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Chemistry/physics department holds lecture

LAKELAND, Fla. (Feb. 11, 2004) -The FSC chemistry and physics department and the Lakeland-sub-section of the American Chemical Society will sponsor a lecture on Feb. 17 at 4:30 p.m. in Polk Science Room 152. Guest speaker Dr. Suzanne Quillen Lomax will discuss "The Application of Chemistry to the Examination of Works of Art." 

The lecture will address the association between scientists and museum conservation laboratories and the contributions that scientists can make in the preservation and restoration of art objects. At present, about a dozen museums in the United States have conservation science departments. Art conservation frequently requires specific information about the component materials of a painting or object prior to treatment. Lomax will use examples from the National Gallery of Art collection to illustrate the application of science to art. 

Lomax received her doctorate in organic chemistry in 1984 from the University of Maryland. She went on to Northwestern University, where she performed postdoctoral research with Frederick Lewis, examining intermolecular photoaddition reactions. Lomax has been in the Scientific Research Department of the National Gallery of Art since 1986, investigating the identification and aging behavior of artists' materials. She has toured as speaker for the American Chemical Society Speaker Service since 1991. Her areas of interest include the identification of synthetic organic pigments and modern paint binders. In addition, she has performed extensive analyses on traditional 15th and 16th century artists' paint binders.

Refreshments will be served prior to the lecture. For more information, please contact Dr. Carmen Gauthier at cgauthier@flsouthern.edu or 680-4320.


About Florida Southern College
Florida Southern is a four-year, private, co-educational liberal arts college affiliated with the United Methodist Church. The college offers more than 40 undergraduate majors and a master of business administration degree accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. Located in Lakeland, Fla., the college is home to the largest, single-site collection of Frank Lloyd Wright architecture in the world.

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