We’ve had our fair share of animal interactions in the Conservation Lab. With the Park surrounding the Museum, and the tank farm (outdoor tanks for storing large objects) so close to the woods, we expect to get the occasional turtle, goose, or squirrel coming to inspect our work. What we didn’t expect was to have a several-year-long battle with….bluebirds.

If you are planning to visit the Museum and Park and want to explore a fun place, please consider passing by our lovely Learning Garden. We chose plants that bloom at various times of the year (namely spring, summer, and fall), and many plants are in full bloom right now. One of the most impressive and wonderful bee attractors is the purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea).

Electrochemical treatment set-ups need constant attention in the “wet lab” and outdoor tanks, and environmental conditions in dry object storage also require our steadfast attention.

Recently, I’ve been working on several items that are going out on loan to various institutions next year. While only a couple of these projects will be very treatment intensive (probably more on those later…), I thought I’d share an example of the routine care and due diligence paid to every artifact prior to loan. Every little consideration is important to ensure the safety of an object while it is being appreciated elsewhere.

A recent inquiry from the Assistant Professor of Mediterranean History and Archaeology at New York University’s Institute for the Study of the Ancient World brought a really cool assemblage of watercolors in our collection to my attention. The images were painted by Joseph Partridge, an artist turned Marine stationed aboard USS Warren between 1827 and 1830.