The Image Permanence Institute (IPI) in the College of Art and Design (CAD) at the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) is pleased to announce its opening for a Sustainable Preservation Specialist. The Sustainable Preservation Specialist will provide information and guidance to a range of collecting institutions on the role of environment in preservation, and best practices for sustainable environmental management through a variety of consulting, outreach (teaching and publication), research, and technical support activities.
In May-June 2022, IPI conducted an online survey assessing how collecting institutions are using 3D printing and interacting with 3D printed objects and materials. The survey covered three major areas: 3D printed objects and artwork found in collections, conservation treatments of 3D printed objects, and 3D printing in preservation and access activities, including its use as a tool in conservation treatments of non-3D printed objects, exhibition and display, and collections transportation.
IPI is thrilled to announce that Dr. Marvin Cummings will join the team as Research Scientist in November 2022. Marvin brings extensive research experience from the technology sector, with a solid interdisciplinary background across the physical sciences, engineering, and archeometry.
The Image Permanence Institute received a National Leadership Grant for Museums from the Institute of Museum and Library Services in the amount of $711,598 to support a three-year research project that will study the relationship between equilibrium moisture content (EMC) and the physical stability of plastics and plastic composite artifacts found in museums.
This month, IPI is completing the first year of a three-year research project aimed at building a foundational understanding of how museums are creating, collecting, and consuming 3D printed objects. In May and June of 2022, project work included an online survey assessing how collecting institutions are using 3D printing and interacting with 3D printed objects and materials across a broad range of activities.
IPI is pleased to announce the publication of the Second Edition of the Royal Society of Chemistry’s Conservation Science: Heritage Materials, co-edited by our Director of Research, Emma J Richardson. To achieve greatest impact, conservation science requires close collaboration with key stakeholders such as conservators, curators, artists and the public, providing context for scientific analysis and ensuring critical questions are addressed.
Founded by host Hilary Wilson, Green Museum - a podcast explores the topic of sustainability within the arts and cultural heritage sector. IPI staff Kelly Krish, Al Carver-Kubik, and Meredith Noyes were Hilary’s guests for episode seven, Sustainable Preservation at the Image Permanence Institute.
In the summer of 2021, IPI distributed an online questionnaire about crate, crate preparation, and packing materials used by collecting institutions to transport paper-based objects. The questionnaire was posted to the American Institute for Conservation’s Global Conservation Forum and Member Community distribution lists in June and via this quarterly newsletter in July.
The Image Permanence Institute received a National Leadership Grant for Museums from the Institute of Museum and Library Services in the amount of $375,543 to support a three-year research project that will identify critical preservation challenges associated with 3D printed materials and technologies found in museums and develop resources that will support 3D printed object preservation.
In an effort to understand how changes in mechanical system operations in response to the COVID-19 pandemic impacted collections environments across institutions, IPI launched a field study through an online submission platform from October through November 2020.
IPI is thrilled to announce that Dr. Emma Richardson will start her role as Director of Research in July 2021. Emma is the first to hold this new leadership position, responsible for guiding IPI’s research agenda. Emma brings extensive research and leadership experience in the applied sciences, and an impressive professional record in higher education with a focus on cultural heritage.
IPI is looking to partner with three collecting institutions in North America as part of a three-year research project, Integrating Risk Assessment for Pollutants into Energy-saving Strategies, funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). The project involves two years of field research focused on monitoring room-level pollutant concentrations while implementing energy-saving strategies for mechanical system operation.
IPI distributed an online questionnaire in November 2020 to inform a current inventory of commonly used materials and designs for sealed frame packages. We are grateful to the more than 100 colleagues, working in a variety of collecting institution types around the world, who responded to our sealed frame package questionnaire.
The National Endowment for the Humanities awarded the Image Permanence Institute a Research and Development grant for $350,000 to support a three-year, field-based research project that will apply data from pollutant and environmental (temperature and relative humidity) monitoring to comprehensively balance these known risks to collections when implementing energy-saving mechanical system operations.
Applications are being accepted for an online environmental management workshop, offered once a month November through February. The workshop is four days long with two sessions per day from 10am-12pm ET, and 1-3pm ET. Content is designed to guide participants through the process of implementing a sustainable environmental management program.
The Institute of Museum and Library Services awarded the Image Permanence Institute $429,409 in funding to support a three-year research project designed to identify the most cost-efficient and environmentally responsible methods of preparing paper-based collection objects for transit and display while maintaining preservation standards.
