Contemporary Art Network

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We support the growing number of conservators challenged with the preservation of contemporary art. Contemporary art requires a number of unique material, social, technical, and legal considerations. We encourage recognition of contemporary art as a distinct practice within the profession that requires specific training, skills, and knowledge, and support and advocate for the most informed and appropriate care for contemporary art in the US and worldwide.

Formed in 2019, we now have over 400 members.

Our membership is open to any AIC member with an interest in the conservation of contemporary art.

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What We Do

Annual Meeting Programming

We plan contemporary art sessions at AIC's Annual Meeting. We typically collaborate with 2-4 other groups to create dynamic joint sessions while also planning dedicated tracks. The program is usually a full day or more of papers, panel discussions, joint sessions, and social events. We also work with allied organizations to bring a broader perspective on caring for contemporary, working with artists, and focusing on new techniques and materials.

Publication

We publish an annual online publication called the Contemporary Art Review , which focuses on the conservation and preservation of contemporary works of art and cultural heritage. It compiles full-length articles, extended abstracts, and abstracts of papers presented at the AIC Annual Meeting and independently submitted articles. We edit papers for clarity and content, and full-length articles may undergo a peer review process.

Online Events

We host a series of online discussions called CAN! Conversations , which tackles problems faced when conserving contemporary art. Past conversations have covered conservation within artists' estates, working with fabricators, and joint events with INCCA. We support international collaboration and have hosted events with simultaneous interpretation in Spanish.

Reading Group

We host an online reading group that meets in 1-hour sessions to discuss select recent contributions to contemporary art conservation theory and to critically assess these readings in a relaxed and informal manner. We intend this to be an open space where we can grapple with our perspectives on some of the more nuanced and complex aspects of the field and our practice. Check our online community for future reading group announcements.

Our Mission

Our goal is to create and nurture a network of professionals committed to the conservation of contemporary art. To reach that goal, we: 

  • Develop and promote programming for the annual meeting.
  • Host in-person and online networking and exchange opportunities.
  • Organize research projects, workshops, and publications.
  • Identify new tools required and support training and professional development opportunities.
  • Work with related groups worldwide to develop common standards, vocabularies, and competencies.
  • Encourage the development and expansion of training for contemporary art conservators in the US.
  • Promote standards and best practices both within and outside the conservation profession.

Read Postprint Articles

Our postprints are an annual publication that includes articles based on AIC Annual Meeting presentations.

Explore Articles

Online Community

Group Member Restricted

Our online community provides valuable forum where colleagues can share and exchange ideas and practical information, facilitate open discussion, disseminate group-related news, questions, job postings, announcements, comments of interest, and general information.

  • We are looking for a conservator familiar with the works of artist Dorthy Hood, to consult and possibly treat a painting by Dorthy Hood from our collection of her works. The collection has a few of her works and one of her later red paintings in particular ...

  • Workshop on Conserving Painted Outdoor Sculpture The Getty Conservation Institute, in partnership with the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV), invites applications for our five-day, in-person workshop in Melbourne, Australia, April 27-May 1, 2026. ...

  • Hi Jen! Thanks so much for responding to the threat, I really appreciate it. First of all, the idea of cross-posting is great, but I do not have access to the paintings chat. I have tried the following solvents: Naphtha VMP Gamsol Cyclomethicone ...

Officers

Basia Nosek

Chair (2025-2027)

TBD

Elena Bowen

Vice Chair (2025-2026)

Associate Conservator and Professional Member of AIC, Elena holds a 2020 M.A. in the Conservation of Archaeological and Ethnographic Materials from the UCLA/Getty Conservation Program. She received her bachelor’s degree in Studio Art from Wellesley College. At RLA, Elena manages public sculpture collections at several prominent universities in south Florida and serves as lead conservator managing the museum quality collections for a number of private clients. This has included the treatment of works by Fernando Botero, Fernand Leger, Robert Indiana, Yayoi Kusama, Beverly Pepper, Antony Gormley, Ugo Rondinone, Harry Bertoia, Damian Hirst, Donald Judd, and Duane Hanson. She has also worked on a number of National Parks projects in the southeast and Caribbean including collections surveys as well as treatments. In collaboration with Rosa Lowinger and Christina Varvi, she has conducted several Collections Assessment for Preservation (CAP) surveys for the American Institute of Conservation. Prior to joining RLA in 2021, she completed pre-program internships at Vizcaya Museum and Gardens, Caryatid Conservation, and the Penn Museum. She completed graduate internships at the Fowler Museum at UCLA, the Hirschhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, and the Carlos Museum at Emory University. She has also worked on archaeological sites in Peru and Greece and has experience working with Native and local communities as well as with artist foundations. She is a certified operator of aerial and scissor lifts and OSHA 30-hr certified for the construction industry. 

Megan Randall

Program Chair (2025-2027)

Megan Randall is an Objects Conservator at the Midwest Art Conservation Center (MACC) in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Prior to MACC, Randall was an Associate Objects Conservator at the Museum of Modern Art. She earned her graduate degree at the Conservation Center, Institute of Fine Arts, NYU, and completed internships at the Chinati Foundation in Marfa, Texas and the American Museum of Natural History. Prior to entering the field of conservation she worked as a finisher at Modern Art Foundry in Astoria, Queens. She received a master’s degree from Christie's Education in 2008 and a bachelor’s degree from Carleton College. 

