Professional Associate, American Institute for Conservation (AIC)

Daniel Lane has extensive experience in the assessment, treatment, and preservation design of historic structures and monuments.  His resume includes the design and management of the exterior restoration of Olana State Historic Site in New York State as well as extensive experience on landmarked structures and sites in the New York metropolitan area, including Ellis Island and Governor’s Island.  In addition to conservation, he has directed many multi-disciplinary teams of restoration professionals as project manager on jobs throughout the east coast of the United States, focusing on masonry and wood conservation on landmarked structures.  He holds a MS in historic preservation from Columbia University’s Graduate Program in Historic Preservation (2000), and is a Professional Associate with the American Institute for Conservation (AIC).

Education:

2000 MS, Historic Preservation, Columbia University

1992 BA, History, Boston University

 Ryan Greene’s passion for history, design, and materials led him to pursue a career in conservation. Through his experience conserving a broad array of artifacts, ranging from19th-century decorative sculpture to mid-century interiors, he has gained expertise in treatment applications, conservation materials, and preservation strategies for buildings, monuments, decorative objects, and art. Prior to joining Conservation Solutions, Greene managed the treatment plan for historic furniture, interiors, and art objects at a respected conservation studio in Chicago, Illinois. He freelanced as a conservator for well-known interior designers and conservation firms, including CSI. Greene holds a Bachelor of Fine Art in sculpture from the Maine College of Art and a Master of Science in historic preservation from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. He joined CSI in 2011.

Education:

MS Historic Preservation, The School of the Art Institute of Chicago

BFA Sculpture, Maine College of Art

 Jacquelyn Gulick has been involved in the field of historic preservation and monument conservation since 2002.  Her interest in historic preservation began as an undergraduate intern for Eastern State Penitentiary, a National Register Historic Site and Museum located in Philadelphia, PA where she gave tours and accessioned an archives collection.  Prior to joining Conservation Solutions, Inc., in summer 2010, Jacquelyn worked as a Preservation Technician for the Roundhouse Railroad Museum in Savannah, GA.  While a historic preservation graduate student at the Savannah College of Art and Design, Jacquelyn interned with the New York City Park and Recreation, Citywide Monument Conservation Program; the City of Savannah Cemetery Conservation Department; and the Smithsonian Institute, National Air and Space Museum. 

 As an Assistant Conservator and Project Manager for Conservation Solutions, Inc., Jacquelyn has had the opportunity to work on a wide range of projects including; the conservation treatment of the outdoor sculpture collection located on the University of Virginia Grounds, the restoration of the limestone façade on the Veteran’s Administration Building in Washington, DC, and the restoration of exterior bronze window mullions and spandrel panels on the National Academy of Sciences Building in Washington, DC. 

 Education:

2008 MFA in Historic Preservation, Savannah College of Art and Design, Savannah, GA

2004 BA in History/Art History, College of Wooster, Wooster, OH

Delbarton School, Morristown, NJ

Conservation Solutions (CSI) treated four over life-sized Italian Baroque stone sculptures at the Delbarton School in New Jersey. Installed at the Luther Kountz country estate in the late 19th century, they are attributed to Giovanni Marchiori, active in the Veneto in the mid-eighteenth century. Carved from Vicenza stone, they were installed with other classical-themed works throughout the Italianate gardens before its conversion to first a monastery before its current use as a school.

 The sculptures had accumulated significant and disfiguring soiling and biological growth from their exposure to the outdoor environment. Cracks and minor losses, as were specific areas of deep loss, and structural and/or aesthetic failure of previous repairs were endemic. 

CSI cleaned and conserved the sculptures in 2011. General and detail cleaning were performed to remove the soiling and bio-growth. Failed previous repairs were removed or reworked. Friable stone was consolidated through the use of a slurry coat, larger fragments were reattached, and elements that required additional internal support were pinned using the appropriate system. Significant losses– those on skyward-facing surfaces that could become water catch-points and voids from pinning campaigns– were selected for patching with sympathetic color-matched mortar. Conservators also injected cracks and repointed the joints of the plinth.

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Vizcaya Museum and Gardens, Miami, FL

The Vizcaya Museum and Gardens is engaged in a multi-year plan to preserve its collections of outdoor sculpture, which include these three lead sculptures. They depict the Commedia dell’arte figures of Pulchinello and Harlequin, and Narcissus, a popular image from Greek mythology (depicted here with a shepherd’s crook). Like other lead sculptures at the site, the hollow castings are vulnerable to damage in the sub-tropical environment.

