Objects Conservation Team

Lisa Pilosi is responsible for the academic and administrative supervision of the Department of Objects Conservation and is the department’s primary liaison with other Museum operations. Prior to assuming this role in July 2014, Lisa was principal conservator for three-dimensional glass objects in the Museum’s collection for 26 years. She served as chair of the ICOM Committee for Conservation (2011–14) and currently serves on the ICOM Disaster Risk Management Committee. Lisa earned a bachelor’s degree in art history and chemistry from the University of Pennsylvania and a master’s degree and certificate in conservation from the Institute of Fine Arts at New York University.

Dorothy Abramitis is principally responsible for the Greek and Roman collection. Her responsibilities include the technical examination and treatment of objects in all media. She was the supervising conservator for the 15-year reinstallation of the Greek and Roman galleries, which was completed in 2007. Dorothy has been involved in significant research on stone sculpture and polychromy in antiquity. She has participated in international organizations and symposia focused on these subjects, including the Polychrome RoundTable and ASMOSIA. She received a certificate in conservation with an MA in art history from New York University and an MFA in sculpture from Rutgers University.

Katerina Acuna joined the conservation team for the renovation of the Modern and Contemporary Art galleries in 2023. She started at The Met in 2020, working first as a graduate intern and then as Assistant Conservator in the Department of Musical Instruments. Katerina received a BA in art history from Binghamton University and an MS in art conservation from the Winterthur/University of Delaware Program in Art Conservation. She completed internships at the Brooklyn Museum, Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum, the Arizona State Museum, and the Frick Collection. She has also participated in archaeological fieldwork in France and New Mexico. Katerina has sought broad training throughout her career and has worked with materials ranging from ancient artifacts to contemporary sculpture.

Drew Anderson is responsible for the Museum’s stained glass collection. He received an MA in stained glass conservation from the Victoria and Albert Museum/Royal College of Art and served as senior conservator in the Stained Glass Conservation Section of the Victoria and Albert Museum from 1999 to 2004. Drew previously held a position as production manager at Goddard and Gibbs Stained Glass Studios, Ltd. in London, and has served as a stained glass committee member of the Council for the Care of Churches and chairman of the ICON Stained Glass Section in the United Kingdom. He is currently chair of the conservation technical committee of the American Corpus Vitrearum.

Cassia Balogh joined the Met in 2026 as part of the team treating the Buddha of Medicine Bhaishajyaguru mural. She completed her undergraduate studies in conservation at Marist College/Scuola Lorenzo de’ Medici and received her MS from the Winterthur/University of Delaware Program in Art Conservation. Cassia has worked at many institutions including the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Barnes Foundation, Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, and the Penn Museum.

Mechthild Baumeister has worked at The Met since 1988. Primarily responsible for the examination and treatment of furniture, wooden objects, and historic interiors in the Department of European Sculpture and Decorative Arts, she recently supervised the conservation and reinstallation of the historic interiors, furniture and wooden artifacts in the new British galleries. She also oversaw the conservation of wooden objects, including architectural structures, on display in the Islamic Art Galleries and has worked on Asian furniture. Her education includes an apprenticeship in cabinetmaking and training in furniture and polychrome wood conservation at the Westfälisches Landesmuseum für Kunst und Kultur in Münster, the Klosterkammer Hannover, and the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.

Warren Bennett joined the Department of Objects Conservation in 2010. He came to The Met on a contract with the Department of Islamic Art in 2006, during the renovation of the New Galleries for the Art of the Arab Lands, Turkey, Iran, Central Asia, and Later South Asia. Prior to that, Bennett worked as a model maker and scenic painter for television, animated films, and commercials, and, most recently, at the American Museum of Natural History as an assistant preparator.

