Conservator Tour: Frames and Gesso
- Tour
- Ticket Required
Have you ever wondered how artworks in the CMA’s collection are cared for? Join CMA conservators and technicians for guided tours of the galleries. Investigate artists’ materials and processes and learn about how the museum preserves artworks for the future.
Photo courtesy of Dave Piurek
About The Event
Back by popular demand, senior conservation technician for paintings and frames restorer Dave Piurek leads a tour centered around gesso, focusing on gesso’s importance as the structural and aesthetic base of some of the CMA’s most ornate frames. Piurek discusses the techniques of pastiglia, burnishing, punchwork, recutting, and compo, and brings hands-on examples for guests to get a closer look.
David Piurek is the frames restorer and senior technician for paintings at the Cleveland Museum of Art, responsible for the conservation and restoration of the frames in the CMA’s collection. Dave earned his BFA in painting from the Ringling College of Art and Design in Sarasota, Florida, after which he worked at the Ringling Museum of Art in the conservation department for 14 years, developing his skills with gilded finishes. In 2012, Dave began work at the CMA, where he specializes in water gilding and frame restoration.
Ticket Prices
Sponsors
All education programs at the Cleveland Museum of Art are underwritten by the CMA Fund for Education. Principal support is provided by the Martha Holden Jennings Foundation, Dieter and Susan M. Kaesgen, and Gail C. and Elliott L. Schlang. Major annual support is provided by Brenda and Marshall Brown, Mrs. Martine Kowal, Eva and Rudolf Linnebach, Medical Mutual of Ohio, the Edwin D. Northrup II Fund, the Reinberger Foundation, Shurtape Technologies, and the Kelvin and Eleanor Smith Foundation. Generous annual support is provided by Gini and Randy Barbato, the M. E. and F. J. Callahan Foundation, Dr. William A. Chilcote Jr. and Dr. Barbara S. Kaplan, Char and Chuck Fowler, the Giant Eagle Foundation, Linda Harper, the late Marta and the late Donald M. Jack Jr., Susan LaPine, Bill and Joyce Litzler, the Logsdon Family Fund for Education, Lu Anne and the late Carl Morrison, Sarah Nash, Courtney and Michael Novak, William J. and Katherine T. O’Neill, William Roj and Mary Lynn Durham, Suzanne Cushwa Rusnak and Jeff Rusnak, Ellen and Lowell Satre, in memory of Dee Schafer, Betty T. and David M. Schneider, the Sally and Larry Sears Fund for Education Endowment, Roy Smith, Saundra K. Stemen, Paula and Eugene Stevens, the Trilling Family Foundation, Jack and Jeanette Walton, and the Womens Council of the Cleveland Museum of Art.
The Cleveland Museum of Art is funded in part by residents of Cuyahoga County through a public grant from Cuyahoga Arts & Culture.
Education programs are supported in part by the Ohio Arts Council, which receives support from the State of Ohio and the National Endowment for the Arts.