All three lead sculptures had become distorted as the lead sagged and deformed. Without an internal support system, the lead skin was unable to resist sagging under its own weight.  In addition, inappropriate repairs of hurricane damage introduced new and difficult to reverse materials and problems while not undoing many of the distortions. The accumulation of deformations and previous interventions left the sculptures with a very unsatisfactory appearance and unstable condition.

Conservation Solutions, Inc. (CSI) was contracted to remove all previous repairs, clean the sculptures, install internal stainless steel armatures without introducing new damages, and restore them to their historic appearance. The works were shipped to the District Heights, MD facility, where surface accumulations, concrete, fiberglass, and synthetic resins were removed using a combination of hand and power tools, micro-air abrasion and acid baths. Internal armatures were designed and installed to support the weight of each statue using existing holes and access points.  A new base and crook were created for Narcissus. Cracks and previous losses were filled with solder and lead sheets.  At the completion of work, a patina was chemically developed on the surface and they were re-installed in their original locations.

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Vizcaya Museum and Gardens, Miami, FL

Vizcaya Museum & Gardens located in Miami, Florida, contains the largest collection of Italian outdoor sculpture in the United States. The collection has suffered the ravages of tropical storms and hurricanes over the past 100 years. Grants from the Tiffany & Company Foundation, the federal government’s Save America’s Treasures program, and funds from Miami-Dade County are supporting the multi-year outdoor sculpture conservation project. Conservation Solutions, Inc. (CSI) was selected for the contract and the first phase of work began in December 2009 to restore the sculptures, fountains and architectural elements throughout the garden.

These two monumental Gateways which flank the entrance façade of the villa are embellished with 16th century Italian architectural elements. The Rosso di Verona marble archways and cornices, and cream colored limestone trophies were purchased in Europe and shipped to Vizcaya where they were incorporated into Chalfin’s design. The gateway itself is constructed from local Florida coral limestone, including the additional seahorse and urn sculptures atop the attic.

Treatment of the gateways included cleaning to remove atmospheric soiling and biological growth followed by thorough documentation and inspection, after which all joints were raked and repointed, stone losses were patched or repaired with new coral stone dutchman. Trophies required partial disassembly to remove failed and inappropriate repairs, poultice cleaning to remove deeply set stains, followed by reassembly, patching and surface stabilization. The marble cornice and arches required injection grouting of cracks, patching of losses, and the application of a renewable stone color enhancer to revive the weathered surface of the marble.

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Washington, DC

The National Academy of Sciences is located along the National Mall in Washington, D.C. Designed by Bertram Goodhue, it was completed in 1924. Intended to stand as a “Temple of Science”, this classically-inspired building makes numerous historic references, seen in the Greek-text entablature, anthemia crenellation along the roofline, and relevance to the nearby Lincoln Memorial. The monumental white marble building is enlivened by a sophisticated decorative scheme, both inside and out. Most notably, this includes the substantial use of decorative bronze doors, windows, and grilles.

However, after decades of exposure, exterior bronze patinas had begun to degrade or fail. Several additions to the building in the 1960s-70s left the building-wide decorative scheme looking inconsistent. Previous efforts to clean and/or selectively re-patinate metals significantly disrupted the extant finishes. An obvious faux finish on interior grilles even brought into question the material used for the metalwork.

Conservation Solutions, Inc. (CSI) was contracted to perform the treatment of the bronze elements, following a 2009 project to investigate the finishes  and prepare mock-ups. All surfaces were cleaned of surface dust and soiling, after which loose corrosion products were scrubbed in preparation for patination. Hot and/or cold patina chemicals of specifically designed formulation were then carefully applied in successive layers to achieve the desired appearance. A high-performance outdoor grade lacquer was spray-applied. Treatment for the pair of doors was modified to remove the bronze-colored paint and then a protective clear coating was applied.

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Vizcaya Museum and Garden, Maimi, FL

The Sutri Fountain, constructed in 1722 for the town on the outskirts of Rome, is made of native Tivoli travertine in a design attributed to the Late Baroque architect Filippo Barigioni. The fountain was disassembled in 1908 in favor of a smaller fountain, whereby it was purchased by James Deering and transported to the U.S. to  become a centerpiece of the garden at Vizcaya, his bay-side estate in Miami, Florida. Today the Sutri Fountain is the focal point of the appropriately named Fountain Garden at Vizcaya Museum and Gardens, surrounded by a cadre of Italian Renaissance sculptures.

