Objects Specialty Group

Caroline Roberts is an archaeological conservator and a graduate of the Winterthur / University of Delaware Program in Art Conservation. Carrie’s professional background includes internships at the Phoebe Hearst Museum of Anthropology, English Heritage, and the Worcester Art Museum, as well as post-graduate fellowships at the Kelsey Museum of Archaeology at the University of Michigan, the J. Paul Getty Museum, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Carrie joined the Kelsey Museum as a Conservator in 2014. Her interests include the conservation of stone artifacts and architecture in museum and field settings, the characterization of ancient polychromy, and preventive conservation. Carrie’s conservation fieldwork experience includes seasons at Kaman-Kalehöyük in Turkey, Selinunte in Sicily, El-Kurru in Sudan, and Abydos in Egypt. She is a professional member of the American Institute for Conservation and is currently serving as Chair for the Objects Specialty Group of AIC.

Sarah is the Assistant Conservator at Monumenta Art Conservation and Finishing. She earned an M.S. in the conservation of historic and artistic works and an M.A. in art history from the Conservation Center at the Institute of Fine Arts (New York University). Sarah held a project contract with Smithsonian American Art Museum (SAAM) to design and implement a synthetic plastics identification and condition survey after completing her fourth year graduate internship in SAAM’s objects conservation lab. She also has notable archaeological fieldwork experience (the Mugello Valley Archaeological Project, the North Abydos Expedition, the Palace of Nestor Excavations) and is a supervising conservator at the Archaeological Exploration of Sardis (Sart, Manisa, Turkey). In addition to her current role at Monumenta, Sarah is developing a long-term research project in conjunction with Carol Bove’s artist studio, seeking to document the condition of outdoor metal sculpture surfaces in real time at their installation site and to use that documentation to determine future care and maintenance protocols. Her broad range of experience with objects, from antiquities to modern and contemporary sculpture, results from her interest in large-scale conservation work and the highly collaborative, interdisciplinary, and creative working environments required for its success.

Ellen Promise received her M.S. in art conservation with a specialty in objects from the Winterthur/University of Delaware Program in Art Conservation in 2012. She currently works as the Associate Objects Conservator at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. Ellen has previously worked at a number of other institutions including: the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Staffordshire Hoard Project at Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery in England, the Queen Anne’s Revenge Conservation Lab, Harvard’s Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, and Historic New England. She has served on the board for the New England Conservation Association since 2019.

Katharine Shulman is an Assistant Objects Conservator at the Art Institute of Chicago. She learned about conservation in a high school art history class and from that point forward there was no looking back! Katharine earned her BA in Art Conservation from Scripps College, and her MS in Objects Conservation from the Winterthur/University of Delaware Program in Art Conservation. She was drawn to objects conservation because of the diversity of materials, and in turn, the challenges that the specialty inherently encompasses. While excited by both organic and inorganic materials, Katharine is especially passionate about ceramics and glass and has a strong interest in decorative arts. Katharine has held positions with several private practice conservators in San Francisco and Los Angeles, as well as at the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, Winterthur Museum, Gardens and Library, the Barnes Foundation, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Walters Art Museum, and most recently the J. Paul Getty Museum.

Bridging the worlds of objects and textile conservation, Baas previously has worked in conservation labs at the New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs, the Barnes Foundation, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology and Historic New England. She is a graduate of the SUNY Buffalo’s Masters Program in Art Conservation, where she specialized in objects conservation. Before pursuing conservation, Baas obtained her first masters in Museum Science from Texas Tech University, and worked in a variety of collection management and exhibition department positions in museums across the country, including the Art Institute of Chicago and the Amon Carter Museum of American Art.