Each year, the Department of Paper Conservation hosts a symposium that presents research on art, artists, and materials related to the field from around the globe and across centuries. The video recording from each year’s presentations is available below.
Artists and Printmakers, 2025
Artists Kiki Smith and Jacob Samuel discuss their artmaking process and collaborating with other artists.
The Art and Science of Making Paper, 2024
Guest speakers Martin Hubbe and Peter Bower discuss the chemical makeup of commercial papers and the historic context of the papermaking process and its relation to artmaking.
Parchment, 2023
Parchment and leather researcher and producer Jesse Meyer discusses historical and contemporary production methods, while University of Cambridge Professor Dr. Matthew Collins and Research Associate Dr. Matthew Teasdale share their research on genetic markers that identify the animals used to make the parchment in ancient manuscripts.
Printmaking, 2022
Professor Andrew Raftery from RISD and Master Printmaker from Crown Point Press Emily York speak on the history and contemporary uses of printmaking.
Artists’ Pigments: Traditional and Modern, 2021
Independent scholar Jo Kirby Atkinson and CEO/Co-Founder of Golden Arts Colors Mark Golden speak on the nature of the artist pigments industry past and present.
Metalpoint: Past and Present, 2020
Speakers:
Alan Donnithorne, Paper Conservator, formerly of the Royal Collection Trust
Susan Schwalb, Metalpoint artist
Decorated Papers: East and West, 2019
Speakers:
Jake Benson, PhD candidate, Leiden Institute for Area Studies, Leiden University
Sidney Berger, Adjunct Professor, University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana and Simmons University
Color and the Trade in Pigments, 2018
Speakers:
Dr. Georg Kremer, Founder and owner of Kremer Pigmente
Isabelle Roché and Margaret Zayer, Owner and colormakers, La Maison du Pastel
Inaugural Paper Conservation Symposia on Technical Art History, 2017
Speakers:
Timothy Barret, Director, Center for the Book
Donald Farnsworth, Director Magnolia Editions
