Class works to preserve art
Hallie Jordan
Issue date: 11/6/09 Section: News
In a rare combination of joining humanities with engineering, Bioengineering Lecturer Matthew Wettergreen joined four students in creating better storage for artwork at the Museum of Fine Arts Houston.
The collaboration between Rice and the MFAH began when Interim Dean of Humanities Gary Wihl asked the museum's administration about the possibility of collaboration between itself and Rice's engineering department, MFAH Conservation Director Wynne Phelan said.
Most museums, including the MFAH, store art that is not on display in cardboard boxes or wooden crates, MFAH Chief Registrar Julie Bakke said. However, these boxes and crates are problematic for several reasons. Not only does their opacity make it difficult for curators to find the pieces they want to show, but the cardboard and wood emit gases that can damage art, Bakke said.
Prior to Rice's involvement, the MFAH staff had taken a trip to New England to examine the way other museums store their artwork in the hopes of acquiring a better means of art conservation. However, Phelan said they saw that cardboard boxes and wooden crates were the standard everywhere they visited.
After recognizing the need for better storage, the MFAH began to work with Rice humanities and engineering departments to take on the task.
Twenty-seven students applied last spring for four spots to participate in a new program to achieve such measures, called Engineering Design for Arts and Artifact Conservation, Hanszen College senior and project participant Kristi Day said.
The students selected for EDAAC were Caleb Brown, a bioengineering and visual and dramatic arts major; Rhodes Coffey, a mechanical engineering major; Kristi Day, a civil engineering major; and Nicole Garcia, a chemical engineering major.
Starting with a trip to the MFAH, the students spent the summer working on their design project.
In addition to studying methods at the MFAH, the students also did extensive art conservation research on their own, Day said.
The collaboration between Rice and the MFAH began when Interim Dean of Humanities Gary Wihl asked the museum's administration about the possibility of collaboration between itself and Rice's engineering department, MFAH Conservation Director Wynne Phelan said.
Most museums, including the MFAH, store art that is not on display in cardboard boxes or wooden crates, MFAH Chief Registrar Julie Bakke said. However, these boxes and crates are problematic for several reasons. Not only does their opacity make it difficult for curators to find the pieces they want to show, but the cardboard and wood emit gases that can damage art, Bakke said.
Prior to Rice's involvement, the MFAH staff had taken a trip to New England to examine the way other museums store their artwork in the hopes of acquiring a better means of art conservation. However, Phelan said they saw that cardboard boxes and wooden crates were the standard everywhere they visited.
After recognizing the need for better storage, the MFAH began to work with Rice humanities and engineering departments to take on the task.
Twenty-seven students applied last spring for four spots to participate in a new program to achieve such measures, called Engineering Design for Arts and Artifact Conservation, Hanszen College senior and project participant Kristi Day said.
The students selected for EDAAC were Caleb Brown, a bioengineering and visual and dramatic arts major; Rhodes Coffey, a mechanical engineering major; Kristi Day, a civil engineering major; and Nicole Garcia, a chemical engineering major.
Starting with a trip to the MFAH, the students spent the summer working on their design project.
In addition to studying methods at the MFAH, the students also did extensive art conservation research on their own, Day said.
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posted 12/25/09 @ 9:31 PM CST
I think that the collaboration between Rice and the MFAH is very useful.
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