The Center is a part of Carnegie Mellon University (CMU), and it is located in the Pittsburgh Technology Center building, on the banks of the Monongahela River in Pittsburgh, PA about 1 mile from the CMU campus.  The staff of seven includes four full-time scientists, the Director and Deputy Director, and an office assistant.  In addition to the analytical instruments, the laboratories are equipped with a constant environment room, aging ovens and light exposure apparatus, and a collection of pigment and resin reference materials.  The Center’s activities include in-house scientific investigations as well as collaborative projects with other laboratories, museums, and libraries.

The Center’s conservation science research began in 1950, when the National Gallery of Art in Washington established a fellowship at Mellon Institute in Pittsburgh.  Dr. Robert Feller was selected to lead that activity, and he studied problems of interest to the Gallery, focusing on natural and synthetic picture varnishes, color, and the damaging effects of light exposure.  His affiliation with the Gallery also allowed the opportunity to perform technical studies of works in that collection and to advise the museum on preservation issues such as gallery lighting environments.  Applications of nuclear analytical methods to art examination were also explored during this period, under the direction of Dr. Bernard Keisch.

In 1976, the research project was disengaged from the National Gallery of Art, and the fellowship was reorganized as the Research Center on the Materials of the Artist and Conservator at Carnegie Mellon University.  Still under Dr. Feller’s leadership, the research program continued some of the same investigations into varnishes and color, while other issues such as paper deterioration were added.  These activities resulted in numerous publications, including monographs on accelerated aging and cellulose ethers.

In 1988 Dr. Feller retired, and Dr. Paul Whitmore came to the Center to become director.  Since that time the Center’s research has emphasized problems of modern art and library materials.  Studies on color and paper degradation have continued, while new investigations were initiated focusing on  acrylic paint materials, physical damage in modern paints, environmental conditions for paper storage, and methods for probing the condition and stability of artifacts.