Bio
After studying Art History and Studio Art at the University of Toronto, Janet was introduced to Conservation in the Paper and Paintings Labs at the ROM while a student in the Museum Studies Program. She worked in Picture Conservation at the National Archives in Ottawa before returning to school to do a master’s degree in Art Conservation at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, specializing in Works on Paper and Paintings. After interning at the Tate Gallery in London, Janet returned to Canada to work as Assistant Conservator in the Paper Lab at the Canadian Conservation Institute (then part of National Museums) in Ottawa.
Janet Cowan
In 1985 she came to the ROM to serve as the Museum’s Paper Conservator where she has enjoyed working on an incredible variety of different types of works on paper and related materials from all over the world. The list includes European and Asian wallpaper, ancient Egyptian papyrus documents, Canadian and European prints, drawings and watercolours, archival material, photographs, Japanese prints and painted screens, Asian hanging scroll paintings, stone rubbings, paintings from Tibet, and rare books and manuscripts.