Staff Profile
Conservator of Objects and Sculpture
susan_costello@harvard.edu / 617-496-1903
M.S., University of Delaware/Winterthur Museum
B.A., College of the Holy Cross
Susan Costello is responsible for the examination, treatment, and technical study of three-dimensional objects spanning the museums’ collections. Her research interests include the preservation of plastic works of art and ancient art with a focus on Greek ceramics and Chinese bronzes and ceramics. She has served as board chair of the New England Association of Conservation and the American Institute for Conservation’s Health and Safety Network.
Recent Publications
Costello, Susan D., Georgina Rayner, Angela Chang, and Elizabeth La Duc. “Preserving Plastics in the Collection at the Harvard Art Museums.” Plastics in Peril Conference Proceedings (2022). Forthcoming.
Costello, Susan D., Madeline Corona, Georgina Rayner, and Katherine Eremin. “Conserving Bauhaus-Inspired Student Exercises from Newcomb College: A Lesson in Longevity.” In Object Lessons: The Bauhaus and Harvard, ed. Laura Muir, 219–24. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 2021.
Costello, Susan D., and Katherine Eremin, Georgina Rayner, and Arthur McClelland. “An Overview of Manganese Dioxide Accretions and Their Reduction on an Ancient Greek Terracotta Vase.” Objects Specialty Group Postprints 25 (2018): 9–30.
Costello, Susan D., Katherine Eremin, and Georgina Rayner. “The Degradation of Cadmium Orange Restoration Paint on an Ancient Greek Terracotta Vase.” Preprints ICOM Committee for Conservation 18th Triennial Meeting, Copenhagen, Denmark, 4–8 September 2017.