
Happy New Year!
From all of us
at Chicago Area Conservation Group
Renewal time for your CACG membership is March 2021. if you want to renew or make any changes to your membership, please print out your form and mail it to Mary. Form available - "under Membership" of the menu bar above.
Or
Can pay membership online! Follow instructions "under Membership". FIll out a complete form, pay through PayPal and then submit!
Our next "Zoom Meeting:
Chicago Area Conservation Group
and
Midwest Regional Conservation Guild
Save the Date for a Virtual Meeting:
To register: go to MRCG website (themrcg.wordpress.com; under Fall/Winter Lecture series) and you must register for these talks up to 24 hours before the lecture begins.
Additionally, many of you have asked if the lectures will be available online at some point. The answer is yes, and your MRCG officers are working on how to get those on to our website. Wordpress has become somewhat difficult to use, so please bear with us as we work to get those lectures available to our members. So yes, "some" of these zoom meetings have been recorded for those who may have missed it. More will be announced soon.
"Our collaborative zoom meetings has ended".
Thank you all for this wonderful virtual meetings!
It was enlightening and engaging! Even though we couldn't meet in person but somehow it seemed that we were still connected with each other and glad to see everyone staying safe and taking extra care of ourselves and our surroundings.
Don't forget about the upcoming AIC's 49th Annual Conference.
May 10th - June 24, 2021.
It will be a joint virtual annual meeting between AIC & SPHNC (Society for Preservation of Natural History Collections).
For more information Go to AIC's website: www.culturalheritage.org

Updates of Museum Closing and Re-openings (to the public):
Adler Planetarium: Has been closed since March 14, 2020.
Art Institute of Chicago: Temp. Closed.
Chicago Architecture Center: As of Nov. 20, 2020 Temp. closed.
Chicago History Museum: Re-opening on March 4, 2021.
DuSable Museum of African American History: Temp. closed due to covid.
Elks National Memorial: Closed to public.
Field Museum of Chicago: Re-opening as of Jan. 23 Saturday
Illinois Holocaust Museum (Skokie): Opening on Feb. 3rd --- Go visit RGB exhibit!
MCA: Temporarily Closed.
MSI: "Closed" as of Nov. 27th, 2020.
National Museum of Mexican Art: Temp. closed due to covid.
Northwestern University Libraries: The building has re-opened for in-person services for graduate students and faculty beginning January 4 and will open for undergraduate students after Wildcat Wellness on January 19.
Newberry Library: Closed as of Nov. 19, 2020
Shedd Aquarium: Reopening to the public Jan. 30, 2021.
The Museums are temporarily closed (and some have re-opened) to support the City and State of Chicago's efforts to contain the spread of Covid-19. These museums take the health and safety of the public and our museum staffs as our highest priority.
But please do visit the museums sites for a wonderful virtual visit to their online exhibitions.
Please stay safe !!
Wear your mask and let us know how you are! We are in this together!
Thank you to everyone who participated in the first virtual CACG zoom meeting on May 27th. It was so nice to see all your faces and hear what your workplaces/institutions are doing in this unprecedented time.
Some helpful sites to get you thorugh this Pandemic:
Association of Industrial Hygienists of America (AIHA) https://www.backtoworksafely.org/
REALM from OCLC and IMLS https://www.webjunction.org/explore-topics/COVID-19-research-project.html
https://www.newyorker.com/science/medical-dispatch/amid-the-coronavirus-crisis-a-regimen-for-reentry
https://commonwealthmagazine.org/environment/coronavirus-risks-know-them-avoid-them/
Sample survey questions https://worktango.com/covid-19-remote-work-free-survey-templates-offer/
Covid-19's visibilty on various surfaces and related handling protocols by National Park Service Center for Preservation Technology and Training.:
For SMSI Members and Friends,
Some helpful sites to get you through this Pandemic:
Those of us who missed Meggan's online presentation on dispersion staining, Here is the link:
http://www.mccroneinstitute.org/v/1430/Online-Learning-Session-Microchemistry-Fundamentals
Meggan's presentation is a great introduction to dispersion staining and is a step-by-step procedure for making your own dispersion staining objective.
