AIC's 52nd Annual Meeting

The Health and Safety Network is hosting a 2-hour lunch session with a 90-minute panel discussion on the often-unexpected mental health challenges that conservators face working in the cultural heritage sector. We all are entitled to a safe work environment, which not only means physically but also mentally. As part of the Health and Safety Network’s commitment to promote total worker health for AIC’s membership, we are currently working to better understand the mental stresses conservators face in the workplace and developing resources that meet the needs of the community. The goal of the luncheon is to share broader themes on the different challenges our members face. Mental health related to works of art themselves, collections, memorials, and to the structure of the field of conservation (e.g., competitive, instability, poor compensation, etc.) will be discussed. Dr. Stephanie N. Arel, has conducted research on trauma in memorial museums around the world, culminating in her recent book Bearing Witness: The Wounds of Mass Trauma at Memorial Museums. Dr. Arel will be on the panel to discuss her findings along with members of the Health and Safety Network who will present the preliminary results of conservator-based focus group discussions organized by the Network and moderated by Dr. Arel.

Dr. Mark Wilson from Purdue University and Dr. Holly Cusack-McVeigh from Indiana University Indianapolis, members of the American Industrial Hygiene Association’s (AIHA) Museum and Cultural Heritage Industry Working Group, will also present on their findings for a National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)-funded grant on the study of Stress and Psychological Trauma in Museum Workers. As May is National Mental Health Awareness Month, we hope this luncheon will create a supportive environment to better understand these issues, promote the need to recognize mental health as part of a safe and balanced workplace, and provide tools and resources to approach individual mental health needs.