Scott:

As a kid growing up, I was always interested in science and the arts. That stayed with me through college. When I was about to get my bachelor’s degree, my art history program chair asked me if I had ever considered art conservation for graduate work. I had never even heard of it. Turns out, it was the perfect marriage of my two main interests: The application of science to the preservation and restoration of art.

Formal Training

I was admitted after my first application to the conservation center in Lombardy, Italy – a satellite program affiliated with the National Center in Rome (ICR). During my three year program, I worked on numerous Renaissance to Baroque affrescos in ancient abbeys, libraries and churches. I also worked on many small and very large canvases. We worked on site and in the state of the art laboratories of the conservation center.

I got instruction from seasoned professionals who had worked around the world on UNESCO projects (on murals in temples in Burma and in the tombs of Egypt) and who were well informed on international current standards of practice, and techniques especially after working with the international community in response to the devastating Florence Flood of 1966 (9 years earlier). Our professors and teachers came up from Rome and we went to Rome often to interact with the Istituto Centrale Del Restauro.

I graduated from the formal Italian government 3 year painting/mural conservation and restoration program in 1978.

Specialization