Meet Maggie
I am Maggie Barkovic Everhart, a paintings conservator and the founder of Everhart Conservation, an independent practice dedicated to the care and preservation of artworks and collections. Located in the historic village of Kinderhook, New York, within the Hudson Valley's vibrant cultural district, Everhart Conservation provides consultation, condition examinations, collection assessments and surveys, practical conservation treatment for paintings, onsite exhibition preparation and evaluation, mural conservation services, and art advisory support.
Working throughout the Northeast, Everhart Conservation partners with private collectors, museums, historic sites, institutions, artists, and galleries to support the preservation and long-term care of paintings and related cultural materials. In addition to the conservation lab in Kinderhook, a mobile conservation setup allows examinations, collection assessments, exhibition support, and many treatment procedures to be carried out onsite, reducing transportation risks and enabling objects to be evaluated within their broader collection, architectural, or display context.
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The practice offers conservation treatment for easel paintings spanning the seventeenth through twenty-first centuries. A strong research-driven approach is integrated throughout the practice, with experience in oil, acrylic, and mixed-media paintings across a wide range of support types, formats, and structures. Every project is guided by thorough documentation, material investigation, and ethical standards that prioritize reversibility, long-term stability, and respect for the original work.Everhart Conservation also values working directly with living artists and enjoys thoughtful conversations about materials, surface behavior, varnish, and the evolving challenges of contemporary practice. I hold a Postgraduate Diploma in the Conservation of Paintings from The Courtauld Institute of Art, an MA in Art History from George Mason University, and a BA in Chemistry from Virginia Tech. I am a Professional Peer-Reviewed Member of the American Institute for Conservation.Art conservation begins with study and close engagement with an artwork’s materials, history, and condition. Through observation, research, and material analysis, conservators develop evidence-based understandings of how objects were made, how they have changed over time, and what those changes reveal about their making, meaning, and material history. This inquiry informs all aspects of conservation, from thoughtful collecting and long-term care to, when appropriate, treatment.Paintings and other cultural objects are composed of materials that naturally age and respond to their environments; they may crack, fade, tear, or become damaged by light, humidity, handling, or past repairs. Conservators work to slow deterioration, stabilize change, and address damage in ways that respect an artwork’s material nature, lived history, and the many people who value and care for it. Conservation matters because artworks hold cultural memory, meaning, and knowledge, and preserving them allows future generations to continue learning from and connecting with them.