Microfading Tester International Discussion Group

Who We Are

We aim to advance MFT practice and support the global network of MFT users. The MFT is a technique that determines the in situ light sensitivity of colors on an object, and this predictive information provides valuable context for exhibition and lighting policy development. We also encourage discussion about lighting policy, guidance on material light sensitivity, and how these are informed by long-term and accelerated ageing studies. Our audience includes prospective, emerging, and expert MFT users, as well as allied colleagues interested in how MFT data can impact collection care.

Join the MFT-IDG

What We Do

Community

We maintain an online community that encourages learning about MFT practice, its impact on collection care, and opportunities for collaboration. The online community includes a discussion board (“threads”) that facilitates the transparent sharing of knowledge and a library which includes key MFT resources.

Events

We organize online and in-person events for professional and cross-disciplinary exchange, including webinars and workshops. Prior examples include the workshop “Microfade Testing: Fundamentals and Practice” held at the 2019 AIC meeting in Connecticut and the 2019 WAAC meeting in Los Angeles. Announcements for these events will be shared in our online  community and across a range of conservation forums.

Annual Meeting

We develop programming and networking opportunities for the AIC Annual Meeting. At the 2025 meeting in Minneapolis, we co-organized “Lighting the Way” sessions with the Research and Technical Studies (RATS) group and the Preventive Care Network (PCN) focused on museum illumination policies and MFT. For the 2026 meeting in Montreal, we organized the session “Shifting Perspectives on Damage, Change, and Value” again with PCN. We also host member meetups at each meeting to share our experiences of MFT practice and lighting policy development.

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Wiki

We have updated the AIC Wiki page for MFT to include sections on samples and methods, data collection and analysis, and considerations and limitations. This wiki page remains a work in progress, and we welcome suggestions on missing information and case studies, as well as colleagues to help us write the content. Updates will take place on at least an annual basis, coinciding with the January AIC Wiki-a-thon.

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Join the MFT-IDG Community

Join our community and learn more about MFT.

Recent MFT-IDG Discussions

  • RE: Setting the current for the 3000K LED using the ...

    7 days ago

    Hello Noni, I routinely use a current of 900 mA (automated MFT form Iinstytut ...

  • RE: Setting the current for the 3000K LED using the ...

    9 days ago

    Dear Noni, I think it's OK to use a higher current of 900 or 950 mA to elevate ...

  • Setting the current for the 3000K LED using the Instytut ...

    13 days ago

    Hello MFT community, I am wanting to shorten the test duration for a sample by ...

  • RE: Whitmore MFT UV/IR filters

    28 days ago

    Hello Jenny, We are using the Newport FSQ-GG400 filter which blocks below 400nm ...

  • RE: Ageing of unfixed silver gelatin photographs

    one month ago

    Dear Vincent and Katie, Thank you for your response. I will forward your advice ...

About the Group

History

The MFT was introduced in the mid-1990s by conservation scientist Paul Whitmore (Whitmore, Pan, and Bailie, JAIC 1999). While the MFT has become an important preventive conservation tool, it is the rare example of a technique emerging from within the conservation field. As such, instrumental support and training typically provided by a commercial company has been sparse, and discussion of how MFT data informs lighting policy has been confined to a relatively small group of practitioners. Further, a self-supporting MFT user community remained underdeveloped, limiting the growth of regional networks and communication with colleagues. Sparked by a discussion between former Preventive Care Network (PCN) Chair Kelly McCauley and GCI Scientist Vincent Laudato Beltran, an organizing committee was convened in June 2023 to discuss the idea of an AIC group centered on MFT. In January 2024, AIC approved the creation of the Microfading Tester International Discussion Group (MFT-IDG) sponsored by PCN. The inaugural group of MFT-IDG officers was chosen by May 2024 and the planning process began. The MFT-IDG online community was officially launched in January 2025.

Goals

The MFT-IDG seeks to bring together the global network of MFT users to advance MFT practice, as well as allied colleagues – including conservators, collection care managers, curators, registrars, and conservation scientists – interested in learning how MFT can support exhibition and lighting policy development.

The charge for the MFT-IDG is to:

  • Establish and foster an international network of heritage and allied professionals interested in advancing MFT practice
  • Create and maintain a universally accessible platform that encourages a) learning about MFT practice and the application of MFT data, b) discussion of issues with MFT practice and lighting policy development, and c) opportunities for collaboration
  • Develop and support a repository of didactic information – including AIC Wiki – on MFT practice and lighting policy development
  • Provide opportunities – virtual and in-person – for professional and cross-disciplinary exchange

Officers

Vincent Beltran

Chair (2024-2026)

Vincent Laudato Beltran is a scientist at the Getty Conservation Institute, active in the Preventive Conservation Research group and Managing Collection Environments (MCE) Initiative. His research and teaching efforts include advancement of microfading tester practice, evaluations of packing case performance during transport, and environmental management in hot and humid climates. He is co-author of the GCI publications "Microfading Tester: Light Sensitivity Assessments and Role in Lighting Policy" and "Managing Collection Environments: Technical Notes and Guidance." Vincent holds a BS in general chemistry from the University of California, Los Angeles, and an MS in geochemical oceanography from the University of Hawai'i at Manoa.

