A donation by one of the university’s most generous benefactors – Isabel Bader, LLD’07 – is going to help Queen’s students improve their skills when it comes to conserving works of art and our heritage.
Bader is donating nine microscopes to the Artefact conservation laboratory.
The new Leica S9i microscopes are more powerful and versatile than the ones previously used by students. They have a high depth of focus and up to 60 times magnification. Another important feature of the new microscopes is their connectivity – images and videos can be recorded with the integrated camera or shared live to screens in the laboratory or online for teaching sessions. These features enable the students to develop industry-leading skills, and document and share their work in publications and with people in the art community.
“We are so excited about these microscopes,” says Art Conservation Assistant Professor Patricia Smithen. “They enable us to see more details on objects while we are treating them, monitor what we can do, and improve our techniques.”
The new microscopes will better prepare students for their careers in museums and galleries around the world.
Smithen, who joined Queen’s Art Conservation department four years ago, has experienced the impact of the Bader family’s transformational investments in art scholarship at the university, including their transformational $40-million USD gift gift to revitalize the Agnes Etherington Art Centre.
“I cannot understate how important (the Bader family is) for the Art Conservation program,” says Smithen. “Basically, what they have done is set us up for success in the future. (Queen’s Art Conservation program is) coming up to our 50th anniversary, and their support is leading us into the next 50 years of producing highly talented conservators for the country.”
Isabel Bader’s gift is in honour of the Bader family’s personal art collection conservators, Charles Munch and Jane Furchgott.
