Premise

In January of 2026, my art history professor Maria Buszek graciously sent me the website for the San Gemini Preservation Studies (SGPS) program, suggesting I look into whether it was worthwhile and something I might be interested in. As I did, the prospect of studying art conservation in Italy felt like a suddenly attainable dream. As I worked through my applications and pursued the channels of approval for a CU non-approved program, initially I debated between Program D: Paper Restoration in Artworks and Archival Documents and Program E: Traditional Painting Materials, Methods and Restoration Issues. I read anecdotally that there’s more work for paper conservators than painting, but my heart lies in painting and in the end, there was really no contest.

As it stands, my pathway to the future isn’t as clear and concise as it once was. I returned to college in 2022 to specifically fulfill an undergrad that would make me an ideal candidate for a graduate program in art conservation. Given the credits I previously accrued, I thought I could complete an art history degree within a couple of years and be in my career in another couple at best, but when I decided to add a chemistry minor that blew my idealized timeline out of the water. With more time to gain experiences and consider my options as the world at large changed around me, my urgency was blunted and my narrow focus broadened. For personal reasons, I need to stay in Denver for the foreseeable future and my work in the Emmanuel Gallery has opened a lot of options for me in the more generalized museum and art world. To be clear, conservation is still a goal, but it’s no longer my only goal. With the understanding that pursuing conservation in higher levels of education may be put on the back burner, in some ways taking this program felt like the only way I might taste restoration at all. So, it was doubly important to me to take the painting program.

Program E: Traditional Painting Materials, Methods and Restoration Issues provides an education in, according to SGPS’s program information page on their website, “important background knowledge and skills in the field of traditional painting techniques and materials both in a theoretical and practical manner,” adding that, “It is aimed at people studying art restoration and conservation, art history, painting, anthropology and museum studies. The program includes three courses.” Program E is an exception to the SGPS lineup in that it does not include formal restoration work, so we did not touch any existing artworks, damaged or otherwise. I enrolled in all three courses: Traditional Materials, Methods of Painting and Art Restoration Issues; Traditional Painting Workshop; and Restoration: Theory, Ethics and Issues.

SGPS is not an approved CU Denver program. To attain credit, I had to enroll through West Virginia University. Throughout my entire pre-departure process, I took for granted that the only pathway to taking the course was to do it for college credit. In hindsight, I could have likely saved myself a chunk of money and effort by forgoing this benefit, especially given that I have plenty of credits under my belt to graduate. Regardless, I took the path I did, and that involved applying for and enrolling through WVU. To explain what I mean by saving money by forgoing college credit: for transparency, to SGPS I paid a $50 application fee, to WVU I paid another $50 application fee, $500 deposit upon acceptance, $35 payment plan fee, and overall, approximately $2000 more than the base SGPS summer tuition cost. Finally, to CU Denver I paid a $612 study abroad fee. Had I not pursued credit, the WVU charges would not be applicable- I only offer this perspective for anyone else weighing the various costs of a program. In addition to the significant financial cost, I spent a considerable amount of time filling out petitions for non-approved programs and applications for scholarships (including the Benjamin A. Gilman study abroad scholarship, which I did not receive but still recommend, among others), drafting an Emergency Action Plan, filling out and following deadlines for several applications and payment plans between CU Denver, WVU, and SGPS. This process is absolutely doable, but I would be lying if I said it was simple to keep up with all the moving parts involved. While they were friendly and ultimately supportive, I did have to chase down information and communication from WVU. On the other hand, while it took very regular contact with CU Denver’s study abroad office to make this happen, they were lovely to deal with and made this whole ordeal easier than it could have been. I can’t speak highly enough of the CU study abroad office and the College of Arts and Media department for their support through this endeavor. 

All of this effort was worth it in the end, SGPS gave me a wonderful experience in Italy. This was my second study abroad and it was much more educationally fruitful than the last. I went to Japan in 2023 and while I loved my experience with the country, there was almost no academic content provided by the chaperoning professors and I ultimately felt I could have had a more rewarding experience executing the trip on my own. This summer, on the other hand, I felt enriched by and grateful to have the robust educational itinerary provided by SGPS and I do ultimately feel I got my time and money’s worth. 

The following posts will outline each week of the program with my final thoughts collected at the end. Photos posted will be mine unless otherwise noted.