Our Specialties

Asian Paintings

The Art Institute of Chicago houses more than 10,000 works on paper or silk from across Asia, including Japan, China, Korea, South Asia, and the Himalayan region. They encompass a variety of culturally distinctive formats, such as scroll paintings, albums, fans, folding screens, woodblock prints, and miniature paintings. Typically created with both organic and inorganic pigments, these works usually incorporate locally manufactured materials and traditional craftsmanship.

Like all works of art, Asian paintings are susceptible to both physical and chemical deterioration due to various environmental factors. Their unique formats and structures demand specialized knowledge and care in handling, display, and storage to prevent damage. Conservators develop and implement appropriate preventive conservation strategies and execute treatments that range from remedial intervention to complete remounting. These treatments often require an integrated approach to achieve optimal results, negotiating Eastern and Western conservation philosophies and combining traditional methods and materials with modern tools and equipment.

Book

Books, unlike other objects in the museum’s collections, must be handled in order to access the information held within their pages. This handling, sometimes by countless readers over a book’s lifetime, can result in physical damage that may compromise its longevity. To help ensure the long-term survival of these objects, the Book Conservation team oversees all activities related to the preservation, care, and handling of the museum’s book and archival collections. This includes the collections of the Ryerson and Burnham Libraries and Art Institute Archives, as well as rare and unique books, manuscripts, and albums within the museum’s curatorial collections.

Book Conservation performs an extensive range of specialized treatments aimed at stabilizing books and archival materials. The team also constructs protective enclosures for fragile materials, prepares and installs books and archival materials in museum exhibitions, and maintains collection storage areas through environmental monitoring, pest management, and emergency preparedness training.

Frames

The Frames Conservation team ensures that the visual appearance and structural integrity of the frames in the museum’s collection are preserved. Conservators collaborate with curators to provide frames that are both aesthetically and historically harmonious with the paintings in the collection. The team researches historic framing practices and both fabricates new frames in period styles and advises on purchases of period frames. They routinely create custom back frames and liners and install glazing and microclimates to secure paintings for display and travel. Additionally, the Frames Conservation team oversees storage, documentation, and care of the continually growing frames collection. Through public presentations, tours, and workshops, they regularly share their expertise and craft with visitors to the museum.

Media

An increasingly important and fast-growing segment of the museum’s collection of modern and contemporary art comprises film, video, sound, electronics, digital art, web-based art, performance, and light elements. At the museum we use the term (time-based) media to define technology-based artworks with a durational dimension. Every artwork presents unique challenges, and the Media Conservation team works collaboratively with curators, artists, technicians, collection managers, installation specialists, and fellow conservators, among others, to maintain the viability of technology-based works through research, documentation, and maintenance. In addition to physical deterioration and damage, media artworks are susceptible to technological obsolescence and knowledge loss. When technological advances make artworks or their display equipment inaccessible—whether through equipment failure, prohibitive repair or replacement costs, the unavailability of parts, or digital files rendered unreadable by software updates—the works themselves risk obsolescence. Conservators implement preservation strategies which identify the significant experiential qualities of the work and plans to address future obsolescence or potential migrations to new media in order to maintain the intended experience.

Mountmaking

Mountmaking is a highly specialized occupation that combines precision engineering with artistic sensibility to design and produce custom supports tailored to the exact needs of each artwork. This unique skillset demands mastery of a wide range of materials—from steel and brass to acrylic and fabric—and techniques including welding, soldering, machining, and even sewing. Mountmakers must understand not only fabrication, but also the physical vulnerabilities of objects, safe handling practices, and long-term conservation requirements. Mountmakers work across the entire museum, engaging with diverse objects from the tiniest bead to massive architectural elements. In close collaboration with conservators, curators, and exhibition designers, mountmakers ensure that supports for display, storage or transport meet strict conservation and aesthetic standards, making them key contributors to the museum experience and the long-term preservation of collections.

Objects

Objects conservators care for three-dimensional works of art in the collection, from ancient to contemporary: sculpture, decorative arts, furniture, and more. Materials include almost anything—from ceramic to plastic, feathers to soap—across an equally wide scale, from tiny figurines to monumental outdoor bronzes. Mixed-media objects often involve paper, paint, or textiles, prompting collaboration with other conservation specialties. Objects conservators document, monitor, clean, and repair objects; research their fabrication, history, and how they change over time and in different environments; and advise on best practices for display, storage, and long-term care. Understanding deterioration processes, material vulnerabilities, and treatment options requires an ever-expanding knowledge base and a creative, problem-solving mindset. The Objects Conservation team works across all 11 curatorial departments and stewards a number of city monuments. Their work is highly collaborative—engaging departments across the museum, as well as allied external specialists—and they are involved in every step of preparing objects for display.

