About

Art Conservation de Rigueur et Anoxia Abatement Solutions announces the expansion of our private practice. We are now providing Emergency and Disaster Preparedness and Recovery, Conservation Museum Assessment, Integrated Pest Management, Mold and Microbial Abatement and Remediation both in quarantined in-situ environments and remote. These complement the other complete conservation services we offer for the care and presentation of a wide variety of historic objects, antiques and contemporary Textiles, Paintings, Sculpture, Rare Books, and Works on Paper. Our new conservation studio offers a greater capacity to work concurrently on multiple projects and accommodate objects of a much larger scale. Our practice serves museums, historical and cultural institutions, private collectors, galleries, architects, and designers in the U.S. and internationally. Uniquely, we work in close collaboration with custom mount crafters, framers, curators, research historians, ASA appraisers and other specialized conservators to meet the specific needs of each client.

Conservation is the application of technical, scientific, and artistic analysis to the preservation and treatment of Textiles, Paintings, Sculpture, Rare Books, and Works on Paper, and Historical Objects and Artifacts. Art Conservation de Rigueur provides professionally skilled care for collectors and institutions, some of these service include, but are not limited to, condition surveys, treatment recommendations, repairs, exhibition and display design, mount preparation and fabrication, cleaning, restoration, archival storage and environmental management. We consult with architects in the design of exhibit and storage facilities, lighting, HVAC systems and other aspects as they pertain to the housing and display of artistic and historic works. Our experienced approach combine the finest traditional materials, old world craftsmanship, and aesthetic sensibilities, with state of the art archival and conservation science and technology methods to produce truly museum quality conservation and restoration for a broad classification and origin of artistic works.

Deterioration, degradation and damage due to age, environment, accident, or mishandling is a fact of life with all artwork, as it is with all physical objects. Conservation treatments are a means by which these detrimental processes can be slowed down in an attempt to preserve the cultural heritage and significance of an object for the benefit of present and future generations. Damage and neglect disfigure art. While, restorative treatments return objects to their former integrity. The best way to sustain and extend the life of any valuable is to improve its environment. Our projects range from the minute to the grand, whether you possess a single work, family heirloom or are the caretaker of a comprehensive collection, we will work with you to devise a practical conservation strategy.

Selected Clients and Workshop Participants

Current Memberships & Professional Affiliations

• AAM – American Association of Museums
• AASLH – American Association for State and Local History
• AIC – American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works
  • EO – Ethnographic Objects Group
  • OSG – Objects Specialty Group
  • PSG – Painting Specialty Group
  • TSG – Textile Specialty Group
  • WAG – Wood Art Objects Group
• BAACG – Bay Area Art Conservation Guild, Current Elected Board of Directors 2015-2018, 2018-2021
• CAM – California Association of Museums
• CCHS – Conference of California History Societies
• CIPP – Conservators in Private Practice
• COMPT – Committee on Museum Professional Training
• CSA – Costume Society of America – Western Regional Board of Directors, Program & Events Chair 2009-2018
• CURCOM – Curators Committee
• IIC – International Institute for Conservation
• ICOM-CC – International Council on Museums-Conservation Committee, Textile Working Group, Paintings Working Group, New Materials
• REGST – Registrars Committee
• TAC – Textile Arts Council, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco
• TEPIC – Traveling Exhibits Professional Interest Committee
• TSA – Textile Society of America
• WAAC – Western Association for Art Conservation

Related Links

The American Association of Museums (AAM)
The American Institute For the Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works (AIC)
Association of Registrars and Collections Specialists (ARCS)
Conservators in Private Practice (CIPP)
Conservation Online (CoOL)
The Canadian Conservation Institute (CCI)
The Bay Area Art Conservation Guild (BAACG)
The Western Association of Art conservation (WAAC)
Heritage Preservation, the National Institute for Conservation
The Getty Conservation Institute (GCI)
The American Society of Appraisers (ASA)
The Costume Society of America (CSA)
The Textile Society of America (TSA)

About The American Institute for Conservation (AIC)

In striving to achieve this goal, conservation professionals assume certain obligations to the cultural property, to its owners and custodians, to the conservation profession, and to society as a whole. This document, the Code of Ethics and Guidelines for Practice of the American Institute for Conservation (AIC), sets forth the principles that guide conservation professionals and others who are involved in the care of cultural property.  The conservation professional should use the following guidelines and supplemental commentaries together with the code in the pursuit of ethical practice. The commentaries are separate documents that amplify the code and accommodate growth and change in the field.

Elise Rousseau – Director and Principal Conservator

Elise Yvonne Rousseau is the Director and Principal Conservator at ACdR Conservation in San Francisco. She did her graduate studies in Conservation Sciences abroad in Brussels, Belgium at the Institute Royal de Patrimoine Artistique (IRPA- KIK) Cultural Heritage and further Textile Disciplines at the Karlshrue Archdiocese Schule der Künste in Ettlingen, Germany. She also has a M.A. in Museum Studies, and 18.5 post graduate credits focused in Mycology from the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, Albany, New York, at the 6th Annual International Scientific Conference on Bioaerosols, Fungi, Bacteria, Mycotoxins in Indoor & Outdoor Environments and Human Health.

In 1999 she established the atelier Art Conservation de Rigueur et Anoxia Abatement Solutions, now simply ACdR Conservation this large multi-disciplinary conservation practice in San Francisco specializing Textiles, Paintings, Historic Objects, Decorative Arts, Books and Paper. Providing Emergency and Disaster Preparedness, Conservation Assessment, Integrated Pest Management, Mold and Microbial Abatement, Remediation and Recovery both in quarantined environments in-situ and remote. These complement the other complete conservation services for the cleaning, care, repair, preservation and presentation of a wide variety of artifacts and objects. Ms. Rousseau and her staff mentor and train 4-6 pre-program and post graduate interns from around the globe, each year for the past decade in their nine month hands-on experience practicum program. Ms. Rousseau is also a guest instructor at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, teaching textile conservation and collections care in the William H. Hannon Library and Archives Special Collections. Elise is currently serving her third elected term of office on the Costume Society of America’s Western Region Boards of Directors and her second term with the Board of the Bay Area Art Conservation Guild.

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