From September 16-18, 2024, the Bay Area Art Conservation Guild and History San Jose proudly cohosted a 3-day Plastics Identification Workshop that brought together 17 participants including: archivists, collection managers, heads of preservation, collectors, and conservators, from across the greater Bay Area Region, Houston, Saint Louis, Pittsburg and New York City. Held onsite at History San Jose and taught by Carien van Aubel and Olivia van Rooijen, the workshop was designed as part of Project Plastics. Developed and coordinated in 2017-2019 by numerous cultural institutions in the Netherlands, Project Plastics brought together scientists and collection managers with the goal of developing a "DIY" method for identifying plastics in collections. This resulted in the development of the Plastics Identification Toolkit and the digital Plastics Identification Tool. Used together, the toolkit and digital questionnaire tool help users to identify plastics and in conjunction with on-going monitoring of their condition, make informed decisions on how best to preserve the plastic objects in their care.
The first 2 days of the workshop included an overview into plastics, the different types of plastics, how they were historically developed and used, methods of manufacturing, and how to characterize different plastics using all the senses- sight, sound, touch, and smell. These new skills of characterizing plastics were then put to the test using the Plastics Identification Toolkit alongside the digital Plastics Identification Tool where known and unknown samples of plastics were examined closely, touched, and smelled. The participants' new knowledge and skills were then further reinforced on day 3 when everyone broke into 4 groups and immersed themselves into examining and identifying plastic objects from the collection of History San Jose. Each group was able to provide possible plastic identification for each object presented, notes on current condition, and suggestions for long-term preservation for several objects within the collections.
BAACG would like to extend a huge thank you to the staff at History San Jose for providing the lecture space and access to their collection during the 3-day workshop and a thank you to Carien and Olivia for sharing their knowledge and expertise with the participants. To learn more about the history of Project Plastics, available workshops, and further information regarding purchasing the Plastics Identification Toolkit and access to the free digital Plastics Identification Tool please visit: https://plastic-en.tool.cultureelerfgoed.nl/info/project
To learn more about the collection at History San Jose and upcoming events visit: https://historysanjose.org
To learn more about the Bay Area Conservation Guild, membership, and upcoming events please visit: https://www.baacg.org
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