JULIE A REILLY
Executive Director
Julie is an objects conservator and conservation administrator having filled leadership positions for the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, the Ford Conservation Center, the Intermuseum Conservation Center, KANEKO, and Omaha by Design. She holds an MA in Anthropology with Anthropological Conservation from George Washington University and is a graduate of the Getty Museum Leadership Institute. Julie worked as conservator at the Smithsonian American History Museum, the National Park Service Applied Archeology Center, and the Winterthur Museum where she was Head of Objects Conservation and Adjunct Associate Professor for the Winterthur University of Delaware Program in Art Conservation. She also served as Adjunct Professor in the University of Nebraska’s Museum Studies program. Julie is currently a Fellow Member of the American Institute for Conservation and an associate editor for the JAIC.
MICHELLE DEROSE
Finance and Administration Associate
Michelle joined the team at the Williamstown Art Conservation Center in 2024. She brings 35+ years of experience supporting clients and internal team members to help improve operations. Prior to arriving at the Center, Michelle served as the supervisor of the Customer Service and Order Management Departments at Crane Stationery LLC. In her 25 years at Crane, the company underwent many changes which helped her develop her skills by improving processes, writing procedures, and implementing training. For several years, concurrent with her full-time positions, she brought her caring, attentive companionship to the elderly as a part-time personal care assistant. Michelle has always felt a passion for helping the elderly in nursing homes and assisted living facilities after her father and grandmother needed this care. In her spare time, Michelle has found a calming outlet to satisfy her creative side. For the past ten years, she developed her painting skills and has been commissioned for several pieces. Her pieces range from landscape and florals to family pets.
ROB CONZETT
Director of Operations
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Rob joined the team at the Williamstown Art Conservation Center in 2005 after moving to the area from North Carolina. Prior to coming up north, he began his career working for a professional house painting company in 1985. After only five years, Rob purchased the business and proceeded to run the company, handling the administrative affairs while managing client relations and his painting crew throughout day to day activity. From there, he transitioned to working directly in customer service for multiple years. Since stepping into an operations role at the WACC, Rob has monitored the art inventory system, acted as liaison for the lab and its technical support and security teams, and worked with clients to facilitate the shipment and delivery of artwork.
KAREN PARRINO
Conservation Records Administrator
Karen started at the Williamstown Art Conservation Center in 2019 and has acted as the first point of contact for all clients and visitors ever since. Before entering the field of conservation in an administrative role, Karen worked in operations management and office administration in land mortgage financing and healthcare industries and also as a buyer for an industrial minerals operation. The organizational and customer relationship management skills fine tuned throughout these years serve Karen well as she facilitates prospective and current client communication, monitors the inventory of office and conservation supplies and maintains the document database system for the WACC.
WENDY KESSLER
Office Assistant
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Wendy joined the Williamstown Art Conservation Center in 2024 after relocating to the Berkshires from the Pacific Northwest. Trained as a librarian, Wendy has worked as both a public and academic librarian, professor, and arts administrator. Her interest in conservation began as a graduate student when she served as a conservation assistant in the book preservation lab at Indiana University. In addition to her library degree, Wendy holds an MFA in Poetry from Indiana University and is a published author. At WACC, Wendy assists with both administrative and operational tasks and serves as the liaison for Williams College’s ARTH 508 course.
WILLIAMSTOWN STAFF
HELENE GILETTE-WOODARD
Head of Objects Department
Helene is a Senior Conservator of Objects with over 25 years of experience. Since graduating with her Masters of Art degree in Art Conservation from the State University College, Buffalo/Cooperstown, N.Y., she has worked at a variety of museums, including the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the National Museum of American History and the Indianapolis Museum of Art (IMA). While at the IMA, she has participated in two museum expansions, designing an object conservation laboratory, and the conservation and installation of a number of large exhibitions and gallery renovations. She was the owner of Heartland Art Conservation LLC, a private practice in central Indiana, working with small museums and private collectors. She has done extensive conservation work on a wide range of cultural and chronological works of art; American and European Sculpture and Decorative Arts, African, South Pacific and Native American artifacts, Asian art, Archaeological artifacts, Contemporary art and sculpture, and outdoor sculpture.
CHRISTINE PUZA
Head of Analysis Services
Head of Furniture + Frames
Ms. Puza graduated from the Buffalo State University Program in Art Conservation in 2012 with a concentration in Objects after completing her third-year internship at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto, Canada. In addition, she has interned at the Milwaukee Art Museum, the Diyarbakir Museum, and in the private practices of Marianne Webb and Simon Moore. She holds a B.Sci. in biological science from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and spent five years working in basic science research at the Physiology Department at the Medical College of Wisconsin before coming to conservation. Christine maintains a strong interest in Asian and European lacquers and has participated in the Recent Advances in the Identification of Asian Lacquers workshop held at the Getty, as well as the 2012 Workshop for the Conservation and Restoration of urushi lacquer-ware sponsored by the Japanese National Research Institute for Cultural Properties.
