Dario Ciriello is a self-taught conservator. For Ciriello, self-assurance
occasionally fades to self-doubt.
"I think one of the downsides of being self-taught, and why I think it's
very good to have formal training, is that you often doubt what you're
doing. Other people call me an expert and I certainly get the results, [but]
because you haven't done a standard course and passed, you don't
necessarily realize your skill level. You don't have a diploma hanging
on the wall," says Ciriello.
Though he's never had a portfolio marked with shiny teachers'
stars, Ciriello generally believes in his abilities as a restorer. The traditional
education system just wasn't for him. "My past [is] a kind of accidental
and winding one....Some of us have to make our own mistakes. I often compare
my experience to colleagues that have traditional training," he explains.
However, Ciriello believes he gained a certain wisdom by creating his own
learning path, by reading and exploring in a personalized style. "What I've
found about being self-taught is that you actually end up with a very interesting
mix of knowledge.
"You may not have the in-depth knowledge and the linear knowledge of someone
who had traditional training, but you understand the reasons for which you
do everything because you've got that by reading, by your own studies,
[and] by your own experimentation," says Ciriello.
A self-proclaimed glutton for challenge, Ciriello once tackled a project
that he knew would be risky: he restored a piano with a surface as cracked
as an alligator's!
"I had a client in Pebble Beach who had bought a really decrepit old Steinway
-- about 1920 I think it was. Basically, it developed a network of cracks
of varying sizes and the finish was dull in places that had probably been
in the sun a lot.
"I sweated a lot over it....It was a nightmare because a lot of the work
is a question of responsibility. When you're working for very high-end
clients or on valuable pieces or often both, in a sense it's like having
a gun to your head," says Ciriello.
As the intermediary between museum scientists and conservators, Mary-Lou
Simac deals with ancient heirlooms in a less direct way. She works with a
staff of 90 people at a conservation association and she performs one step
in an entire process of conservation.
"I personally don't [touch the pieces]," says Simac. "The call I take
could be the museum calling and saying, 'I have this for treatment. What's
the process I have to go through?' It's the pre-arrival type of
inquiry that I'm involved with."
In short, Simac handles artifacts as they come and go through the restoration
department. She manages clients and makes sure private items, gallery collections
and museum archives go through the restoration process smoothly.
Simac got started in the conservation and restoration business through
a degree in museology.
"We do have a number of people working in the profession who are European
trained, because back in the '70s there was no [local] program. So a
lot of people came from Europe -- we have many trained European conservators
that are working here. It's not uncommon to hear an English accent!"
says Simac.
Ciriello, originally from England, has indeed noticed a difference in the
way North Americans and Europeans go about restoration. "I think where I fit
in, where I have a niche, is that in North America...there are few...genuine
restorers. Most of the people in this trade are actually refinishers. And
there's a very important distinction here," says Ciriello.
"I'm not unaware that my English accent is a big [asset], especially
on the West Coast!" he adds.