Olav Bjornerud became a permanent member of the Department in 2026, responsible for the conservation of painted and gilded wooden objects from departments including the American Wing, European Sculpture and Decorative Arts, and Medieval Art. Olav began his career at The Met as a graduate intern and in 2023, joined the team of conservators assessing and treating objects in preparation for the renovation of the Modern and Contemporary Art galleries. He has completed internships at the Yale University Art Gallery, the Midwest Art Conservation Center, and the Technical Museum of East. Olav received an MS in art conservation from the Winterthur/University of Delaware Program in Art Conservation in 2023. He has a BA in history and studio art from Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin.

Linda Borsch is responsible for the technical examination and treatment of medieval metalwork, European bronzes, and American metal and stone sculpture. Linda holds a master’s degree in art conservation from Queen’s University, Canada, and completed internships in medieval art at The Met, in the furniture lab at the Canadian Conservation Institute in Ottawa, and in the archaeological and decorative metals lab at the Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg. Linda was awarded a two-year fellowship at The Met, during which she focused on medieval art. She worked for ten years on the reinstallation of the Greek and Roman collection before assuming her current responsibilities for European and American art in 2001, which expanded to include medieval art in 2016.

Summer MuSe Intern

Amanda Chau is responsible for the study and care of European and American ceramics collections. She rejoined The Met in 2021 for the four-year renovation of the Michael C. Rockefeller Wing, serving in part as a ceramics consultant, and has since contributed to museum initiatives. Her work focuses on the technical examination and treatment of ceramics, with particular interest in fabrication techniques and glaze effects, informed by an active studio practice and materials testing. She has a growing interest in the relationship between memory and material through clay-based engagement with memory care communities. She received her MA and CAS in Art Conservation from SUNY Buffalo State University.

Johnny Coast re-joined The Met in March, 2022. He was trained as a mount maker at the Guggenheim (2013) and has worked as a freelance mount maker for the Museum of Arts and Design (head mount maker), Bard, AMNH, The Met (Musical Instruments in 2018; British Galleries in 2020) and a handful of galleries, private collections, and conservators over the years. Johnny has taken machining and precision measuring courses at City Tech in Brooklyn and received brazing certifications from the United Bicycle Institute (UBI) and the Yamaguchi Frame Building School. Johnny maintains a shop space where he has made mounts for artists, museums, and galleries since 2006. He has made custom bicycle frames since 2004, when he was certified as a bicycle frame maker in silver brazed lugged construction at UBI.

Yuqi Chock joined the Met in 2024 and works on the Asian and Islamic wooden materials in the collection. Yuqi has an MA in Conservation Studies specializing in furniture from West Dean College in the UK, and an MA in Principles of Conservation from University College London. Previously, she held conservation fellowships at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art, and was assistant conservator for furniture and frames at the Islamic Arts Museum in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Matthew Cumbie joined The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Department of Objects Conservation in 2006. Before working at the Met, Matthew worked for 4 years as a studio assistant for a painter/sculptor. Matthew received a BFA in Illustration from The Rhode Island School of Design.

Melissa is responsible for the conservation of design and architecture within the Modern and Contemporary Art collection, and contributes to overseeing Objects Conservation role within the Tang Wing Capital Project. She holds a Master’s degree in Conservation and Restoration of Cultural Heritage from SUSCOR (University of Turin with the Centre for Conservation and Restoration “La Venaria Reale”). After her studies, she focused on contemporary art and modern materials, working with private studios and institutions in Italy. Her international experience includes an internship at the Getty Conservation Institute and a postgraduate fellowship at the Düsseldorf Conservation Center (RED). Before joining the Met in 2024, she was an object conservator in RED’s Applied Arts department.

Summer MuSe Intern

Andy Estep came to the Department of Objects Conservation in 2017 for the Musical Instruments Gallery renovation. He joined the department in 2019. Before coming to The Met, Andy was a prop builder for theater, television, and advertising, as well as a scenic designer for theater and for large-scale retail window displays. Andy also worked as a mount maker at the American Museum of Natural History during the Irma and Paul Milstein Family Hall of Ocean Life restoration. He earned a BFA in sculpture from the Rhode Island School of Design and an MFA in visual arts from the UC San Diego.

