 |
 |
     
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
 |
Conservation Outreach
The Conservation office works with other NMAI offices and with Native people to provide information on and training in conservation. Most of this work is in three areas:
- Collaborative consultations on treatment of NMAI's collections
- Research and identification of pesticides and contaminated collections
- Training in museum conservation practices
Collaborative Consultations
The museum's conservators work with Native community members to identify appropriate conservation treatments for objects in the museum's collections. Most consultations occur when preparing objects for exhibition at NMAI or for loans to Native communities. Consultations help ensure that the museum takes into account information that Native people have about their community's objects—and uses that knowledge to devise appropriate ways of cleaning, repairing, restoring, mounting, and exhibiting objects. In addition, the department sometimes invites Native people to repair items in the collections and carefully documents the work with photos and reports for the museum's records. For more about these projects, please see the following abstracts and articles:
- "The Practical Aspects of Consultation with Communities"
- "Woven by the Grandmothers: Twenty-Four Blankets Travel to the Navajo Nation"
Pesticides and Contaminated Collections
In collaboration with NMAI's Repatriation office, the Conservation Office identifies pesticides on objects claimed for repatriation if requested by the community. Conservators test in-house for arsenic, mercury, and lead, and perform other types of analysis if requested. The office also tests objects at other times such as when they are requested for loan.
Training in Museum Conservation Practices
The museum's Community and Constituent Services group and Conservation office work together to provide information on and training in collections care and preventative conservation practices to tribal museums, cultural centers, and preservation projects. Through workshops and technical assistance visits, NMAI conservators present information on a wide range of topics including: storage and exhibition of museum objects, mount-making, moving collections, integrated pest management, and environmental monitoring.
There are also internship and fellowship opportunities available in NMAI's Conservation office.