On Thursday, March 26, NCNS members participated in the sculpture focused tour of the conservation section of the National Art Gallery.

In a bright and airy laboratory in the National Gallery of Canada, overlooking the Ottawa River, Sheilah Mackinnon, Assistant Conservator of Sculpture and Decorative Arts explained the secrets of being art conservator.

“The great joy of being an art conservator is seeing an object transform itself under your hands and under your care, from something that is a little dicey and hard to look at and obscured, to something that is kind of close to what the artist intended it to look like. That’s very rewarding.”

– John McElhone, Gallery’s chief conservator from Ottawa Citizen’s  article: “Art conservation: The prince of restoring prints”, Aug 15, 2014.

Many thanks to our host in National Art Gallery!