Alice Fornari began working as the documentation manager for Objects Conservation in 2022. Her responsibilities include maintaining the department’s digital assets, records, analog archives, photo studio, and creating and enforcing documentation standards. Alice received a BS in ecology and evolutionary biology from the University of Rochester, a MA in museum studies from the University of San Francisco, and a MS in library and information science from Syracuse University. She has worked with collections at NYBG, the California Academy of Sciences, as well as at AMNH. She most recently worked at the Smithsonian’s NMNH where she worked on curating, digitizing, and databasing all specimen types housed in the collections.

Manu Frederickx is responsible for the conservation and technical study of The Met’s Musical Instruments collection. He received an MFA in musical instrument making from the Royal Conservatory in Ghent in 2002 and has worked as an independent maker-restorer of harpsichords and plucked string instruments. Manu studied conservation of wooden artifacts at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp. From 2004 to 2015 he was a lecturer at University College Ghent’s School of Arts, where he became head of the Musical Instrument Making Department in 2013. He worked as a conservator at the Brussels Musical Instrument Museum from 2009 until joining the Department of Objects Conservation in 2015. He is currently conducting a PhD study on the construction of Antwerp virginals at Ghent University.

Tamar Ghvinianidze joined the Department of Objects Conservation in August of 2022. Along with the Senior Manager of Administration and Operations, Tamar manages the legal release process for conservation work. She also oversees recordkeeping and the professional development travel allotment for the department. Prior to joining Objects Conservation, Tamar worked in Visitor Experience as a recruiting coordinator. Tamar holds a BA in art history.

Jacob Goble joined The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Department of Objects Conservation in 2014 after serving as senior departmental technician in the Museum's Department of European Sculpture and Decorative Arts. Before joining the Museum, Goble worked as a timber framer in Vermont and, more recently, as an adjunct professor of painting in New York. Goble received an MFA in painting from the Rhode Island School of Design and holds a BFA in painting and drawing from the State University of New York at New Paltz.

Anne Grady is responsible for post-Renaissance European and American decorative arts. Anne officially joined the Museum in 2016, but has regularly worked on capital projects in the Department of Objects Conservation since 2008, when she was a Sherman Fairchild Conservation Fellow. Prior to that, Anne was a staff member of the Museum of Modern Art and a fellow at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, where she worked on a wide range of sculpture and design objects. She received her BA from Oberlin College and an MA in art conservation from Buffalo State College.

Ameya Grant joined the conservation team responsible for the renovation of the Ancient Near East and Cypriot galleries in 2023. Prior to this, she was a graduate intern in Objects Conservation at The Met. Ameya holds a BS in chemistry with a minor in art history from the State University of New York at New Paltz, and a dual MS/MA degree in conservation and art history from the New York University Institute of Fine Arts Conservation Center. She has completed pre-program and graduate internships at The Metropolitan Museum of Art and the National Park Service Harper’s Ferry Center; she has also conducted archaeological fieldwork in Turkey and Egypt. Throughout her professional journey, Ameya has pursued training in the treatment of decorative arts and inorganic archaeological objects.

Rachel Greenberg joined the Department of Objects Conservation in 2023 for the renovation of the Ancient Near East and Cypriot Galleries. Rachel holds an MA in classical art and archaeology and an MA/MSc in conservation for archaeology and museums from University College London. She has worked as a conservator at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.; the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum in New York; the British Museum in London; and the Çatalhöyük Research Project Excavation in Turkey. Rachel is a professional associate of the American Institute of Conservation and a past president for the Washington Conservation Guild, an educational forum for conservators in Washington, D.C.

Christina Hagelskamp joined the Museum permanently in 2017, and is primarily responsible for the study and treatment of the lacquer collection in the Department of Asian Art. After graduating the University of Applied Science in Potsdam, Germany in 2007, with a focus on the conservation of wooden artifacts, Christina has specialized in the material aspects of Asian and European lacquer and held multiple contract positions at the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam and The Met. Past research and treatments have focused on Japanese export lacquer, as well as on European furniture and interiors with incorporated Asian lacquer elements. One recent project is the treatment of a prized work in the collection of the Department of Asian Art, a Chinese Tang dynasty dry-lacquer Buddha (09.6a-l).

