Introduction
Keynote Remaarks:Diane Frankel
Fine Arts & Science
Art & Conservation
American History &
Preservation
Library Sciences &
Preservation
Archaeology,
American History &
Conservation
Practice
Museum Practices &
Conservation
| Fine Arts and Science | |
|---|---|
| Organizational participants | Conservation Analytical Lab Suitland High School, Maryland |
| Audience | 11th and 12th graders |
| Subject areas | Fine arts and science |
| Staff and faculty | Conservators, art and science teachers |
| Length of program | Planned as interdisciplinary course of 12 subject units throughout school year |
| Funding | |
| Program dates | 1996, second year of five-year pilot program |
| For more information | Donald C. Williams Conservation Analytical Laboratory Smithsonian Institution Tel: (301) 238-3700 x168 E-mail: dcw@cal.si.edu |
Interdisciplinary Course for High Schoolers
Several staff members of the Conservation Analytical Laboratory (CAL) of the Smithsonian Institution echo the NIC's belief that tomorrow's artists and conservators are today's students. Through their pilot program, dubbed the "Suitland High Project", furniture conservator Donald C. Williams, paintings conservator Jia-sun Tsang, and Dianne van der Reyden are designing and testing an interdisciplinary art and materials science curriculum for secondary school students. The inspiration for their innovative program arose from their contention that the interconnectedness between knowledge and information has been severed, resulting in artificial schisms. In the fields of the visual arts and conservation, this division manifests itself in different approaches to materials. The artist might use a certain material, such as egg tempera or gold leaf, to achieve a desired effect without necessarily understanding its inherent properties. In turn, the conservator comprehends a material's distinct qualities but might not be interested in its creative potential or application.
In 1996, the second year of their five-year pilot program, Williams and his colleagues were endeavoring to create an interdisciplinary course of 12 subject units, each with lectures, demonstrations, and inexpensive studio activities tailored to secondary school students. In keeping with school schedules of one-hour classes, each unit should take about three weeks to complete. In all, this culminated in a year-long program (36 weeks) of discussion topics and classroom exercises. Ideally, the course will be a team-teaching effort, but enough information should be provided in the course materials that neither a science nor an art teacher would be absolutely necessary. Planned course materials include a curriculum outline and teaching notes, written instructions as well as instructional video, laboratory exercises, 35mm slides, a teaching manual in the form of a CD-ROM, and additional reference materials.
Course objectives
- Provide an understanding of the historical context of artist materials and craft traditions
- Introduce the process of characterizing materials
- Introduce materials science, including the interrelation between chemistry and physical properties, and the exploitation and manipulation of properties
- Practice the disciplined "art of seeing" by changing the way students look at things around them and by helping them to understand how and of what things are made
- Allow students to experiment with materials and to create their own artworks
- Make students aware of the challenges of preservation.
Unit topics
- Painting materials: film formation, thermoplastic polymers, plasticizers, solvents, pigments, dyes, formulation, appearance
- Panel paintings: wood technology, egg tempera, oil paint, grounds
- Molding and casting: ancient and space-age casting materials, thermoset polymers
- Woodcarving: wood technology, metallurgy, ink and printing
- Marquetry: wood technology, metallurgy, adhesive technology, dyes and colorants
- Gilding: metal leaf technology, grounds, mineralogy, binders
- Papermaking: paper and pulp chemistry, fiber analysis, microscopy
- Electrotyping: continuation of casting, electrochemistry, metallurgy, toxicology
- Ceramics and glass: pyrotechnology, glass and ceramic technology
- Book making: traditional craft and materials, such as leather and binding materials, vellum, etc.
- Fiber arts: textiles, synthetic polymers, dye and colorant technology
- Joined metal: surface patination, chemistry, metallurgy
As part of this pilot program, students from the Center for the Visual and Performing Arts at nearby Suitland High School in Suitland, Maryland, work with CAL staff in the Smithsonian's laboratories in three-hour sessions one day every other week. There they are exposed to the benefits and techniques associated with a variety of materials, from the age-old practices of marquetry and papermaking to the modern wonders of casting with thermoset polymers. The students' quick ability to exploit material technology within the studio was "a bolt out of the blue," observes Williams. "They knew no bounds and were willing to tackle anything." With no sense of limits, the students had little fear of exploring the possibilities of the materials presented to them, although they were quite impressed to use "real" gold leaf. Many of the students incorporated the products of these studio sessions into their college portfolios, and impressively, all received scholarships. Several of them sought out universities that offered specific programs combining the arts and sciences.
Williams realizes that conservators are the perfect professionals to teach aspiring young artists about the diverse materials that are available to them. He also admits that conservators, by their very nature, are ill-suited to undertake this program. They need to develop the tools, talents, and desire to promote materials research and conservation to young people. Outreach should become a priority among conservators, as it will ultimately benefit the conservation profession through increased public awareness and the propagation of its constituency.
