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Textiles Laboratory
The master’s-level first-year textile block covers textile
history, technology, terminology, fiber identification, weave structure
analysis. A wide variety of world textiles are addressed including
embroideries, domestic textiles, carpets, costume, archeological textiles, and
upholstery. The course focuses on the care, display, and storage of textiles
with lectures on cleaning methods, stitched and adhesive stabilization, loss
compensation, and exhibition mounts. Lectures are augmented by an
extended object examination and documentation project, textile
techniques projects, hands-on treatment exercises, and field trips to
collections and exhibitions in New York, Philadelphia, or Washington, DC.
Areas of study for second-year textile majors include
cleaning, stabilization, support, compensation for loss,
exhibition, storage, and special problems associated with composite
objects. Topics covered in theory during the first year are expanded through
independent research, while students gain practical experience completing
projects chosen to develop skills in accomplishing a broad range of
conservation activities.
The first-year textile block​ includes lectures by textile conservator Laura Mina; Kate Sahmel supervises the second-year students majoring in textile
conservation. ​