Anonymous donation to the Ackland expands possibilities for conservation efforts

Thanks to an anonymous donation, the Ackland Art Museum now has the budget to endow a full-time art conservator position. 

The current part-time conservator at the museum, Grace White, said that the expansion of the position will help the Ackland meet its logistical needs and extend its reach. 

White discovered her passion for art on a school field trip to the North Carolina Museum of Art and said that this experience ultimately drew her to her career in art conservation. She also said that she hopes this anonymous gift will provide opportunities for future art lovers and conservators. 

“Having more time dedicated to conservation treatment, by having a full time conservator, will make it easier for us to be able to meet those loan requests we have from other museums to be able to share our artwork with the world,” White said.

Peter Nisbet, the Deputy Director for Cultural Affairs at the museum, said that conservation is wanting to preserve the past so it can be enjoyed by the future. 

Before this anonymous donation, the stipulations of the part-time position severely hindered workflow. Now, with the addition of the full-time position, the expansive works-on-paper collection will receive more attention. 

In 2020, the Ackland Exchange program was born. The program focuses on loaning artworks to traditionally minority-serving campuses across the UNC System. Ackland provides conservation work, installation, transportation and educational materials to these institutions completely free of charge. 

With the new conservator position, the art preservation process will be more efficient, making the art available for this program and thus exposing more students to art education.

“One of the things that we hope students at UNC in particular come away with is just a deep understanding of the role that art can play in their lives,” Nisbet said. “And that’s not just enjoying beauty, it's not just enjoying one’s cultural heritage or understanding the cultural heritage of another culture, using art to develop empathy for other worldviews and so on, but also the role art can play in more personal situations of consolation or inspiration.”

The Ackland Exchange Program and its newly enhanced outreach will further promote all of these functions of art to students. 

Beyond the Ackland Exchange Program, the Ackland also loans pieces to other museums including the North Carolina Museum of Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Asia Society Museum, and the Louvre.

 “Our mission is ‘the art of understanding’ and ‘the art of understanding’ basically has at its core that we use art as a tool to facilitate dialogue amongst people to better understand each other’s humanity,” Andrew Parrish, the Associate Director of Development at the Ackland, said. 

With the added position, the Ackland can loan even more pieces and better pursue this mission statement. 

The new art conservator will also take on roles beyond conservation. These will include advising preparators and art handlers on safe handling and exhibiting of works, teaching guest lectures to UNC students, leading workshops and providing advice about artworks on paper to other museums, libraries and archives. 

“We are so thankful for people like this anonymous donor. Their giving is a public service to the people of the state of North Carolina. Their giving is inspiring to all of us, and we hope it will inspire other people,”  Parrish said.

@dthlifestyle | lifestyle@dailytarheel.com