Bringing together the international mountmaking community
The 9th International Mountmakers Forum was held September 10-12, 2024 in Boston, Massachusetts
at the MFA Boston.
Videos of the presentations are now available on our YouTube channel. To find specific talks, please follow the links in the agenda below.
AGENDA
TUESDAY, Day 1
SEPTEMBER 10
Welcome & Introduction
Brett Angell (Senior Exhibitions Preparator, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston)
Remarks by Pierre Terjanian (Chief of Curatorial Affairs and Conservation, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston)
Session 1: BIG CHALLENGES
The Elephant in the Room: Mounting a 19th Century Elephant Armour at the MSMSII Museum, Jaipur
Anjali Jain (freelance objects conservator) and Rajiv Kedia (Joint Managing Director, Techno Centre (India) Pvt. Ltd)
When One Mount Isn’t Enough: Seismically Retrofitting a 2000-Pound Scholar’s Rock in the Bay Area
Vincent Avalos (Mountmaker, Asian Art Museum of San Francisco)
Hang Tight: Using Digital Aids to Mount a Pātaka Whakairo
Allyn Goo (Exhibit Preparator and Mountmaker, Bishop Museum)
Andrew Talley (Senior Mountmaker, Art Institute of Chicago)
Rachel Sabino (Director of Objects and Textiles Conservation, Art Institute of Chicago)
The Cordier Challenge: A New Approach to Internal Mounts
BJ Farrar (Senior Mountmaker, J. Paul Getty Museum)
Richard Hards (Senior Mountmaker, J. Paul Getty Museum)
The Reluctant Chicken Farmer: Telescopic Carbon Fiber Mount for a George Segal Plaster Figure
Philip Brutz (Mountmaker, Cleveland
Museum of Art)
Beth Edelstein (Senior Conservator and Head of Objects Conservation, Cleveland Museum of Art)
Remarks by IMF2024 Sponsor Tru Vue, Inc. Erin Anderson (Museum and Conservation Liaison, Americas)
Session 2: LOOKING FROM A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE
Coatings for Exhibition Mounts: A Deep Exploration of a Superficial Process
Shelly Uhlir (Exhibits Specialist, Mountmaker, Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian)
Soft Forms and Hard Finishes: An Experimental Approach to Mannequins Representing Real People
Jennifer Nieling (Owner, JLN Costume Mounting LLC)
Laura Mina (Conservator of Textiles, Smithsonian National Museum of African American History & Culture)
Making a Model Mannequin – Couture Mounting and Cutaways for NAOMI: In Fashion
Presented by Rachael Lee (Senior Costume Mounting Specialist, Victoria & Albert Museum)
Co-authored with Lilia Prier Tisdall (Senior Costume Mounting Specialist, Victoria & Albert Museum)
Offering It Up – A Project Exploring Object Making and Object Support in Aotearoa New Zealand
Sophia Smolenski (independent contract mountmaker)
Three-Dimensional Mounts for Raven’s Tail and Chilkat Robes
Jackie Manning (Curator of Exhibitions, Alaska State Museum)
Aaron Elmore (Exhibit Specialist, Alaska State Museum)
Timothy Skornia (Senior Mountmaker, J. Paul Getty Museum)
Closing remarks by Brett Angell (Senior Exhibitions Preparator, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston)
SEPTEMBER 11
WEDNESDAY, Day 2
Introduction
Brett Angell (Senior Exhibitions Preparator, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston)
Session 3: CAPTURING MOVEMENT
Carmela Lonetti (Objects Conservator, Arts Centre Melbourne)
Ania Golębiowska (Textile Conservator, Zenzie Tinker Conservation)
Mike Penwolf (Panotechnia Ltd)
Elijah Williams (Digital Technology Specialist, New York Institute of Technology School of Architecture and Design Fabrication Lab)
Transforming the National Air and Space Museum's Mannequins
Beth Knight (Textile Conservator, Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum)
Handy Holders: Mounting with Magnets for Flexible Display and Study Options
Becky Doonan (Textile Conservator, Becky Doonan Conservation)
Alessandro Scola (Senior Book Conservator, Johns Hopkins University)
Making Mounts Without the Objects: Using 3D Scanning, Modeling & Printing Technologies
Mike Lai (Head Museum Mountmaker, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco)
Session 4: COLLABORATION
Mount Storage – Mo’ Mounts, Mo’ Problems
Kimberley McParland (Exhibitions Preparator, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston)
Fosshé: An Innovative Method for Building Flexible, Rigid, Interior Supports
Melissa Huddleston (Assistant Conservator, Getty Research Institute) and BJ Farrar (Senior Mountmaker, J. Paul Getty Museum)
From Permanent to Portable: A Chinese Stele's Journey from a Garden in Maine to the MFA
Presented by Pamela Hatchfield (Head of Objects Conservation Emerita, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston); co-authored with Adeline Lutts (formerly Conservation Engineer), Evelyn Mayberger (Assistant Conservator), Matthew Siegal (Chair Emeritus, Conservation and Collections Management), and Dante Vallance (formerly Senior Collections Engineer) from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
A Three Body Problem: Mountmaking and Contemporary Art
Pierre-Luc Brouillette (Mountmaker, Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec) Bernard Lamarche (Curator of Contemporary Art, Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec)
Roundtable Discussion
Moderators:
Shelly Uhlir (Exhibits Specialist, Mountmaker, Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian)
Laura McClure (Exhibits Specialist, Mountmaker, Smithsonian National Museum of American History)
Panelists:
Pierre-Luc Brouillette (Mountmaker, Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec)
Matt Gay (Founder and Head Mount Maker, Montani Mountmaking LLC)
Jacob Goble (Conservation Preparator, The Metropolitan Museum of Art)
Jamie Hascall (Craftsman, Trainer, Consultant, MountMaking Focus)
Kimberley McParland (Exhibitions Preparator, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston)
Jen Simons (Founding Partner and Mountmaker, Brigid Mountmaking)
Closing remarks by Brett Angell (Senior Exhibitions Preparator, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston)
SEPTEMBER 12
THURSDAY, Day 3
Tour of MFA mount shops, exhibition preparation facilities, and conservation labs
Afternoon visit to Harvard Art Museums (HAM) and/or either North Bennet Street School (NBSS) or Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum
POSTERS
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