Art conservator delivering lecture and leading workshop April 5-6

Katharine Untch, principal conservator at Conservation Strategies Art Architecture Archaeology in San Francisco, will deliver a virtual lecture and workshop for the Northwest community April 5-6. (Submitted photo)

Northwest Missouri State University’s Department of Fine and Performing Arts will host a virtual lecture and workshop with art conservator Katharine Untch next month.

Untch’s lecture, “Museums, Moments and Sites: The Effects of Cultural Change on Preservation,” will take place at 7 p.m. Monday, April 5, and can be joined via Zoom or through a livestream at the Art at Northwest Missouri State University Facebook page.

During her lecture, Untch will discuss the impacts of cultural change on art preservation, architecture and archaeological sites from the perspective of an art conservator. She will use examples of projects from museum collections, historic buildings, monuments and sites to illustrate how cultural significance and decision-making affect conservation planning and implementation.

Additionally, at 6 p.m. Tuesday, April 6, Untch will host a virtual professional development workshop to discuss careers in art conservation. To attend the lecture, attendees should request the Zoom link from Northwest Assistant Professor of Art History Dr. Karen Britt at kbritt@nwmissouri.edu.

Untch is principal conservator at Conservation Strategies Art Architecture Archaeology based in San Francisco. Before opening her own firm, Untch held conservation positions at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco, the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts and the Getty Conservation Institute in Los Angeles. She has national and international experience in leading cultural heritage conservation initiatives. She completed a Bachelor of Fine Arts in sculpture at Occidental College in Los Angeles.

“We invited Katharine to be a visiting scholar because of her deep and personal appreciation for the importance of studio art programs at universities,” Britt said. “We believe that our students and the public will benefit from learning about her experiences in the world of conservation and her valuable perspectives on the role of conservation in a time of momentous social change.”

Funding support for the lecture and workshop is provided by Northwest’s Department of Fine and Performing Arts and the College of Arts and Sciences as well as the Missouri Arts Council for these events.