SYS Blog

From the Rubble of Haitian Earthquake: Art Salvage

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At the annual meeting of the American Institute for Conservation I met up with Susan Blakney, painting conservator freshly returned from Haiti as part of a delegation to determine the size of the task of saving and salvaging art. Her efforts were part of the AIC-CERT program. In piles of 500, Susan a well experienced […]

Hanging nail gives away – $25,000.00 painting ripped.

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Look at this rip! Want to see some magic?! This rip, on the left, was kind-a ugly: It ripped when the nail gave way and it fell off the wall… and got uglier when the fibers frayed. So we turned it over and, under magnification, the fibers were realigned and rewoven. Then the ends of […]

Mold damage and storage of family history.

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Here’s a family pile of stuff that was cleaned from mold and packed away under our care. Even if you don’t want to go through the inventorying process, protect items with baggies and proper storage containers. For important papers, certificates, memories in the office, these are great ideas for emergency preparedness.

$25,000 fell off the wall!

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Was it a weak hook, a frayed wire, a loose hanging eye screw? The weakest link is the one that will let go when things start to shake… and most of us live in parts of the country where we can be shaken up by earthquakes, hurricanes or tornadoes. In addition to hanging hardware in good condition, think about a shake wax.