Photographic Material Group Winter Meeting

Image by Dustin McGrew, Courtesy of Visit Pittsburgh

Image by Dustin McGrew, Courtesy of Visit Pittsburgh

About the Meeting

Since 1981, our Photographic Materials Group has hosted a winter meeting every other year. Papers from this meeting and AIC annual meeting end up in Topics in Photographic Preservation.

We will hold the next meeting February 3-5, 2027 at Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Registration Rates

All prices are in USD. AIC Photographic Materials Group members qualify for group member rates. Not a member? Join today! 

 

   Preview  (ends Nov. 1)

 Early
(ends Dec. 31) 		  Regular
(ends Jan. 25)		  Late & Onsite
(Jan. 26 and after)
Group Member $241 $272 $293 $314
Non-member $314 $314 $325 $356
Post-Graduate Member $220 $241 $251 $262
Student Member $209 $220 $230 $241
Speaker $241 $251 $262 $283
Registrants should register at the lowest rate for which they qualify (ie, student speakers should select the student rate).

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Exhibit, Sponsor, & Advertise

This meeting attracts about 80-100 attendees who have expertise in photograph and paper conservation. If you think your company's products or services may interest them, email meetings@culturalheritage.org.

Quick Links

Hotel Room Block

Deadline to Book: January 6, 2027

We have reserved a limited number of rooms at The Oaklander Hotel, which is .5 miles from the Carnegie Museum of Art. 

  • Nightly rate: $239 
  • Booking with a company credit card? You must have the card with you onsite or request and submit a preauthorization form from the hotel to keep the charge on the card you book with.
  • $100 early departure fee will be charged for checking out prior to your schedule departure date

Book Your Room

Workshops

Using the Target - UV for UV Visible Fluorescence Documentation

This workshop will introduce attendees to the principles and use of the Target-UV system for standardizing UV/visible documentation. Through concise lectures, demonstrations, and hands-on practice, participants will be introduced to the Target-UV imaging workflow, including white balance, intensity, image capture, and post-processing. Alternative approaches, radiation sources, filtration, and other variables specific to UV/visible documentation will be covered.

The workshop will take place at Carnegie Museum of Art, using space and equipment provided by the museum. Because of the condensed schedule, hands-on time will be limited, and participants should expect to leave with a working foundation to build on rather than extensive practice. Participants are encouraged (but not required) to bring flat, two-dimensional study collection pieces suitable for photographing on a copystand.

Date/Time: February 3, 10 am - 4 pm 

Additional Cost: $150

Instructor: Jennifer McGlinchey Sexton

Capacity: 12 participants

Jennifer McGlinchey Sexton is a conservator in private practice in Colorado. She specializes in photographs, works on paper and conservation imaging. She serves museums, institutions, and private individuals in the West and throughout the United States. A member of Mountain States Art Conservation, she works in collaboration with conservators of varied specialties whenever possible. Trained as a fine-art photographer, Jennifer became interested in conservation through exploration of historic photographic processes. Her graduate training at Buffalo State College allowed her to explore additional aspects of photography as a medium and a tool for conservation. She gained experience as a conservator and photographer in positions at MFA, Houston, Williamstown Art Conservation Center, the J. Paul Getty Museum, the Detroit Institute of Arts, the Buffalo Bill Center of the West, the Menil Collection, and Paul Messier LLC. For the 2019-2020 academic year, she was a full-time lecturer for “Technical Examination and Documentation” at the Garman Art Conservation Department, Buffalo State College.

Tabletop Exercise in Emergency Preparedness and Response for Photographs

 

This workshop is designed as a tabletop drill and a low-pressure, collaborative session that provides an informal space to analyze emergency scenarios without real-time stress, physical equipment, or the use of resources.

The workshop will be divided into two parts, starting with a review of photography collection emergency case studies, followed by a guided, role-based tabletop exercise. By walking through hypothetical scenarios, participants will engage in constructive group dialogue to identify vulnerabilities, examine problem areas, and refine existing response procedures.

Date/Time: February 3, 1-5 pm 

Additional Cost: $75

Instructor: Andrew Robb

Capacity: 18 participants

Andrew Robb is Head of Photograph Conservation at the Conservation Division, Library of Congress. He also serves as the Coordinator of the Library’s Preservation Emergency Response Team and is the liaison from the Library to the Natural and Cultural Resources Support Group of the Federal National Disaster Response Framework. He is an active member of the National Heritage Responders and the Heritage Emergency National Task Force. He has served as a Board Member of the DC Alliance for Response and the Washington Conservation Guild. He is a Fellow of the American Institute for Conservation and is a past Program Chair and Chair of the Photographic Materials Group and Chair of the Emergency Committee of the AIC. Andrew has been a conservator and consultant for a variety of institutions, including the National Gallery of Art, the Smithsonian Institution, the Getty Conservation Institute, the National Park Service, Harvard University Libraries, the University of Hawaii, and the National Diet Library, Japan, and has published and presented on a wide variety of topics related to photograph conservation and collection emergency management. He majored in photograph conservation from the Winterthur / University of Delaware Art Conservation Program and received a B.A. with honors in the History of Art from the University of Pennsylvania.

