Theresa J. Smith, M.A.

Theresa J. Smith is Associate Professor of Paper Conservation and Coordinator of the Library and Archives Conservation Education (LACE) Program. Theresa received her M.A. and C.A.S. in Art Conservation with a specialization in paper conservation from SUNY Buffalo State. From 2007-2016, she was Paper Conservator for Special Collections at Harvard Library’s Weissman Preservation Center where she was active in teaching emergency preparedness and how to respond to collections emergencies. Theresa has worked at the Straus Center for Conservation at Harvard Art Museum, Kupferstichkabinett-Berlin, Andy Warhol Museum, Carnegie Museum of Art, University of Chicago Library, and with conservators in private practice in Germany and the U.S.

Theresa is on the editorial board of Restaurator: International Journal for the Preservation of Library and Archival Material and is a Professional Associate in the American Institute for Conservation. Theresa enjoys engaging in collaborative research projects with graduate students, her faculty colleagues, and professionals in other disciplines. Her current research interests include aqueous paper conservation treatments, the infrared luminescence of paper, technical studies of works on paper, and 16th-century moveable anatomical prints.

Selected Publications and Presentations

"Technical Studies of Works of Art on Paper: What IR Luminescence Can Reveal", Theresa J. Smith, Art on Paper Discussion Group, American Institute for Conservation Virtual Annual Meeting, August 11, 2020.

"Current Status and Future Directions for Library and Archive Conservation Education in the United States", Theresa J. Smith, invited letter to the editor for special issue on conservation education, Restaurator: International Journal for the Preservation of Library and Archival Material 40, 3-4 (2019): 331-335.  doi.org/10.1515/res-2019-0025

"Renaissance Anatomical Broadsides and the Material Transmission of Knowledge", Theresa J. Smith, poster presented at the 20th Annual Faculty & Staff Research and Creativity Fall Forum, SUNY Buffalo State, November 14, 2019.

“Documentation of Salted Paper Prints with a Modified Digital Camera”, Jiuan Jiuan Chen and Theresa J. Smith, invited article for special issue on salted paper prints, Journal of the American Institute for Conservation 59, 3-4 (2020): 271-285. doi.org/10.1080/01971360.2019.1643527  

"Technical Examination of the Emerson-White Book of Hours: Observations on Pigment Preferences and Media Application in a Flemish Manuscript", Debora D. Mayer, Hope Mayo, Theresa J. Smith, Erin Mysak and Katherine Eremin, invited article in Heritage Science (2018) 6:48. Springer Open, UK.  doi.org/10.1186/s40494-018-0211-4

“Images and Origins: Vogtherr’s Anatomical Woodcuts”, Theresa J. Smith, Bibliographical Society of America Panel, Renaissance Society of America Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL, March 30, 2017.

“Cut and Tape: Marguerite Yourcenar's Emendations to a Typescript of L'Oeuvre au noir”, Theresa J. Smith and Thea Burns, Restaurator: International Journal for the Preservation of Library and Archival Material vol. 38, no. 1 (March 2017): 87-105.     doi.org/10.1515/res-2016-0006