Museum Studies & Conservation Courses
Taught Through the Northern States Conservation Center
Central Coast Painting Conservation’s owner and head conservator, Elizabeth Burton, teaches a series of online courses through the Northern States Conservation Center (NSCC), which is a leading provider of continuing education for museum professionals. These courses are designed to help curators, registrars, collections managers, and other cultural stewards develop practical skills in preventive conservation, object assessment, and collections care.
Courses are offered in a fully online format and feature real-world examples from Elizabeth’s work in the painting and preventive conservation fields. See below for upcoming opportunities to learn.
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"Thank you, Elizabeth, for sharing your expertise. I feel like I was able to accomplish what I set out to do, and I'm very happy to have a draft housekeeping plan to build upon for my museum. This would have been a much heavier lift without your guidance."
Ellen, Museum Cleaning Basics Student
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"I feel like I learned a lot that will help me going forward!"
Aubrey, Condition Assessments Student
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"Thank you so much for all your support, encouragement and resource sharing! I appreciate it so much."
Deanna, Museum Cleaning Basics Student
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"Really enjoyed this course, and Elizabeth was fantastic! She was open, honest and could (and did) share a great deal of experience of hers in caring for paintings. These real-world examples were quite insightful."
Christian, Care of Paintings Student
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"Elizabeth was ready to take on questions, be it for course materials or work. And she provided options on how to deal with the situations, or doubts."
Monica, Condition Assessments Student
Explore Upcoming Courses
Condition Assessments Short Course
Whenever an object leaves or enters your museum, it should have a dated condition report completed. A condition report is so much more than "good" or "poor." Learn about different types of condition reports, what is essential and what is optional information in each, the function of a condition report, and how to use an online condition assessment tool.
Museum Cleaning Basics Online Course
Cobwebs in the gallery, dust on the dinosaur skeleton, mice in storage - a dirty museum results in poor visitor experience and poor collections preservation.
Care of Paintings Online Course 2025
Caring for paintings requires some knowledge of the component structure of paintings and the reaction of those components to both natural and man-made environments. This course looks at the painting structure, the effects of damaging environments, and proposes simple steps for basic care. Topics include the structure of paintings, proper condition reporting with standard damage vocabulary, and basic care and handling including environments, storage, and transport. The course is intended to help those entrusted with the care of paintings in any environment.
Care of Paintings Online Course
Caring for paintings requires some knowledge of the component structure of paintings and the reaction of those components to both natural and man-made environments. This course looks at the painting structure, the effects of damaging environments, and proposes simple steps for basic care. Topics include the structure of paintings, proper condition reporting with standard damage vocabulary, and basic care and handling including environments, storage, and transport. The course is intended to help those entrusted with the care of paintings in any environment.