by Kelly Rectenwald, Objects Conservator

7/16/2025

CAMConservation, objects conservation, decorative art and design, Art Deco

Visible damage from regular use, like the hairline cracks on a teacup, often tells a story that can connect us both with the object and the person who used it.

by Bruce Petrie, President, Board of Trustees

6/12/2025

SketchCAM, Farm to Table

Everyone likes a good hero story, a protagonist struggling against the odds, yearning for home or homeland.

by Cecile Mear, Paper Conservator

4/25/2025

Jacopo Tintoretto, CAMConservation

In the days when paintings did not travel for exhibitions, artists created prints featuring the originals. One example is an eighteenth-century engraving after a painting by Tintoretto now on view.

by Kelly Rectenwald, Conservator of Objects

3/27/2025

CAMconservation, mercury, objects conservation, mirror, Groesbeck House, gilded frame, 19th century furniture

Inside our objects conservation lab, this 19th-century mirror is once again standing upright in all of its glory for the first time in several decades.

by Carrie Atkins Maras, Associate Director of Community Engagement

3/27/2025

CAM Cruiser, art making

CAM Cruiser is hitting the road for another exciting year of art, education, and community fun!

by Bruce Petrie, President, Board of Trustees

3/11/2025

SketchCAM, Shahzia Sikander: Collective Behavior, geometry

In this edition of SketchCAM, we look at the amazing exhibition Shahzia Sikander: Collective Behavior in a way you might imagine belongs in math class. Using our simple tools of pencil and sketchbook, we'll reveal the “secret geometry” of great artwork.

by Obie Linn, Conservator of Textiles

2/13/2025

CAMConservation, textile conservation

How many different fabrics are you wearing right now?

by Obie Linn, Conservator of Textiles

2/12/2025

CAMConservation, textile conservation, Zandra Rhodes

This Zandra Rhodes robe has undergone a journey!

by Cecile Mear, Conservator of Works on Paper

2/6/2025

Alice and Carl Bimel, Shahzia Sikander: Collective Behavior, Indian painting, paper conservation, CAMConservation

My initial examination of the painting revealed that some of the paint was poorly attached to the paper support, so before the work went into the gallery, it made a stop in the paper lab.

by Bruce Petrie, President, Board of Trustees

2/6/2025

SketchCAM, tessellations

A tessellation is a geometric pattern of shapes that fit together and can repeat infinitely. For starters, think checkerboards, tile floors, honeycombs, soccer ball patterns—but tessellations go way beyond these familiarities, taking an infinite number of shapes and forms.

by Franck Mercurio, Publications Editor

12/23/2024

WPA, Art Deco, CAMConservation

In December 1937, the Cincinnati Enquirer interviewed William “Harry” Gothard (1908–1968), a 29-year-old artist and budding art conservator, as he painted the final touches on two murals created for Lunken Airport’s newly constructed Administration building.

by Bruce Petrie, President, Board of Trustees

12/23/2024

SketchCAM, Mr. Paint, Marek Family Commons, Marek-Weaver Family Commons

Our roving SketchCAM reporter was on site to interview Mr. Paint and asked if we could paint his portrait.

by Serena Urry, Chief Conservator

12/12/2024

CAMConservation, paintings conservation, John Francis, still lifes

Basket of Fruit, a still life by American artist John Francis (1808–1886), was last conserved here at CAM in 1975.

by Cecile Mear, Conservator of Works on Paper

12/9/2024

The Sweetest Thing, Gee Horton, KMAC Contemporary Art Museum, paper conservation, Black on Both Sides, CAMConservation

In November I travelled to Louisville, Kentucky, to help install two drawings by Cincinnati-based artist Gee Horton at KMAC Contemporary Art Museum.

by Bruce Petrie, President, Board of Trustees

11/27/2024

SketchCAM, Claude Monet, Pablo Picasso, Rosenthal Education Center

We've watched our fair share of Bluey, Paw Patrol, and Minions with seven grandkids; but when we encourage kids to be creators themselves, we move from screen to sketch, from passive to active.

