Textile Care and Storage at Victoria Mansion

Does your collection include clothes, curtains, upholstered furniture, or antique carpets? Are you wondering best how to store and display these objects in a way that protects them for the future, but you've got a small budget? Does your historic building lack proper climate control? Join MAM for an afternoon at Victoria Mansion in Portland to learn how best to care for your textiles, even when the conditions aren't perfect. 

Victoria Mansion holds an important collection of mid-nineteenth-century textiles ranging from garments to upholstery to window treatments with silk trimmings. A decade ago, the museum set about creating a dedicated textile storage room to safely house the collection while keeping the individual pieces accessible for study and research. Siobhan Lindsay and her assistants constructed custom mounts and supports for the most delicate pieces and set up shelving and case storage to limit their exposure to light while not on view. The work was done to high professional standards, but also in ways that remained practical and affordable for a small museum.

This workshop will give participants a chance to see a variety of types of textile both on display and in storage, ask questions about best practices, and get advice for the reality of housing a collection in a historic building. 

About the presenters: 
Siobhan Lindsay is a professional art conservator with a broad range of experience in the care and treatment of paintings, textiles, metals, glass, and more. She has worked on conservation projects at Victoria Mansion for nearly two decades, joining the staff as Art Conservator in 2021.

Tim Brosnihan, Victoria Mansion’s Executive Director, has worked in the museum field for over three decades and at Victoria Mansion since 2002. A major focus of his tenure as Director has been on improving the care of the museum’s extraordinary architecture, furnishings, and decorative art.

MAM members receive a discount on registration for this event. Not a member yet? Join here.