42 PUNCHMAGAZINE.COM up: ACT doesn’t just handle museum-quality pieces. Heirloom pieces with emotional worth—like a landscape your grandmother painted—are among some of her favorite projects. “If this is a piece of artwork that your kid did and you love it and you spilled coffee on it, you can still call us,” she says. In other words, if it has value to you, then it’s valuable. “It doesn’t need to be a Matisse!” One current project, done gratis, has been salvaging a crumbling handprint plaster for a couple whose child passed away. “I was unbelievably honored,” Alexandra says, describing it as one of the most meaningful commisions of her career. “Grief recovery has definitely played into my life a lot. If I can give anybody a moment of feeling like they have something that they artful aid actartconservation.com can hold onto, that makes them feel closer to that person… that always gets me,” she shares, adding, “I know what that feels like.” The bruised and battered couldn’t be in better hands than at Alexandra’s art hospital. “You’re always nervous when a patient leaves,” she says with a smile. “Obviously, we’re confident in whatever treatment we’ve done—but then I always liken it to a doctor sending a patient out. You’ve just set that leg and rehabbed it and it’s absolutely in stable condition… And you know that they’re going to go skiing next weekend!” CONSERVATOR’S COLLECTION As one might expect, Alexandra has an intriguing home collection. Her pride and joy is a pennant flag from the Palace of Horticulture at the 1915 World Fair in San Francisco. She also has a bookcase of rare and antique versions of Alice in Wonderland. “I love the illustrations,” she says, adding that the collection was inspired by her kid sister who couldn’t pronounce the ‘R’ or ‘X’ in Alex and would call her Alice instead. {punchline} PHOTOGRAPHY: JOHANNA HARLOW
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