Projects
The following projects are a curated collection of my work in museums and cultural institutions. My work has focused on the preservation and management of material culture as well as repatriation of looted cultural history and ancestral remains.
Repatriation of Cultural Heritage
Through my work with the FBI Art Crime Team, I have assisted in returning ancestors and cultural artifacts to descendant communities. This has included both domestic and international shipping, as well as managing and maintaining the collection at our storage facility.
Kelly Poston and I pose with a crate that is all closed up and ready to be shipped off to its rightful home in another country.
To prepare for international shipping, we built out a crate using polyethylene foam.
A team of Purdue Health Sciences students collaborated with us to conduct XRF testing on various artifacts prior to repatriation.
Kelly Poston and I pose with a crate that is all closed up and ready to be shipped off to its rightful home in another country.
Analysis and Restoration of Archaeological Ceramics
In June of 2022 I took part in a course through the San Gemini Preservation Studies program on the analysis and restoration of archaeological ceramics. I spent the month working on a selection of Etruscan pottery excavated from a nearby tomb. I learned how to catalogue pottery sherds from an archaeological dig site as well as how to restore the ceramic vessels, including cleaning, gluing sherds together, and the restoration of areas of loss. Additionally, I was able to travel around the region of Umbria and learn about Italian history and culture.
Here I am cleaning dried dirt and clay out of a thin-walled vessel. Due to the extremely thin walls of this object, I had to work slowly and carefully to remove the extremely hard, dried dirt out of the interior.
After carefully removing the dried dirt from the inside of the thin-walled vessel, I was able to more thoroughly clean the object. Using water and artificial saliva, I was able to remove the dried dirt from the pores of the clay to reveal the beautiful red clay body.
After filling missing areas, I painted the plaster filler to match the ceramic body, while ensuring filled areas can be easily identified.
Here I am cleaning dried dirt and clay out of a thin-walled vessel. Due to the extremely thin walls of this object, I had to work slowly and carefully to remove the extremely hard, dried dirt out of the interior.
Cleaning Mixed Media Trophies
During my fellowship with the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum, I was able to gain experience cleaning a wide variety of objects including a collection of mixed media trophies. I was even able to assist with cleaning the Wheeler-Schebler and Borg-Warner trophies, both of the trophies used for the Indianapolis 500.
Testing for Hazardous Collections and Cleaning
As a teaching assistant in Spring 2022, I worked with students in a Preventive Conservation course alongside a team of Health Sciences students from Purdue to conduct XRF testing on objects at the Indiana Medical History Museum. Additionally, we assisted in the cleaning and dusting of collections on display in the Museum.
Purdue Health Sciences students conducting an XRF test on a skeleton on display in the Indiana Medical History Museum
A team of Museum Studies Students and I cleaning a library space while Purdue Health Sciences students test dust levels in the air
Purdue Health Sciences students conducting an XRF test on a skeleton on display in the Indiana Medical History Museum
Cleaning Ornithology Collection
In Spring 2021 and Spring 2022, I worked with Preventive Conservation students to clean a collection of taxidermy birds at the Eagle Creek Ornithology Center. Additionally, we checked pest monitors and replaced traps.
A view of the exterior of Eagle Creek Ornithology Center in Indianapolis, IN.
Working alongside Will Schaust, the Ornithology Center Manager, and Dr. Holly Cusack-McVeigh, I assisted in cleaning the Center's taxidermy displays.
After cleaning the taxidermy collection, students from Preventive Conservation pose for a group picture. Kelly Poston and I served as teaching assistants for this course and can be found in the middle row, second and third from the right.
A view of the exterior of Eagle Creek Ornithology Center in Indianapolis, IN.
Teaching Hands-on Collections Units
As a teaching assistant in Fall 2021 for a Collections Care and Management course, I taught units on proper object handling and custom box making lab. In Spring 2022 I taught a unit on making padded hangers for a Preventive Conservation course.
In Fall 2021, Kelly Poston and I worked together as teaching assistants to give a lecture on proper object handling to students in a Collections Care and Management class. We gave a brief PowerPoint lecture before giving students objects in our teaching collections to examine. Students then gave a short explanation of how they would handle their object and any areas of concern to be mindful of when handling.
In Spring 2022, I taught a unit on how to construct padded hangers to students in a Preventive Conservation course in collaboration with the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum (IMSM). Students learned how to sew up a basic padded hanger to be used to house textiles in IMSM.
Students in Collections Care and Management pose with their boxes they constructed following a demonstration given by Kelly Poston and I.
In Fall 2021, Kelly Poston and I worked together as teaching assistants to give a lecture on proper object handling to students in a Collections Care and Management class. We gave a brief PowerPoint lecture before giving students objects in our teaching collections to examine. Students then gave a short explanation of how they would handle their object and any areas of concern to be mindful of when handling.
Hidden Health Hazards
I co-authored and presented a research poster along with my colleagues Sarah Whaley and Dr. Holly Cusack-McVeigh for the 33rd Annual Conference of the International Society of Environmental Epidemiology. Our research sought to raise awareness of health hazards within museum collections.
Although the conference was virtual due to the pandemic, our poster reached an international audience to bring awareness to the hidden health hazards in museum collections that can adversely affect both staff and visitors.
This conference allowed us to share relevant knowledge from the museum field with environmental epidemiologists. This type of interdisciplinary collaboration is vital to protecting human health.
We identified five specific hazardous agents for our poster - silica dust, lead paint, arsenic, mercury, and infectious agents. We recommended mitigation techniques and included handling and display practices in institutional policies.
Although the conference was virtual due to the pandemic, our poster reached an international audience to bring awareness to the hidden health hazards in museum collections that can adversely affect both staff and visitors.
Provenance Research Leads to Successful Repatriation
I co-authored a research poster along with my colleagues Kelly Poston and Dr. Holly Cusack-McVeigh for the 2022 Bringle and Hatcher Poster Presentation at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis. The poster highlighted methods used for provenance research.
For our poster, we highlighted three major methods we used to gather provenance on artifacts held in FBI storage - in-situ photographs & database research, student research projects, and collaboration & consultation with descendant communities. Using these three methods, we have been able to successfully repatriate objects both foreign and domestic.
Here Kelly Poston and I reflect on what the work we have done with the FBI Art Crime Team means to us. This work has been a once-in-a-lifetime experience that we will never forget.
For our poster, we highlighted three major methods we used to gather provenance on artifacts held in FBI storage - in-situ photographs & database research, student research projects, and collaboration & consultation with descendant communities. Using these three methods, we have been able to successfully repatriate objects both foreign and domestic.