Meggan instructs us to make sure that we have adjusted our microscope optics to Kohler illumination.
Instructions for setting up your microscope can be found in "Polarized Light Microscopy" * Check the index for Kohler illumination.
Sebastian Sparenga's presentation on Microchemistry Fundamentals is also on that webpage. Both Meggan's and Sebastian's learning sessions are on
the McCrone YouTube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1PswnW2ehQd9QcSDY5Cnlg/videos
Check out Dr. McCrone's presentation on the Shoud of Turin. There are a lot of educational videos to help us learn more about microscopy during these hunkering down times; opportunity has knocked....
"The Mystery of the Shroud of Turin" with Dr. McCrone talk:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ZxVQf38N1k
And also don't forget to see Bill Kurtis' interview with Dr. McCrone, dedicated in 2003 "Walter C McCrone: A New Explorer":
Latest Updates:
MIDWEST REGIONAL CONSERVATION GUILD AND CHICAGO AREA CONSERVATION GROUP
JOINT FALL/WINTER 2020-2021 LECTURE SERIES
The Midwest Regional Conservation Guild and Chicago Area Conservation Group are very pleased to join forces this year to offer two programs, a virtual meeting and an online lecture series for this fall and winter. Both programs will be free to all members of either MRCG or CACG. The virtual meeting will consist of a panel discussion from conservators from different areas of the field. The fall/winter lecture series will consist of eight stimulating online lectures representing a wide variety of conservation issues, disciplines, and subject matters. For those wishing to join either MRCG or CACG please see the organizational links below.
September 17th, 2020 3:30 PM CT
Midwestern Cultural Institutions Response to COVID-19 Joint Symposium
Seth Irwin Indiana State Library (Governmental Institution, Co-Moderator)
Julie Reilly Intermuseum Conservation Association (Regional Center)
Stephanie Spence Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art (Art Museum)
Ann Lindsey University of Chicago (Academic Library)
Anna Weiss-Pfau Third Coast Conservation (Private Practice)
Susan Russick Northwestern University Library (Academic Library, Co-Moderator)
October 7th 2020 12:00-1:00 p.m. CT
‘Planning new spaces for book and paper conservation and audiovisual preservation: Procedures and lessons learned.’
Whitney Baker - University of Kansas Libraries
October 21st 2020 12:00-1:00 p.m. CT
‘The Dead Christ Resurrected: the conservation treatment of a monumental painting
by Matthew Harris Jouett’
Andrea Chevalier and Wendy Partridge - Intermuseum Conservation Association
November 4th 2020 12:00-1:00 p.m. CT
‘Collaborative Conservation and the Renovation of the Field Museum's 70-Year-Old Hall of Native North America’
Stephanie Hornbeck - Field Museum
November 18th 2020 12:00-1:00 p.m. CT
‘Accepting Ambiguity and Subjectivity in Aesthetic Compensation: Ed Clark untitled 1962 a Case Study.’
Heather Galloway - Galloway Art Conservation
January 6th -> changed to the 12th
12:00-1:00 p.m. CT
‘UBOAT: The U505 Submarine: Conservation Giving Breath to Untold Stories’
Jane Foley - L. Liparini Studio & Third Coast Conservation, LLC
January 20th 2021 -> changed to the 21st
12:00-1:00 p.m. CT
‘Exploring Buddhist Manuscript production: Materials and Merit.’
James Canary - Indiana University Lilly Library
February 3rd 2021 12:00-1:00 p.m. CT
‘Collaborative Study of a Roman-Egyptian Mummy Portrait at the Detroit Institute for the Arts’
Christina Bisulca, Kate Aguirre, Ellen Hanspach-Bernal, Aaron Steele - Detroit Institute for the Arts
February 17th 2021 12:00-1:00 p.m. CT
‘Revealing the Splendor of Audubon’s The Birds of America: The Materials, Techniques, and Conservation of a Masterpiece.’
Dr. Cathleen A. Baker -Conservation Librarian Emerita, University of Michigan - Proprietor, The Legacy Press
Chicago Area Conservation Group
https://www.chicagoareaconservation.org/membership
Midwest Regional Conservation Guild
https://themrcg.wordpress.com/membership/
Details will be forthcoming about registering for each lecture to receive the Zoom link.
