Sarah Towers

Biography

Sarah earned a B.A. in art history and anthropology from Emory University (Oxford College, 2011; Emory College, 2013). In 2021, she earned an M.S. from the Winterthur/University of Delaware Program in Art Conservation, specializing in the conservation of wooden artifacts with a minor in upholstery conservation.

She completed graduate internships at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, and the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. After graduating, she returned to Colonial Williamsburg, first as a Marshall Steel postgraduate fellow and then as a staff conservator. There, she worked with a collection of American and British furniture and early musical instruments. Her focus shifted from wooden artifacts to upholstery when she became associate conservator of upholstery and wooden artifacts. In that role, she focused on non-intrusive conservation upholstery and research into the materials and methods of early seating upholstery.

Sarah was a co-founder and organizer of "Making Space," a two-week program in 2024 that taught basic woodworking skills to people who identify as underrepresented in woodworking or art conservation. She is committed to helping people feel welcome and comfortable while working safely in woodworking and furniture spaces. Her current research interests include all aspects of upholstery, the theory and ethics of musical instrument conservation and furniture from the American South.