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1998
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Highlights of 1998
December
James Engelbert returned from a Carriage Conservation
Symposium at Long Island to find a new challenge: raising
a toppled Southern Alberta landmark. The Burmis pine,
a picturesque dead tree on wind-swept Crowsnest Pass
near Frank Slide fell over to the dismay of the local
population and Historic Sites Conservation Service was
contacted to restore the landmark to its former prominence.
James, Carl Schlichting and their team applied
steel brackets to anchor the tree base in the bedrock.
The story was broadcast by CBC Radio (Basic Black) on
Saturday, December 19.
A crane provided complete control as the tree is pulled
and lifted in order to realign the root bed into its
original position.
Duct tape, pony clamps and braces supported the tree
in wind gusts of over 100 km/hr during preparations
to anchor it to the bedrock.
Following cardboard patterns, mild steel brackets were
custom bent out of 1/4"x2" flat stock. The sandstone
outcropping that the tree had grown around was Hilti-drilled
with the brackets in place. Up to 30 inches of stainless
steel threaded rods were epoxied into the rock and finished
with stainless steel washers and nuts. Bill Anderson
of Hilti Canada donated expertise and use of equipment.
All organic material was removed from underneath the
tree so that no moisture would be wicked into the wood
- leaving the tree high and dry. The design by Carl
Schlichting successfully eliminated the need for an
intrusive base such as concrete.
A tie rod holding the two large branches together is
the only alteration. The countersunk nuts and washers
are hidden with plugs Carl carved out of weathered wood
and which were grain-matched and epoxied to the tree.
Framed by the historic landmark are James Engelbert,
Carl Schlichting, Tom Gargett and Ron Johnson.
October
From the SIG meeting minutes: The first ARG! meeting
as a Museums Alberta Special Interest Group took place
on October 24 in the lecture room of the Provincial
Museum of Alberta. A mix of formal and casual papers
were presented. Topics covered were Flood Recovery by
Shirley Ellis, Dismantling St. Onufrius Church for Relocation
to CMC by James Engelbert, Identification of Shagreen
by Margot Brunn. Gaby Kienitz showed slides from her
recent internship in Turkey and Cynthia Ball discussed
the technical details and financial advantage of building
your own suction table. Heather Dumka put in a plug
for CAPC accreditation and six people responded by planning
to apply for an interview. There is general support
for CAC-CAPC linkage.
62 people participated in ARG!'s special symposium
"Health and Safety Hazard Awareness for the Arts and
Museum Communities". Featuring Monona Rossol, M.S.,
M.F.A., Industrial Hygienist and President/founder of
Arts, Crafts and
Theater Safety, Inc. (ACTS), the two-day event was
an inspiring, high learning experience and a successful,
cross-disciplinary outreach for our group. The response
of participants to Monona's art of presenting factual
hazard information was overwhelmingly positive. Organized
by Margot Brunn, with assistance by James Engelbert,
Andrea Bowes, Cyndie Lack, Shirley Ellis, Audrey Yardley-Jones,
Carolynne Poon and Joanne White. Thanks to CAC and Museums
Alberta for financial support; Museums Alberta, SNAP
and Latitude 53 for mail-outs; reporter Jennifer Keen
for CBC Arts Report interview. Catering the event was
by Kids in The Hall Bistro, in support of their work
program for street kids. Illus.: Monona Rossol, left,
with Margot.
Welcome new ARG! members: Flora Davidson, Joanne White,
Jill Faulkner and Maya Schniering (member-at-large)
pictured below.
September
Gaby Kienitz has returned to Edmonton from a seven
month internship in the conservation lab operated by
the Institute of Nautical Archaeology in Bodrum, Turkey.
She assisted with the conservation of objects from the
Uluburun excavation, a 13th century BC shipwreck. Anyone
wanting to check out the excavation and the objects
should connect to INA's site at http://nautarch.tamu.edu/ina/.
If you want to read about the conservation of the objects
from the wreck, check http://www.diveturkey.com/inaturkey/uluburun/conservation.htm.
Preventive Conservation in Banff: Lots of questions
and good feedback for Andrea Bowes who taught the Museums
Alberta Citation I course on Preventive Conservation.
15 participants from all over Alberta learned about
agents of artifact deterioration, environmental control
of museum collections, and storage methods. All were
treated as well to a tour of the new, cream-of-the-crop
compact storage of the Whyte Museum of the Rockies objects
collection.
(left) Agent of deterioration: Colour fading
of original leather dye and wood stain due to excessive
light. (right) A case for environmental control:
Tarnish on the delicate, geometric silver inlay of a cast
iron teapot. Illus.: Provincial Museum of Alberta.
July
Calling in the Troops: On July 3, the Museums
Alberta Emergency Response Network was called into
action. Heavy rains in Edmonton had caused a sewage
back-up at the Loyal Edmonton Regiment Museum. Unfortunately,
most of the collection was stored in cardboard boxes
on the floor of the basement. At least 30 boxes were
drenched with water. Alerted by Audrey Yardley-Jones,
network members Shirley Ellis, Carolynne Poon and Margot
Brunn joined Audrey to supervise salvage procedures
with several reserve troops and volunteers of the museum.
The Automobile as Artifact: Jerzy Chlopicki presented
a paper at the "Interpreting the Automobile" conference
held at the Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village
near Detroit. The conference was sponsored by the Society
of Automobile Historians and the National Association
of Automobile Museums. Jerzy's paper, which he presented
in the Automobile as Artifact session, dealt with the
difficulties of preserving original materials through
conservation instead of the more common practice of
restoration.
June
Audrey Yardley-Jones received national recognition
for her initiative and hard work in establishing the
Museums Alberta Emergency Response Network.
May
Audrey Yardley-Jones and Margot Brunn were elected
to the CAC Board of Directors to serve as Executive
Councillor and Western Regional Councillor.
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