Leah Balagopal

Assistant Program Chair (2025-2027)

TBD

Olivia J. Schoenfeld

Secretary/Treasurer (2025-2027)

Olivia Schoenfeld is a conservator of contemporary art with a focus on time-based media. She currently serves as Secretary and Treasurer for the Contemporary Art Network of the American Institute for Conservation. In 2025, Olivia completed the post-master's Advanced Professional Program at the University of Amsterdam, following her 2023 Master’s degree in Conservation and Restoration of Cultural Heritage, specializing in contemporary art. Her more recent research explored the intricacies of disk imaging computer-based artworks, and her Master’s thesis addressed the vulnerabilities and prospects of blockchain-based artworks through a case study risk assessment. Olivia has held postgraduate trainee positions at the Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands (Amersfoort), LI-MA (Amsterdam), and Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art (Brisbane). She holds a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry and a Bachelor of Arts in Art History from the State University of New York at Geneseo, awarded in May 2021. 

Adrian Hernandez

Postprints Editor (2025-2028)

bio forthcoming

Austin Anderson

Postprints Editor (2025-2027)

Austin Anderson is an objects conservator. He is a 2020 graduate of the UCLA/Getty Masters Program in the Conservation of Archaeological and Ethnographic Materials. He was previously Assistant Conservator at Glenstone Museum in Potomac, Maryland, and has held internships at The Walters Art Museum in Baltimore, Maryland, Watts Towers in Los Angeles, California, The Africa Museum in Tervuren, Belgium, The Yosemite Museum in Yosemite National Park, California, and Texas A&M’s Conservation Research Lab in College Station, Texas. 

Jessica Walthew

Postprint Editor

Jessica Walthew (she/her) is a conservator at the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum working with the Product Design and Decorative Arts and Digital departments. Her research and teaching interests include theory and history of conservation, plastics, sustainability, and digital media. She is a graduate of the Conservation Center, Institute of Fine Arts, NYU. She has worked on archaeological projects in Turkey, Italy, and Peru, and held post-graduate fellowships at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Bard Graduate Center/American Museum of Natural History. 

Alessandra Guarascio

Communications Officer (2025-2027)

Alessandra Guarascio is the Installation Art Conservator at M+ since 2018, where she is responsible for the documentation, preservation, and presentation of the installation art collection. Prior to her current appointment, she spent six years working on all phases of conservation and collections care at ArtScience Museum and National Gallery in Singapore. Alessandra also collaborated with Museo del Novecento, Hangar Bicocca, and the Italian Design Museum in Milan from 2009 to 2012. She obtained her master's degree in Conservation of Contemporary Art from Brera Academy of Fine Art in Milan. Her interests lie in conservation theory, museum practice, oral history, and artist interviews, with a special focus on installation art and conceptual art. Alessandra is also the Coordinator for the INCCA-AP Group (International Network for the Conservation of Contemporary Art – Asia Pacific). Alessandra is focused on developing her know-how through professional courses and workshops, keeping abreast of innovation in the field of Time-Based and Variable Media Art Conservation. 

Caroline Longo

Emerging Conservation Professional Liaison (2025-2027)

bio forthcoming

Daisy Diamond

Emerging Conservation Professional Liaison (2026-2027)

bio forthcoming

Samantha Springer

Board Liaison.(2021-2026)

Samantha Springer is a conservator of sculpture and three-dimensional objects with a particular interest in working with living artists of contemporary art that are typically marginalized and underrepresented in Western institutional collections. As owner and principal conservator of Art Solutions Lab based in the Portland, Oregon area, Springer works toward providing ethical and practical solutions to collection stewards who seek the guidance of a conservation practitioner. Art Solutions Lab offers professional and high-quality consultations, loan & pre-accession evaluations, broad collection assessments, grant writing assistance, courier services, learning & lecture opportunities, expert evaluations for insurance claims, as well as preventive and hands-on treatment services for sculpture, decorative art objects, utilitarian artifacts, some textiles, installation art, and modern and contemporary materials. Prior to starting Art Solutions Lab, Springer worked as Conservator at the Portland Art Museum, where she was responsible for the preservation and direct treatment of the broad Fine Arts collection, establishing and maintaining a lab at the museum proper, and integrating conservation theory into everyday museum practices. This followed her work as Associate Conservator of Objects at the Cleveland Museum of Art. Springer graduated from the Winterthur/University of Delaware Program in Art Conservation in 2008 and held internships at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian, Art Institute of Chicago, the Field Museum, and Alaska State Museums. Her research and publications include preventive topics, the treatment of contemporary art, and collaborations with native basket weavers. 

Ryan Winfield

Staff Liaison

After graduating from Mary Washington College with a BA in art history and historic preservation, Ryan moved to DC, where he got his first job working for a small association management firm. After that he worked at a national arts advocacy organization before coming to AIC as a Membership Assistant. He is currently the Membership Manager. Ryan likes living in DC where he enjoys learning about its history, its local politics, and its public transportation system. In his spare time, he likes to cook, travel, and finish the many DIY projects he has going on in his apartment.

Volunteer with Us

Help create resources, plan events, and build connections among members. There are many ways to get involved—organize annual meeting sessions, develop webinars, or support networking and skill-building efforts. All of our group’s great work is powered by volunteers. Connect, contribute, and make a difference!

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