Mold Mitigation and Rehousing of Selected Artifacts from the Black Lives Matter Memorial Fence Collection
April 13, 2024
Lutheran Church of the Reformation in Capitol Hill, Washington DC
This season, the Community Partnership Project Coordinator worked with Nadine Seiler, the activist curator of the Black Lives Matter protest memorial collection, to plan a one-day pro-bono event where conservation professionals in the DMV area volunteered to help with basic mold mitigation and rehousing of a portion of this important collection of protest memorabilia.
The event was held at the Lutheran Church of the Reformation in Capitol Hill, Washington DC on April 13, 2024 and the majority of the approximately 260 artifacts were successfully vacuumed, dry-cleaned, photographically documented and rehoused in archival document cases and flat storage boxes. Supplies were purchased using the $1000 FAIC Community Partnership Projects grant we were awarded for this event as well as funds from the Washington Conservation Guild account. Non-consumable equipment and tools such as folding tables, cutting mats, HEPA-filtered vacuums, etc. were borrowed from the CPP
coordinator, paintings conservator Gwen Manthey, and the Folger Library conservation lab. Snacks and beverages were provided for the volunteers by WCG.
Nineteen volunteers including the CPP Coordinator worked in collaboration on the day of the event. The volunteers signed up for either one 3.5 hour morning or afternoon shift and the division of labor ended up being almost equal for both shifts.
245 memorial profiles of victims of police violence (digitally printed on 8.5 x 11” printer paper in plastic document sleeves) were successfully cleaned and rehoused. However, the remainder comprised of larger artifacts of non-uniform sizes, shapes, and materials still require additional work. The CPP Coordinator and several volunteers are committed to returning for a second session to complete this work sometime in the summer of 2024. To be continued!
For more information about this season’s meetings, please visit https://washingtonconservationguild.org/meeting-schedule-2023-2024-season
Our meetings are public, and pictures may appear on WCG’s website and social media accounts.
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