Helen Smith ACR is a preventive conservator with extensive experience working in historic houses, museums and galleries. Helen has worked across the full breadth of preventive conservation. She was a Senior Preventive Conservator for Historic Royal Palaces for a decade and a Preventive Conservator for Tate Galleries since 2011. Helen has run her business since 2007, trading as Helen Smith ACR.
“Preventive conservation is my vocation. Enabling our cultural heritage to not only survive but to be accessed and enjoyed without unnecessary damage, both now and into the future.”
Helen Smith ACR provides preventive conservation services across three main areas: Location Filming Conservation | Integrated Pest Management | Preventive Conservation.
Helen has a highly specialist interest in managing filming, photography & events in heritage places and has worked collaboratively with film crews in heritage buildings for almost 30 years, assisting on over 20 feature films and countless smaller film and photo projects.
Helen is also an active member of Pest Odyssey UK and has been on the steering group for many years. Helen’s enthusiasm and depth of knowledge in her areas of interest can be infectious and you may find yourself unexpectedly captivated by the life cycles of moths and beetles even while seeking to banish them from your collections.
Filming: advice | risk management | supervision
I support conservators, house and collection managers / owners to have the confidence to make good decisions about filming locations within their heritage places. I assist them to know when & how to get the help they need to keep their fragile cultural heritage assets safe while maintaining the artistic integrity of the production. I support film location managers to understand the opportunity and ramifications of their choosing a heritage location, and to ensure that they get the best opportunities for their filming.
Helen Smith ACR – Location Filming Conservator offers: Consultancy | Workshops | Training days for Heritage Professionals | Masterclasses for conservators (CPD) | Direct filming supervision | ALFFA [Assessing Locations For Filming Activities]
IPM: Integrated Pest Management
Integrated Pest Management is a holistic approach which aims to prevent and control pests in heritage buildings and collections through a combination of identification, monitoring, analysis, building maintenance and targeted treatments.
I am a steering group member of Pest Odyssey UK and have a keen interest in insect pest management for objects, museums & galleries and historic houses. I have set up insect pest monitoring schemes from scratch in several buildings. I am confident and practiced at identifying insect pests
I am very experienced in setting up and running insect pest monitoring programmes in historic houses and museums including Historic Royal Palaces, Tate Galleries and private clients.
Helen Smith ACR – Integrated Pest Management offers: IPM training, advice, practical pest monitoring and pest identification services.
Environment: Monitoring | Reporting | Management
My approach to environmental monitoring and control centres on making data accessible and understandable to all, both to meet statutory and best practice requirements and answer specific environmental questions. I am experienced in setting up and using a variety of environmental monitoring equipment, including the TESTO Wi-Fi monitoring system. I can provide one-off or ongoing environmental data reporting for my clients to meet their needs.
I have developed innovative methods for light monitoring with limited resources across large, complex sites. "Light Maps" and other data visualisation techniques are used as resources to aid collection care and display decisions, particularly in buildings with variable light levels. I enjoy teaching others about light science and lighting technology, an interest which spans both my filming and environmental monitoring work.
Helen Smith ACR – Preventive Conservator offers: advice on selecting suitable environmental monitoring equipment and software | an introduction to Light Mapping | processing and analysis of environmental data | clear, effective reports to meet client needs / statutory requirements
Integrated Pest Management
Helen Smith ACR – Specialist Preventive Conservator
Temperature measurement
Location Filming in Heritage Places