Paintings

The Paintings Conservation team takes care of the museum’s collection of paintings, which includes centuries-old altarpieces, traditional easel paintings, and contemporary art. They work in close collaboration with curators, scientists, and artists to investigate how each painting was made, how it has changed over time, and how it might age in the future. This understanding helps conservators devise appropriate treatment and display strategies that preserve both the physical and aesthetic integrity of the paintings in their care. In addition to treatment and research, paintings conservators support many different facets of the museum’s activities: examining paintings for loans and acquisition, inspecting works for exhibitions, monitoring storage areas, and sharing the rich histories of the artworks with our public and our peers through lectures, videos, and publications.

Paper

The Paper Conservation team cares for holdings that include prints and drawings, artists’ sketchbooks, architectural plans, and modern and contemporary art. With a collection spanning centuries, the team is familiar with a diverse range of supports and media. Many of the methods and materials used for conservation of works of art on paper are rooted in Japanese tradition. However, with access to cutting-edge conservation science, conservators are constantly exploring new approaches to examination and treatment. In addition to treatment, the team monitors the museum environment, examines artworks considered for acquisition, and creates elegant housing solutions for works that will be studied, exhibited, and loaned. The studio’s proximity to the majority of the museum’s paper collections facilitates research and allows them to prepare, install, and monitor exhibitions in our galleries.

Photograph

The Photograph Conservation team work in close collaboration with curators, collection managers, and other staff members to preserve and enable access to the photographs in the museum’s collection. These holdings span the breadth of the history of photography—from the medium’s inception in the first half of the 19th century through the digital prints of the present day. Conservators undertake research on the collection, technical history, and characterization of photographs, in addition to addressing ongoing preservation needs and performing documentation, analysis, and treatments for exhibitions and loans. The team also hosts students and recent graduates of national and international conservation programs for internships and fellowships, offering participants the chance to learn from experienced professionals and participate in the activities of this vital part of the museum. Conservation staff serve as leaders in national and international organizations, publishing the results of their work, and delivering public lectures at the museum and beyond.

Preventive Conservation

Preventive Conservation refers to proactive measures taken to protect individual artworks and collections from deterioration or damage before it occurs. Rather than treating objects directly, Preventive Conservation staff focus on creating stable environmental conditions in which objects are stored, displayed, and handled. This work involves a wide range of tasks, including monitoring temperature, humidity, light levels, and pollutants; conducting regular pest inspections; and screening and testing materials to ensure proper storage and exhibition practices. Preventive Conservation intersects with nearly every museum department—coordinating with Facilities staff to manage climate control systems and infrastructure; assisting curators and exhibition designers by providing guidelines for safe object use and display; and partnering with Security and Events teams to establish best practices for programs that support museum operations. These collaborations help ensure the long-term preservation of collections and promote responsible stewardship of cultural heritage.

Scientific Research

Tasked with researching material aspects of the museum’s extensive and diverse collections, the Scientific Research team uses a variety of analytical tools to investigate objects’ biographies and uncover new aspects that will inform their treatment and preservation. Conservation scientists characterize artists’ materials and techniques, test display and storage environments, and analyze conservation materials in support of treatments. This work is done in close collaboration with the museum’s conservators and curators and, on occasion, with manufacturers of artists’ materials and artists themselves. The science laboratories are equipped with advanced analytical instrumentation for investigating all possible materials used by artists—including pigments, binding media, plastics, metal alloys, glass, and ceramics—as well as those used by conservators. Conservation scientists regularly collaborate with Chicago-based research facilities as well as an international community of colleagues, and work with visiting scientists, fellows, and interns.

Textiles

Textile conservators research and treat artworks across the entire collection, including tapestries, carpets, embroideries, furnishing and dress fabrics, garments, sculptures, and archaeological fragments—spanning all cultures and time periods. This wide range of objects involves diverse fabrication techniques and materials, requiring thoughtful care and the application of ethical guidelines tailored to both cultural context and material needs. Textiles include natural fibers from plants and animals, synthetic polymers, and inorganic components like metals and glass, along with ever-evolving colorants like dyes and pigments. Specialized knowledge begins with stable storage and sensitive handling, and extends to creating custom mounts for safe display. Through documentation and analysis, textile conservators manage material change over time, applying treatments to stabilize and repair as needed. Collaboration with other departments and specialists is integral to the care and presentation of these complex and fragile materials. The Textiles Conservation team supports objects’ long-term preservation ensuring they remain accessible to future generations.