Dina Georgas '11: As Big As a Speck of Dust
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Biology and art history may not sound like compatible courses of study. But Dina Georgas '11, is putting them together in an unusual way. Through an internship that started in January, Georgas is working in conservation science at a lab at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art to analyze old paints, which hold the key to greater information about the works. "If you're a major art institution, you want to know as much as possible about the art you own and the art you acquire," she says.
Specifically, Georgas and her boss are looking for what type of binding medium was used in different paint samples. "Traditionally artists used three binding agents," she explains, "animal milk, egg tempera and animal membranes, or ground bones." Georgas uses a technique called enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, or ELISA, to determine by the presence of certain proteins which of these agents was used. The protein casein is present in animal milk, for example, but not in egg tempera. By adding antibodies with colored markers to the samples, the researchers can see a color change, and can therefore deduce which type of binding agent was added to the paint to help it adhere. The technique can also detect combinations of proteins.
For now, Georgas is not actually running the samples. Extracting bits of paint is a delicate science in itself. And making sure the experiments produce reliable results the first time around is of utmost importance. "You don't want to start rubbing paint off a fifteenth-century French cabinet over and over," she explains. "The samples we use are as big as speck of dust." She is working on optimizing the procedure and making it more reliable and efficient. Sometimes the protein signal is very weak because proteins degrade over time. So Georgas has worked on ways to amplify the signal.
Georgas started at Barnard in 2008 firmly believing she would major in biology and eventually go to medical school. While she always loved painting, she felt that most art instruction focused too much on the conceptual side of art rather than the craft, so she put that hobby aside while she pursued her other interest, biology. But after taking an art history class, she realized there was a way to combine her two interests: art conservation. "You need to know chemistry and biology, but you need an art base," she says.
She wasn't ready to abandon premed quite yet. There are few jobs for conservators and people often stay in them for decades. Most career opportunities in the field tend to be for consultants who may be hired by different institutions all over world on a temporary basis. When her biology adviser, Hilary Callahan, heard about the internship at the Met, she told Georgas to apply immediately. The internship, which will run through at least the next academic year, may give Georgas a leg up when it comes to seeking out a job as a conservator in the coming years. If nothing else, it affords her the opportunity to work in a world-class art museum, something that most students never have a chance to do. "It's my dream job," she says.
—Ilana Polyak
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