AIC's 45th Annual Meeting

In 2011, the Arizona State Museum (ASM) basketry collection became an official project of the Save America's Treasures (SAT) program. Known as Woven Wonders: Basketry Project, this effort addressed the need for new environmentally controlled, secure, unified space for over 35,000 cataloged items that includes arguably the largest and most comprehensive collection of southwest basketry items. Much has been accomplished since the initial SAT grant. Specifically, treatment protocols have been developed, approved, executed, and refined with funding from two IMLS awards. The treatments and storage supports used on basketry at the ASM are based on professional standards and special knowledge gained during the Item-by-Item survey during the multi-year treatment phase of the project. The equipment, supplies and materials for the conservation treatment of the basketry have been tested for use in conservation and are generally available through known distributors within the fields of conservation and collections management. They are considered safe, appropriate, stable, and reversible. The conservation of a research based collection has required conservators to be mindful of: surface sampling protocols; indigenous and historic use, residues, and repairs; and identification of materials and technologies. Mending, the general expression that emphasizes the idea of making something damaged whole and complete is not exactly the correct definition for all basketry conservation treatments. However, the techniques employed seek to address a specific structural problem with minimal introduction of new material or disturbance of original material. This poster illustrates details for many of the successful treatments developed for items in the ethnographic and archaeological collection.