2017 WAAC - Extensive Conservation Treatment of a Very Oversized Advertising Poster
Channel: J. Willard Marriott Library
Date: 2017-10-10

Extensive Conservation Treatment of a Very Oversized Advertising Poster
Tish Brewer, Paper Conservator, The Center for Art Conservation, Dallas, TX

Abstract
Oversized paper materials present numerous logistical challenges to the conservator, particularly when space is tight, staff is small, budget is low, and geographical distance is far between treatment location and installation site. Many oversized pieces created for advertising were intended to be ephemeral and were heavily used, on display unprotected for long periods of time, rolled and unrolled frequently, and easily physically damaged. This presentation will focus on the treatment of a seven by nine-foot Cracker Jack poster from the 1910's, a thin lithograph mounted on linen and stored in a Montana barn for years. Conservation over a 15-month period involved removal of the degraded linen, washing and lining of the poster, and a significant amount of fills and inpainting, as well as a partial secondary lining. There were hurdles at every stage of the process due to the massive size of the piece and its planned method of transport and installation. This talk will address those difficulties, and the details of treating and displaying this unique object.

Tish Brewer Biography
Tish Brewer received her Master’s Degree in Book and Paper Conservation from the Kilgarlin Center for Preservation of the Cultural Record at the University of Texas at Austin. She has had additional conservation training through various AIC courses, and through internships and professional experience while at the National Preserve of Tauric Chersonesos, Sevastopol, Ukraine; Biblioteca Ludwig von Mises, Universidad Francisco Marroquín, Guatemala City, Guatemala; and the National Park Service, Harpers Ferry Center. She has been a paper conservator in private practice in Dallas since 2007. Tish serves as the Lone Star Chapter Chair for the Guild of Book Workers, and has also been a regular contributor to the GBW newsletter. She sometimes teaches workshops on various book arts related topics, as well as how to make terrariums.