Conservators in Private Practice

After earning an MA in Art History and Curatorial Studies at Brigham Young University, Jennifer moved to Newcastle upon Tyne, in Northern England to pursue a Master’s degree in the Conservation of Fine Art with a specialism in Easel Paintings. She defended her dissertation and graduated in 2008. Her work experience includes internships at various institutions, including the Victoria and Albert Museum and Tate Britain, Tate Modern and Tate Stores as well as private conservation work throughout England and the Western States. In 2013 Jennifer left the West Coast and made Columbia, South Carolina her home where, for 10 years, she led a team of conservation professionals at a large private conservation lab. In January of 2023 Jennifer established The Conservation Labs with her partner who is a Book and Paper Conservator. The Conservation Labs serves museums, institutions and private collectors throughout the Southeastern United States. Jennifer loves every aspect of the science, craft and process of the conservation of fine art and has treated a variety of objects from Renaissance panel paintings to 18th century English pastoral paintings on canvas to modern and contemporary works. Jennifer has contributed to the AIC community by serving as South Carolina's Emerging Conservation Professionals Network's Regional Liaison, as a member of The Education and Training Committee (and as the ETC Secretary) and in multiple roles within the Conservators in Private Practice specialty group. She is currently the 2024-2026 CiPP Chair. 

Johanna Pinney owns and operates Pinney Art Conservation LLC which she established in 2024. After graduating from the Winterthur/University of Delaware Program in Art Conservation, Johanna returned to her home state of Vermont and opened Pinney Art Conservation with the intention to provide high quality conservation services to the New England area. 

Eric Thomas owns and operates Bronze Conservation Services, which specializes in the conservation of outdoor sculpture, especially bronze sculpture. Eric previously worked for Heritage Auctions for over seven years and helped to launch Muzeion Gallery in 2012 prior to founding Bronze Conservation Services in 2013. Eric apprenticed under AIC Master Conservator Jon Minyard, MFA beginning in 2011. Bronze Conservation Services has completed numerous conservations of bronze, mosaic and steel works for municipalities, hospitals, businesses and private clients.

Emily holds an Honours Bachelor of Arts in Visual Arts and Museology from Western University (London, ON, Canada), and a Master of Art Conservation from Queen’s University (Kingston, ON, Canada). She also trained in Florence Italy, treating traditional European paintings and frescos, obtaining a Post-Baccalaureate Certificate in Art Conservation at Studio Art Centers International (SACI). Emily has interned in the Toronto conservation labs of the Royal Ontario Museum and the Art Gallery of Ontario. Though experienced in both historic and modern paintings, as well as some experience working with objects, her area of specialization is modern and contemporary materials, paintings, and artworks. She has extensive experience conserving Modern and Contemporary paintings by notable Canadian and French Canadian artists from the Group of Seven, Les Automatistes, and Painters Eleven, such as Jean-Paul Riopelle, Paul-Émile Borduas, and Jack Hamilton Bush. She was a full-time Paintings Conservator at Fraser Spafford Ricci Art & Archival Conservation Inc. (South Surrey, BC, Canada) from 2010-2024. During her time at FSR Conservation, she has also trained several pre-program and conservation graduate interns. She joined the National Gallery of Canada in 2025 as Assistant Conservator of Contemporary Art, to expand her knowledge and experience in the conservation of contemporary art and working within the public museum environment, learning from an incredible team of conservators.