The fountain was plagued by various types of biological soiling common to the tropical environment, mineral staining due to lack of water filtration, as well as erosion from years of operation. It had also been subjected to several repair campaigns of a range of craftsmanship and appropriateness. The opening of cracks in the basin walls and basin floor raised serious structural concerns, continued operation of the fountain into question. 

Conservation Solutions, Inc. (CSI) was contracted to perform the work on Sutri Fountain as part of a multi-year project to restore outdoor sculpture at Vizcaya. Treatment of the fountain began with overall cleaning to remove soiling followed by further investigation and testing to develop appropriate cleaning methods for persistent mineral staining. Repairs to the travertine elements included stone patching, new travertine dutchamn, crack injection and internally pinning to repair broken elements. To address larger structural concerns, an engineering investigative was performed to assist in determining the scope of work required to repair the primary fountain basin. The final scope included: complete disassembly of the primary basin walls; demolition of the existing concrete basin floor slab; integration of new piping chaseways; removal and replacement of coral stone molding stones; pinning and reinstallation of the basin walls; and pouring of a new concrete basin slab. Water spray jets were replaced with lower volume heads and a new plumbing manifold was installed. The lead lions final was repaired.  Throughout the project CSI worked closely with the Museum Curator and Collections Staff to realize their goals of preservation of the fountain.

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Fort Belvoir, Fairfax County, VA

Four historic bronze cannons face the parade grounds of the historic campus at Fort Belvoir. Two feature beautifully sculpted high reliefs and raised inscriptions in Dutch which date to 1626. The cannons were cast at a foundry in Middleburg, the Netherlands, in 1626 and 1628 by Michael Burgerhuys. They were given to Japan in the late 17th Century as Japan was a trading partner with the Dutch East Indies Co. The Japanese installed them in a coastal battery and the cannons bear Japanese characters indicating they were guns number 13 and 15 of the Sky or Heaven battery. The U.S. Army acquired possession of the cannons after World War II.  They were transported to the States and installed outside Abbot Hall in 1978. The others are enlivened with elegant engraved decorations and date to1793.

Conservation Solutions, Inc. (CSI) assessed the cannons and performed the necessary conservation treatment. Each was thoroughly cleaned of failed coatings and loose corrosion. Variations in coloration were mitigated with chemical patination. A custom formulated wax coating with corrosion inhibitors was applied to all surfaces after heating with torches . Each was then buffed. The barrel ends were sealed with neoprene tampions to prevent water ingress and future deterioration.

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The Sterne Fountain was commissioned by the Sterne family in 1924, a prominent family in Littleton, Colorado in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. This cast stone fountain was designed by Jacques Benedict, a Beaux-Arts-educated architect working in the American west and himself a Littleton resident.  The fountain is composed of a central square column topped with a decorative urn, flanked by two low wings bearing a dedication to the Sternes’ daughter, who died at a young age.  A cast lion overlooks the fountain basin.  The fountain was moved from its original location to the War Memorial Rose Garden in 1988, and now faces a park named for another Sterne patriarch.  

 The fountain exhibited a level of soiling and deterioration commensurate with its age and level of exposure.  The fountain is subjected to the harsh environmental extremes of both the Colorado summers and winters.  Pervasive soiling had accumulated, mortar joints had opened, and old inappropriate repairs had failed.  The cast stone exhibited extensive surface delamination as well as sizable dimensional losses. 

 Conservation Solutions, Inc. (CSI) was contracted to perform an assessment of the fountain, along with a brief survey of the water feed lines.  Based on the conditions identified on-site, a treatment plan was designed and implemented. The fountain was cleaned with gentle detergents and biocides to reduce general atmospheric soiling and biological growth.  Micro-abrasion, using a fine-milled glass, was used to remove the remaining soiling and hard water deposits. Mortar joints were cut out and re-pointed with an appropriate historic pointing mortar.  Detached pieces of cast stone which were considered salvageable were reattached using a combination of a lime-based adhesive and mechanical pinning.  Areas of cast stone loss or inappropriate previous repairs were carefully prepared and patched with a conservation repair mortar and sculpted to match adjacent surfaces.  Cracks and fissures were cleaned and injected with a custom color-matched lime-based grout as needed.

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