Grace White, conservator of art on paper at the Ackland Art Museum, in the conservation studio (Photo by Jon Gardiner, UNC-Chapel Hill)
An anonymous gift endows a full-time, permanent conservator for the largest art on paper collection in North Carolina.
Grace White is one of the few people in the world allowed to handle original Rembrandt drawings and other priceless works of art with her own hands. As the conservator of art on paper at the Ackland Art Museum, she is caretaker for the Museum’s 17,500 works of art on paper. She helps to preserve the vast collection of art for future generations, working in a studio to repair damage to drawings, watercolors, manuscripts and prints.
Preserving art for the future
White prepared a selection of the Ackland’s renowned Peck Collection, which includes more than 130 Dutch and Flemish drawings from the 17th and 18th centuries and many original Rembrandts, for the exhibition “Drawn to Life: Master Drawings from the Age of Rembrandt.” She assessed all the drawings and treated 22 of over 70 works in preparation for the show, which was also lent to the Rembrandt House Museum in Amsterdam.
The Ackland’s collection of art on paper not only comprises works in the European and American tradition, it also extends to Asian art, including many Japanese screens, scrolls and prints. The summer of 2024, White treated a large Japanese printed board game based on the 1877 Satsuma rebellion before the Ackland loaned out the piece to a major exhibition shown at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.
The Ackland is home to the largest collection of art on paper in the state, and art on paper comprises about 80% of the Museum’s permanent collection. The Ackland was a pioneer among leading public university art museums when it opened a conservation studio and hired a conservator in the late 1980s. While the Ackland’s conservation needs are great, that position has, for budgetary reasons, always been part-time.
A gift expands conservation efforts
That’s about to change, however, thanks to a gift from an anonymous donor, an alumna of the University. Her generous gift endows the position, creating the Dr. Ian Morgan Happer Conservator for Art on Paper. The gift honors the late Dr. Ian Happer, who was a prominent Denver neurologist. It will be paid out over five years, ultimately enabling the Ackland to have a full-time conservator for art on paper and ensure that the position is permanently secure.
“It’s challenging to do this work in a part-time capacity, considering the Museum’s vast conservation needs,” said Carolyn Allmendinger, interim director and director of education and interpretation at the Ackland. “We have a long queue of artwork that has been awaiting attention since it was acquired. The limitations of part-time hours slow that work and can also be disruptive to workflow. Expanding the paper conservator role to a full-time position will ensure that the Ackland’s art on paper collection — the lion’s share of its collection — receives the attention it needs.”
The conservator for art on paper works closely with the Ackland’s curatorial team: Dana Cowen, Sheldon Peck Curator for European and American Art before 1950; Lauren Turner, associate curator for contemporary art and special projects; and Peter Nisbet, deputy director for curatorial affairs. All consult with the art on paper conservator on which projects to undertake, how to prioritize projects, and what type of treatments and changes need to be made to artwork.
“With a conservation studio and a qualified conservator in-house, the Ackland goes beyond the basics of art conservation,” said Nisbet. “This work is more than a matter of cleaning and repair. Accuracy in the understanding of how a work of art is made and how its existence over time has affected its appearance is a wonderful tool, especially in teaching students to look closely at art and to understand the work of art as so much more than an image on a screen. Having a full-time conservator on staff will maximize our scope for formal and informal teaching.”
The far-reaching impact of art
While the future full-time conservator has a queue of artwork awaiting repair, that’s far from their only focus at the Ackland. The conservator teaches guest lectures to UNC-Chapel Hill classes; serves as a resource to Carolina students who are interested in careers in art conservation or at museums; advises preparators and art handlers on safe handling and exhibiting of artworks; engages with the public through blog posts and studio tours; and assists other museums, libraries and archives by teaching workshops and providing advice about artworks on paper.
The impact of this gift will be felt far beyond Chapel Hill because the Ackland conservator can and will serve the entire state and beyond. Through the Ackland Exchange program, the Museum loans exhibitions to other historically minority-serving UNC System schools, free of charge. Additionally, the Ackland loans art to other national and international museums — the North Carolina Museum of Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Asia Society Museum, and the Louvre, to name a few — as well as traveling exhibitions, as mentioned above. The Museum also serves the state through knowledge sharing, offering workshops at other museums to ensure the future of their collections in addition to the Ackland’s.
“We’re so thankful to this donor, whose generosity is enabling the Ackland to expand its capacity for conservation work in the long term and across the state and beyond,” said Allmendinger.
Written by Audrey Smith
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