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By Ana A. Lima
Arizona Daily Wildcat
September 18, 1996
A UA art history and anthropology graduate assisted in the conservation process of a sculpture in the White House garden as part of a summer internship in Washington, D.C.
Esther Chao was one of 12 minority students nationwide who cleaned, waxed and buffed numerous art pieces outdoors and in conservation laboratories. The conservator's job is to guarantee that papers, paintings and other objects of art are protected from ti me and pollution.
Chao interned at the National Gallery of Art as part of the first Cultural Diversity Summer Internship Program promoted by the American Institution for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works.
She graduated from the University of Arizona in May and is currently taking classes at Pima Community College to fulfill chemistry requirements for graduate school in art conservation. She will also be working as a volunteer at the Arizona State Museum i n the fall.
During the 10-week internship, Chao helped restore a bronze sculpture in the First Lady's sculpture garden.
"It was an amazing experience," Chao said.
Although President and Mrs. Clinton were busy meeting with the U.S. Olympic team at the time, Chao said it was a thrill to be able to work on a White House artifact.
While interning, she also sculpted and patinated brass wire and experimented with a polyester-casting resin technique of sculpting.
The AIC summer program was developed as an attempt to encourage students from diverse ethnic backgrounds to pursue a career in conservation predominantly held by Caucasians.
"There is a 95 percent Caucasian constituency of professional conservators," said AIC Project Coordinator Teresa G. Gionis. She said she believes this program gives minority students interested in art and science the opportunity to be exposed to the art c onservation field and to consider it as a career.
"A lot of students aren't even aware that conservation is a career. It's not a well-known profession," Gionis said.
Art conservation is very competitive. Only three schools in the nation offer graduate programs in conservation: the University of Delaware, the State University of New York at Buffalo, and New York University.
"It's tricky to get into (conservation) school," Gionis said.
Another way of pursuing a career in the art conservation field is through partnerships with professional conservators.
Students who participated in the program were all college students majoring in fine art, art history, architecture, or chemistry. The selection process for the AIC program was not based on the students' majors, but on their interest in art and science, sa id Gionis.
They worked with textiles, paintings and other art objects. One student assisted in the conservation of suitcases from war concentration camps, said Gionis.
Each student was placed in a conservation lab in either a museum or cultural institution, such as the National Museum of the American Indian in New York and the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. The work done was supervised by a mentor, who worked closely wi th them at the labs.
Chao's experience in Washington has led her to pursue a career in conservation. "I finally found something that I could combine all my interests. It's great working with your hands, with history, and helping preserve it," Chao said.
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