Center of the West Conservator Beverly Perkins receives Sheldon & Caroline Keck Award

The Buffalo Bill Center of the West’s Chief Conservator, Beverly Perkins, has been named a recipient of the Sheldon & Caroline Keck Award from the American Institute for Conservation (AIC). The award recognizes a sustained record of excellence in the education and training of conservation professionals.

Recipients of the Keck Award are nominated by their peers. In notifying Perkins of the award, AIC Membership Manager Ryan Winfield said, “Your peer’s nomination and support have excellently illustrated your qualifications for this award, and it is our honor and pleasure to recognize your work.”

As Chief Conservator, Perkins examines, documents, treats, and performs preventive care for the Center’s collections, and helps protect them while on exhibit, in storage, in transit, and on loan. In addition to that work, she also leads a robust conservation internship program at the Center. Students who apply for conservation internships* include artists interested in conservation as a museum profession, university students gaining experience necessary to enroll in a conservation master’s degree program, and advanced students already enrolled in a such a program. Students who secure an internship with Perkins receive critical, hands-on training during their time at the Center.

The AIC presents the Keck Award to each year’s recipients at its annual meeting, this year taking place in Connecticut in May.

The American Institute for Conservation is the leading membership association for current and aspiring conservators and allied professionals who preserve cultural heritage. The association represents more than 3,500 individuals in more than forty countries around the world working in the domains of science, art, and history through treatment, research, collections care, education, and more. All of them share the goal of preserving our cultural heritage so we can learn from it today and appreciate it in the future.

Visit the AIC’s website at www.culturalheritage.org. Learn more about the Sheldon & Caroline Keck Award here.

Since 1917, the award-winning Buffalo Bill Center of the West in Cody, Wyoming, has devoted itself to sharing the story of the authentic American West. The Center is an affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution. For more information, visit centerofthewest.org or the Center’s pages on Facebook and Twitter.

*Internships for 2019 have already been filled.