Upcoming meetings for SMSI group :
SMSI Members and Friends,
Michelle Nichols presented at our After Xmas, Xmas Party in 2019 and gave a very good presentation on what has been learned from the robotic space crafts on Mars.
This Friday, February 12th there’s a presentation by Michelle Nichols: “The Future of Space Exploration”. It’s a virtual presentation hosted by the Prospect Heights Library. The presentation is available for viewing all day, but one needs to register at www.phpl.info . Once on the library web site, click on “Calendar” and then click on the Space Exploration presentation on the February 12th calendar square. This will bring up the registration form. Submit the form and you will get a confirmatory E-mail.
Here is the library announcement:
Date: 2/12/2021
Start Time: All Day
Description:
Michelle Nichols, Director of Public Observing at Adler Planetarium, discusses some of the most intriguing questions about space exploration; topics include space tourism, exploring the solar system using robots, when might we finally land on Mars, and much more.
Registration Ends: 2/12/2021 at 9:00 AM
May we all learn more about the exploration of Mars and about space robotics.
Art Struss
SMSI-President
for more info see "SMSI Meeting" in the above tab.
The Institute Needs Your Help!
URGENT: Help McCrone Today
Due to the coronavirus (COVID-19), all McCrone Research Institute programs and operations have been temporarily suspended and we have gone to an on-demand course schedule. Revenue has plummeted and for the first time ever we are asking for your help.
In response to this once-in-a-century crisis, McCrone's leaders are revitalizing and reenvisioning ways in which the Institute will continue to deliver microscopy education, research, and publishing.
Please make a gift today and learn about the McCrone Research Institute COVID-19 Preservation and Relief Fund via the GoFundMe Charity platform.
Your support will preserve McCrone Research Institute and the legacy of Walter and Lucy McCrone for current and future generations of microscopists. Your gift, at any level, is greatly appreciated.
Thank you,
Gary J. Laughlin, Ph.D.
(for more info click on "SMSI meetings" in the menu bar).

If you have any ideas or suggestions for future meetings, please let us know. Just call or email any of the CACG officers (Susan, Mary, Carol, Inez, Amber or Maria).
Other interesting Links:
American Institute for Conservation
McCrone Research Institute
www.mcri.org
State Microscopical Society of Illinois
www.smsi.org
Northwestern University Library has been postponed the two demonstrations ("Synthetic Texture Fills (a.k.a. Cast Composites" and “Rolling Moisture Sandwich for Flattening Rolled Materials”) that was scheduled for March 18th due to the safety of preventing the spread of COVID 19.
A new date for these demos will be announced in the future for a rescheduled date, which could be a few months from now or well into the 2021 year? ...
Other related Chicago Conservation News:
Rachel Sabino has an interesting article on
• "It broke: Dispatch from a Homeschooling Conservator".
Other topics of Art Inst. of Chgo articles:
• "The Secrets of a Mummy Emerge" by Arico, McIlvaine, and Tom
• "Nighthawks as Hope" A Curator Muses on Edward Hopper & Crisis" by Oehler
• "Conservation: The Dilemma of Extending Life" by Molina
See all at: www.artic.edu/articles
________________________
"Undergrad explore unique research projects - from art conservation to the sciences" at University of Chicago. See https://news.uchicago.edu/story/research-opportunities-help-undergraduates-embrace-learning-curve?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=UChicago_News_Oct_31_2019
Our Past CACG Meetings:
Check out photos from our most recent tour of the Ed Paschke Art Center meeting.
Under Photo Gallery / "Ed Paschke Art Center tour"


To see Frances Willard's Bio or history background ; go to "CACG Meetings" Frances Willard meeting flyer or to their website:
Photos and description of our visit to the Frances Willard House Museum is now available for viewing. Click on "Frances Willard Museum visit" under Photo Gallery.
Photos from our visit to the Field Museum's "Behind the Scenes" meeting. Under Photo Gallery / Field Museum's "Behind the Scenes".

Also you can see a video of "Undressing a Mannequin Timelaspe":