About KCI Conservation
KCI Conservation is a professional art conservation firm that specializes in the treatment and care of sculpture and objects. We maintain a beautifully equipped conservation facility in the Twin Cities. Our work includes carrying out design phase assessments, conservation condition assessments, collections surveys, cultural resource documentation, hands-on treatment work, art restoration, and historic remediation projects. The diverse repertoire of artworks treated by KCI includes public art, traditional sculpture, contemporary art, decorative arts objects, ancient artifacts, non-Western and Indigenous cultural heritage objects, historic artifacts, monuments, fountains, mosaics, multi-media art, kinetic art, and electronic media art. We have treated objects made from stone, masonry, concrete, metals, ceramic tile, terracotta, wood, plaster, terrazzo, linoleum, glass, bone, paper, plastics and resins, wax, botanical materials and more. However, we have become especially well known and respected for the conservation of modern and contemporary art, as well as outdoor sculpture and public art.
All of KCI Conservation’s work is carried out following the Code of Ethics and Guidelines for Practice of the American Institute for Conservation and the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties. For a list of KCI’s clients, click here.
Laura Kubick, Conservator
Laura Kubick is an Object and Sculpture Conservator and a Professional Member of the American Institute for Conservation (AIC). She frequently works with a wide range of objects and materials, including fine art, historic objects, public art, and outdoor sculpture, however she has developed particular expertise in the conservation of contemporary art and the conservation of painted outdoor sculpture. Laura joined KCI Conservation in 2014 and took over ownership of the firm in 2019. Before joining KCI, Laura ran the Objects and Variable Art Conservation Lab at the Indianapolis Museum of Art. She was also a Post-Graduate Conservation Fellow at the Smithsonian American Art Museum's Lunder Conservation Center. Laura holds a Master of Science degree from the Winterthur/ University of Delaware Program in Art Conservation and completed further art conservation training at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC and at the Shangri-La Center for Islamic Arts and Cultures in Honolulu, HI.
Kristin Cheronis, Conservator
Kristin Cheronis has been a practicing Object and Sculpture Conservator since 1986. She has been a Professional Member of the American Institute for Conservation since 1989. She works on a wide variety of projects including contemporary fine art sculptures, decorative arts, and historic artifacts from museums and private collections. Kristin has special expertise in the assessment and treatment of public art, including pre-fabrication reviews, on-site installation oversight, preparation of maintenance plans and onsite treatments of collections of public art.
Prior to founding KCI in 2001, Kristin worked for 15 years as the Senior Objects and Sculpture Conservator for the regional conservation center at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts (MACC).
Conservation Technicians & Interns
KCI works with a small crew of talented technicians who help the conservators carry out treatments on outdoor sculpture in the summer and occasionally work on indoor team treatments. Our technicians are carefully trained and supervised by conservators. Technicians allow us to get large-scale treatments done efficiently and cost effectively while still maintaining a very high standard of work.
Typically, technicians come to KCI with a background in studio art and/or art handling. Most return for multiple years ensuring that we have a variety of highly skilled workers on our team. One of our technicians, David Fitzgerald has worked with KCI for more than 15 years. Some of our technicians have also completed pre-program conservation internships with KCI and have gone onto graduate school to become conservators themselves.
Selected Clients
3M, Minneapolis, MN
Bockley Gallery, Minneapolis, MN
Thomas Barry Fine Art, Minneapolis, MN
Brucemore, Cedar Rapids, IA
Carleton College, Northfield, MN
City of Appleton, WI
City of Bloomington, MN
City of Duluth, MN
City of Fort Dodge, IA
City of Minneapolis, MN
City of Northfield, MN
City of Saint Paul Parks & Recreation, St. Paul, MN
City of Waconia, MN
Como Park Zoo and Conservatory, St. Paul, MN
Concordia University, St. Paul, MN
Frederick R. Weisman Art Museum, Minneapolis, MN
General Mills, Golden Valley, MN
Hennepin County Libraries, Minnetonka, MN
Hopkins Public Art, Hopkins, MN
Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields, Indianapolis, IN
Mayo Civic Center, Rochester, MN
Mayo Clinic and Foundation, Rochester, MN
Metro Transit, Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN
Minneapolis Institute of Art (Mia), Minneapolis, MN
Minnesota Landscape Arboretum, Chaska, MN
Minnesota Museum of American Art (The M), St. Paul, MN
Minnesota State Arts Board, St. Paul, MN
MSP Airport Foundation- Arts@MSP, St. Paul, MN
Northern Clay Center, Minneapolis, MN
Public Art Edina, Edina, MN
Public Art Saint Paul, St. Paul, MN
Raclin Murphy Museum of Art, Notre Dame, IN
Tweed Museum of Art, Duluth, MN
University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN
Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MN