The White Gloves Gang at the Historical Society comprises, from left, Danielle Bennett, Manda Kowalczyk, Tom D’Amore, Marta Zlotnick, Patricia Raynor, Elizabeth Alberding. Front row: Javier Martinez-Baez and Jobi Zink.
The 2014 White Gloves Gang at the Historical Society comprised (from left) Danielle Bennett, Manda Kowalczyk, Tom D’Amore, Marta Zlotnick, Patricia Raynor, WGG organizer Elizabeth Alberding, Javier Martinez-Baez (front row) and Jobi Zink, Vice Chair of the MAAM Registrars Committee.

Backstage is an occasional series covering the behind-the-scenes actions that are part of collections care. We’ll delve into the decisions regarding rehousing collections of all kinds, and explore different methods of collections processing, from manuscripts to panoramic photographs to ephemera. We’ll tackle the tug of war between preservation concerns, the commitment to access for researchers of all stripes, and the cost of archival materials; talk about collections care conundrums; and highlight easy preservation steps that repositories and individuals can take to maintain their collections.

Back in June, we were thrilled to find out that the Historical Society was one of four D.C. repositories chosen to receive the White Gloves Gang (WGG) treatment, during the fall conference of the Mid-Atlantic Association of Museums.  Thanks to the efforts of the WGG, in late October six volunteers spent a full day helping us with a project that was identified as a priority during our CAP assessment site visit: deframing and rehousing artwork. 

Elizabeth Alberding, Collections Manager at The Kelly Collection of American Illustration, is the mastermind behind the WGG, securing sponsorships, rounding up supplies, and matching expertise with specific projects at the chosen repositories. (Tudor Place, Dumbarton House, and the Woodrow Wilson House also received WGG volunteers this year). The WGG program is an initiative of the MAAM Registrars Committee, for which Alberding serves as chair and Jobi Zink of the Jewish Museum of Maryland serves as vice chair.

So what goes into a project like this?

First you need folks with collections handling experience as well as some knowledge of the intricacies of deframing artwork. For that, the WGG paired the HSW with six folks who lent their expertise and elbow grease: Manda Kowalczyk and Patricia Raynor of the National Postal Museum; Danielle Bennett of the Walters Art Museum; independent collections professional Tom D’Amore; Marta Zlotnick of Dumbarton Oaks; and Javier Martinez-Baez of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum.

Next you need supplies, including scalpels and blades, pH pens, bone folders, needle-nosed pliers, buffered interleaving paper, and large acid-free folders. (The Society received more than $200 worth of donated supplies for this project, thanks to WGG sponsers Crozier Fine Arts, Huntington T. Block, U.S. ART and Willis Fine Art!). You need space to spread out, and worksheets to track the steps taken with each piece as well as record condition reports. You need some good mood music. And you need to identify collections items that due to space concerns or suspected acidic materials are better housed in folders and drawers than left framed.

Let’s start off with a feel-good example. (Stay tuned for an upcoming post about a less fortunate piece that was in as-received condition, and which required ordering the full deframing and rehousing menu).

Here’s a piece that just two years ago received exemplary conservation framing in preparation for an exhibit in which the artwork was featured. Now that it’s off exhibit, the frame and frame backing paper was removed; the condition assessed; and rehousing options weighed. In this case, most of the framing materials were left intact, and the piece rehoused in an acid-free folder and placed in a map case, ready to be pulled for a researcher.

HSW_20141022_WhiteGlovesGang_07
This piece was framed using proper conservation techniques. Now that it’s off exhibit, the piece is primed to be removed from the frame and rehoused. Here the frame backing paper is removed.
HSW_20141022_WhiteGlovesGang_10
Once the backing paper is off, you can see the frame back, which in this case is made of a coroplast sheet. If we hadn’t blown out the highlights in the photograph, you’d be able to see ridges in the coroplast, which is rigid and helps repel dust and moisture.
HSW_20141022_WhiteGlovesGang_15
The next back layer is a sheet of tin foil. Just kidding! It’s Marvelseal, which provides a moisture barrier and creates a sealed framing package once wrapped around the edges of the UV-glazed plexiglass. We chose to allow the non-frame framing layers to remain intact, as they would continue to protect the artwork.
HSW_20141022_WhiteGlovesGang_19
Once it’s separated from the artwork, labeling the frame with the artwork’s object identifier makes it easy to pair the two when the time comes to display the piece again.
HSW_20141022_WhiteGlovesGang_20
This piece went from being framed – and needing to be hung on an art rack, space for which is at a premium – to being rehoused and safely stored in a map case.
More than 20 pieces received attention from the White Gloves gang during their day-long volunteer gig at the Historical Society of Washington, D.C.
Frames on the right are maintained with their UV-glazed plexiglass and coroplast backing. Frames on the left indicate pieces that had never received conservation framing but rather had been framed in a bygone era when acidic cardboard was deemed a suitable backing.

More than 20 pieces received attention from the White Gloves gang during their day-long volunteer gig at the Historical Society of Washington, D.C., for which we thank the incredible WGG@HSW team; MAAM’s Elizabeth Alberding and Jobi Zink; and the WGG sponsors: Crozier Fine Arts, Huntington T. Block, U.S. ART and Willis Fine Art.

Stay tuned for a gory look at some of the pieces that were in tougher shape!

 

 

Visit Us

DC History Center
801 K Street Northwest, Washington, DC

Thursday-Friday, 12pm-7pm
Saturday-Sunday, 12pm-6pm

Make History

Support

As a private, nonprofit organization, the DC History Center relies on generous gifts from individuals, foundations, and corporations to support our mission. In times of upheaval and uncertainty, we rely on history to guide us.

Donate

(More Ways to Give)

Connect

Keep up with the latest news from the DC History Center! Subscribe to our newsletter.

Sign Up

Learn

At the DC History Center, we tell the diverse stories of our nation’s capital to a broad community of learners. We seek to bring people together to satisfy their curiosity, learn each other’s stories, and develop respect for the larger community in which we live.

Learn More

© Copyright 2024