Smithsonian's Museum Conservation Institute

06/03/2025

MCI Researchers Help Recreate the World's Oldest Pigment

Jun 02 MCI Researchers Help Recreate the World’s Oldest Pigment Researchers at the Smithsonian’s Museum Conservation Institute have solved the mystery of “Egyptian Blue.” Imagine walking down the street and seeing a beautiful chocolate cake in the window. Simple and elegant, it’s ganache c...

04/29/2025

03/12/2025

Free Registration! What Will the Museums of the Future Hold? by Sanchita Balachandran, Winter BearKing, and Leila Grothe. Saturday, March 22 from 1:00 pm - 2:30 pm EST at The Peale in Baltimore, MD.

The Future of Here, an ongoing exhibition at the Peale Museum, gathers and presents imaginary artifacts from the everyday life of a future people that might one day inhabit the landscape of this city. By assembling these artifacts from the trash and debris we leave behind, the exhibit raises questio...

01/23/2025

Free Registration! Environments That Shape Us: Using Chemical Indicators to Understand the Diet and Climate Surrounding Human Evolution by MCI's Christine France on Thursday, February 20, 2025, 11:30 AM - 12:30 PM EST. https://www.si.edu/events/detail/?trumbaEmbed=view%3Devent%26eventid%3D179967710

12/20/2024

After Hurricane Helene, survivors have been in a race against time to protect family heirlooms, photographs and keepsakes, The Conversation, 12/20/24

Disaster recovery isn’t just about repairing bridges, roads and homes. Conservationists from the Smithsonian were on the ground in North Carolina helping families piece their lives back together.

12/06/2024

12/02/2024

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11/14/2024

Today we celebrate the work of the Army Monuments Officer Training (AMOT) program with a look back at AMOT participants touring the military history collections at the National Museum of American History. We look to the past to help us imagine the future.

The 2024 AMOT course begins today. The course is co-organized by the U.S. Army Civil Affairs and Psychological Operations Command (Airborne) and being hosted at the U.S. Army Peacekeeping and Stability Operations Institute at Carlisle Barracks, PA. The SCRI teaching team will join SCRI director, Cori Wegener, there next week. Stay tuned for more!

10/31/2024

[EVENT] RSVP for our event on Thursday, Nov. 7 to hear scholars from the Smithsonian Cultural Rescue Initiative discuss how Russia has threatened the cultural heritage of Ukraine and how the Cultural Rescue Initiative has bolstered the effort to protect Ukrainian identity. https://www.wilsoncenter.org/event/safeguarding-ukraines-cultural-heritage-russias-war-discussion-smithsonian-cultural-rescue

10/28/2024

On Monday, October 14, 2024, Shannon A. Brogdon-Grantham, Photograph and Paper Conservator, participated in the Paul R. Jones Annual Distinguished Lecture hosted by the University of Delaware Department of Art Conservation. The lecture was entitled "A Conversation about Cultural Heritage" and was a moderated discussion between Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie Bunch, LaStarsha McGarity (Director of The Legacy Museum at Tuskegee University) and Shannon.

The 2024 Paul R. Jones Annual Distinguished Lecture: "A Conversation about Cultural Heritage" with Lonnie G. Bunch IIILonnie G. Bunch III is the 14th Secretary of the Smithsonian. He assumed his position June 16, 2019. As Secretary, he oversees 21 muse​ums, 21 libraries, the National Zoo, numerous...

09/11/2024

The Smithsonian Institution's Museum Conservation Institute (MCI) has posted a position for a Paintings Conservator on USA jobs.

This is a full-time federal position with the opportunity for promotion.

For: federal employees with permanent status or individuals eligible for special appointing authorities:
MPA - https://www.usajobs.gov/GetJob/ViewDetails/808951700

For U.S. Citizens or U.S. Nationals:
DEU -https://www.usajobs.gov/GetJob/ViewDetails/808952200

MCI has a new Director, Dr. Sanchita Balachandran and is actively undergoing a mission, vision, and strategic planning process. Please consider applying to join an institution with a strong history and newly imagined future.

All applications are due by 10/02/2024.

The Smithsonian Institution is the world’s largest museum, education, and research complex, with 21 museums and the National Zoo.  This position is located in The Museum Support Center (MSC), the Museum Conservative Institute (MCI), Under Secretary for Science & Research. The MCI i...