The Getty Conservation Institute (GCI) and Tate are pleased to announce a workshop entitled Cleaning of Acrylic Painted Surfaces (CAPS) to be held at Tate Britain from 3—6 July 2012. 

The cleaning of works of art with acrylic painted surfaces represents a challenge for many conservators. The properties and composition of acrylic paints can make identifying safe and effective cleaning solutions difficult, and the full effects of different cleaning systems and approaches on the paints themselves are not widely understood. 

The Cleaning of Acrylic Painted Surfaces workshop aims to equip conservators with the knowledge and methodologies to understand and solve cleaning problems related to acrylic painted surfaces. The objectives of the workshop are to:

• Communicate the results of recent scientific research and new developments in practice
• Stimulate a dialogue between researchers and conservators about the application of new research and technical insights to the conservation of acrylic painted surfaces
• Develop critical thinking skills that will help participants design project-specific cleaning systems in their own labs
• Identify areas where further research is beneficial

The workshop will include lectures presenting new research, technology and practical advances, much of which has been developed by the course instructors. There will be a significant amount of hands-on activity designed to apply and test the different approaches. Participants will be provided with commercially available and custom-prepared cleaning materials for testing on paint films. Group discussions will be used to evaluate materials, techniques, applicability and effectiveness. 

The CAPS workshop at Tate Britain builds upon an earlier colloquium and workshop on the subject. All three CAPS activities are part of the GCI'sResearch into Practice education initiative, which seeks to advance the practice of conservation through a series of workshops and other educational activities that draw on both new scientific research and the conservator's perspective to improve understanding and treatment of conservation problems.