Marina Kastan is responsible for the conservation of leather and upholstered artworks in several curatorial departments, notably the American Wing and European Sculpture and Decorative Arts. Her research focuses are wide ranging, linked by an interest in complex, composite objects that are at once aesthetic and functional. One ongoing area of study is the degradation and conservation of mineral-tanned leather. Before joining Objects Conservation in 2023, Marina was a textile conservator at the North Carolina Museum of History and completed fellowships at the Denver Art Museum and The Met’s Costume Institute. She completed her graduate training in conservation at the Fashion Institute of Technology. Marina also holds an MA in library science from Pratt Institute.

Lucretia Kargère is Conservator for Medieval sculptures at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. She has been the principal conservator for The Met Cloisters since 2002. She came to The Met in 1996, when she was awarded the first of several fellowships for the technical study and treatment of medieval sculpture. Lucretia has published a significant study of French Romanesque sculptures from the Museum collection, and is the co-author of The Conservation of Medieval Polychrome Wood Sculpture (Getty Publications 2020). She holds a BA from Brown University, and an MA in art history and advanced certificate in conservation from the Institute of Fine Arts at New York University.

Dawn Kriss is responsible for the care and study of Indigenous works of art from the Americas and Oceania. She has held contract positions at the Brooklyn Museum and the American Museum of Natural History and teaches as a guest lecturer in conservation at the Institute of Fine Arts. Dawn has specialized in arts of the Americas throughout her career, working for several field seasons in Chile and Peru, including two years serving as Chief Conservator for the Vitor Valley Archaeological Project. Dawn was granted an MA in the conservation of archaeological and ethnographic materials by UCLA, where she also received an undergraduate degree in studio art with a minor in anthropology.

Jean-François de Lapérouse has worked primarily with the Ancient Near Eastern and Islamic Art collections since joining the Museum staff in 1989. He is interested in examining the impact of available materials and technologies on the formation of specific artistic forms and styles. He received a BA in art history at Princeton University and completed the coursework for a doctorate in Ancient Near Eastern art and archaeology at the Institute of Fine Arts at New York University, where he also received a certificate in conservation. He has participated as a conservator at archaeological sites in Turkey and Syria.

Sara Levin joined The Met in 2017 as a project conservator, focusing on the examination and treatment of decorative arts for the renovation of the British Galleries. She is now dedicated to the care and study of indigenous works from sub-Saharan Africa and Oceania. Sara received an MS in art conservation from the University of Delaware/Winterthur Museum, with a focus on archaeological artifacts. She previously held positions at the Brooklyn Museum, where she was lead conservator for the monumental Resurrection by Giovanni della Robbia, and at Abigail Mack Art Conservation, where she attended to a range of modern and contemporary sculpture. She has completed fellowships and internships at the Getty Villa, the University of Pennsylvania Museum, The Met, and the Israel Antiquities Authority.

Laila Lott is the Assistant Conservation Preparator for the Objects Conservation Department.

Marijn Manuels received his training in Amsterdam and joined Objects Conservation in 1996. For many years he has been responsible for the care, examination, and treatment of The American Wing’s collection of interiors, furniture, and wooden objects. Past projects include exhibitions such as Honoré Lannuier (1998), Art and the Empire City (2000), John Townsend (2005), Louis Comfort Tiffany and Laurelton Hall (2006), and Duncan Phyfe (2011), as well as the 10-year reinstallation of The American Wing’s galleries and period rooms, completed in 2011. More recently, Marijn guided the installation of the Worsham-Rockefeller dressing room, and worked extensively on the exhibition Artistic Furniture of the Gilded Age (2015), which introduced Schastey’s work to a broader audience.

