Rosa Lowinger

Rosa Lowinger is a Cuban-born American conservator of sculpture and architectural materials with a 30+ year practice in the private sector. A graduate of the conservation program at NYU’s Institute of Fine Arts, she was the founder and chief conservator from 1988-2008 of the LA-firm Sculpture Conservation Studio, and currently holds the position of co-chief conservator at RLA Conservation, LLC (www.rlaconservation.com), a practice with offices in Los Angeles and Miami. A Fellow of the American Institute for Conservation, the Association for Preservation Technology, and the International Center for Conservation in Rome (ICCROM), Rosa was the 2009 Fellow in Conservation at the American Academy in Rome, where she conducted research on the history of vandalism to art and public space.

With four decades of practice behind her, Rosa has recently turned over ownership and management of RLA Conservation to a trio of staff members led by Columbia 2011 graduate Christina Varvi. She continues to be employed by RLA, dividing her time between Miami and Los Angeles, but has turned her focus to writing about conservation for general audiences, something she began years ago with the publication of the book Tropicana Nights: The Life and Times of the Legendary Cuban Nightclub (Harcourt: 2006) and numerous articles that can be found on her writer’s website www.rosalowinger.com. Rosa curated the exhibits Concrete Paradise: Miami Marine Stadium at the Coral Gables Museum and Promising Paradise: Cuban Allure American Seduction at the Wolfsonian Museum and currently serves on the boards of the Partnership for Sacred Places, Dade Heritage Trust, the Cuban Heritage Collection at the University of Miami, the Florida Association of Public Art Professionals, and the Florida Association of Museums. Her upcoming book Dwell Time: A Memoir of Art, Exile, and Repair will be published by Row House Publishing in October 2023.

 For information on RLA Conservation’s exciting compendium of projects, see www.rlaconservation.com.

In Practice is a new series sponsored by the Graduate Program in Historic Preservation to showcase the breadth and depth of built heritage conservation through its professional practices. Speakers will discuss their projects and the trajectory of their careers. It will afford students the opportunity to hear directly from those who have put their knowledge to work as they help define the contemporary discipline and the professional practice of heritage conservation. 

If you require any accessibility accommodation, such as live captioning, audio description, or a sign language interpreter, please email news@design.upenn.edu. Please note, we require at least five (5) business days’ notice.