Art Conservation Solutions
The Studio
Art Conservation Solutions (ACS) is a leading conservation studio based in Long Island City, NYC, specializing in the preservation and treatment of Modern and Contemporary paintings. Our expertise extends from conventional oil and acrylic works on canvas to complex works that push material boundaries.
Founded in 2021 by Mary and Kristin, ACS provides clients with the high-quality conservation services they had come to expect from Cranmer Art Group, where both served as partners. Together with their team, they bring extensive training and experience in the conservation of 20th-century and Contemporary art, with particular expertise in structural solutions and the treatment of sensitive and minimal paint surfaces.
At ACS, each project is approached with curiosity, technical precision, and aesthetic sensitivity. Our conservators combine deep material knowledge and craftsmanship with an understanding of artists’ intent and the dynamics of the art market, ensuring thoughtful, individualized solutions for every artwork in our care. We are equally committed to professionalism and efficiency, delivering high-quality treatments within agreed timeframes.
We provide a comprehensive range of professional services—including examination and treatment, collection care consulting, technical research, and collaboration with living artists—while maintaining a strong commitment to education and mentorship for emerging conservators. In all aspects of our work, we adhere to the highest ethical standards established by the conservation profession and the code of ethics set forth by the American Institute for Conservation.
Mary Gridley
Mary received a B.A. in Art History from Yale University and a Diploma in the Conservation of Easel Paintings from the Courtauld Institute of Art, London, England. Since 1985 she has worked in conservation for various institutions including The Cooper-Hewitt Museum, The Victoria & Albert Museum, The National Trust (England), and Area Museums Services for South East England.
Mary joined Cranmer Art Group in 1995, where she specialized in both paintings and works on paper, and became a leader in the field of structural treatments of paintings on canvas. Her innovative approaches to cracked paint films and unforgiving surfaces have been shared widely through lectures, publications, and her mentoring efforts. She has been elected a Fellow of both the American Institute for Conservation and the International Institute for Conservation.
She brings a high level of expertise and decades of experience to ACS, where she continues to develop cutting-edge solutions to the many challenges of Modern and Contemporary art conservation.
Kristin Robinson
Kristin received her B.F.A. in Fine Art and Art History from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, her M.A. in Art History from the Institute of Fine Arts, NYU, and her Advanced Certificate in Conservation from the Conservation Center of the Institute of Fine Arts, NYU. Since 2006, she has worked with conservators in both private studios in North Carolina and New York, as well as at The Museum of Modern Art, New York. In 2021, she co-founded Art Conservation Solutions following nearly a decade at Cranmer Art Group, a private conservation studio in New York City, where she specialized in the conservation of modern and contemporary paintings and ultimately became a partner.
Annika Svendsen Finne
Annika received a B.A. from Brown University with an independent concentration in material art history, a dual M.A. and M.S. in Art History and Conservation from the Conservation Center of the Institute of Fine Arts, NYU, and a PhD in Art History from the Institute of Fine Arts, NYU. She has over eight years of experience in varied private studios and institutional settings in the United States and Europe, including Modern Art Conservation, Kunstmuseum Trondheim, the Yale University Art Gallery, the Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid, the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, and the Museum of Modern Art, New York. She is a former fellow of the Lise Meitner Group at the Bibliotheca Hertziana/Max Planck Institute for Art History, and has taught at the Institute of Fine Arts, NYU, and the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art. She is a Professional Associate of the American Institute for Conservation.