The Crazy Things We Do for Cultural Heritage

I was at a children’s playgroup in Beacon, New York yesterday with my son. Yet again, I was trying to pull together in a coherent thread that thing I do. This challenge can be difficult among my cultural heritage peers, … Continue reading

Samuel Adams’s Mother Was a Fifield

Back in the early aughts, I was a Collection Care Specialist in Textiles and Fashion Arts (TFA) at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. I was working on a National Endowment for the Arts grant to photograph and perform condition … Continue reading

Tune into AIC’s Cost Effective and Sustainable Packing, Moving, and Storage Webinar on Sustainable Conservation

AIC is hosting two webinars on sustainable conservation. On December 1 at 2pm EST, I’ll join Simon Lambert and T. Ashley McGrew in talking about sustainability in packing, storage, and long-term preservation management. Simon will discuss Re-Org, a program of … Continue reading

ARCS and PACCIN at New Orleans: Collections Stewardship’s Bright Future

Originally published at rebeccafifieldpreservation.com. Lots of folks go to New Orleans for conferences. Within the distinctive streets of the French Quarter, it’s not uncommon to trip across people tagged with conference badges. The overtones of business lend an air of … Continue reading

A Brutally Intelligent Exhibition: War-Damaged Works at the Bode Museum Drive a Discussion about Conservation

When preservation fails, do we have the courage to discuss where to go next? Opening today, 19 March 2015 at the Bode Museum is The Lost Museum, an exhibition of 70 works damaged in World War II. Bullet holes, damage to faience … Continue reading

The Pain of Mosul – A Preservation Professional’s Perspective

I have spent my life caring for cultural heritage. As a museum collection manager, my work aims to preserve the physical and intellectual values of collections by limiting risks, such as pollutants, inappropriate environment, pests, physical distortion, loss of information, … Continue reading

Museum Monday: Ten Things in the Indiana State Museum’s Video that Make Me Happy

What makes me happy when I watch the Indiana State Museum and Historic Sites Happy video? See it here! Double-sided side truck Not one, but two fume hoods Heritage Preservation’s Emergency Salvage and Response Wheel Labeled archive boxes Blackout/dust covers … Continue reading

Museum Monday: Collection Care’s Identity Crisis

You might have had it happen. You are working in the gallery, grimacing at the amount of dust that’s built up, gently stroking a brush across an object’s surface with vacuum in hand, and a well-meaning supporter or visitor mouths … Continue reading

And So It Goes: The Fall Crunch

September and October have been full of professional commitments. For those readers not familiar with museum work, this is often the busiest time for the installation of exhibitions that will be reviewed during the Fall season (January being another peak … Continue reading

Museum Monday – Working at Winterthur

I’m in residence at Winterthur Museum, Library, and Garden working on my 18th century runaway project and participating in a preventive conservation exchange. I’m extremely grateful to have this time to focus on my projects and to work with the … Continue reading