by Bruce Petrie, President, Board of Trustees

11/14/2024

SketchCAM, Isabella, Jaume Plensa

Let’s see how this works with Isabella, the museum’s outdoor sculpture by Spanish artist Jaume Plensa.

by Obie Linn, Conservator of Textiles

11/13/2024

CAMConservation, textile conservation, historic lace

*Warning: puns and silly wordplay ahead! If that’s not your thing, this may not be the pLACE for you!

by Bruce Petrie, President, Board of Trustees

10/22/2024

SketchCAM, Nazca Desert, Peru

More than 2,000 years ago, people living in the Nazca Desert in Peru discovered an artform using the unique earthen materials of their harsh environment.

by Obie Linn, Conservator of Textiles

10/10/2024

CAMConservation, textile conservation, 1890s fashion, Cincinnati Wing

In the textile conservation lab, a three-piece 1890s cotton muslin ensemble arrived for treatment!

by Kelly Rectenwald, Conservator of Objects

10/3/2024

CAMConservation, objects conservation, Cloisonne Tray, Qing Dynasty

The dark grime on its surface is thick and unevenly embedded in the layers of a degraded wax coating.

by Bruce Petrie, President, Board of Trustees

9/27/2024

Sketching, SketchCAM, Ansel Adams, Discovering Ansel Adams, photograph, landscapes

For this edition of SketchCAM, let’s take our sketchbook and pencil into Discovering Ansel Adams, featuring the landscape photography of Ansel Adams (1902–1984) on view from September 27, 2024 to January 19, 2025.

by Serena Urry, Chief Conservator

9/26/2024

CAMConservation, paintings conservation, Italian Altarpiece

After a very close and extended examination by our conservator , it seems certain Madonna and Child was originally part of an Italian Renaissance altarpiece.

by Obie Linn, Conservator of Textiles

9/18/2024

CAMConservation, 1890s fashion, textile conservation

You ever have had a project lingering around your house or work that just … bugs you? A thing that needs to be done if only someone would just DO it? This bodice was one of those projects!

by Bruce Petrie, President, Board of Trustees

9/4/2024

Sketching, SketchCAM, Pinocchio, Jim Dine, Pinocchio (Emotional), outdoor sculpture, sculpture

SketchCAM is a quick sketch showing how the museum’s mission and art work together. Our mission: Through the power of art, we contribute to a more vibrant Cincinnati by inspiring its people and connecting our communities.

by Serena Urry, Chief Conservator

8/29/2024

CAMConservation, paintings conservation, Constable, British catalog project

A few weeks ago, we posted about cleaning this landscape painting by British artist John Constable (1776–1837). The conservation treatment proceeded as quickly as we expected.

by Cecile Mear, Conservator of Works on Paper

8/22/2024

CAMConservation, Chuck Close, Keith Hollingworth, paper pulp print, Art Bridges, Denison Museum, Denison University, portrait, paintings conservation

Denison Museum at Denison University (Granville, Ohio) will show nine Cincinnati Art Museum pieces in different media from August 29 to November 29, 2024, in their exhibition Portraying Identity .

by Kelly Rectenwald, Conservator of Objects

8/8/2024

CAMConservation, objects conservation, Giambologna, Mercury, bronze, marble, scuplture

This week in objects conservation, we are cleaning marble.

by Serena Urry, Chief Conservator

8/1/2024

CAMConservation, paintings conservation, Constable, British catalog project

We brought this lovely landscape, Waterloo Bridge by British artist John Constable (1776-1837), into the conservation lab to be examined for the British catalog project. Not conserved for more than 60 years, the painting’s varnish is now noticeably yellow.

by Cecile Mear, Conservator of Works on Paper

7/25/2024

George Bellows, lithograph, paper conservation, CAMConservation, slant washing, John L. Sullivan

One of Bellow’s larger lithographs, Introducing John L. Sullivan, is torn in places along its right side; these tears could worsen with handling if not mended.

by C. Obie Linn, Conservator of Textiles

7/18/2024

CAMConservation, Rei Kawakubo, textile conservation

Wanting to do a little more analysis of this piece, I took the jacket back to the museum’s Conservation lab and created a toile, which is like a test version of a pattern used to study and perfect how an original flat pattern works.