William (Bill) Mastandrea joined the conservation team responsible for the renovation of the Ancient Near Eastern and Cypriot Galleries in 2023. Prior to joining The Met, Bill was the inaugural Gale R. Guild and Henry R. Guild Fellow for Advanced Training in Objects Conservation at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston from 2021–2023. For two seasons, he served as the lead project conservator for the PARAMa archaeological fieldwork project in the Peruvian Andes. In 2021, he completed his graduate conservation internship at the Horniman Museum in London. Bill received BA and MA degrees in Near Eastern and Mediterranean archaeology at Lycoming College and Cornell University, respectively. He also holds a joint MA/MSc in conservation for archaeology and museums from University College London.

Lesley Mirling joined the conservation team for the renovation of the Modern and Contemporary Art galleries in 2023. She began her conservation training as a pre-program intern in the Department of Objects Conservation at The Met and later completed internships at the Institute for the Study of Aegean Prehistory, East Crete; the Hibulb Cultural Center in Tulalip, Washington; and the American Museum of Natural History in New York. Lesley was a Samuel H. Kress Conservation Fellow at the Shelburne Museum in Vermont, and before returning to The Met, she was an assistant conservator of objects at the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. Lesley is a graduate of the UCLA/Getty master’s program in the conservation of cultural heritage and received a BA in studio art from Bennington College.

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Vicki Parry joined The Met in 2002 and has since worked on two of the Museum’s largest gallery reinstallation projects in recent years: the Greek and Roman galleries, and the New Galleries for the Art of the Arab Lands, Turkey, Iran, Central Asia, and Later South Asia. Responsible for the conservation of all ceramics and stone objects in the Department of Asian Art, she also conserves decorative arts made from a variety of materials such as cloisonné enamel and amber. Vicki’s research interests include the spread of ceramic techniques and the development of glazes in times of political conflict and through trade.

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Carolyn Riccardelli specializes in structural issues related to large-scale objects. From 2005 to 2014 she was the principal member of a team of conservators and scientists working on Tullio Lombardo’s Adam, conducting research on adhesives and pinning materials, and developing innovative methods for reassembling the damaged marble sculpture. Carolyn is one of the primary coordinators of graduate interns in the Department of Objects Conservation and one of the leaders of the Museum’s collections emergency preparedness program. She holds a BA in anthropology from Newcomb College at Tulane University, and an MA in art conservation from Buffalo State College.

Kendra Roth is responsible for the care and study of sculpture in the Modern and Contemporary Art collection at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and is currently leading a conservation team in the renovation of the Modern and Contemporary Art galleries. She completed her graduate studies in art conservation at the State University of New York at Buffalo and the Straus Center for Conservation at Harvard University. Kendra is currently part of the Conservation Advisory Group for the Public Design Commission of the City of New York, and has served as assistant coordinator for the Modern Materials and Contemporary Art working group of ICOM-CC and on the program committee of Voices in Contemporary Art.

Lindsay Rowinski joined the Objects Conservation Department in 2021 for the renovation of the Michael C. Rockefeller Wing. Prior to coming to The Met, Lindsay worked for the Smithsonian National Postal Museum where she encapsulated thousands of stamps and postal ephemera for the opening of the William H. Gross Stamp Gallery in Washington, D.C. After moving to New Orleans in 2013, Lindsay worked for the Notarial Archives on a FEMA project to conserve land records that were damaged in Hurricane Katrina. She then pursued a career in woodworking and building techniques, building escape rooms and fabricating sets for theater companies around New Orleans. Lindsay most recently worked for the Historic New Orleans Collection where she was a preparator specializing in mount making.

Nina Ruelle came to the Met in 2024 to work on the renovation of the Michael C. Rockefeller Wing. She is now working on the renovation of the Ancient West Asian Art and Cypriot galleries, as well as remaking mounts for the Egyptian and Asian departments. She has a BA in Visual Art from Brown University, and has worked as a mount maker, art handler, and fabricator at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, Socrates Sculpture Park, and MASS MoCA.

