I was grateful to be interviewed by Renée La Schiazza for In the Archives with Michael Feinstein: Textile Conservation & Ella Fitzgerald. In this interview, I have the incredible honor to share information about the preservation of textiles at the archive and at home. To see the full interview, click HERE.

Photo credit: The Great American Songbook Foundation

I organized the first-ever Midwest Region Conservation Guild - Emerging Conservation Professionals Network Portfolio Day in Indianapolis, IN. I had the opportunity to work with Justyna Kedziora, Marissa Bartz, Caroline Shave, and Alexandra Chipkin as they each shared their experiences with grad school applications, fellowship portfolios, and interviews.

The Textile Preservation and Conservation Group is a Textile Society of America’s Affinity Group that I co-lead with Annabelle Camp. This group is designed to support conservators, collections care professionals, artists, curators, and any other textile-related professionals who are committed to the long-term preservation of textiles. We hope to create a gathering place and educational space where any textile enthusiast can learn more about ways to preserve textiles for future generations. We hope to host events that will highlight current conservation work, address the effects of material choice on long-term preservation, and generally promote the preservation of textile collections by all stakeholders.

Photo Credit: Annabelle Camp with permission of The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation

I became the AIC Textile Specialty Group (TSG) - Emerging Conservation Professionals Network Liaison in the midst of the COVID pandemic. As the TSG-ECPN Liaison, it is my role to connect and create opportunities for both communities. Inspired by the accessibility of virtual events, I organized a virtual tour with Maria Fusco, Chief Conservator and Head of Lab at the Textile Museum at the George Washington University Museum. If you are interested in joining this community and learning more about the opportunities the TSG-ECPN Liaison is creating, please email tsg.ecpn.liaison@gmail.com. To learn more about TSG, click here. To learn more about ECPN, click here. To learn more about the Specialty Group Liaisons, click here.

Photo credit: Jess Ortegon (2019)

I joined an ongoing project between WUDPAC, MCI Smithsonian, and Iraqi Institute for the Conservation of Antiquities and Heritage (IICAH) to create accessible resources for teaching the housing of cultural heritage, especially in responding to disasters, using readily available materials. The project started with the creation of a didactic of “ideal” and comparison of readily available materials and their uses in storage. The continuous of this project involves the creation of a non-verbal “how to” video, published on Youtube. The video is in process as of 12/16/2020.

Photo: still from unpublished “1. Molded Paper Disassembly” video

I assisted in organizing and as technical support for a two-part program for Professional Advocacy through Museum Unionization that was created in collaboration with ECPN Digital Program Officers, Marie Desrochers & Natalya Swanson and Philadelphia Area Conservation Association (PACA) Co-Chair, Anisha Gupta & Chair, Beth Nunan. Both programs are available on PACA’s Youtube channel:

• Professional Advocacy through Museum Unionization: Organizing 101

• Professional Advocacy through Museum Unionization: A Panel Discussion

Photo credit: From PACA site announcement