The Metropolitan Museum of Art mourns the loss of a valued colleague and friend, Ronald E. Street, who was the Museum's Manager of 3D Imaging and Modeling. He passed away on December 22, 2016. Ron was a Renaissance man-an artist and technical master whose talents and skills brought 3D scanning and imaging techniques into the mainstream of museum practice. He supervised The Met's molding studio for many of his more than thirty years at the Museum, and was called upon for advice and collaborations by institutions around the world. Ron was a trained sculptor, studio glass artist, and ceramicist. He has worked in over twenty countries and taught glass-blowing in Australia, Canada, and the United States. He studied traditional crafts in Iran and worked in collaboration with the State Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg and at archaeological sites in Egypt, Tanzania, Guatemala, and Australia.
In his long career at The Met, Ron expressed his deep commitment to developing and applying his talents to enhance the Museum's mission, supporting greater expertise in the areas of collecting, scholarship, and cultural exchange. He understood the challenges of connecting digital cultural heritage collections across domains, and explored ways to identify and serve wider audiences through his expertise of digital surveying and analysis techniques. These include laser and white light scanning, photogrammetry, 3D reconstructions, and reverse engineering. Ron collaborated on projects with many art historians and conservators. One of his most notable collaborations with The Met's Objects Conservation Department was the scanning and engineering analysis of Tullio Lombardo's Adam. Ron's technical work was a critical contribution to the project, allowing conservators to understand the fundamental forces at work in the fractured marble sculpture, and thereby significantly influencing the conservation treatment. He was well-known for his reproductions of artworks, having mastered the latest technologies used to create them, but at the same time demonstrating that the hand of a master sculptor is a critical element in crafting of a copy that is truly evocative of the spirit of the original. In 1999, Ron successfully used 3D scanning technology to produce resin copies of two marble terms by Pietro and Gian Lorenzo Bernini. The originals had been acquired by the Museum in 1990, and Ron's replicas are now installed where the sculptures once stood in the gardens of the Villa Borghese in Rome. Ron also created a stunning replica of the Bury St. Edmunds Cross, commonly known as "The Cloisters Cross," a medieval masterpiece carved from walrus tusk. In 2004, Ron was honored with an invitation to carry the replica to the altar during High Mass at St. Edmundsbury Cathedral in England. A more recent example of his work is the creation of virtual and physical models of the Pyramid Complex of Senwosret II I, which is described in detail in a Met blog post<http://www.metmuseum.org/blogs/now-at-the-met/2015/pyramid-complex-of-senwosret-iii?utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=statusupdate&utm_content=20151224&utm_campaign=nowatthemet>. The Ronald E. Street Memorial Fund for Professional Development will be established at the Metropolitan Museum to honor Ron's memory. The endowment will provide funding for travel, participation at conferences, and education of young professionals in the imaging technology field that Ron was so passionate about. If you would like to contribute to the Fund, you may donate online at https://secure.metmuseum.org/secure/donation/donate. Ron was a unique individual, and he will be deeply missed by his colleagues around the world. We extend our deepest condolences to his wife Carmen Bambach, his family, and friends at this sad time. -- Carolyn Riccardelli Conservator Objects Conservation 212 396 5498 The Metropolitan Museum of Art 1000 Fifth Avenue New York, NY 10028 @metmuseum metmuseum.org ****** Unsubscribe by sending a message to [email protected] Archives through August 2016 at http://cool.conservation-us.org/byform/mailing-lists/cdl/ Archives from September 2016 onward at https://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/