CLAIRE MARTIN
Conservation Laboratory Technician
Furniture + Frames
Claire received a Bachelor of Arts in Art Conservation and Art History from The University of Delaware in 2018 and a Graduate Diploma in Conservation of Furniture and Wooden Artifacts from West Dean College, UK, in 2019. After gaining her graduate diploma she worked as an intern at F. Carey Howlett & Associates, a private furniture conservation practice in VA for three years. She then gained the position of Marshall Steel Postgraduate Fellow in the Furniture Lab as well as the Archeology Lab at the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. She is a member of the American Institute for Conservation and served as assistant program chair for The Wooden Artifacts Group in 2022. She joined the Williamstown team of WAACC in 2023 to work in the furniture and frames department.
KATE BREITENSTEIN
Pre-Program Intern
Kate received a Bachelor of Science in Geoarchaeology with a minor in Fine Arts from Murray State University in 2015. She has held conservation internships at the Buffalo Bill Center of the West, National Parks Service, Harvard’s Peabody Museum, Indiana Historical Society, Cambridge Arts Council, and in a private painting practice before arriving at the Williamstown Art Conservation Center. She is a member of the American Institute for Conservation and has plans to obtain a masters in objects conservation.
MAGGIE BARKOVIC
Head of Paintings Department
Maggie has a BA in Chemistry from Virginia Polytechnic Institute (2008) and an MA in Art History (2012) from George Mason University. She completed her training and graduate degree in the Conservation of Easel Paintings at the Courtauld Institute of Art in London (2016). With an interest in modern + contemporary paintings, she has presented research on treating water-stained acrylic paintings for the American Institute for Conservation and International Academic Programs. She has held internships in both paintings conservation and conservation science at the Barnes Foundation, Smithsonian Museum Conservation Institute, the Phillips Collection, Technische Universiteit Delft, and Atelier Marjan de Visser in the Netherlands. She is the Editor and Art Director for WACC’s publication, Art Conservator. She is a member of the American Institute for Conservation
MONTSERRAT LE MENSE
Senior Paintings Conservator
for Intern Training
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Montserrat received a Bachelor of Arts in Fine Art from Saint Norbert College in 1984 and a Master of Arts in Art History from the University of Wisconsin in 1988. Following the receipt of her master’s degree in painting conservation from the University of Delaware/ Winterthur Museum Art Conservation Program in 1994, she completed internships at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the J. Paul Getty Museum in Decorative Arts and Sculpture. Montserrat joined the Williamstown Art Conservation Center in 1995 as Mellon Advanced Intern. She is a Professional Associate of the American Institute for Conservation.
ERICA SHULER
Associate Paintings Conservator
Erica received her Bachelor of Fine Arts from Washburn University in 2005 and graduated from the Buffalo State University Program in Art Conservation in 2015. Since receiving her master’s degree in painting conservation, she has gained a wide range of experience in private and institutional labs that includes the Indianapolis Museum of Art (IN), Kuniej Berry Associates (Chicago), and the Edsel and Eleanor Ford House (MI). Pre-program work include internships treating paintings and decorative objects in labs throughout the Midwest, as well as on-site archeological treatment for the Amarna Coffin’s Project (Amarna, Egypt). She is a Professional Associate of the American Institute for Conservation.
ABBY BAIN
Conservation Laboratory Technician
Paintings
Abby graduated with her Bachelor of Arts in art history with minors in art, Italian, and global & international studies from Penn State University in 2023. She had internships in private art galleries, the Palmer Museum of Art and at the Penn State Library’s Conservation Centre before arriving at the Williamstown Art Conservation Center. She plans to obtain a master’s degree in painting conservation.
REBECCA JOHNSTON
Head of Paper Department
Rebecca received a Bachelor of Arts in the Technology of Artistic and Historic Objects from the University of Delaware in 1987. She completed a pre-program apprenticeship in paintings conservation at the Williamstown Art Conservation Center and received an Master of Arts and Certificate of Advanced Study from the State University College at Buffalo in 1991, where she majored in paper conservation. She completed internships in paper conservation at the Provincial Archives of British Columbia, Victoria B.C., The Center for Conservation and Technical Studies, Harvard University Art Museums, and at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston before returning to Williamstown to work in the paper department at the WACC in 1994.
BROOK PRESTOWITZ
Paper Conservator
Brook Prestowitz joined the Williamstown Art Conservation Center in 2017 as the Assistant Conservator of Paper. Prestowitz earned a Bachelor of the Arts in Art Conservation at the University of Delaware in 2009. She received a Masters of the Arts in Conservation of Fine Arts, Works of Art on Paper from Northumbria University, Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK, in 2015. During this time she held a work placement at the British Museum’s Hirayama Studio for Conservation of Asian Pictorial Art. Prior to joining WACC, Prestowitz was the Samuel H. Kress and the National Endowment for the Arts paper conservation fellow at the Conservation Center for Art and Historic Artifacts in Philadelphia, PA, from 2015-2017. She is a Professional Associate of the American Institute for Conservation.
