UWM African Ethnographic Collection Preservation and Storage Assessment
FAIN: PG-258344-18
University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee (Milwaukee, WI 53211-3153)
Linda Ann Brazeau (Project Director: May 2017 to January 2018)
Leigh M. W. Mahlik (Project Director: January 2018 to October 2018)
David Pacifico (Project Director: October 2018 to March 2021)
Hiring a conservator to assess a collection of
more than 700 African objects and to provide recommendations to improve storage
practices and to chart both short- and long-term conservation plans. The
collection provides a broad overview of 19th- and early 20th-
century African artistic innovation. Highlights include rare masks and
sculptures from various West African tribal groups and over 100 objects that
trace the development of sacred and secular masking and sculptural forms over
the course of these centuries on the Côte d’Ivoire. The project would
facilitate future exhibition projects and plans to further integrate the
collections into university curricula and research projects, including a
visible storage classroom for teaching and study by faculty and students in the
history of art, fine arts, and the humanities.
The UWM Art Collection (UWMAC) Emile H. Mathis Gallery seeks an NEH Preservation Assistance Grant for an ethnographic conservator to conduct a preservation assessment and develop a plan to improve African art storage. The UWMAC, a pedagogical art collection encompassing 7600 objects-Western and Non-western art, ancient to contemporary, is used for the teaching and study of art history, fine arts, and the humanities. This grant will improve UWMAC's storage system for more than 700 African objects, which provide an encyclopedic overview of 19th and early 20th century African art, with diverse objects from nearly 100 different cultural areas and 23 different countries. The conservator collaboration will facilitate better stewardship of this exceptional collection; it is crucial to UWMAC's pedagogical mission that the African collection is appropriately housed, preserved, and easily accessed, facilitating the collection's instructional and research function and ensuring its preservation.