After graduating from the Department of Art History, Visual Art and Theory, Nadine Power (BA ’05) has embarked on a career in art conservation. Nadine’s undergraduate degree in Art History was a stepping-stone for a career in Painting Conservation.
“In looking for a practical avenue in an artistic career,” she says, “conservation satisfies my enjoyment of ‘hands-on’ work as well as academic curiosity.”
Currently a post-graduate student in the Conservation of Easel Paintings program at the Courtauld Institute of Art in London, art historical research is a crucial aspect of her work.
“While at UBC I tailored my degree towards Conservation by taking courses in Chemistry, Fine Arts and Anthropology. Aside from simply restoring art works, Conservators are responsible for the technical investigation of objects, like proving provenance or authenticity, as well as the preservation of entire museum collections.”
She is currently in the second year of a three-year post-graduate programme, “and my experiences to date are beyond what I had ever dreamed,” she says.
In the last three years Nadine worked with preventative conservation at the Vancouver Art Gallery, surveyed totem poles at the Museum of Anthropology, worked on a collection of Turner paintings at the Tate Gallery (London) and on tombs at Westminster Abbey (London). At the moment, she is at the National Gallery of Canada completing her dissertation on the materials and techniques of artists of the Quebecois Automatiste Movement of the 40’s and 50’s.
She’s also been working during holidays for Vancouver private conservators Fraser Spafford Ricci Art and Archival Inc. She worked with the company on numerous paintings in their lab, as well as travelling to Regina with them last summer to help with the restoration of the Lehman mural in the parliament buildings.
“With them I’ve had the chance to experience the more practical aspects of conservation. Having a background in Art History is crucial to the field of Art Conservation and I feel that my education at UBC has been one of my most valuable assets,” she says.
