Focuses on the day-long symposium sponsored by the Division of Polymer Chemistry at the 208th national meeting of the American Chemical Society. The symposium was entitled Polymers in Museums '94. Donald Williams, senior furniture conservator at the Smithsonian's Conservation Analytical Laboratory, discussed the clean air laws which threaten solvent-based coatings. Different types of coatings used in conservation were classified--isolating layers, inpainting media, consolidants, and final finishes. Charles Tumosa, a chemist at CAL, presented data which indicated that paintings can withstand surprisingly wide ranges of temperature and humidity without developing damaging stresses. Barry Snyder, a chemist at Rohm + Haas, discussed how best to apply waterborne acrylic paint to substrates. Molly Moon, a chemist at Sherwin-Williams Co., can evaluate a coating's effectiveness via an electrochemical technique to gauge protectiveness of metal coatings to corrosion. -- AATA