JP Brown

Vice Chair (2024-2026)

JP Brown holds degrees in Archaeological Conservation from University College Cardiff, and Computer Science from University of Chicago. He taught practical and preventive conservation at UCC until 1993 when he moved to the US. For ten years he worked with WB Rose & Associates on designing and building monitoring systems for historic structures including Independence Hall and Mount Vernon; he began working at the Field Museum in 2002. JP's research interests encompass object conservation methods, computer-based object documentation, preventive conservation, imaging, and the non-destructive and minimally destructive analysis of archaeological and ethnographic structures and materials. His joint work with Field Museum Anthropology curators Gary Feinman and Ryan Williams on the origins of the Maya Blue pigment was listed by Archaeology Magazine in the top ten archaeological discoveries of 2008. In 2006 he got a chance to use CT scanning on museum artifacts and has been scanning specimens ever since.

Cindy Connelly Ryan

Program Chair (2024-2026)

Cindy Connelly Ryan is a cultural heritage science specialist at the Library of Congress, with a background in physics (Carnegie-Mellon University), art history and art conservation (New York University). She held a Forbes Fellowship at the Freer/Sackler Galleries of the Smithsonian Institution before joining LC-PRTD. Her research at LC has included development of acellerated aging and analytical methods, assessment of book and paper conservation materials and methods, particularly stabilization treatments for iron gall ink and verdigris, and the alteration chemistry of verdigris in aqueous media. Current work centers on MFT method development, reconstruction of historic inks, paints, and dyes, non-invasive identification of organic colorants, and technical studies of collection items.

Rio Lopez

Secretary (2024-2026)

Rio graduated from the University of California, Berkeley with a BA in the History of Art where she was a curatorial assistant at the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology during her undergraduate studies. She also completed pre-program internships at Fine Arts Conservation LLC in Los Angeles, Textile Arts Conservation Studio in Long Beach, and the University of Southern California’s Pacific Asia Museum in Pasadena. In addition, Rio was a conservation technician at The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Margaret Herrick Library in Beverly Hills.

Advisory Group

Grylle Carstensen

Member

Grylle Carstensen is a conservator at the Museum Odense.

Abed Haddad

Member

Abed Haddad is Assistant Conservation Scientist at The Museum of Modern Art, New York. He holds a doctoral degree in Chemistry from the Graduate Center at the City University of New York. He has a B.S. in chemistry and minor in art history from Millsaps College in Jackson, MS. He works primarily with Raman spectroscopy and Surface Enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) for cultural heritage science and forensic analysis. He was a NU-ACESS Fellow at the Rijksmuseum and University of Amsterdam (UvA) in Summer 2016. He was the David Booth Fellow in Conservation Science (2019-2022) at MoMA.

Ian Langston

Member

Ian Langston is Conservator of Exhibitions at the Auckland War Memorial Museum.

Christel C. Pesme

Member

Christel Pesme is a collection care professional who currently holds the position of head of the conservation and collection care unit at the Library of Geneva, Switzerland. Previously, she worked in Singapore as the Chief Conservator/Deputy Director-Conservation Services of the Heritage Conservation Center in Singapore. From 2017 to 2020, she worked as the Senior Conservator at M+, Museum of Visual Culture in Hong Kong, where she led the efforts to develop the conservation and preservation team, labs and activities to prepare the institution ' s opening while guiding its expected continuous growth. After graduating from University Paris 1- Sorbonne in 2006, she worked a couple of years at Balboa Art Conservation Center in San Diego as a Paper Conservator before joining the Getty Conservation Institute, Los Angeles. Working in the Preventive Conservation Research Group of the GCI science department, she specialized in museum lighting policy development and microfadometry and was in charge in carrying out light sensitivity assessment for the Getty Research Institute, and the J. Paul Getty Museum. In 2012, she moved back to Europe working in private practice in Basel (Switzerland) as a paper conservator, microfadotesting service provider and preventive conservation consultant. She has also developed and extensively instructed workshops for conservators interested in using MFT in order to implement lighting policy for sensitive collection item. She is now focusing on developing and implementing more sustainable collection car practices.

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!

Volunteer