STORIES FROM PAFA
Preserving Artwork for the Future
In 2017, when certificate student Jessica Willittes was hanging her wall for the Annual Student Exhibition she wasn’t sure what to expect.
The Annual Student Exhibition (ASE) is a long-standing PAFA tradition that offers students the opportunity to curate, install, and sell their own works in PAFA's museum galleries, and is one of the most celebrated student group shows in the country. Student work is purchased by art collectors, the general public, and museums like PAFA.
Her piece, 39 Victory Acres Between Us & Them is nearly 8 feet by 5 feet of painted carpet, wool rug, and rope. She nailed it to her ASE wall, fully expecting it to take the piece home after the ASE. She was awarded the Judith McGregor Caldwell Purchase Prize and her art became a part of PAFA’s permanent collection.
“I got a lot of excellent feedback on this piece during my critiques throughout the year so I felt very good. I was very flattered by their decision,” she said. “I never expected the museum would purchase it.”
The cult Heaven’s Gate is the main influence for the work. In 1997, 39 members of the cult committed mass suicide in San Diego. Willittes created a map that attempted to describe the cult’s theosophical outlook. Cult members believed suicide would allow them to enter an alien spacecraft hidden behind the Hale-Bopp comet.
“I find that research is integral to my practice, finding something that’s outside of my direct experience and then sort of finding ways to relate to it,” she said. “I find fringe movements, whether it be something very sinister like a cult or things that are generally more positive like an alternative subculture like a pink scene, to be the most fruitful grounds for inspiration.”
A year after its acquisition, 39 Victory Acres… is being shown alongside works by Evelyn Statsinger and Loren MacIver as part of Infinite Spaces: Rediscovering PAFA’s Permanent Collection.
Infinite Spaces, PAFA’s summer exhibition, explores how artists have engaged space throughout the history of American art, from the eighteenth century to the present day. The exhibition, on display June 28th through September 9th, takes visitors across PAFA’s campus and asks them to question the spaces and opportunities they are afforded.
“It’s very flattering and awesome that this work will be hanging next to people I admire and has created a little place for itself,” she said. “It feels good.”
But before it could be hung in the Historic Landmark Building Willittes work needed to be properly preserved and prepared for installation in the museum. Liz McDermott, PAFA’s conservation technician stepped in to help.
“Nailing it to a wall creates holes and then there’s wear and fraying that starts and it’s not a good long-term solution for hanging,” McDermott said.
Willittes and McDermott developed a plan for preventative care and preservation. To hang the piece without further damaging it, McDermott taught Willittes to use a series of Velcro headers and magnetic systems to ensure the longevity of the painting and allow it to be safely exhibited.
PAFA offers a techniques and materials class for students focusing mainly traditional materials and techniques like canvas, painting on board, and paper techniques that artists use for framing.
“Contemporary work is always changing and there’s such a wide variety of materials artists use that you couldn’t possibly cover it all in a materials and techniques class so you kind of have to borrow from other industries,” McDermott said.
For 39 Victory Acres… McDermott and Willittes looked to the textile industry and reached out to industry leaders about minimizing chemical and physical deterioration. The work is not only being preserved for Infinite Spaces but for future conservators and art-lovers.
“You have to be able to remove everything you’ve done,” McDermott said. “When technology changes and new conservators come along and find different ways of treating works and preserving them they can undo what you’ve done.”
Before working with McDermott, Willittes said she was interested in preserving her work but didn’t always know what to do.
“I’ve definitely been trying to pay attention to these techniques and the materials that we’re using here in the studio so I can bring that into my practice and have it done next time before a piece even needs to be on the wall.”
Infinite Spaces: Rediscovering PAFA's Permanent Collection is on view July 1st through September 9th, 2018.
