I wish I were taking B&Os Royal Blue, but alas, the crash in Connecticut has disrupted Amtrak service and Mrs. A. and I will be taking to the highways. See you in Baltimore.

The Royal Blue, Baltimore & Ohio publicity photo, Thomas Viaduct, Maryland, 1937. Photo: Wikipedia.

Honk (tribute to Jeremy Witteveen over at Le Cafe Witteveen).

The artist does not aim to represent the maiko’s traditional dress faithfully. Rather, he uses the parts of their dress for presentation of various patterns of his craft. The top maiko has the three-tined stencil on her neck of celebration, generally worn only for omisedashi, or the celebratory start of business. This maiko doesn’t wear the black formal kimono of that event; instead she wears contrasting, richly patterned fabrics, as if she were on her way to an o-zashiki, a type of party that comprises the major work of maiko and geiko.

I love the expression on the lower maiko’s face. Her face does not depict the sweet teenager seen in so many maiko photographs. It looks more determined, closed, and tired, in contrast to the colorful raucous circles depicting the hair ornaments at the top of her head and the energy of the wings depicted on her kimono, pouring over her arms.

Two Maiko. Sekino Jun’ichirō. LACMA

I’m guiding the discussion on raising visibility of collection care. As a collections manager, I’m particularly interested in not just running the gauntlet of exhibition and publication projects and throwing my body in front of harm’s way to protect my collections. I want to target the bigger issues. How do we turn messages such as “the art is dusty! you need to dust more!” into “what factors can we change to reduce dust in the galleries?” Dusting artwork is abrasive to often delicate surfaces. Removing carpet from gallery spaces, using HEPA vacuums to clean the spaces, and routine regular maintenance of HVAC systems can reduce dust deposition on artwork.

Of course, in order to broach those subjects, we need to raise the visibility of collection care. It’s important for staff and/or departments undertaking this mission that it’s not a sprint; it’s a marathon. Here are a few ideas to start fostering a greater understanding of collection care in your institution:

A shot from Joliet, Illinois.

RL Fifield. Joliet, Illinois. 2005.

I just started looking at the ledgers last night, and they are a real treasure. Not only does the ledger I was looking at record costs for the making of shoes, shirts, and suits of clothes for slaves, it sometimes specifically records purchases of textiles for individual slaves. I’m working on the methodology for working on these materials while I’m at my research fellowship at the Winterthur Museum, Library, and Garden in July.

Here’s a snippet from that ledger – apologies I can’t show a larger image. Thomas Turner’s estate made the purchase on Nov. 8, 1768 of 2 yards Cotton at 4s. a yard and 2 yards brown linen at 2s. a yard “for Negro Mary.” See the Library of Congress finding aid here.

Edward Dixon Ledger. Box 24, Reel 8. Library of Congress. Apologies for the rasterization.

Tucson’s wild west past certainly got trounced by 1970s architecture, but there are efforts to restore its early 20th century character. Here are a few quick snapshots from the eerily perfect Western Deco Hotel Congress.  We had lunch at its restaurant, the Cup Cafe.

Tucson is bringing back its streetcar lines –  this has torn up and closed a number of downtown streets, making it a bit difficult to navigate currently. But my uncle, a member of that old breed of Western Republican (fiscally conservative, socially pretty liberal for age 93), after bashing health care and government intervention, thought that installation of the streetcars was progress. Progress, c. 1910. Kudos for bringin’ it back, Tucson.

Tucson Streetcar track work. RL Fifield

Hotel Congress, Tucson, AZ. Photo: RL Fifield.

Hotel Congress. RL Fifield.

RL Fifield.

The hotel switchboard. RL Fifield.

Could we please bring back class like this?

Photo: cruiselinehistory.com

I’ve missed writing posts for the blog, but have been putting my energies into some projects that may be of interest to you. Until I get through May, I’m going to keep my posts light and sweet.

I’m preparing for the American Institute for Conservation‘s Annual Meeting in Indianapolis. I’m the Vice Chair and a founding member of the Collection Care Network.  A project I’ve been spearheading since our last meeting is the Collection Care Staff Survey. We developed a survey to hear from collection managers, technicians, registrars, conservators, and other professionals responsible for collection care. We wanted to hear from this underserved group of museum staff: what are their challenges? what sort of training would help them further their career? We are preparing a summary to be released just prior to the Annual Meeting which takes place May 28-June 1.

I’ll be speaking at the American Alliance of Museums conference in Baltimore on May 19. The AIC Collection Care Network is hosting a flash session in which we foster discussion of collection care challenges. I’ll be speaking specifically about raising the visibility of collection care within institutions, while my co-presenters Rachael Perkins Arenstein and Patty Silence will be discussing working with consultant conservators in smaller institutions and collaborating with facilities staff to improve collection care, respectively.

I’ve recently been awarded a one-month research fellowship at Winterthur Museum, Library, and Garden for the month of July, so I’m working on my methodology right now for working with their collections. I’m also there for a preventive conservation intensive, with the goal of creating a mid-career mentoring template for collection care staff.

And in the offing is my talk at the Threads of Feeling Symposium at Colonial Williamsburg, Oct. 20-22 – see the brochure here. I’ll be discussing my research into the clothing of indentured and enslaved runaways during my talk “Lately Imported: Rebuilding a Visual Lexicon of American Indentured and Enslaved Women’s Dress.” Too often the dress of working women has been placed in a box labeled “meager”, “brown”, “ragged”, without really exploring the choice and shaping factors behind how they shaped their own appearance and even created their own fashion. I

Thank goodness I have a vacation in France planned in there!

My many endeavors are making me feel a little like Medusa. My snakes need a deep conditioning treatment! Gian Lorenzo Bernini. The Medusa, 1640s. Carrara marble. Musei Capitolini, Rome. Photo: Andrew Fox/FAMSF