Caryatid Conservation Services, LLC

Established in 2021, Caryatid Conservation Services, LLC, is a woman-owned private art conservation practice based in Chicago to serve clients here and at distance. Conservator Stephanie Hornbeck founded the practice. This practice provides comprehensive professional services to care for and preserve sculpture, three-dimensional art objects and artifacts and a range of textile conservation services.  Caryatid Conservation specializes in assisting museums to achieve their conservation goals from assessment through treatment to installation. We also work with private clients to ensure that their objects and textiles receive museum-quality conservation care. Based on project needs, we periodically collaborate with other conservators and allied professionals in different disciplines.

From 2010-2017, this practice was based in Miami, FL, where we specialized in the conservation of museum quality objects. Stephanie also founded this Miami-based practice. A full range of conservation services was offered to 15 museums throughout Florida, as well as to select private collectors in Florida, New York, and Washington, DC. Museums clients included the Harn Museum of Art, Norton Museum of Art, Perez Art Museum Miami, Ringling Museum of Art, Rubell Family Collection, Tampa Museum of Art, and the Wolfsonian Museum. You can read more about the Miami practice on the “Projects” page.

Stephanie E. Hornbeck, Director

Stephanie Hornbeck founded both the Chicago and Miami practices. She is a formally trained conservator with extensive professional museum conservation experience in both objects and textiles conservation. She is a Professional Associate of the American Institute for Conservation. Stephanie earned her diploma in fine art conservation (objects specialty) and M.A. in art history from the Conservation Center and Institute of Fine Arts at New York University. She is a recognized ivory specialist; more information is available on the “Services” page. Her research areas include the study of African art, the identification and cultural use of ivory; intersections of conservation practice for ethnographic and contemporary art; and post-disaster cultural recovery. Select publications can be found on the “Publications” page.

 For nearly five years (until late 2021) Stephanie served as McCarter Chief Conservator at the Field Museum in Chicago. She directed preservation activities primarily for the Anthropology collections, which involved treatment, documentation, research, preparation for installation and loan, and outreach. Stephanie was awarded grants in excess of $1.1 million. She served as a Principal Investigator for grants from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, U.S. Department of State and IMLS Museums for America.  A primary focus of her work involved team-building; she recruited 11 people to serve four main initiatives. The conservation internship program provided training opportunities at the graduate and pre-program level.

Over an 18-year period Stephanie worked for the Smithsonian Institution. From 2010 – 2012, Stephanie served as Chief Conservator, Haiti Cultural Recovery Project, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. As a consultant from 2013-2016, she aided in the transition to a permanent conservation center at Quisqueya University in Port-au-Prince. To read more about this work, see the “Projects” page. From 1998 – 2010, Stephanie served as Conservator, Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of African Art, in Washington, DC.  She performed a full range of museum conservation duties, including treatment of objects and textiles; condition assessment; participation in the Museum’s preventive conservation program; training of interns and fellows; participation in the installation of over 25 exhibitions; and serving as a courier for loans. 

Detailed information about Stephanie’s professional experience can be found on her LinkedIn page.

Contact Us: sehornbeck@gmail.com