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As I near the end of my graduate studies at the Winterthur/University of Delaware Program in Art Conservation (WUDPAC), I find myself coming full circle in my conservation career. For my third-year fellowship, I am delighted to have returned to the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago, Illinois. I worked as an intern and conservation technician at the Field for three years prior to embarking on my graduate school journey. Because of this, I knew the Field would be a great fit for me to return to with all that I have learned during grad school. At the Field, I have the pleasure of working with Regenstein Senior Conservator JP Brown, Assistant Conservators Dan Kaping, Erin Murphy, and Nicole Schmidt, and Conservation Cultural Liaison J. Kae Good Bear.
The Field Museum is a natural history museum with a significant focus on anthropological collections from all over the world. As someone specializing in object conservation with a minor in preventive, I coudn't think of a better place to expand my expertise than at a museum with such a diverse collection and impressive department. Since beginning my fellowship in September, I have had the opportunity to work on a range of interesting projects, including preparing polychrome wooden pagodas for loan, assisting with recovery efforts from a recent water leak, and treating previously exhibited cellulose nitrate reptiles.
One of my primary projects has been treating and preparing three polychrome wooden pagoda models for an upcoming international loan. These models were built around the turn of the 20th-century at the Tushanwan woodshop in Shanghai, part of a male orphanage and vocational arts and crafts training school. The intricately crafted models represented real pagodas throughout China. A total of 84 Tushanwan pagoda models were exhibited at the Panama-Pacific International Exposition in 1915. Shortly after, they were accessioned into the Field’s collection. Ultimately, 81 of the models were deaccessioned from the Field in 2007.