By Ella Martin
Is your old artwork in bad condition, causing you to want to throw it away? Well, now there is a solution that allows you to restore and preserve your artwork. Tracy Riggio runs Cook Restoration in Valrico, offering museum-quality fine art conservation and restoration services.
Cook Restoration can preserve your canvas as well as frames and offers original fine art for collectors or interior designers. Cook Restoration started in 2013, when Riggio had to leave her job as a conservator when she relocated from Atlanta to Augusta, Georgia. Riggio explained that she started the business “out of necessity because the area had zero art restoration businesses, so if I wanted to stay in that field, I had to start my own.”
When Riggio moved to Florida, she brought her business with her, allowing the Valrico area to have access to her talent. Riggio graduated from the Atlanta College of Art with a BFA. However, she gained most of her knowledge on conservation by “learning from people who had come before us in this business, and they had learned the same way.”
Once Riggio graduated college, she had a variety of art related jobs, but when she was offered a job at Durrett Studio & Gallery, a fine art restoration studio in Marietta, Georgia, she gained a passion for restoration. The women who owned the studio trained her; Riggio ended up working for her for several years, expanding her skills and knowledge of restoration.
While working there, she was given the opportunity to manage the frame restoration side of the business. Even at just 24 years old, Riggio gained a name for herself in the restoration art industry. All these opportunities led to Riggio opening her own business in 2013.
For the conservation and restoration process to be done, there are a series of steps. First, all artwork starts with a consultation to assess the needs. Next, a service is decided on for the artwork. These services include cleaning, canvas stretching to inpainting and more for canvas. For frames, services include structural repair, regilding and more. This process takes between two to four weeks.
Overall, Cook Restoration is an amazing way to restore any artwork ranging from museum art to artwork with a sentimental value, such as a gift from a spouse.
For more information about Cook Restoration and how to book its service, visit www.cookrestoration.com.
