Since 2019, conservators around the world have answered questions about their work on Ask a Conservator Day. The next Ask a Conservator Day will take place on Friday, November 3rd, 2023.
Ask a Conservator day is held in November in remembrance of the flooding of Florence on November 4th, 1966, which damaged priceless cultural heritage.
However, in response to the catastrophe, incredible efforts were made—and are still being undertaken—to conserve the items impacted by the flood. The disaster sparked many conservation careers as more people became aware of the field and the many aspects of preservation.
Ask a Conservator Day follows in the spirit of that international collaboration and exchange of knowledge. We acknowledge and celebrate the growth of the field inspired by the response to the flood by creating an opportunity for people to engage with conservators.
How to get involved
If you want to learn more about conservation:
Ask a Conservator Day is accessible from anywhere via social media. Simply ask your question using the hashtag #AskAConservator, and conservators will pick it up.
If you're a conservation professional:
Let people know you're taking part in Ask a Conservator Day, then follow the hashtag #AskAConservator throughout the day and answer your favourite questions. Find out more on the AIC website.
By using the hashtag #AskAConservator on social media platforms, we work to provide a holistic view of what conservation entails—everything from individual conservators working in private practice to multiple conservation departments at large institutions.
Ask us anything!
Our interim Chief Executive, Kate Frame, will be answering all your questions on the day.
Kate is a conservation graduate from the Institute of Archaeology, London.
She started her conservation career as first-in-post Head Conservator to establish a conservation programme for the City of Toronto’s heritage sites and outdoor monument and public art collections.
Concurrently she had a private practice in conserving outdoor bronze sculptures, architectural paint analysis and conservation in master plans.
Since 1998, Kate worked in England at Historic Royal Palaces' six sites, firstly establishing a preventive conservation programme, and then a joined-up programme out of the palaces’ newly amalgamated conservation functions – Conservation Housekeeping, the Textile Conservation Studio, and Scientific Research.
Kate Frame during her time as Head of Conservation at Historic Royal Palaces, examining the condition of the 1630s ceiling painting of the Banqueting House, 'The Apotheosis of James I', by Sir Peter Paul Rubens
By 2012-14, she had Palace Collections Management and Information Management added to her remit.
Until retiring in December 2020, Kate worked as Historic Royal Palace’s Head of Conservation at strategic level, planning, developing and sponsoring programmes to integrate conservation with revenue generation and increasingly with research, public education, and staff development.
Kate was also an ACR (Icon accredited Conservator-Restorer), and an Icon trustee for two terms.
She has spoken and published on conservation at international forums.
From May to November 2023, Kate has served as our Interim CEO to support business continuity between permanent CEOs.
