Community, Collaboration, and Cultural Heritage Conservation

The UCLA/Getty Conservation of Cultural Heritage Interdepartmental Program was awarded $250,000 to support a project in which three Master’s graduate students will focus on the specialized practices of collaborative conservation. Over the course of three years, the designated “NEH fellows” will develop capacity as conservators while working closely with community stewards to enhance collections care practices within their cultural context. This project will enable the Program to refine the pioneering model it has developed for collaborative work with tribal museums and extend it to other important, yet underserved collections and sites with a wider range of stakeholders. Requested funds include partial stipends to support fellows during the first two years of the program and on two summer internships; thesis research and a nine-month internship in the third year; a senior conservator who will provide summer internship supervision when in-house staff is not available; and, a modest sum for supplies and materials.

Project dates: September 2021 – August 2024

Co- Principal Investigators: Ellen Pearlstein & Glenn Wharton

Read the official funding announcement press release here.