MATT HAMILTON
Conservation Imaging Specialist
Matt graduated with his Bachelor of Fine Arts from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 1995 and Master of Fine Arts from SUNY Albany in 2001. Throughout his time studying at SUNY Albany, he acted as a teaching assistant for art history and photography classes and went on to instruct a beginning drawing class. After completing graduate school, Matt began his tenure at the Williamstown Art Conservation Center in the objects lab, working as a technician. He then transitioned into the imaging department in 2004 and ever since, he has conducted all photography and x-ray services throughout the lab, additionally working as a conservation technician and assisting with art transportation and installations whenever needed.
PETER MAHONEY
Conservation Laboratory Technician
Peter earned his Bachelor of Fine Arts from Massachusetts College of Art & Design in 2009. Since then, he has worked in the fine arts/museum exhibitions field as an installer and fabricator where he has honed his skill set in a variety of media and materials. Before coming to the Williamstown Art Conservation Center, Peter worked at Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (MoCA) and the Museum of Science Boston, where he worked on large installations and with artists to help fabricate unique artworks, as well as displays. At the Center, Peter works with all departments to create mounts, crating, displays, as well as framing and matting for works on paper, and outdoor sculpture conservation.
JAMIE CASSAVOY
Operations Manager
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Jamie graduated from Boston College with a BA in Communications with a double minor in Marketing and French in 1991 and completed an MFA at Rochester Institute of Technology, School for American Craft in 1996. Jamie worked as a modelmaker in the jewelry industry before opening her business, Cassavoy & Co., in 2000. In addition to designing and producing a high-end line of limited-production handmade jewelry, she conducted much of the customer service, marketing, and branding tasks for her business until 2017, when she closed her doors. Jamie’s role as Operations Manager at the Atlanta center allows her to utilize the skills developed through business ownership: she provides top-level client services, and operational planning, and handles day-to-day center operations. She still designs jewelry, fabricates with metal, and generally loves making art.
SNOW FAIN
Senior Paper Conservator
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Snow has a M. A. degree in conservation of fine art with a concentration in easel paintings from Northumbria University in 2013. She also received a M.A. degree in conservation of books and library materials in 2015 from West Dean College with the University of Sussex. During her graduate studies, Snow interned for Heugh-Edmondson Conservation Services in Kansas City and the Newberry Library in Chicago. After graduating, she worked as an assistant paintings conservator for Page Conservation for an on-site project to conserve the murals in the Minnesota State Capitol in St. Paul from the fall of 2015 to 2016. She was a Cathleen A. Baker Fellow in Book Conservation at the University of Michigan during the summer of 2017. Snow worked as Lead Conservator for the Local Records Preservation Program for the Missouri State Archives from the fall of 2017-2019 before joining the team at AACC.
AMANDA KASMAN
Assistant Paintings Conservator
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Amanda graduated with a specialization in paintings conservation from the Winterthur/University of Delaware Program in Art Conservation in August of 2021. During her studies, she completed internships at the Yale University Art Gallery, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the Dallas Museum of Art, and Winterthur Museum. The breadth of Amanda’s conservation experience ranges from pre-Roman statuary in Sardinia to 20th century American dollhouse miniatures to 19th-century Thai Buddhist panel paintings.One of the focuses of Amanda’s research has been the treatment of paintings by African American artists and artworks depicting the horrors of American slavery. The African American artists she has studied extensively include Charles Dawson and William Henry Johnson. Amanda has also participated in and presented a talk on the early stages of a public outreach initiative intended to introduce students from Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) to the field of conservation. Amanda remains dedicated to her desire to mentor and advise aspiring conservators.
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LINDSAY RYDER
Assistant Objects Conservator
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Lindsay graduated from Bates College with a BA in Classical and Medieval Studies in 2019. She completed several museum internships in Collections Management, including the Bates College Museum of Art. She graduated from Durham University (Durham, England) in 2021 with a Masters in the Conservation of Archaeological and Museum Objects. Part of her studies included a placement at the Royal Albert Memorial Museum (Exeter, England) where she treated a variety of 16-19th century historic objects. Her broader conservation works spans from Bronze Age weapons to 20th century multi-media Folk Art.
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CAROLINE PRINZIVALLI
Conservation Lab Technician
Caroline has always been inspired by art. Growing up in Corning, NY, a city renowned for its glass art, she was surrounded by art, which became key to shaping her future. Her interest in art history led her to pursue a BA in Art History from Georgia State University, which she completed in 1995. After graduation, she worked for five years at The Spruill Center for the Arts, a local community art center, where she served as a registration assistant and gallery coordinator. This experience prepared her for her next job as a preparator at The High Museum of Art. Caroline quickly worked her way up to become Senior Preparator and Lighting Specialist, responsible for managing exhibitions and the museum collection for over 23 years. With her expertise in art handling, installation, and carpentry, Caroline now brings her wealth of experience to the Atlanta Art Conservation Center.
ANDREW HEALY
Conservation Lab Technician
Andrew graduated from Rhode Island School of Design with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in 2015. He has worked in libraries, galleries, and for artists in Rhode Island and New York. Prior to joining the Atlanta Art Conservation Center, he worked as a conservation technician in a private practice while living in Gloucester, Massachusetts. He is a member of the American Institute for Conservation.