Conservator of Modern Sculpture and Public Art Jim Gwinner was a presenter and demonstrated solid CO2 (dry ice) cleaning equipment at the September 2015 symposium:
Ice Cold: Solid Carbon Dioxide Cleaning Symposium
at the Lunder Conservation Center and the Hirshhorn Museum of Art in Washington, DC.
This full day program was an opportunity for conservators and collection care specialists to explore the technology, applications, and benefits of solid carbon dioxide snow cleaning for collection treatment and preservation.
Solid carbon dioxide cleaning (snow to pellet) has been tested and used in critical cleaning capacities, such as the removal of surface contamination during the production of silicon microchip wafers and precision optical lenses. Significant advances in CO2 technology and its employment have produced valuable results for the field of conservation, specifically for objects with sensitive surfaces.
On Thursday, September 10, the Lunder Conservation Center presented a symposium in the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s McEvoy Auditorium. Talks focused on the discussion of past case studies, current considerations, and future possibilities in the use of solid CO2 cleaning for collection care.
Symposium speakers included:
- Siska Genbrugge, Objects Conservator, Royal Museum of Central Africa
- James Gwinner, Conservator of Sculpture and Public Art, McKay Lodge Laboratory
- Nancy Odegaard, Head of Preservation Division, Arizona State Museum
- Robert Sherman, Applied Surface Technologies
- L. H. (Hugh) Shockey, Jr., Chief of Conservation, Saint Louis Art Museum
- Rozemarijn van der Molen, Assistant Sculpture Conservator, TATE
- Julie Wolfe, Associate Conservator, The J. Paul Getty Museum
A brief film showing solid carbon dioxide cleaning on Cor-Ten (weathering steel) can be viewed below.