The department has a wide range of experts who visit as guest lecturers throughout the year. Fridays during the semester are dedicated to talks and hands-on workshops from varying backgrounds to bring more of an awareness of topics and specialties in the conservation field to the students.
Guest Lecturer, Photo Conservation
(716) 878-5025
https://garyealbright.com
garyealbright@gmail.com
Guest Lecturer, Leather, Hide, and Natural Science Conservation
Fran Ritchie is an Objects Conservator at the National Park Service's Harpers Ferry Center, focusing on treatment of organic materials and composite objects from park sites throughout the United States. Fran has a particular interest and specialty in natural science materials and dioramas are her favorite artform. Fran joined the NPS team in 2018 after working several years on the taxidermy and Native American collections at the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) in New York City. Prior to AMNH she was a Mellon Fellow at National Museum of the American Indian, spent her third year at the Harvard Peabody Museum, was a graduate intern at the Buffalo Bill Center of the West, performed private work on taxidermy collections in museums across Alaska, and was a technician at Biltmore Estate.
Fran graduated from the Buffalo program in 2013 and also holds an MA in Museum Anthropology from Columbia University. She earned her BA from the University of Delaware in Art Conservation and Anthropology, with a minor in American Material Culture Studies. She has taught courses on conservation strategies for natural science materials at the New York University Institute of Fine Arts, served as an elected official for both the American Institute for Conservation (AIC) and the Society for the Preservation of Natural History Collections, and is a Professional Associate of AIC.
