The 6th International Architectural Paint Research Conference will be hosted by Columbia University in New York City from March 15 to 17, 2017. The theme of the conference, Powers of Ten, is reference to a short film from 1977 by Charles and Ray Eames. Like the film, Architectural Paint Research (APR) deals with magnitudes of scale, from a single pigment particle, to a painted house, to the decorative tastes of an entire region. In the spirit of the film, the 2017 APR conference aims to take a closer look at how we carry out our research at every level, from the micro to the macroscopic.
The 6th International Architectural Paint Research Conference draws on the successes of five previous APR conferences: Stockholm (2014), Lincoln, England (2010), New York (2008), Copenhagen (2005) and London (2000).
Tentative Agenda – Subject to Change
Wednesday, March 15
| Time | Presentation | Speaker(s) |
|---|---|---|
| 9:00am | Opening Remarks | Mary Jablonski (Jablonski Building Conservation, Inc.), Conference Committee Co-Chair |
| 9:15am | Welcome Address | Jorge Otero-Pailos, Director, Columbia University Historic Preservation Program |
| 9:45am | Keynote Address: A Century of Color in America | Doty Horn (Founding Director of Colorvoyant), USA |
| 10:45am | coffee break | |
| Session 1: Micro to Macro, Case Studies I | ||
| 11:15am | Opening Remarks | session moderator |
| 11:20am | Sir John Soane’s Forgotten Interiors, Pitzhanger Manor | Rosemarie Shaw and Paul Humpreys (Hare and Humpreys), UK |
| 11:40am | The Original Appearance of the ‘Painted Chamber’ in Huis de Dieu, Alkmaar (1742-1745): the Discovery of a Remarkable Finish | Ige Verslype (Delft University of Technology and Rijksmuseum), Hinke Sigmond (Sigmond Conservation and Restoration), Richard Harmanni (Independent Art Historian), Katrien Keune (Rijksmuseum), Margriet van Eikema Hommes (Delft University of Technology and Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands), Netherlands |
| 12:00pm | The Government Hospital for the Insane: A Finish Analysis of the Center Building, St. Elizabeth’s Hospital | Emily Aloiz and Amanda Edwards (John Milner Associates Preservation), USA |
| 12:20pm | Investigation of Paint Instability and Conservation Requirements for Decorative Auditorium Buildings and Library Ceilings | Nancy Binnie, Wendy Baker, Elizabeth Moffat, Margaret-Ashley Veall, Kate Helwig, Jennifer Poulin (Canadian Conservation Institute), Canada |
| 12:40pm | 10 minute question and answer period | |
| 12:50pm | lunch (provided) | |
| Session 2: Non-Traditional and Overlooked Finishes | ||
| 1:55pm | Opening Remarks | session moderator |
| 2:00pm | Limewashed Island: Architectural Finish in Early Bermuda | Edward Chappell and Kirsten Travers Moffitt (Colonial Williamsburg Foundation), USA |
| 2:20pm | Sgraffito Paintings Conservation in Israel | Shay Farkash (Studio Tchelet) and Mika Tal, Israel |
| 2:40pm | K.B. Hallen: a Modernist Building in the Transition between Tradition and Industrial Evolution | Johanne Mogensen (National Museum of Denmark), Denmark |
| 3:00pm | Making the Traditional Non-Traditional: the Architectural Finishes of Frank Lloyd Wright | Dorothy Krotzer (Building Conservation Associates Inc.) and Lauren Drapala (DBVW Architects), USA |
| 3:20pm | 10 minute question and answer period | |
| 3:30pm | coffee break | |
| Session 3: Replication of Historic Finishes | ||
| 4:00pm | Opening Remarks | session moderator |
| 4:05pm | Challenges in distinguishing similar colours – what exactly is the difference between ochre and raw sienna? And of what importance is it in the context of APR and the reconstruction of historical finishes? | Anne Milnes (Paintings Conservator in Private Practice), Norway |
| 4:25pm | From Pigments to Parlor Walls: Contemporary Practice in the Reproduction of Historic Paints | Christopher Mills (Christopher Mills Conservation Services, LLC), and Erika Sanchez Goodwillie (Freelance Historical Painter), USA |
| 4:45pm | Finding the Right Yellow: Fine Tuning a Color in Stenton’s Yellow Lodging Room | Catherine Myers (Myers Conservation) and Laura Keim (Stenton), USA |
| 5:05pm | 10 minute question and answer period, and closing remarks | |
Thursday, March 16
| Time | Presentation | Speaker(s) |
|---|---|---|
| 9:00am | Welcome & Introduction | Kirsten Travers Moffitt (Colonial Williamsburg Foundation), Conference Committee Co-chair |
| 9:05am | Special Guest Lecture | Dennis Carr (Carolyn and Peter Lynch Curator of Decorative Arts and Sculpture, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston), USA |
