Congratulations to our Alumni Professional Venture Fund awardees

​Please join us in congratulating a new cohort of recipients of the Alumni Professional Venture Fund​, grants established to support the work of graduates from the Winterthur/University of Delaware Program in Art Conservation and the UD Preservation Studies Doctoral Program. ​Awardees and their projects are lis​​​ted below. We look forward to the results of these exciting initiatives!​

Melissa Blair - PSP alumna​​ (2014)

Working Freedom: 3D Documentation of Black Historic Landscapes

Working Freedom is a public humanities project that investigates postbellum-era Black homesteads in Maryland by digitally modeling and interpreting the historic landscape. Digital docume​ntation is an ideal strategy for creating a more inclusive historical record, allowing for deeper analysis of places associated with marginalized histories. Alumni Professional Venture Funds will support the continuation of community-engaged research, provide new training opportunities in photogrammetry for historic preservation students, and aid the descendent community's long-term preservation goals.​

​Jessica Chloros - WUDPAC Class of 2007

Increasing Accessibility of 2-D Works of Art for Museum Visitors with Blindness and Low Vision

I have received a Fulbright U.S. Scholar award to carry out a four month Professional Project at the Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design (DJCAD) within the University of Dundee in Scotland. I will be researching how to advance the accessibility of 2D works of art such as paintings, prints, drawings or photographs that have historically been excluded from museum touch tours for visitors with blindness and low vision. My hope is that this project will impact how museums think about the type objects and materials that can be incorporated into touch tours, inspire collaborations between museums and universities and ultimately increase the ways in which people with vision disabilities can experience and interact with art. The Alumni Professional Venture Funds will help to defray the cost of taking an unpaid leave of absence to pursue this work.​

​Marina Dobronovskaya - PSP alumna (2013)

Twentieth-century Architecture at Risk in Ukraine

This project involves documentation of damage and destruction of twentieth-century architectural heritage in Ukraine. The focus is twentieth-century architectural styles of Avant-garde (1920-1930s), Soviet Socialist Realism (1930-1950s) and Soviet Brutalism (1960-1970s). The purpose of the project is raising awareness about the necessity of its further protection and conservation. ​

​Bianca Garcia - WUDPAC Class of 2016

Materia: Journal of Technical Art History

Materia: Journal of Technical Art History is an online, peer-reviewed, open-access journal devoted to the technical study of art objects and cultural heritage materials. Established in 2020, Materia aims to highlight the benefits and value of cross-disciplinary collaboration and examination of our cultural heritage through a material lens. To date, Materia has published three online issues with seventeen peer-reviewed articles and has international readership and authorship from academic, institutional, and private sectors. With the Alumni Professional Venture Funds, Materia team members will work with a facilitator to develop a strategic plan that will evaluate what has been successful to date, define a mission and vision statement that aligns with our goals and values, create a timeline for activities and goals, and investigate long-term sustainability based on funding and community-building. ​

​João Petisca - PSP alumna (2019)

Shine - lacquer as an artistic material

Shine is a series of workshops directed to non-specialist museum audiences aiming to decipher lacquer as an artistic material to its participants and introduce them to lacquered objects held in Portuguese collections while promoting social interactions. The knowledge and understanding of Portuguese lacquerware heritage will bring audiences closer to the objects, creating a bond and a sense of belonging with these pieces that ultimately promote preservation efforts towards them. The Alumni Professional Venture Fund will allow me to expand the Shine workshops to more museums, in and outside Lisbon, and adapt them to different museum audiences.​

Sarah Towers - WUDPAC Class of 2021​

Making Space: Intro to Woodworking for Conservators

This two-week introductory woodworking class will provide an empowering, supportive environment for emerging conservators who identify as historically marginalized from the fields of woodworking and/or art conservation. Jointly organized and sponsored by North Bennet Street School, the Chairmaker's Toolbox, and conservators (including WUDPAC alum Sarah Towers, '21 and current fellow Caroline Shaver, '24), the pilot year of the course will be hosted in Boston, Massachusetts and provide basic instruction in hand-tool and machine-woodworking. The Professional Venture Fund award will be used to promote financial equity by off-setting housing and/or travel costs for students to attend this free program, advancing efforts in equity, accessibility, and inclusion for the field as a whole.​