{"id":646252,"date":"2025-04-10T17:39:06","date_gmt":"2025-04-10T21:39:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/?p=646252"},"modified":"2025-04-10T17:39:06","modified_gmt":"2025-04-10T21:39:06","slug":"review-spring-2025-kasia-maroney-art-conservation-646252","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/review-spring-2025-kasia-maroney-art-conservation-646252\/","title":{"rendered":"Material world"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kasia Maroney \u201992, an art conservator for museums and private clients, restores priceless objects to their full glory.<\/h2>\n
\n

The following interview has been edited and condensed and appears in the spring 2025 issue of <\/em>Rochester Review, the magazine of the\u00a0University of Rochester<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

\n
\n

K<\/b>asia Maroney \u201992<\/b><\/h3>\n

Home:<\/b> Ithaca, New York<\/p>\n

Art conservator supporting 11 museums, including the University\u2019s Memorial Art Gallery<\/a>, with three decades\u2019 experience working with sculptures, frames, ceramic, plaster, marble, ivory, metal, and wood.<\/p>\n

Majors at Rochester:<\/b> Art history and psychology<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

I\u2019ve always had a hard time choosing between art and science. <\/b>I started at Rochester as premed but also grew up in a pottery studio, watching my parents work. That efficiency with materials is in my blood.<\/p>\n

I studied abroad as a junior with an internship at Christie\u2019s London art auction house. <\/b>During my senior year, I was student director of the Hartnett Gallery and led a truly ambitious exhibition schedule. What has stuck with me the most is how much I value the physicality and three-dimensionality of sharing space with artwork.<\/p>\n

\"Kasia
A NEW LEAF:<\/strong> Kasia Maroney is pictured with Jean Arp\u2019s bronze sculpture \u201cLeaf on Crystal\u201d during a visit to the Memorial Art Gallery. (University of Rochester photo \/ J. Adam Fenster)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

During graduate school at Boston University, I made sure to intern and take classes at as many museums as I could, like Harvard\u2019s Peabody Museum and the Museum of Fine Arts, getting to know a few incredible collections really well.<\/b> I eventually chose to specialize in the treatment of objects, which rhymes a bit with medicine, because it involves a hands-on and scientifically grounded set of steps that aim to diagnose agents of deterioration and slow them down. I\u2019m treating objects instead of patients, and materials behave predictably. Whether a piece of ceramic is 20 or 1,000 years old, the process can often be the same.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve treated work by famous artists, but my favorite objects are usually the ancient ones. <\/b>The oldest thing I\u2019ve worked on was a carved stone fertility figure from present-day Chile that was 4,500 years old. You could tell this figure was designed for a human hand to hold. Its maker was still very present, even though we have no idea who that person is. Treating that kind of work is such an honor.<\/p>\n

\"Two
HANDLE WITH CARE:<\/strong> Kasia Maroney most enjoys treating ancient objects such as this oxidized bronze figure of Nefertem from ancient Egypt. (University of Rochester photo \/ J. Adam Fenster)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

My private clients sometimes bring me objects that have personal, but not always financial, value. Every object has a story, and often they are all we have left of a time, place, or person. <\/b>I once repaired a wedding cake topper that my client thought was plaster. It had been on her grandmother\u2019s cake, and she wanted to use it on hers. It turned out to be made of sugar! There\u2019s no academic reference for treating a sugar sculpture, so I had to use my judgment, which told me to treat it like a piece of unfired earthenware. I love unusual challenges like this because they test my problem-solving skills.<\/p>\n

I have cleaned blood, urine, and graffiti off material. <\/b>I have replaced noses, toes, and fingers. I have been handed smashed marble busts and boxes of broken glass. I\u2019ve had to take apart and reconstruct artists\u2019 work because it\u2019s not holding up as they had intended. And before I even begin my assessment, there\u2019s always a part of my brain that says to the artwork and artist: \u201cI\u2019ve got you; it\u2019s going to be OK.\u201d If I do my job well, I should be able to brush away any evidence that I was ever there. It\u2019s very humbling. And to me, that\u2019s fulfilling\u2014to hold such intimate confidence and honor the intention of a work of art\u2014to put things right, then step fully back and away.<\/p>\n

\"Art
KNOCK ON WOOD:<\/strong> Kasia Maroney examines Louise Nevelson\u2019s 1958 sculpture \u201cTotem,\u201d crafted from reclaimed wood. (University of Rochester photo \/ J. Adam Fenster)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

There\u2019s a set of professional ethics that govern my field, which involves keeping treatments as reversible as possible, documenting every step that\u2019s taken, not adding more new material than is necessary, and keeping the original material intact, with respect for its natural aging.<\/b> The key to not over restoring is stating clearly where the end point of the treatment is before we even begin. From there, we plan every step. I tend to be very conservative about conservation, reminding clients that less is more. After treating well over a thousand objects, I continue to believe that restraint is the most mature quality I can bring to a treatment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

