University Museums staff prepares items for Old College Gallery
Working to prepare Pre-Columbian artifacts are Sagita Mirjam Sunara, left, senior assistant lecturer, and Linda Lennon, objects conservator.
Janis Tomlinson, director of University Museums, works with faculty and students conserving Pre-Columbian ceramics.

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9:01 a.m., Jan. 27, 2010----The University Gallery, soon to be Old College Gallery, is closed in preparation to be a "permanent home for the Permanent Collection."

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The University of Delaware's Permanent Collection contains more than 12,000 widely ranging items, all gifts from various donors throughout the years.

Included in the collection are paintings from the Brandywine school, 20th century photography, American drawings and prints from the 19th century to the present, an array of pre-Columbian ceramics, and 18th through 20th century Russian icons.

Currently, University Museums staff members are hard at work preparing the items for exhibition. They are reviewing the Permanent Collection, assessing necessary conservation work and researching the pieces. Both students and outside experts are working together to study individual objects, assess the authenticity and current state of the item, then formulate opinions about what should be included in the exhibition.

In January, the University Museums worked with the Winterthur/UD Program in Art Conservation (WUDPAC) to examine key pieces in the holdings of pre-Columbian ceramics.

Joelle Wickens, curator of textiles at Winterthur and adjunct Winterthur assistant professor worked with museums staff, graduate research assistant Megan Constantinou, outside object conservator Linda Lennon, two anthropology graduate students from the University of Pennsylvania, and two second-year graduate students in WUDPAC.

They surveyed roughly 20 items in two days and also made a preliminary selection of works to be included in the exhibition. Some works will need conservation treatment but the different goals of treatment take different amounts of time. Depending on the damages, some pieces may need to have to be aesthetically restored or have breakages repaired.

According to Janis Tomlinson, director of the University Museums, one of their main goals with the exploration and conservation of each piece is to ultimately "present each piece in its integrity."

The new Old College Gallery will reopen fall semester 2010.

Article by Jamie Hannigan
Photos by Kathy F. Atkinson

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