| Session 4: Wallpaper | ||
| 9:55am | Opening Remarks | session moderator |
| 10:00am | Finishes for the American Home: DDT Clear Coatings and Wallpaper | Judy Jacob (National Park Service), USA |
| 10:25am | 5 minute question and answer period | |
| 10:30am | coffee break | |
| Session 5: APR Standards | ||
| 11:00am | Presentation from the APR Standards Committee formed at the Stockholm 2014 APR Conference | |
| Panel Discussion to follow | ||
| 12:00pm | lunch (provided) | |
| 2:00pm | Afternoon Tours | |
| 7:00pm | Evening Reception, Location TBD | |
Friday, March 17
| Time | Presentation | Speaker(s) |
|---|---|---|
| Session 6: Micro to Macro, Case Studies II | ||
| 8:55am | Opening Remarks | session moderator |
| 9:00am | Kalsomine Paint: What is it and what does it Matter? | Mary Jablonski (Jablonski Building Conservation), USA |
| 9:20am | Conservation Research on Architectural Ceiling Painting in Donghua Men (the East City Entrance Gate), Forbidden City | Li Guanghua and Lei Yong (Palace Museum), China |
| 9:40am | Determining the Early Eighteenth-Century Colour Scheme of the ‘Golden Room’ in the Mauritshuis, The Hague | Margriet van Eikema Hommes (Delft University of Technology and Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands) and Katrien Keune (Rijksmuseum), Netherlands |
| 10:00am | W.R. Emerson’s Eustis Estate: Utilizing APR to Understand an Aesthetic Movement Masterpiece | Amy Cole Ives (Sutherland Conservation and Consulting), USA |
| 10:20am | 10 minute question and answer session | |
| 10:30am | coffee break | |
| Session 7: Expanding the APR Toolbox | ||
| 11:00am | Opening Remarks | session moderator |
| 11:05am | On-site Pre-embedding of Samples for Cross-sections | Nynne R. Sethia (Den Gamle By), Denmark |
| 11:25am | Performing an Architectural Paint Research Digitally: Report on Developments Within Documentation Software Focussing on the Interpretation of Colours, Textures, and Painted Layers | Edwin Verweij (Norwegian Institute for Cultural Heritage Research), Norway, and David Edvarson (K-Konservator), Sweden |
| 11:45am | Experiencing Ancient Polychromy at the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Temple of Dendur | Erin Peters (University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Museum of Natural History), USA, Matt Felsen, and Maria Paula Saba |
| 12:05pm | Utilization/Interpretation of Paint Cross-Sections to Characterize Preparatory and Design Layers to Guide and Inform Decorative Paint Exposure Work | Melissa McGrew (Building Conservation Associates), USA |
| 12:25pm | 10 minute question and answer session | |
| 12:35pm | lunch (provided) | |
| Session 8: Student Papers | ||
| 1:55pm | Opening Remarks | session moderator |
| 2:00pm | ‘Derailing’ the Myth of Gilded Age Decoration: a Case Study of the Painted Decoration in the Grand Isle Private Car | Emily Wroczynski (Winterthur/University of Delaware Program in Art Conservation), USA |
| 2:15pm | Exterior Colour Schemes of Historic Wooden Buildings in the Kassisaba District of Tallinn, Estonia | Claudia Valge (Cultural Heritage and Conservation/Estonian Academy of Arts), Estonia |
| 2:30pm | Analytical Techniques in Architectural Paint Research: When is Enough, Enough? | Meredith Freeman, doctoral student, Conservation of Cultural Heritage (University of Lincoln), UK |
| 2:45pm | 10 minute question and answer session | |
| 2:55pm | coffee break | |
| Session 9: Powers of Ten, The Big Picture | ||
| 3:30pm | Opening Remarks | session moderator |
| 3:35pm | History of Painted Facades from the Middle Ages to the Twentieth Century in the Flemish Region of Belgium | Ann Verdonck (Independent Paint Analyst and Researcher and Professor at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel), and Marjolein Deceuninck (Independent Paint Analyst and Researcher), Belgium |
| 3:55pm | Understanding Popular Early Twentieth Century Architectural Painting Schemes in Singapore | Kang Shua Yeo and Tan U-Xan (Singapore University of Technology and Design/Conservation Studio), Singapore |
| 4:15pm | Detective Required! The Quest to Find the Original Visible Finish Layer in Twentieth-Century Architecture | Angelique Friedrichs and Stijn Lenaerts (Stichting Restauratie Atelier Limburg), and Mariel Polman (RCE/Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands), Netherlands |
| 4:35pm | The Tasteful Tenement: Forgotten Finishes at the Lower East Side Tenement Museum | Stephanie Hoagland (Jablonski Building Conservation), USA |
| 4:55pm | 10 minute question and answer session | |
| 5:05pm | Closing Remarks and Conclusion | |