Frederick Sager began work at The Met in 1980 preparing architectural elements for period room installations in the American Wing. Following this, he restored two stone chimneypieces in the French galleries. From 1990 to 1995, he was a wood restorer in the five-year conservation treatment and installation of the Studiolo from the Ducal Palace in Gubbio . Since 1996, he has been a conservation preparator and is currently the managing conservation preparator in the department, where his responsibilities include mount making, art installation, and the supervision of a four-person team.

After obtaining a degree in biology, David worked for Instituto Nacional de Salud in Bogota and Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York where he focused on scientific research. Since 2011, David has managed the Objects Conservation laboratories at The Met. In this role, David oversees lab operations and safety, equipment acquisition and maintenance, permit renewal, and chemical management. David is researching the reconditioning of silica gel to improve the environmental conditions of objects. David also plays an active role in the photographic documentation of exhibitions, studio projects, and gallery renovations. His images have been presented in fundraising events and featured in a variety of sources including The New York Times, Art News, and the department’s Instagram.

Jennifer Schnitker is responsible for the study and treatment of Byzantine, Medieval, and Renaissance decorative arts, including gold and silversmith’s work, enamels, and ivories. Jennifer joined the Museum in 2016, first working on conservation for the renovation of the Musical Instrument galleries and treating a wide range of instruments from around the globe. After receiving her MSc in objects conservation from the Winterthur Museum/University of Delaware Program in Art Conservation, she was a Marshall Steel Fellow at the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, where she worked in the instrument conservation lab.

Anna Serotta is primarily responsible for the conservation of the Egyptian Art collection. Her research interests span a broad range of topics, including stone carving technology, ancient Egyptian coffins and burial assemblages, and the ethical stewardship of human remains. In addition to her role in the museum, Anna has worked as an archaeological field conservator on sites in Turkey, Greece, Italy and Egypt. She is a Fellow of the American Academy in Rome as well as an adjunct professor at the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University. Anna received her BA from Dartmouth College and her MA in art history and advanced certificate in art conservation from the Institute of Fine Arts Conservation Center at New York University.

Jack Soultanian specializes in the examination and treatment of European sculpture. He holds an MA in art history and an advanced certificate in conservation from the Institute of Fine Arts at New York University. Prior to his arrival at The Met in 1986, he held the position of chief conservator at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston. He was for twenty-five years adjunct professor at New York University’s Conservation Center and acts as consultant conservator at Villa La Pietra, Sir Harold Acton’s Florence residence bequeathed to the University where, in addition to the care of the sculpture collections in the Villa, he continues student training.

Karen Stamm is responsible for the technical examination and treatment of three-dimensional glass. She works across the Museum’s curatorial departments on objects dating from ancient to modern. Prior to her current responsibilities, Karen worked on a variety of materials as part of the reinstallations of the Greek and Roman Galleries and the Galleries for the Art of the Arab Lands, Turkey, Iran, Central Asia, and Later South Asia, and worked on Southeast Asian stone sculpture from the Asian Art Department. Before joining The Met in 1998, she worked as a conservator for several archaeological sites in the Mediterranean, including being a year-round staff member at the Athenian Agora. She trained in archaeological conservation at the Institute of Archaeology, University College London.

Chantal Stein first joined the Met in 2019 as a Fellow focusing on archaeological materials from Egypt and the Ancient Near East. She returned to the department in 2021 as a project conservator for the Michael C. Rockefeller Wing renovation and has continued to work on further projects across the museum’s curatorial departments. She has previously held positions at various museums across NYC and conducted archaeological fieldwork in Turkey and Egypt. She earned her MA in art history and MS in conservation from the Institute of Fine Arts at New York University, and her BA in fine arts and creative writing from Columbia University. Her research interests include archaeological conservation, technical imaging, and values-based approaches to conservation.

Ahmed Tarek Ibrahim is an Associate Conservator focusing on ancient Egyptian art. He works specifically on coffins and other funerary equipment. He was previously an Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Conservation Fellow at The Met, and a Paper/Papyrus Conservator at the Brooklyn Museum. Ahmed is a Conservator at the Grand Egyptian Museum Conservation Center (GEM CC) where he was a Conservation Specialist and Head of the Human Remains Laboratory. He has most recently worked to conserve the Tutankhamun collection at the GEM CC. He has also worked on archaeological projects in Egypt, including at The Met’s excavation at Dahshur. Ahmed holds an M.S. from the Cairo University Conservation Department, focusing on Organic Materials, and is currently a PhD candidate there.

