On July 25, 2020, conservators from the Midwest Art Conservation Center (MACC) joined a live online conversation about what goes on behind the scenes in their art conservation labs. The discussion highlighted the Kemper Art Museum’s ongoing partnership with MACC to evaluate the condition of the permanent collection and conserve artworks in need of repair.  

Through a look at a range of conservation treatments, MAAC conservators offered perspectives on how their field continues to evolve and shared their key considerations when developing a conservation plan. Artworks discussed included William Merritt Chase’s Garden of the Orphanage, Haarlem, Holland (1883), Ludwig Meidner’s double-sided painting Selbstbildnis (Self-Portrait) (1912) / Untitled (c. 1909), the Hermonax Painter’s Nolan amphora (475–465 BCE), and Henry Moore’s concrete sculpture Reclining Figure (1933).  

Panelists Megan Emery, MACC’s chief conservator and senior objects conservator, and Kristy Jeffcoat, MACC’s senior paintings conservator, were joined by moderator Kim Broker, the Kemper Art Museum’s associate registrar.