AIC 53rd Annual Meeting

In autumn 2022, the Balboa Art Conservation Center (BACC) received a delicate and significant object for examination: a portrait of Jassim Al-Oboudi, a prominent Iraqi actor and professor, painted on a single ply of plywood. This portrait, one of the few items the Jassim family managed to bring with them when fleeing Iraq during Saddam Hussein’s Ba’ath Party regime in the 1970s, was in a fragile state with flaking paint and numerous splits in the single ply of wood, held together as a single unit by shipping tape on the verso.

BACC paintings conservators, unfamiliar with treating a painting on a 2 mm ply, sought external advice but faced more questions and treatment options than clear solutions. The necessary research, mock-ups, and professional development needed made treatment prohibitively expensive for the family.

As a nonprofit committed to public benefit and making conservation accessible, BACC, led by Executive Director Leticia Gomez Franco, established a pro bono treatment program for objects of local cultural value that also provided opportunities for skill development for BACC conservators. Given El Cajon’s large Iraqi (Chaldean) community– the second-largest outside Iraq, after Detroit–, the portrait was an important piece of local history. Conservators Bianca Garcia and Morgan Wylder embarked on a pilot project to treat the portrait, which involved considerable additional research.

Initial consultations with conservators from various specialties revealed a lack of consensus on how to approach the treatment. Despite many ideas, practical experience with similar objects was limited. Synthesizing all recommendations, the treatment goals focused on finding a practical solution to achieve structural stability and allow the portrait to be displayed in the family’s home. Ultimately, the decision was made to return the painting to its original layered construction and back onto a plywood support. With the guidance of furniture conservators,  Morgan and Bianca learned techniques generally used to apply decorative veneers back onto wooden supports, adapting them to accommodate the paint layers. 

The project was successful on several fronts: the portrait was effectively conserved and returned to the Jassim family, BACC conservators gained new skills from collaborating experts, and the pilot program demonstrated a valuable approach for future projects. This initiative prompted BACC to reconsider its role in community service and affordability. Can we truly serve our community if only those who can afford treatment benefit? Are these issues for only nonprofits to address? While much remains to be explored, the experience has reinforced BACC’s commitment to addressing these challenges.