6th International Architectural Paint Research Conference

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