This spring, we were so pleased to collaborate with UT’s Alexander Architectural Archives to provide conservation treatment!

I worked on a watercolor rendering of the Student’s Union building at the Imperial College of Science & Technology from 1910. This building was designed by Sir Aston Webb, a British architect known for his work on the Buckingham Palace and the Victoria and Albert Museum. The watercolor was adhered to acidic backing board, which was cracking and creating losses in the painted area. After dry cleaning the image surface, I mechanically removed the image from the backing board and mended existing tears. The resulting work is stabilized for storage and patron access.

Students in my Introduction to Paper Conservation class worked on a set of architectural drawings by Charles Stevens Dilbeck, a 20th-century architect who worked primarily in the Dallas area. The students’ drawings were graphite on tracing paper, rolled for storage. Students removed grime and fingerprints, humidified and flattened the drawings, and conducted simple mends with heat-set tissue. This treatment reduces surface acidity and improves storage and handling.

Thank you to the Alexander Architectural Archives for being such student-friendly collaborators!