The Largest Private Art Conservation Lab in North America

“Conservation labs usually focus on one or two disciplines, but it’s quite unusual to have 12 disciplines and so many experts under one roof.”
—Heather Becker, Chicago Conservation Center CEO

Being a conservator is a lesser-known artistic career. It takes at least 10 years, probably a lifetime, to master a single discipline. Historically, conservators have worked in isolation, but one woman broke the norms with her pioneering vision.

In 1989, when Heather Becker was a young, newly graduated art student, she started working for The Conservation Center in Chicago. She grew the business by 12% in her first year. In the three decades that followed, Becker not only bought the company but developed it into the country’s largest, most comprehensive private art conservation laboratory.

Becker has spearheaded many innovative approaches in the cautious, slow-changing conservation industry. In this interview with Magnifissance, she shares secrets of her success and some of her unforgettable experiences at The Conservation Center.

Most people confuse the terms restoration and conservation. What is the difference?
Restorers use techniques to make an item look new so that it can be sold. Conservators learn to respect the original materials, and their techniques must be reversible. They won’t permanently alter the work or change its historical value, such as removing the patina on a piece.

What drew you to The Conservation Center?
When I first started, I told Barry Bauman, the founder of The Conservation Center, that I wanted to do business development so I could go home and work on my own paintings without feeling fatigued.

I first worked as an administrator. As I learned more about the business, I presented a business plan to grow the company. Eventually, I became vice president, and Barry later sold the company to me. He allowed me to grow under his mentorship.

How did you expand The Conservation Center so quickly?
When I joined the company, Barry ran the painting conservation and had others to help him with paper and textiles. It was a team of 10 people. But for us to treat an entire collection, whether it was for a museum, a private, or a corporate entity, I realized we’d need experts in each of these disciplines.

A conservator can’t say, “I can treat everything.” That’s usually a sign that someone isn’t well-qualified. To become an expert or master at any of these disciplines takes decades and hard work. You build respect in our industry if you’ve focused on one discipline (such as painting or sculpture) for your entire career.

Conservation labs usually focus on one or two disciplines, but it’s quite unusual to have 12 disciplines and so many experts under one roof. The average in the industry is three to four conservators.

At The Conservation Center, we spent ten years adding other disciplines. We found additional experts so that we could treat an entire collection of diverse materials and mediums under one roof.

These days, we have a staff of 32 with 25 conservators trained in the treatment of paintings, works of art on paper, photographs, textiles, murals, antiques and fine furniture, decorative objects, rare books, frames and gilding, objects, and sculptures.

I wanted to tell the market that we have experts in these different areas and they all work together. You don’t have to send your furniture to one place and your paintings to another.

Once you found the vision, what was your biggest obstacle?
The hardest part was finding excellent conservators to join the team. This business model hadn’t been done to this scale in the United States in a private lab, only in institutional facilities like the Getty Museum. We’re proud that we’ve been able to accomplish it.

We have such a talented team working together under one roof. That’s what makes our company so strong. Over half of the staff have been with us for more than 15 years. So, we have a stable group. We’re like a family.

How often do your conservators collaborate?
Decades ago, conservators used to keep their techniques close to their chest. They were quite isolated, but it’s different now. Everyone wants to share their knowledge and experiences.

A good example would be an old panel painting from the 16th century. Amber Schabdach, a senior paintings conservator, was recently working on the panel, while Josh McCauley, a senior conservator of objects and frames, was working on the frame. They tried to understand each other’s treatments so that everything coalesced when the painting returned to its frame.

It’s a collaboration of knowledge. If someone isn’t sure about something, they will go to their colleague and say, “What do you think about this? Do you feel it’s a solid approach, or do you have better ideas?” They act as a sounding board for each other, so they’re not always working alone.

Our conservators realize they can’t possibly know everything. At our facility, they can reach out and learn something new from their colleagues, which improves their craft.

Having that openness between departments is essential because we get new objects daily—family letters, an old tricycle, or even a piece made of whalebone. When you think you’ve seen everything, something comes in the door to surprise you, but the conservators can always solve the problem together.

How are you innovating with specific techniques?
In the past, when canvases were torn, conservators would either put patches of canvas on the back or line them to another canvas, which can be invasive. Our conservators today use re-weaving techniques under a microscope. They use the warp and the weft of the canvas and re-weave it back together, binding it with sturgeon glue, a water-based reversible glue.

One of the big tenets of the industry is reversibility. This is an important aspect because if something needs to be undone in the future, it’s possible to do it, even 100 years from now. The process is non-invasive, whereas before it could have been more detrimental to the work over time.

What keeps you motivated in this career?
I walk around and talk to the people in our team every day to learn about their challenges. What are they working on? What puzzle are they trying to figure out? It’s extremely rewarding to feel that every day is different.

We could be working with a living artist’s work or restoring a piece from the 12th century, all in the same week. Every item that comes through our door is different and unique. They always vary. I love it because I always find something to learn, not only as an entrepreneur but also as an artist.