2023

Speakers

Dawn V. Rogala

Conservator and Program Manager, Smithsonian’s Museum Conservation Institute

Dawn Rogala is a paintings conservator and program manager at the Smithsonian’s Museum Conservation Institute (MCI). She studies and conserves paintings and painted objects at the Smithsonian and affiliate institutions, and creates and oversees a range of MCI programs in cultural heritage protection, provenance research, and anti-trafficking, including in-person and online training workshops for federal law enforcement, developed in collaboration with multiple Smithsonian units and federal agency partners, including the U.S. Department of State, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and the U.S. Department of Justice. She serves as a subject matter expert on individual cases and assists with the coordination of Smithsonian experts for the assessment and technical analysis of seized objects. Rogala has a doctoral degree in preservation studies from the University of Delaware and a Master of Arts degree in art conservation from the State University of New York, Buffalo State University. She has worked with national collections around the world, and authored papers and books on art technique, materials behavior, paint analysis, and research methodology.