Advocacy
Conservation is inherently linked with arts and culture advocacy. Conservators must advocate for the collections we steward, as well as preservation itself, which relies heavily on grant and donor support. Thus, advocacy takes many forms, including museum and community engagement, fundraising, and education. These three areas tie closely with my interests in making preservation more accessible, as well as increasing the overall financial and environmental sustainability of the field.
Community Engagement
Coordinator of basketry cap repatriation for the Winterthur/University of Delaware Program in Art Conservation
Co-chair of the Textile Society of America’s Preservation and Conservation Affinity Group
Coordinator of the University of Delaware’s Caring for Family Treasures Series
Coordinator of year-long collaborative research and knowledge reclamation project with Lenape Tribe of Delaware
Fundraising
Chair of the sponsorships and fundraising committee for the 2022 conference of the Association of North American Graduate Programs in Conservation
Chair of the committee to establish the Vicki Cassman Undergraduate Professional Development Award, raising $65,000+ in six months
Coordinator for the Financial Sustainability group for the AIC/NEH Held in Trust Initiative
Volunteer for SAM Fundraising Solutions
Education
Teaching Assistant, Hydrogels in Conservation, London, UK
Lecturer, WUDPAC Second-Year Seminar in Textile Conservation on weave analysis
Lecturer, WUDPAC First-year seminars on volunteering within conservation, conservation of indigenous textiles, and basketry conservation and repatriation
Leader of numerous public workshops on personal collections care
Teaching Assistant, WUDPAC First-year Photographic Materials Block
Images courtesy of Laura Mina and the Philadelphia Museum of Art