The Art Conservation Department has named two new faculty members: Lucy-Anne Skinner, Andrew W. Mellon teaching resident in conservation education; and Jiuan-Jiuan Chen, assistant professor in conservation imaging and technical examination.
Lucy-Anne Skinner, Andrew W. Mellon teaching resident in conservation education
After completing a comprehensive international search, the Art Conservation Department named Skinner as the Andrew W. Mellon teaching resident in conservation education. The teaching residency is a new position generously funded by the Mellon Foundation with the goal of helping a seasoned conservator interested in teaching at the graduate-school level gain practical experience in the field.
Earlier this year, the New York-based Mellon Foundation awarded the Buffalo State College Foundation two grants totaling $543,000 to support and enhance the Art Conservation Department, including funding the teaching resident position.
"We are grateful to the Mellon Foundation for recognizing the importance of bringing seasoned professionals into the classroom," said Patrick Ravines, associate professor and director of art conservation. "And we are excited to have an instructor of Lucy-Anne's caliber join us this fall."
Skinner specializes in archaeological and ethnographic conservation, focusing on materials such as leathers and metals. She has worked as a site conservator at numerous digs, including the Captain Scott and Ernest Shackleton Historic Huts in Antarctica, the Kaman KalehoÅNyük Research Excavation for the Japanese Institute of Anatolian Archaeology in Turkey, and most recently, the University of Pennsylvania Institute of Fine Arts expedition in Abydos, Egypt. She has published widely in peer-reviewed journals on topics ranging from archaeological excavation to Bronze Age metalwork.
She received both a master’s degree in conservation and a bachelor’s degree in archaeology from University College, London.
Skinner will co-teach courses in objects conservation with professor Jonathan Thornton, help develop new course materials, conduct original research, and mentor graduate students as they begin their conservation careers. Mentoring is a cornerstone of the Mellon Foundation’s vision for residencies
Jiuan-Jiuan Chen, assistant professor in conservation imaging and technical examination
A 2001 graduate of Buffalo State's art conservation program, Chen will begin teaching this fall.
Chen earned a master’s degree in art history from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, in 1996. She previously held positions at the Northeast Document Conservation Center, the Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site, the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center, the Heugh-Edmondson Conservation Services, the National Gallery of Canada, and the National Archives of Canada. She also became the assistant director of conservation education at the Advanced Residency Program in Photography Conservation at the George Eastman House International Museum of Photography and Film in Rochester and the Image Permanence Institute at the Rochester Institute of Technology.
Most recently, Chen worked as a photograph conservator with Paul Messier, LLC, in Boston, Massachusetts. During the spring 2010 semester, she served as an adjunct visiting professor in conservation imaging, technical examination and documentation in the Buffalo State program.
"We are very pleased and proud to hire one of our graduates who has proven herself in a number of high-profile positions in the field," said Ravines. "She will bring a wealth of knowledge and experience to the classroom and the department."
Chen’s research interests include the conservation of photographs such as tintypes, daguerreotypes, paper negatives, and gelatin silver prints. She has lectured on photograph conservation all over the world—from the State Hermitage Museum in Russia to the National Palace Museum in Taipei, Taiwan. She is currently working on creating reference standards for digital imaging using ultraviolet radiation.
About the Art Conservation Department
Founded in 1970, Buffalo State’s Art Conservation Department is one of the leading graduate programs of its kind in North America. Accepting only 10 students a year, the competitive program trains conservators of fine art and material cultural heritage. Program graduates can be found in the conservation labs of major institutions across the United States, including the National Gallery of Art, the Library of Congress, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
