Skaneateles practice restores, preserves artwork
By Laura Hand
Tuesday, January 27, 2009 at 6:54 p.m.
In 30 years, West Lake Conservators have developed a national reputation for helping us hold on to our art heritage. "We're nationally known for murals," says founding partner Susan Blakney. "We're known for doing oversize paintings."
Commissions may take them as far as San Francisco, but their 'offices,' a sprawling set of labs and workrooms in an old wooden toy factory in Mottville (technically Skaneateles), are full of artwork in various stages of repair.
"We're like art doctors," says Blakney, 'with the job of making the works last as long as we possibly can."
Incoming works are meticulously documented, starting with photographs in regular light as well as ultraviolet and infrared. Diagrams are made of damaged areas, which may be discovered through chemical tests, or under microscopes. Canvases are unframed for the studies (there's also a frame restoration shop on the premises.)
The repairs may be done with paint--not the same as the original, in order to distinguish for future restorations. There are also a pair of big tables in the labs, one that heats and the other that cools artwork, to 'relax' different types of paints if they've bubbled up. There's no 'standard' style of work, which is why the eleven workers have years of internships and apprenticeships on their resumes, and all continue to study the latest techniques.
Blakney says that they also do 'invisible preventive work,' such as installing ultraviolet filter glass to prevent further deterioration from exposure to sunlight. Besides canvases, they work on textiles (every sampler is improperly framed in acid-full wood, she says) and paper products like posters and photographs.
The practice has about half its work from private contracts, so financially they're not that worried, but they are concerned about government budget cutbacks and effects on the arts. Blakney's talking about setting up a not for profit that would help small museums, libraries and even municipal governments preserve their local treasures.
