Krysia Spirydowicz

Research Interests

Conservation of archeological, ethnographic and historic artifacts/Preservation of cultural property during wartime.

Biography

Krysia Spirydowicz is the former Director of the Art Conservation Program and Associate Professor of Artifact Conservation. She is well known for her work in field conservation and has participated in many international conservation projects in Italy, Israel, the Sudan and Iran. As Senior Conservator for the Gordion Furniture Project, Krysia Spirydowicz directed the conservation treatment of the ancient wooden furniture from Gordion at the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations in Ankara, Turkey from 1990-2008. She continues to be involved with research and publication of this group of spectacular finds, now recognized as one of the largest and most important collections of furniture from the Ancient Near East. She has co-authored a book on this subject and has written numerous articles about her preservation work in Turkey. In 2004, Spirydowicz and her colleague, Dr. Elizabeth Simpson, were jointly awarded a J. Paul Getty Trust Fellowship by the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC in recognition of their work on the Gordion furniture. The second book on the wooden furniture from Tumulus MM at Gordion is currently in press.

Krysia Spirydowicz is a Professional Associate of the American Institute for Conservation and member of the International Institute for Conservation, the ICOM Committee for Conservation and the Canadian Association for Conservation. She has served on the executive of numerous professional groups in conservation including the Association of North American Graduate Programs in Conservation, the Canadian Association for Conservation, the Ontario Conservation Committee and the Local Architectural Conservation Advisory Committee for Kingston. She has lectured widely on conservation, archaeology and the preservation of art during wartime and has received research funding from the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, the Getty Foundation, Queen's University and the British Council. In 2008, she received the Charles Mervyn Ruggles Award for Excellence in Fine Art Conservation from the Canadian Association for Conservation.

Courses taught

• ARTC 811 - History, Technology and Conservation of Artifacts I
• ARTC 812 - History Technology and Conservation of Artifacts II
• ARTC 813 - History Technology and Conservation of Artifacts III
• ARTC 850 - Introduction to Artifact Conservation Practice
• ARTC 851 - Artifact Conservation Practice I
• ARTC 852 - Artifact Conservation Practice II
• ARTC 853 - Artifact Conservation Practice III