University of Rochester graduate Kasia Maroney \u201992 talks about her career as an art conservator restoring priceless objects to their full glory.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1402,"featured_media":646802,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[41112],"tags":[42,20522,18592,936,16072],"class_list":["post-646252","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-from-the-magazine","tag-alumni","tag-department-of-art-and-art-history","tag-department-of-psychology","tag-memorial-art-gallery","tag-school-of-arts-and-sciences"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nMaterial world<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"University of Rochester graduate Kasia Maroney talks about her career as an art conservator restoring priceless objects to their full glory.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/review-spring-2025-kasia-maroney-art-conservation-646252\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Material world\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"University of Rochester graduate Kasia Maroney talks about her career as an art conservator restoring priceless objects to their full glory.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/review-spring-2025-kasia-maroney-art-conservation-646252\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"News Center\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-04-10T21:39:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/fea-kasia-maroney-illustration-1200x630.jpeg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"630\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Melissa Pheterson\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Melissa Pheterson\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/review-spring-2025-kasia-maroney-art-conservation-646252\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/review-spring-2025-kasia-maroney-art-conservation-646252\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Melissa Pheterson\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/14a51433abfbe8287eb08a9a15d182e4\"},\"headline\":\"Material world\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-04-10T21:39:06+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/review-spring-2025-kasia-maroney-art-conservation-646252\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":815,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/review-spring-2025-kasia-maroney-art-conservation-646252\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/04\\\/fea-kasia-maroney-illustration.jpeg\",\"keywords\":[\"alumni\",\"Department of Art and Art History\",\"Department of Psychology\",\"Memorial Art Gallery\",\"School of Arts and Sciences\"],\"articleSection\":[\"From the Magazine\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/review-spring-2025-kasia-maroney-art-conservation-646252\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/review-spring-2025-kasia-maroney-art-conservation-646252\\\/\",\"name\":\"Material world\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/review-spring-2025-kasia-maroney-art-conservation-646252\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/review-spring-2025-kasia-maroney-art-conservation-646252\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/04\\\/fea-kasia-maroney-illustration.jpeg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-04-10T21:39:06+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/14a51433abfbe8287eb08a9a15d182e4\"},\"description\":\"University of Rochester graduate Kasia Maroney talks about her career as an art conservator restoring priceless objects to their full glory.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/review-spring-2025-kasia-maroney-art-conservation-646252\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/review-spring-2025-kasia-maroney-art-conservation-646252\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/review-spring-2025-kasia-maroney-art-conservation-646252\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/04\\\/fea-kasia-maroney-illustration.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/04\\\/fea-kasia-maroney-illustration.jpeg\",\"width\":2000,\"height\":1200,\"caption\":\"Illustration by David Cowles\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/review-spring-2025-kasia-maroney-art-conservation-646252\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Material world\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/\",\"name\":\"News Center\",\"description\":\"University of Rochester\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/14a51433abfbe8287eb08a9a15d182e4\",\"name\":\"Melissa Pheterson\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/author\\\/mpheterson\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Material world","description":"University of Rochester graduate Kasia Maroney talks about her career as an art conservator restoring priceless objects to their full glory.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/review-spring-2025-kasia-maroney-art-conservation-646252\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Material world","og_description":"University of Rochester graduate Kasia Maroney talks about her career as an art conservator restoring priceless objects to their full glory.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/review-spring-2025-kasia-maroney-art-conservation-646252\/","og_site_name":"News Center","article_published_time":"2025-04-10T21:39:06+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":630,"url":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/fea-kasia-maroney-illustration-1200x630.jpeg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Melissa Pheterson","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Melissa Pheterson","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/review-spring-2025-kasia-maroney-art-conservation-646252\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/review-spring-2025-kasia-maroney-art-conservation-646252\/"},"author":{"name":"Melissa Pheterson","@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/#\/schema\/person\/14a51433abfbe8287eb08a9a15d182e4"},"headline":"Material world","datePublished":"2025-04-10T21:39:06+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/review-spring-2025-kasia-maroney-art-conservation-646252\/"},"wordCount":815,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/review-spring-2025-kasia-maroney-art-conservation-646252\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/fea-kasia-maroney-illustration.jpeg","keywords":["alumni","Department of Art and Art History","Department of Psychology","Memorial Art Gallery","School of Arts and Sciences"],"articleSection":["From the Magazine"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/review-spring-2025-kasia-maroney-art-conservation-646252\/","url":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/review-spring-2025-kasia-maroney-art-conservation-646252\/","name":"Material world","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/review-spring-2025-kasia-maroney-art-conservation-646252\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/review-spring-2025-kasia-maroney-art-conservation-646252\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/fea-kasia-maroney-illustration.jpeg","datePublished":"2025-04-10T21:39:06+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/#\/schema\/person\/14a51433abfbe8287eb08a9a15d182e4"},"description":"University of Rochester graduate Kasia Maroney talks about her career as an art conservator restoring priceless objects to their full glory.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/review-spring-2025-kasia-maroney-art-conservation-646252\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/review-spring-2025-kasia-maroney-art-conservation-646252\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/review-spring-2025-kasia-maroney-art-conservation-646252\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/fea-kasia-maroney-illustration.jpeg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/fea-kasia-maroney-illustration.jpeg","width":2000,"height":1200,"caption":"Illustration by David Cowles"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/review-spring-2025-kasia-maroney-art-conservation-646252\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Material world"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/","name":"News Center","description":"University of Rochester","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/#\/schema\/person\/14a51433abfbe8287eb08a9a15d182e4","name":"Melissa Pheterson","url":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/author\/mpheterson\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/646252","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1402"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=646252"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/646252\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":647132,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/646252\/revisions\/647132"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/646802"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=646252"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=646252"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=646252"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}