), 2022 Principal Conservator, Pearl Preservation, LLC. Instagram: @pearlpreservation
Ph.D. Student Work
Anisha Gupta
Began September 2021
Research topic: People-Powered Conservation: An Analysis of Power Structures in the Field
Molly Gleeson
Began September 2023
TOPIC: The therapeutic potential of heritage conservation: preservation practice through a community health lens