In fall 2024, Krannert Art Museum publicly shared its new strategic plan, which details core values, strategic priorities, and objectives with a focus on knowledge building, experimentation, sustainability, care, and accessibility. As part of the art and inquiry strategic priority, KAM has been increasing inclusivity of the collection and broadening knowledge. Carefully stewarding resources has been one method to meet the objectives of using the collection for focused critical inquiry and uplifting underrepresented artists.
KAM’s opening in 1961 emerged in part from a need to house a large and growing art collection that the university had amassed since its founding. Because responsibility for the collection extends into preservation and care, the staff establishes conservation priorities. Conserving these works of art is essential for maintaining a healthy collection. And, by focusing on treating works that allow KAM to expand the stories and experiences of historically underrepresented artists and communities, decisions about conservation can help drive more inclusive exhibitions and longterm installations.
Recent conservation efforts at KAM have stabilized and repaired works at risk of further deterioration, often not presentable prior to treatment. “Treating and then displaying works from storage that were made by women and artists of color,” said Director Jon Seydl, “is one way we can fulfill the strategic goal of increasing the diversity of the artists on view.”
“More often we’re trying to extend the life of a piece as it is, thinking more about the artist’s intent and less about restoration,” explained Kim Sissons, collections manager for KAM. “Conservators are scientists and artists, but they’re also researchers, thinking about the artist’s process, how they worked, and what they used.”
Some conservation projects can be as straightforward as using a special vacuum to remove dust and light debris from an object. Or they may be more complicated, as with KAM’s painting Machine Five by Hedda Sterne. This work had been re-stretched by the artist or her gallery in 1950 causing a tear in the lower right hand corner and creating a distracting bulge in the canvas. Paintings conservator Heather Galloway repaired the tear with thin synthetic fabric prepared with heated adhesive; she addressed the cracks in the paint layer from the bulge by applying diluted fish glue with heat.
KAM’s 2023 exhibition Pattern and Process showcased how artists have used elements of pattern to challenge our ways of knowing and interpreting the world, how we connect with the past, reclaim culture, or assert our identities. The curator, Kathryn Koca Polite, wanted to include Arturo Alonzo Sandoval’s human-sized textile Moth III. When acquired in 2021, the textile appeared gray and dingy from grime and wear over time. As an intervention, Jane Hammond from ICA Conservation Center in Cleveland gently cleaned and wove stray fibers back together, avoiding the more aggressive approaches of washing or trimming off loosened material. This helped preserve most of the material and gave it a renewed vibrancy, meeting the artist’s intent to explore notions of transformation and rebirth.
Author: Mariana Seda, Associate Director for Strategic Communications, College of Fine and Applied Arts
