Black Lives Matter in Conservation: Art, Objects, and the Stories They Tell
Welcome to the 2020 UNCF Mellon Teaching and Learning Institute
Each of you comes with hopes and expectations and will
Leave, perhaps, with resolved desires and
Concerns after uniting around conservation efforts and technical art history.
Our 11 HBCU
Museums and Galleries are
Exceptional and we are grateful to UNCF Mellon, Tuskegee University, Yale Center for British Art, Yale University Art Gallery, Yale University Library and IPCH and the Legacy Museum.
Dr. Jontyle Robinson, Curator
The Legacy Museum
Tuskegee University
Welcome - 9:00-9:15AM
Dr. Cynthia Spence , Director, UNCF Mellon Programs
Cindy Schwarz, Senior Associate Conservator of Paintings, Yale University Art Gallery
Orientation/Introduction - 9:15 - 12 Noon
Dr. Caryl McFarlane and Dr. Jontyle Robinson, facilitators
UNCF Mellon Participants:
HBCU Mentors/School Participants
Yale Conservators
Q&A
Readings & Handouts
Professor Jamaal Sheats will discuss the gallery, the Harmon Foundation, and the upcoming exhibition, "African Modernism in America, 1947 – 1967"
1:00-2:30PM
Required Readings:
Guest speaker, Kiera Hammond, will share perspectives on posters created in response to the murder of George Floyd.
Student introduction by Taslyn Ware
3:00-4:30PM
Tara Kennedy will introduce the discipline of preventive conservation, which focuses on risk assessment and protection of collections to slow down deterioration and avoid loss.
Student introduction by Micah Robinson
9:00-10:30AM
Required Readings/ Web Sites:
Suggested Readings & Handouts:
A Guide to the Preventive Conservation of Photograph Collections by
More than 30 years of continuing research into the preservation of photographic collections have led to a better understanding of the fragility of these images and the means by which to preserve them. A resource for the photographic conservator, conservation scientist, curator, as well as professional collector, this volume synthesizes both the enormous amount of research that has been completed to date and the international standards that have been established on the subject.
Professor Anne Collins Smith will discuss Black Mardi Gras Traditions, artist Vanessa German, and share the uniquely New Orleans response to the Black Lives Matter movement.
Student introduction by Destinee Filmore
10:30-12 Noon
Required Readings:
Suggested Readings:
Mark Aronson will lead a discussion about the short story transition to selected painting and sculpture, Edward Garrison, connecting to BLM and what we want to have survive and preserve.
Student introduction by Barriane Franks
1:00-2:30PM
Required Readings:
Suggested Readings:
Cindy Schwarz will present on spray paint art and its preservation, and also in the context of technical art history, with an emphasis on the works of Jean-Michel Basquiat.
Student introduction by Tyra Monae
3:00-4:30PM
Required Readings:
Christine McCarthy and guest speakers, Melissa Barton, Paula Zyats, and Marie-France Lemay will explore how curators and conservators work together to identify and mitigate risks to objects in the services of telling important and compelling stories with collections/exhibits.
Student introduction of Christine McCarthy by Sharon Jimerson
9:00-10:30AM
Required Readings & Handouts:
Professor Johnnie Maberry will present on the Tougaloo College Archives James Allen Photographic collection: Its Historical Importance to African American History; Documentation of Time and Place Through Visual Arts; and the Black Lives Matter Connection.
Student introduction by LaShon Webb
10:30-12 Noon
As part of this session, conservators Christine McCarthy and Tara Kennedy will review some of the photographic collection to determine preliminary preservation and conservation needs.
1:00-3:30PM
I. Hands-On Sessions
II. Group Discussion
Come back together to discuss share our experiences and learning from the hands-on sessions.
Next Steps & Wrap Up
3:30-4:30PM
Student responses to the Institute:
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