Career: Art Conservator

"What is an art conservator?" you ask. The job of an art conservator is to preserve and restore artworks in museums or other collections. They must repair works, as well as protect them against everyday elements to ensure that artworks are able to be enjoyed far into the future. To be an art conservator there are many necessary skills. First off, to be an art conservator professionally, most art institutions require applicants to have at least a masters degree in art. A strong background in art history is also needed, to understand the techniques used and the works that they are conserving. Finally, a background in chemistry is also necessary in order for conservators to be able to use the correct chemicals and preservation materials to actually protect the artwork, and not destroy the paint or the canvas.

A typical day for an art conservator would usually include looking at the artworks they would conserve under special lighting or with a very magnifying lens in order to find any issues or damage in the works. Once any damage was identified they would spend a lot of time going through many stages of reparation, such as removing old varnish, mending any tears in a canvas, matching pigments to the original paints, and revarnishing to protect the work again. Some conservators also travel a lot for their career, to different museums all over the world restoring art.

Finally, there are man majors that would be very useful when pursuing this career, but some of the best are art conservation (the name gives it away), art history, studio art, and even chemistry. In the US, NYU has a very competitive arts program, as do University of Delaware, Buffalo State College, and UCLA.