At The Met, Marlene Yandrisevits is principally responsible for the study and treatment of metalwork and enamels in the Asian Art collections. Marlene has also served as Conservator working with the national collections of flight at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Air and Space Museum and as Conservation Fellow working with the Higgins Armory Collection at the Worcester Art Museum.

Lawrence Becker was a member of the Museum’s conservation staff from 1980 to 1989. Following tenures at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts and the Worcester Art Museum, he returned to The Met in 2003 as Sherman Fairchild Conservator in Charge of Objects Conservation, a position he held until 2014. Initially focusing on the conservation and study of archaeological sculpture and objects from Egypt, West Asia, and the Greco-Roman world, his interests gradually shifted toward the arts of South, Southeast, and East Asia. Larry received undergraduate and law degrees from Columbia University and graduate training in art history and conservation from the Institute of Fine Arts at New York University.

Nancy Britton has worked since 1991 with upholstered works of art across four curatorial departments holding over 500 upholstered objects, including the Department of European Sculpture and Decorative Arts and The American Wing. Responsible for all textiles in a frame, she has conserved hundreds of artworks, caned chairs, fire screens, and tapestry upholstery, including an English state bed, Marie Antoinette’s Sené suite, and Dutch leather wall hangings. With over twenty publications to her credit, her scholarly interests include historic upholstery materials and upholstery techniques in Europe and America. Nancy works with modern artisans to bring accurate reproductions of original show covers to the Museum’s collection while preserving original elements.

Pete Dandridge came to the Museum in 1979 from the Cooperstown Graduate Program. Initially focusing on the Rockefeller Collection, he became the principal conservator of the ivories, enamels, and metalwork in the Department of Medieval Art and The Cloisters, where his primary interest has been to elucidate the technical history of said materials and the capabilities of the artists who manipulated them. He is coediting Medieval Copper, Bronze and Brass with Nicolas Thomas, and is participating in CAST:ING, an international initiative to create an online publication of best practices for documenting the technical history of bronze casting.

Ann Heywood was formerly the principal conservator for the Egyptian collection. In that role, she worked closely with the curators in the Department of Egyptian Art on all new acquisitions and gifts, outgoing and incoming loans, gallery conditions, special exhibitions, permanent gallery installations, and materials and technology research. Her own research has focused on the pigments of ancient Egypt. She joined the Department of Objects Conservation in 1988 after graduate work in art history and conservation at the Institute of Fine Arts at New York University. As conservator emerita since 2016, she contributes technical notes to the Museum’s online catalogue.

Ellen Howe was responsible for objects in The Michael C. Rockefeller Wing. Her work entailed the conservation of both ethnographic and archaeological materials, with a specialty in the technology of works from the Americas and West/Central Africa. Ellen joined the department in 1980, having received an MA and certificate of advanced study in art conservation from the SUNY Cooperstown Graduate Program and a BA in studio art and art history from Smith College. At present she is developing essays for the Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History on African metals and resins and participating in the study and publication of the Museum’s North Coast Peruvian metalwork.

Deborah Schorsch received her graduate training in art history and conservation at NYU’s Institute of Fine Arts. Her professional focus is the technical study of metalwork and other materials from ancient Egypt. In close collaboration with the Museum’s Egyptian art curators, she has studied ritual statuary, jewelry, and utilitarian implements of gold, silver, bronze, and copper, documenting manufacturing processes and materials in order to define ancient technological styles. She has also lectured and published on ancient and ethnographic metalwork from the Near East, Peru, West Africa, Europe, and India, and on the history of conservation practice at The Met and has participated on excavations and conservation educational initiatives in North and South America, Africa, Europe, and Asia.