- Museums really work at keeping the past conserved and alive for a variety of reasons.

Why the objects are important goes to what it is to be human.

The stories we tell with these works of art delve into who we are as human beings and why we exist.

They examine a lot of the questions of what our lives mean.

So for me, when we look at the objects included here, it's this larger pageant of history.

And of course, in a world that is changing every day where truth is oftentimes blurred.

I think museums have a very important role as being bastions of truth and integrity and of history.

And of course, it's an old adage, but those who do not understand their history are doomed to repeat it.

Conservators and the way museums work with them helps ensure not only the preservation of the collection, but the beautiful appearance of the collection as well.

It's a really, really crucial role in museum practice.

There's a saying that if you love what you do, we don't work a single day in your life.

When I realized that I was suited to do something like that, this combination of science, problem-solving and dealing with art objects of incredible value.

It's just extremely an rewarding experience, and that's why I keep doing it every single day.

The art students and I realized that all my friends going straight to the fine academia of fine arts in Lisbon, my hometown in Portugal, we're not having fun.

And I came across, um, a flier about the first degree in art conservation in my country.

And 35 years later, here I am.

So what is a conservator?

Conservator saves all cultural heritage physically.

Trains in the graduation conservations program, specialize in particular kinds of material, in my case, sculpture and objects, and adhere to a strict ethical practice in their work that we call, we call the Code of Ethics.

- There's different forms of art.

He pointed out that he likes more physical media instead of paintings.

I think when we think of conservation, we think of paintings.

But he talked about what bronze sculpture might need.

Um, I never think of those things needing conservation because they're metal, they're sturdy, but they, they obviously do.

- I recently asked our contract conservator, Luis Seixas, to conserve our crest pole, which is a very beautiful object made by an artist of the First Nations, a Canadian artist.

Over time, it's gotten a little bit dirty and a little bit dingy because it's situated outside.

It was made to be shown outside, and the artist, I think, believes that it should deteriorate or live naturally.

And so as part of that process, the paint would weather it would maybe fade a little bit.

But of course, we're an art museum and we want to preserve things in perpetuity.

So I'd ask Luis recently to clean it and to conserve it.

- Quite often, a piece needs maintenance.

It depends on the object.

So outdoor sculpture probably.

And I've been doing conservation of public art for the city of St.

Petersburg.

I've been working for the museum and also here in circumstances where they have the objects in the outdoors exposed to the elements, especially bronzes, they should be at least washed, cleaned, and rewax to protect the bronze every six months, ideally.

Objects like this need to be, of course, vacuum cleaned.

Uh, any time that we would see that there's some changes in accumulation of dust, which happens because we have visitors so people will bring all these particles and atmosphere in the museum try to be as clean as possible, but there's.

Also, it varies depending on the setting and the type of artwork.

- These are the conservation steps mechanical cleaning.

Stabilization.

Solvent testing.

Chemical cleaning.

These infections or these infestations.

For biocontrol.

80% of the work is chemical cleaning.

And I do it with a cotton swab, occasionally with a brush.

And these are the main four families of solvents that we use.

Aqueous detergents, organic solvents, and gels when nothing else works.

And yes, we use saliva.

- I think art conservation is a nice combination of two very fundamental human activities: science and art.

The way we express ourselves.

But we need to bring in science to conserve and remember and care for those things.

And we're doing it all over the world.

- These are the conservation laws.

First one is respect for the original.

Conservation is not a creative act.

We try to use minimal intervention.

Less is more.

We try to use compatible materials to minimize the changes.

And probably the most important one is reversibility.

So every treatment and every material use has to be possible to remove in the future.

We don't aim for perfection.

We aim for a situation that's a specialist or someone that knows the object will be able to recognize what's the original and what's the 21st century restoration.

- One of the things that I think is so crucial for museums is showing how much we all have in common, how the threads that bind us together are also things that show the commonality of our thought and our cultures across the globe.

So I look at museums as having a very crucial role, and I hope that visitors take a lot away from our institution.

- Conservation is not the goal.

It's just one step in to minimize the damage on the objects.

But the object will likely, in the future, will be restored again for concerts.

Both of these objects will overlap.

That's right.

We're going to die.

And this object will be here, so someone will have to take care of them.

So what do we do?

It's what it's possible to be done with the knowledge and the materials we have at this point.

[music] - For more on Luis Seixas, visit sercaconservation.org and search his name.

See current exhibitions at mfastpete.org.