In response to student interest and a gap in subject matter, the department of art, art history and design launched an art conservation track this fall to accompany the art history major. This track joins other art history offerings, including the major, major with honors, supplementary major and minor. Art history professor of the practice Elyse Speaks directs the department’s undergraduate studies.
According to Speaks, creating the track was about a year-long process and was inspired by the popularity of the cross listed art history and chemistry course titled “Only Connect Chemistry and Art.” The course is taught by chemistry associate teaching professor Bahram Moasser and art history professor Michael Schreffler.
“It is almost always our first class to fill these days, and students just really enjoy it. And so I thought, ‘Wow … this is an area that we should encourage,’” Speaks said. “And at the same time, I know how many of our students are interested in working at the museum and thinking about sort of the practical application of arts study … I started talking to people across campus, and the chemistry department was really excited to collaborate.”
The track includes classes across colleges, in both the College of Arts and Letters and the College of Science. When asked about difficulty collaborating across colleges, Speaks said there was none, only excitement.
“Everyone was very amenable and excited to think about ways to collaborate across the arts and sciences, and so I think they’re really excited,” Speaks said. “There’s a capstone project that our majors would do, and we already have our first major signed up, and the professors … in the sciences are really excited to potentially be advisers for these projects and to work more closely with students who are housed in Arts and Letters.”
As opposed to the regular art history major which is 30 credit hours, the major with the track is 45 credit hours. The major and track require students to take eight art history courses, two studio art courses, organic chemistry and the corresponding lab, three other science courses with corresponding labs and a capstone project or internship.
“This is a track that kind of allows you to explore both avenues and potentially might lead to some kind of conservation position, but really is meant to generate a conversation between the arts and sciences at Notre Dame,” Speaks said.
According to Speaks, she designed the track with practical considerations, such as requirements for art conservation master’s programs, in mind.
“We have a student who went through our program, who just finished a master's in art conservation at NYU, and so I've been talking to her quite a bit about what the most useful classes that she took at Notre Dame were, and that’s largely how I designed the coursework,” Speaks said.
Very few universities offer undergraduate art conservation programs, with the University of Delaware being one of them. Junior Rocío Colón-Cotto, who is majoring in art history and Chinese with a minor in studio art, was considerate of this when applying to undergraduate schools. Ultimately, Colón-Cotto decided to attend Notre Dame because she was unsure if she would like art conservation and wanted to attend a school where other programs were “well-known” as well.
Colón-Cotto received an email about the track opening this past fall after discussing art conservation graduate school requirements the prior school year with Speaks. While Colón-Cotto is on the track, she noted she is still not entirely sure about her future in art conservation.
“I think my interest in it stems from the fact that I love museum work. I’m passionate about museums. I love studio art. I love making art. And I kind of am curious about how I can put those two together,” Colón Cotto said. “And in my head, the best way to kind of contribute to preservation of cultural patrimony and museum work is through my studio art skills, and then through art conservation, I can bridge those two things together.”
Although Colón-Cotto’s prior art history and studio art courses made switching into the track easier, she will not take the track’s four required science courses and labs until next school year. Colón-Cotto was abroad in London in the fall, so she was unable to take any science courses this spring because of the sequencing that accompanies the courses.
“It is daunting in the sense that I’m in my junior year, and I haven’t taken a hardcore science course since … junior year of high school. So, it’s starting up again,” Colón-Cotto said. “I need to learn how to learn science, and I can only do that my senior year.”
Colón-Cotto has not, however, taken her University science and technology requirements, so two of the track’s science courses will count towards the core curriculum.
“It’s just daunting in the sense that I have to fit in four science courses with labs my senior year of Notre Dame,” Colón-Cotto said. “But since it’s a career I'm genuinely interested in, it’s something I'm willing to sacrifice.”
Freshman Francie Surdyke arrived at Notre Dame with a plan to double major in physics and art history. However, this semester, Surdyke switched out of the College of Science and into the College of Arts and Letters as just an art history major.
Surdyke discovered the art conservation track on the department’s website when she was considering switching majors.
“It's a good sort of midway point, and having that first semester in College of Science has kind of helped because I've got a head start on some of those science courses that you need to take in a specific order,” Surdyke said.
Surdyke plans to attend graduate school for a degree in art conservation. Most art conservatorships require individuals to have received their master’s degrees.
“I’ve always found the idea interesting, and I always liked the idea of getting into art conservation and working in a museum, maybe,” Surdyke said. “So this seemed like the best way to do that. And I’ve always loved art, and this is more practical … My parents feel better about an art history degree than a studio.”
With all that talk of the future however, the art conservation track is only in its first year and has only a few students actually on it.
“It’s a bit nerve wracking, but I think it’s also going to be cool, just because we’ll get to build it out to see what works best,” Surdyke said, “It’s just gonna be an interesting experience to figure it out alongside Rocío and professor Speaks and everything.”
Colón-Cotto also expressed optimism about the new academic track.
“I just hope it’s a program that continues to develop over time and that it’s something that Notre Dame keeps and something they can be proud of in the future because I think it’s a very important field that doesn’t get enough attention,” Colón-Cotto said. “And there’s not a lot of places in the US that offer undergraduate opportunities to delve into art conservation, so it’s really cool that we get to be one of those first, or some of the only institutions that are kind of like making paths for people interested.”
