THE ART DOCTORS: Conservators are the unsung heroes of the art world. Through a variety of techniques, they make sure that works of art maintain the look the artist intended even after years of exposure to the elements. But are they ever concerned about accidentally putting their own mark on a masterpiece? “There’s not a lot of fear involved,” John Campbell, of the Nasher Sculpture Center, tells dallasnews.com. “We do approach treatments in a careful manner, and it’s not cavalier.” Also, as John Dennis of the Dallas Museum of Art, says, “Everything we do is reversible.”

MUSIC BITS: Fort Worth’s Black Tie Dynasty technically broke up in 2009. But that doesn’t mean that they never play together. Exhibit A: This video of the band performing recently in the KXT 91.7 studio. … Ishi covers one of my favorite local tracks of 2010 – Sarah Jaffe’s “Clementine” – in a video over on DC9 at Night.

CONNECTED DOWN UNDER: According to Nielsen, Australians use social media more than any other country. It’s a trend that arts organizations there are jumping onto, and they are especially into Twitter. Patrons and performers are even encouraged to tweet during performances. “If arts companies want to attract new audiences, they have to jump in and chat about the minutiae of what’s going on,” Fee Plumley, of the Australia Council for the Arts, tells The Sydney Morning Herald.  “Audiences are not just interested in a celebrity on stage. They really want to know how the show works, how the set was made, how it was cast, who’s doing the lighting and what goes wrong sometimes.” Locally, I don’t think we’re quite there yet – we’re still working on moving past Twitter as a straight marketing tool. But just as many local arts groups have mastered Facebook and have their own YouTube Channels, further engagement with Twitter is inevitable. Which is probably as good as an excuse as any to remind you to follow us at Art&Seek’s new Twitter feed. We’ll do our best to follow Plumley’s advice, who goes on to note that, “The minutiae is often the most interesting stuff.”