In North America, the education of conservation and preservation students is administered mainly through university-affiliated programs. Conservation of paintings, objects, textiles, books and paper is taught at the schools listed below. Chemistry, art history, book history and manual skills are key components of conservation education programs. Technology plays an increasingly vital role in the way works of art are studied, observed and treated. The use of digital photography and treatment documentation is supplanting the traditional methods of record keeping; slide film and written reports. Conservation programs are adapting the possibilities inherent in new technologies to their curricula while maintaining strong ties to the field’s roots in hands on training. The North Bennet Street School exemplifies the traditional method of apprentice training in bookbinding.

Winterthur/University of Delaware Program in Art Conservation
The Art Conservation Department at Buffalo State
The Conservation Center at The Institute of Fine Arts, New York University
Queen’s University at Kingston, Art Conservation Program
The Preservation and Conservation Studies Program, The University of Texas Austin
The North Bennet Street School