AIC's 52nd Annual Meeting

The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art is preparing 201 ancient Cypriot artifacts for permanent installation in the historic Museum of Art building in Sarasota, FL. This installation will constitute the first significant and extensively researched and interpreted exhibition at our museum, highlighting a small portion of the over 3,000 antiquities in the collection, which is the third largest collection of its kind in North America. A majority of these objects were purchased by John Ringling in the late 1920s from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, which was deaccessioning a portion of their extensive collection of ancient Cypriot art excavated by Luigi Palma di Cesnola in the late 19th century. The aim of this paper is to present an overview of the goals of the Cypriot Conservation Project and how it fits within the context of a busy and vibrant museum program, as well as highlight the various challenges and successes that have presented themselves amidst other institutional priorities and a demanding staff workload. These challenges include managing unexpected shifts in the overall project timeline and funding, balancing other demands on staff time, and the availability of contracted conservators to assist. In addition, shifts in treatment approach based on research, collaboration, examination, and preliminary testing, and their impact on the overall installation design will also be discussed. Finally, the primary author will reflect on her experience managing the conservation end of this complex project and lessons learned while preparing these extraordinary and unique objects for display.