PSP student called to preserve

​In celebration of Black History Month, PSP student LaStarsha McGarity​ was interviewed by Reena Diamante of Spectrum News about her path from Texas Southern University, a Historically Black College or University in Houston, to her current roles as the Andrew W. Mellon Fellow in Objects Conservation at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC and a first-year student in UD's Preservation Studies Doctoral Program​. In this short video, she can be seen dry surface cleaning A Man Can Be A Star by Thornton Dial Jr. (NGA 2020.28.11) with cosmetic sponges and reducing adhesive residues from the verso of Dat Ol’ Black Magic by Betye Saar (NGA 2014.136.225) with a scalpel under magnification. Both of these works represent the NGA’s growing holdings of artwork by African American artists. A Man Can Be A Star will be part of the upcoming exhibition Called to Create: Black Artists of the American South (September 18, 2022- March 26, 2023), which showcases artworks recently acquired from the Souls Grown Deep Foundation. ​