CINCINNATI — A new head conservator is stepping in at the Cincinnati Art Museum to help oversee the conservation of the museum's collections, department operations and the collaborative efforts of policies to ensure the preservation of works within the museum.

Julie Ribits is coming to Cincinnati from the Sidney and Lois Eskenazi Museum of Art at Indiana University.

What You Need To Know

  • Julie Ribits is coming to Cincinnati from the Sidney and Lois Eskenazi Museum of Art

  • She previously worked at the Saint Louis Art Museum and The Chrysler Museum of Art

  • Ribits will focus on conservation efforts across the museum's collections

“We look forward to welcoming Julie to the Cincinnati Art Museum team,” said Cameron Kitchin, Louis and Louise Dieterle Nippert Director of the Cincinnati Art Museum. “Her technical skills and approach to the public dimension of conservation work are known throughout the field. Her leadership will continue to place CAM at the top rank of art museum conservation departments worldwide.”

Ribits previous position was the Beverly and Gayl W. Doster Paintings Conservator, where she oversaw the renovation of the new Center for Conservation and worked to develop strategies for conservation to be integrated throughout the university.

She previously worked at the Saint Louis Art Museum and The Chrysler Museum of Art.

Ribits has also worked on special projects in the Getty Conserving Canvas Initiative and has researched the history of conservation in the country, notably through Morton C. Bradley, Jr.’s work. She is a co-founder and editorial board member of “Materia: Journal of Technical Art History,” which is an open-access peer reviewed publication that is dedicated to the technical study of art objects.

She received her Master’s degree and Certificate of Advanced Study in conservation science with a concentration in paintings from SUNY Buffalo State College. She was class president and an Andrew W. Mellon research fellow. Ribits received her bachelor’s degree in art: printmaking and art history: Early Netherlandish painting.