Gels and Nanofluids: How Colloids and Soft Matters Preserve Artworks, A Hands On Practical Workshop - Focused on Paintings and Works On Paper

Gels and Nanofluids: How Colloids and Soft Matters Preserve Artworks

A Hands On Practical Workshop ~ Focused on Paintings and Works On Paper

ACdR Conservation ~ SF is hosting a three day GreenArt Workshop focusing on new sustainable solutions for art conservation with the use of NANO Technologies, with guest instructors Prof. Piero Baglioni and Prof. Giovanna Poggi from CSGI and Chemistry Department, University of Florence.

When: Winter, February 6th - 8th 2026 (Friday - Sunday) Where: San Francisco, California

ACdR Conservation ~ SF, in collaboration with the Center for Colloid and Surface Science (CSGI) at the University of Florence, Italy is offering an advanced hands-on workshop to introduce the chemistry and practical use of cleaning solutions, gels, and nanomaterials for reinforcement/pH-control with a foundation in sustainability and "greener" alternatives to traditional methods. The workshop is open to mid-carrier professional conservators and will encourage discussions and exchange of methods and techniques concerning a range of CSGI's latest research results.

Professor Baglioni and the CSGI have pioneered, in the last decades, innovative wet cleaning solutions. These advanced systems enable selective material removal while maintaining precise control over penetration and interaction with underlying original layers.

The new cleaning systems are the outcome of a multi-year research project, including GreenArt (GREen ENdeavor in Art ResToration), an EU-funded global research consortium with 28 collecting and academic institutions, which ended in September 2025. The goal of the GreenArt project is "to produce sustainable, safe and effective solutions for the corrective and preventive conservation of Culture Heritage, based on environmentally friendly and low impact materials obtained from renewable natural sources or recycled waste."

Workshop Approach and Goals

The workshop spans three days and combines theoretical understanding with practical hands-on experience. The use of these new gels, nanostructured fluids, and nanomaterials for reinforcement/pH-control requires an understanding of their chemistry as well as their extensive complex uses. The proposed three-day workshop will integrate lecture series with hands-on experience and sharing information.

This workshop will provide a review of the most recent and advanced methodologies for the cleaning of works of art, from nanostructured cleaning fluids (microemulsions, surfactants, swollen micelles) to physical and chemical gels. These new systems can be used to selectively remove or physicochemically detach/de-wet the unwanted material.

The workshop is open to a maximum of 18 participants, whether experienced with cleaning systems or new to the approach. All participants are encouraged to engage actively in both theoretical and practical sessions to maximize the learning experience.

Distinguished Presenters & Instructors:

The workshop features two prominent figures in the field, Professor Piero Baglioni and Prof. Giovanna Poggi.

Piero Baglioni is Emeritus Professor of Physical Chemistry in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Florence. He is on the editorial/advisory boards of several international journals and a member of the scientific board of several national and international institutions and societies. He is the author of more than 600 publications and 29 patents in the field of colloids and interfaces, and a pioneer in the application of soft matter to the conservation of Cultural Heritage.

Giovanna Poggi is associate professor in physical chemistry at the Chemistry Department of the University of Florence. She was involved in several EU Projects coordinated by CSGI@UNIFI including HORIZON EUROPE GREENART. Her research deals with the synthesis and characterization of nanoparticles and their application to paper and wood deacidification. She is also working on hydrogels and organogels for the cleaning of works of art and on the development and use of biocompatible polymers in several applicative fields.

Join us in this exploration towards a more sustainable and effective future for art conservation. Your active participation will undoubtedly play a crucial role in shaping the future of cultural heritage and art preservation.

For Inquiries and Registration, attendance is limited to 18 participants, all registration requests will be accepted on a first come, first served basis.  Please submit an email of interest, including your contact information, company name or institution to:

Elise Morin-Rousseau at  ACdRConservation@icloud.com

Organizational Hosts:

Elise Yvonne Morin-Rousseau

Is a multi-disciplinary conservator in San Francisco with bachelors in biochemistry and art history.  She did her M. S. c. graduate studies in Conservation Sciences abroad in Brussels, Belgium at the Institute Royal de Patrimoine Artistique (KIK- IRPA) Cultural Heritage and further Textile Disciplines at the Karlshrue Archdiocese Schuleder Künste in Ettlingen, Germany. She has an M. A. in Museum Studies, and post graduate credits focused in Mycology from the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, Albany, New York. In 1999 she established the atelier Art Conservation de Rigueur et Anoxia Abatement Solutions, now simply ACdR Conservation, a large multi-disciplinary conservation practice in San Francisco. Ms. Morin-Rousseau is an ongoing guest instructor at Loyola Mary Mount University in Los Angeles, teaching conservation science and collections care in partnership with the William H. Hannon Library and Archives Special Collections.

Giovanna Carravieri

Specializes in painted artworks, and is a graduate of Art History at the University of La Sapienza in Rome, at the University of Paris IV- Sorbonne, and studied at the Old Masters Conservation School in Cremona, Italy. She has worked to preserve our global cultural heritage for museums, private collections, and on many frescoes in Italy and several international historical sites. After fifteen years in private practice in Paris, focused working with contemporary arts, she landed in San Francisco in 2020, and later joined the staff at ACdR Conservation's San Francisco Studios in 2022 . Currently, Giovanna is working with the ACdR Conservation Studios on a large collection of 19th and 20th century paintings and fine art from the de Saisset Museum at Santa Clara University, 17th c. Spanish Colonial paintings from the SCU Jesuit Seminary, along with many other studio client projects.