Tours

Nationality Rooms at the University of Pittsburgh Cathedral of Learning

The Nationality Rooms were designed to represent and celebrate the cultures of various ethnic groups that settled in Allegheny County. The thirty-one Nationality Rooms located on the first and third floors of the Cathedral of Learning are a community space where visitors are invited to experience the rich heritage of the communities who inspired and supported their creation.

The University of Pittsburgh's renowned Nationality Rooms are gifts from the ethnic communities who helped to build Pittsburgh. 31 rooms commemorate the cultural heritages of the communities who supported and planned their construction.

The idea of the Nationality Rooms originated in 1926 when the ground was broken for the construction of the 42-story gothic-style Cathedral of Learning. The first 19 rooms encircling the first floor Commons Room were completed between 1938 and 1957. The other twelve rooms, some of which are located on the third floor of the Cathedral of Learning, have been built since 1987.

An important principle in the plan for each room is that the design pre-date the signing of the American Constitution and the founding of the University of Pittsburgh in 1787. The Nationality Rooms are intended to promote the depiction of deeply-rooted and lasting elements, so political and religious symbols do not appear in the rooms nor do portraits of or reference to any living person. The rooms and the elements within were created based on designs by international architects, designers, artists and craftspeople. The designs of the Nationality Rooms are functional, educational and aesthetically pleasing. The rooms are in use most every weekday as classrooms. The Nationality Rooms provide inspiration to the students, faculty, staff and guests who visit them.

 

Date/Time: February 3, 4-5:30 pm

Location: University of Pittsburgh Cathedral of Learning (1209 Cathedral of Learning, Pittsburgh, PA 15260), transportation to and from site is on your own. It is approximately 0.3 miles from the Carnegie Museum of Art and one block from The Oaklander Hotel.

Additional Cost: $10

Capacity: unlimited


Silver Eye Center for Photography

Meet Leo Hsu, the center's Executive Director, for an engaging conversation about Silver Eye’s archival digital printing services, which supports photographic artists in their creative practices, as well as their community education programs. 

The Lab @ Silver Eye includes a recently expanded Digital Lab and a new Education Center and Library. This Creativity and Education Hub is intended to be a place for photographers, artists, researchers, and art lovers to create, learn, and connect–a living room, classroom, and workspace for photographers. The Digital Lab at The Lab @ Silver Eye is where they print museum-quality exhibitions shown at Silver Eye’s Aaronel and Irving deRoy Gruber Gallery. The Lab is available to experienced lab members to join as members for their own production needs. The Lab is also available to provide service work to organizations and individuals. Silver Eye’s clients include the Carnegie Museum of Art, Hillman Library at the University of Pittsburgh, and the Mattress Factory.

Date/Time: February 3, 4-5:30 pm

Location: Silver Eye Center for Photography (4808 Penn Ave, Pittsburgh, PA 15224), transportation to and from site is on your own. It is approximately 2 miles from the Carnegie Museum of Art.

Additional Cost: $10

Capacity: 15 participants

Maxo Vanka Church Murals

Immerse yourself in the awe-inspiring murals of Croatian artist Maxo Vanka on a guided tour at the historic St. Nicholas Croatian Catholic Church in Millvale. Discover how these striking works were painted by Vanka in 1937 and 1941 to reflect the culture and lives of the working-class immigrant congregation.

It's the largest and longest conservation project in the city, in addition to being both beautiful and a really unique artwork about immigration history in Pittsburgh and the greater region. 

Founded in 1900 by Croatian immigrants, historic St. Nicholas Catholic Church was the first Croatian church purposefully built in the United States. It was the Croatian immigrant parish that inspired the Vanka Murals, leaving a lasting legacy within the walls of the church. Today, St. Nicholas remains an active, inclusive parish.

Date/Time: February 4, 5:30-7:30 pm

Location: St. Nicholas Catholic Church (24 Maryland Ave, Pittsburgh, PA 15209), transportation to and from site is on your own. It is approximately 3.5 miles from the Carnegie Museum of Art.

Additional Cost: $20

Capacity: 50 participants

Past Meetings

  • 2025 Santa Fe, NM
  • 2023 Austin, TX
  • 2019 New York, NY*
  • 2017 Kansas City, MO
  • 2015 Cambridge, MA
  • 2013 Wellington, New Zealand*
  • 2011 Ottawa, ON
  • 2009 Tucson, AZ
  • 2007 Rochester, NY*
  • 2005 Vancouver, BC
  • 2003 San Juan, PR
  • 2001 Houston, TX
  • 1999 Boston, MA
  • 1997 San Francisco, CA
  • 1995 Washington, DC
  • 1993 Austin, TX
  • 1991 Ottawa, ON
  • 1989 Kansas City, MO
  • 1987 New Orleans, LA
  • 1986 Charleston, SC
  • 1985 Philadelphia, PA
  • 1984 Louisville, KY
  • 1983 Chicago, IL
  • 1982 Rochester, NY
  • 1981 Austin, TX

*joint meeting with ICOM-CC's Photographic Materials Working Group

2025 Meeting Recordings

Available On-Demand

Cost: $79

($59 for group members; $29 for student members)

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